Future of Data Analytics in the Era of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe

The development of evidence to demonstrate ‘value for money’ is regarded as an important step in facilitating the search for the optimal allocation of limited resources and has become an essential component in healthcare decision making. Real-world evidence collected from de-identified individuals throughout the continuum of healthcare represents the most valuable source in technology evaluation. However, in the European Union, the value assessment based on real-world data has become challenging as individuals have recently been given the right to have their personal data erased in the case of consent withdrawal or when the data are regarded as being no longer necessary. This act may limit the usefulness of data in the future as it may introduce information bias. Among healthcare stakeholders, this has become an important topic of discussion because it relates to the importance of data on one side and to the need for personal data protection on the ot

Affordability influences nutritional quality of seafood consumption among income and race/ethnicity groups in the United States

Background The 2020 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that the US population consume more seafood. Most analyses of seafood consumption ignore heterogeneity in consumption patterns by species, nutritional content, production methods, and price, which have implications for applying recommendations. Objectives We assessed seafood intake among adults by socioeconomic and demographic groups, as well as the cost of seafood at retail to identify affordable and nutritious options. Methods NHANES 2011–2018 dietary data (n = 17,559 total, n = 3285 eating seafood) were used to assess adult (≥20 y) intake of seafood in relation to income and race/ethnicity. Multivariable linear regression assessed the association between seafood consumption and income, adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity, and the association between nutrients and seafood price, using Nielsen 2017–2019 retail sales data, adjusted for sales volume. Results Low-income groups consume slightly less seafood than high-income groups [low income: mean 120.2 (95% CI: 103.5, 137.2) g/wk; high income: 141.8 (119.1, 164.1) g/wk] but substantially less seafood that is high in long-chain n–3 (ω-3) PUFAs [lower income: 21.3 (17.3, 25.5) g/wk; higher income: 46.8 (35.4, 57.8) g/wk]. Intake rates, species, and production method choices varied by race/ethnicity groups and within race/ethnicity groups by income. Retail seafood as a whole costs more than other protein foods (e.g., meat, poultry, eggs, beans), and fresh seafood high in n–3 PUFAs costs more (P < 0.002) than fresh seafood low in n–3 PUFAs. Retail seafood is available in a wide range of price points and product forms, and some lower-cost fish and shellfish were high in n–3 PUFAs, calcium, iron, selenium, and vitamins B-12 and D. Conclusions New insights into the relation between seafood affordability and consumption patterns among income and ethnicity groups suggest that specific policies and interventions may be needed to enhance the consumption of seafood by different groups.publishedVersio

Good Research Practices for Measuring Drug Costs in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses: Medicare, Medicaid and Other US Government Payers Perspectives: The ISPOR Drug Cost Task Force Report—Part IV

Objectives Public programs finance a large share of the US pharmaceutical expenditures. To date, there are not guidelines for estimating the cost of drugs financed by US public programs. The objective of this study was to provide standards for estimating the cost of drugs financed by US public programs for utilization in pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Methods This report was prepared by the ISPOR Task Force on Good Research Practices—Use of Drug Costs for Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Medicare, Medicaid, and other US Government Payers Subgroup. The Subgroup was convened to assess the methodological and practical issues confronted by researchers when estimating the cost of drugs financed by US public programs, and to propose standards for more transparent, accurate and consistent costing methods. Results The Subgroup proposed these recommendations: 1) researchers must consider regulation requirements that affect the drug cost paid by public programs; 2) drug cost must represent the actual acquisition cost, incorporating any rebates or discounts; 3) transparency with respect to cost inputs must be ensured; 4) inclusion of the public program\u27s perspective is recommended; 5) high cost drugs require special attention, particularly when drugs represent a significant proportion of health-care expenditures for a specific disease; and 6) because of variations across public programs, sensitivity analyses for actual acquisition cost, real-world adherence, and generics availability are warranted. Specific recommendations also were proposed for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Conclusions As pharmacoeconomic evaluations for coverage decisions made by US public programs grows, the need for precise and consistent estimation of drug costs is warranted. Application of the proposed recommendations will allow researchers to include accurate and unbiased cost estimates in pharmacoeconomic evaluations

Identifying Opportunities for Aligning Production and Consumption in the U.S. Fisheries by Considering Seasonality

Seasonality is a natural feature of wild caught fisheries that introduces variation in food supply, and which often is amplified by fisheries management systems. Seasonal timing of landings patterns and linkages to consumption patterns can have a potentially strong impact on income for coastal communities as well as import patterns. This study characterizes the relationship between seasonality in seafood production and consumption in the United States by analyzing monthly domestic fisheries landings and imports and retail sales of farmed and wild seafood from 2017 to 2019. Analyses were conducted for total seafood sales, by product form, by species group, and by region of the United States. The data reveal strong seasonal increases in consumption around December and March. Seasonal increases in consumption in Spring and Summer occurred in parallel with domestic fishing production. Domestic landings vary by region, but most regions have peak fishing seasons between May and October. Alaska has the largest commercial fishery in the United States and seasonal peaks in Alaska (July/August, February/March) strongly influence seasonality in national landings. Misalignment between domestic production and consumption in some seasons and species groups creates opportunities for imports to supplement demand and lost opportunities for domestic producers.publishedVersio

Evidence of selection in mineral mediated polymerization reactions executed in a robotic Chemputer system

It has long been thought that abiogenesis requires a process of selection and evolution at the molecular level, but this process is hard to explore experimentally. One solution could be the use of automation in experiments which could allow for traceability and the ability to explore a larger reaction space. We report a fully programmable and automated platform to explore the reactions of amino acids in the presence of mineral environments. The robotic system is based upon the Chemputer system which has well defined modules, software, and a chemical programming language to orchestrate the chemical processes, including analysis. The reaction mixtures were analysed with tandem mass spectrometry and a peptide sequencing algorithm. Each experiment was screened for 1,398,100 possible unique sequences, and more than 550 specifically defined sequences were confirmed experimentally. This work aimed to develop a new understanding of selection in repeated cycles of polymerisation reactions to explore the emergence of well-defined amino acid sequences. We found that the outcome of oligomerisation was significantly influenced by the presence of different minerals, and that a serpentine environment selects glycine and phenylalanine rich fragments that enable the formation of longer oligomers with well-defined sequences as a function of cycle number

Host And Geography Together Drive Early Adaptive Radiation Of Hawaiian Planthoppers

The interactions between insects and their plant host have been implicated in driving diversification of both players. Early arguments highlighted the role of ecological opportunity, with the idea that insects escape and radiate on new hosts, with subsequent hypotheses focusing on the interplay between host shifting and host tracking, coupled with isolation and fusion, in generating diversity. Because it is rarely possible to capture the initial stages of diversification, it is particularly difficult to ascertain the relative roles of geographic isolation versus host shifts in initiating the process. The current study examines genetic diversity between populations and hosts within a single species of endemic Hawaiian planthopper, Nesosydne umbratica (Hemiptera, Delphacidae). Given that the species was known as a host generalist occupying unrelated hosts, Clermontia (Campanulaceae) and Pipturus (Urticaceae), we set out to determine the relative importance of geography and host in structuring populations in the early stages of differentiation on the youngest islands of the Hawaiian chain. Results from extensive exon capture data showed that N.&nbsp;umbratica is highly structured, both by geography, with discrete populations on each volcano, and by host plant, with parallel radiations on Clermontia and Pipturus leading to extensive co-occurrence. The marked genetic structure suggests that populations can readily become established on novel hosts provided opportunity; subsequent adaptation allows monopolization of the new host. The results support the role of geographic isolation in structuring populations and with host shifts occurring as discrete events that facilitate subsequent parallel geographic range expansion