Some benefits of reducing inflation in transition economies

We analyse welfare effects of the interactions between the tax system and inflation in Poland and in Ukraine, using the framework developed by Feldstein (1997, 1999). This approach stresses the fact that inflation increases distortions created by the tax system, in particular distortions to intertemporal saving decisions. We find that the effects are much smaller in the two transition countries than in developed marketeconomies. The reason is that taxation of investment returns is much more limited. Our results suggest that taxes on investment returns should be avoided in any future redesign of the tax system.Poland, Ukraine, inflation, tax system

Some benefits of reducing inflation in transition economies

We analyse welfare effects of the interactions between the tax system and inflation in Poland and in Ukraine, using the framework developed by Feldstein (1997, 1999). This approach stresses the fact that inflation increases distortions created by the tax system, in particular distortions to intertemporal saving decisions. We find that the effects are much smaller in the two transition countries than in developed marketeconomies. The reason is that taxation of investment returns is much more limited. Our results suggest that taxes on investment returns should be avoided in any future redesign of the tax system.

Data provenance tracking and reporting in a high-security digital research environment.

Objective To protect privacy, routinely-collected data are processed and anonymised by third parties before being used for research. However, the methods used to do this are rarely shared, leaving the resulting research difficult to evaluate and liable to undetected errors. Here, we present a provenance-based approach for documenting and auditing such methods. Approach We designed the Safe Haven Provenance (SHP) ontology for representing provenance information about data, users, and activities within high-security environments as knowledge graphs. The work was based on a case study of the Grampian Data Safe Haven (DASH) which holds and processes medical records for 600,000 people in Scotland. The SHP ontology was designed as an extension to the standard W3C PROV-O ontology. The auditing capabilities of our approach were evaluated against a set of transparency requirements through a prototype interactive dashboard. Results We demonstrated the ability of the SHP ontology to document the workflow within DASH: capturing the extraction and anonymisation process using a structured vocabulary of entities (e.g. datasets), activities (e.g. linkage, anonymisation) and agents (e.g. analysts, data owners). Two provenance reporting templates were designed following interviews with DASH staff and clinical researchers: 1) a detailed report for use within DASH for quality assurance, and 2) a summary report for researchers that was safe for public release. Using a prototype data-linkage project, we formalised queries for report generation, and demonstrated use of automated rules for error detection (e.g., data discrepancies) using the structure of the SHP knowledge graphs. All of the project outputs are available under an open-source license. Conclusions This project lays a foundation for more transparent high-quality research using public data for health care and innovation. The SHP ontology is extendible for different domains and potentially represents a key component for further automation of provenance capture and reporting in high-security research environments

The clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID: identification and changes in healthcare while self-isolating (shielding) during the coronavirus pandemic.

In March 2020, the government of Scotland identified people deemed clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID due to their pre-existing health conditions. These people were advised to strictly self-isolate (shield) at the start of the pandemic, except for necessary healthcare. We examined who was identified as clinically extremely vulnerable, how their healthcare changed during isolation, and whether this process exacerbated healthcare inequalities. We linked those on the shielding register in NHS Grampian, a health authority in Scotland, to healthcare records from 2015-2020. We described the source of identification, demographics, and clinical history of the cohort. We measured changes in out-patient, in-patient, and emergency healthcare during isolation in the shielding population and compared to the general non-shielding population. The register included 16,092 people (3% of the population), clinically vulnerable primarily due to a respiratory disease, immunosuppression, or cancer. Among them, 42% were not identified by national healthcare record screening but added ad hoc, with these additions including more children and fewer economically-deprived. During isolation, all forms of healthcare use decreased (25%-46%), with larger decreases in scheduled care than in emergency care. However, people shielding had better maintained scheduled care compared to the non-shielding general population: out-patient visits decreased 35% vs 49%; in-patient visits decreased 46% vs 81%. Notably, there was substantial variation in whose scheduled care was maintained during isolation: younger people and those with cancer had significantly higher visit rates, but there was no difference between sexes or socioeconomic levels. Healthcare changed dramatically for the clinically extremely vulnerable population during the pandemic. The increased reliance on emergency care while isolating indicates that continuity of care for existing conditions was not optimal. However, compared to the general population, there was success in maintaining scheduled care, particularly in young people and those with cancer. We suggest that integrating demographic and primary care data would improve identification of the clinically vulnerable and could aid prioritising their care

The clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID : Identification and changes in healthcare while self-isolating (shielding) during the coronavirus pandemic

Peer reviewe

Fab antibody fragment-functionalized liposomes for specific targeting of antigen-positive cells

Liposomes functionalized with monoclonal antibodies or their antigen-binding fragments have attracted much attention as specific drug delivery devices for treatment of various diseases including cancer. The conjugation of antibodies to liposomes is usually achieved by covalent coupling using cross-linkers in a reaction that might adversely affect the characteristics of the final product. Here we present an alternative strategy for liposome functionalization: we created a recombinant Fab antibody fragment genetically fused on its C-terminus to the hydrophobic peptide derived from pulmonary surfactant protein D, which became inserted into the liposomal bilayer during liposomal preparation and anchored the Fab onto the liposome surface. The Fab-conjugated liposomes specifically recognized antigen-positive cells and efficiently delivered their cargo, the Alexa Fluor 647 dye, into target cells in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our approach offers the potential for straightforward development of nanomedicines functionalized with an antibody of choice without the need of harmful cross-linkers.This work has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013; grant agreement NMP4-LA-2009-228827 NANOFOL) and Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement No 683356 - FOLSMART), further from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A National Network of Safe Havens:A Scottish Perspective

For over a decade, Scotland has implemented and operationalized a system of Safe Havens, which provides secure analytics platforms for researchers to access linked, deidentified electronic health records (EHRs) while managing the risk of unauthorized reidentification. In this paper, a perspective is provided on the state-of-the-art Scottish Safe Haven network, including its evolution, to define the key activities required to scale the Scottish Safe Haven network’s capability to facilitate research and health care improvement initiatives. A set of processes related to EHR data and their delivery in Scotland have been discussed. An interview with each Safe Haven was conducted to understand their services in detail, as well as their commonalities. The results show how Safe Havens in Scotland have protected privacy while facilitating the reuse of the EHR data. This study provides a common definition of a Safe Haven and promotes a consistent understanding among the Scottish Safe Haven network and the clinical and academic research community. We conclude by identifying areas where efficiencies across the network can be made to meet the needs of population-level studies at scale

The clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID: Identification and changes in healthcare while self-isolating (shielding) during the coronavirus pandemic.

Objective In March 2020, Scottish government identified people clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID due to pre-existing health conditions. These people were advised to strictly self-isolate (shield) at home. We examined who was identified as clinically extremely vulnerable, how their healthcare changed during isolation, and whether this process exacerbated healthcare inequalities. Approach We linked all individuals on the shielding register in NHS Grampian to their in-patient and out-patient healthcare records from 2015 through 2020. We analysed the method of patients’ identification as clinically extremely vulnerable (via an algorithmic NHS record scan or designated ad hoc by their care-providers). We measured out-patient, in-patient, and emergency healthcare attendances, and compared use rates between two 3-month periods before and during the first strict isolation period. We evaluated changes in care use between those shielding and the general non-shielding population, and differences between shielding sub-populations (by clinical reason for shielding, age, sex, and socio-economic deprivation). Results The shielding register included 16,092 people (3% of the population). 42% of people on the register were not identified by national healthcare record screening, including the majority of cancer and immunocompromised patients. People added to the register by their care-providers were more likely to be young and less economically-deprived. Shielders’ healthcare use decreased during isolation (rate compared to pre-isolation: 0.65 out-patient, 0.54 scheduled in-patient; 0.75 emergency in-patient; 0.71 A&E). However, people shielding had better maintained care than the non-shielding population (e.g. RR 2.9 for scheduled in-patient care). There were inequalities in whose scheduled care was maintained while shielding: younger people and those with cancer had significantly higher visit rates. However, there were no differences in care-preservation between men and women or between socioeconomic deprivation levels. Conclusions The reliance on emergency care while shielding indicates that, overall, continuity of care for existing conditions was not optimal. However, there was notable success in maintaining care for cancer. We suggest that integrating demographic and primary care data would improve identification of the clinically vulnerable and help equitably prioritise care

Comparative study of atmospheric water-soluble organic aerosols composition in contrasting suburban environments in the Iberian Peninsula Coast

This study investigates the structural composition and major sources of water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) from PM2.5 collected, in parallel, during summer and winter, in two contrasting suburban sites at Iberian Peninsula Coast: Aveiro (Portugal) and Coruña (Spain). PM10 samples were also collected at Coruña for comparison. Ambient concentrations of PM2.5, total nitrogen (TN), and WSOM were higher in Aveiro than in Coruña, with the highest levels found in winter at both locations. In Coruña, concentrations of PM10, TN, and WSOM were higher than those from PM2.5. Regardless of the season, stable isotopic δ13C and δ15N in PM2.5 suggested important contributions of anthropogenic fresh organic aerosols (OAs) at Aveiro. In Coruña, δ13C and δ15N of PM2.5 and PM10 suggests decreased anthropogenic input during summer. Although excitation-emission fluorescence profiles were similar for all WSOM samples, multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed differences in their structural composition, reflecting differences in aging processes and/or local sources between the two locations. In PM2.5 WSOM in Aveiro, the relative distribution of non-exchangeable proton functional groups was in the order: H-C (40-43%) > H-C-C= (31-39%) > H-C-O (12-15%) > Ar-H (5.0-13%). However, in PM2.5 and PM10 WSOM in Coruña, the relative contribution of H-C-O groups (24-30% and 23-29%, respectively) equals and/or surpasses that of H-C-C= (25-26% and 25-29%, respectively), being also higher than those of Aveiro. In both locations, the highest aromatic contents were observed during winter due to biomass burning emissions. The structural composition of PM2.5 and PM10 WSOM in Coruña is dominated by oxygenated aliphatic compounds, reflecting the contribution of secondary OAs from biogenic, soil dust, and minor influence of anthropogenic emissions. In contrast, the composition of PM2.5 WSOM in Aveiro appears to be significantly impacted by fresh and secondary anthropogenic OAs. Marine and biomass burning OAs are important contributors, common to both sites.Xunta de Galicia ( Programa de Consolidación y Estructuración de Unidades de Investigación Competitivas Refs. GRC2013-047 and ED431C 2017/28)publishe