Inter-annual variability in apparent relative production, survival, and growth of juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2001–15

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burdick, Summer M.; Martin, Barbara A.

2017-06-15

Executive SummaryPopulations of the once abundant Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) of the Upper Klamath Basin, decreased so substantially throughout the 20th century that they were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1988. Major landscape alterations, deterioration of water quality, and competition with and predation by exotic species are listed as primary causes of the decreases in populations. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing because fish lost due to adult mortality, which is relatively low for adult Lost River suckers and variable for adult shortnose suckers, are not replaced by new young adult suckers recruiting into known adult spawning aggregations. Catch-at-age and size data indicate that most adult suckers presently in Upper Klamath Lake spawning populations were hatched around 1991. While, a lack of egg production and emigration of young fish (especially larvae) may contribute, catch-at-length and age data indicate high mortality during the first summer or winter of life may be the primary limitation to the recruitment of young adults. The causes of juvenile sucker mortality are unknown.We compiled and analyzed catch, length, age, and species data on juvenile suckers from Upper Klamath Lake from eight prior studies conducted from 2001 to 2015 to examine annual variation in apparent production, survival, and growth of young suckers. We used a combination of qualitative assessments, general linear models, and linear regression to make inferences about annual differences in juvenile sucker dynamics. The intent of this exercise is to provide information that can be compared to annual variability in environmental conditions with the hopes of understanding what drives juvenile sucker population dynamics.Age-0 Lost River suckers generally grew faster than age-0 shortnose suckers, but the difference in growth rates between the two species varied among years. This unsynchronized annual variation in daily growth may be an indication that environmental conditions are affecting growth rates of these species in different ways.The combined evidence outlined in this report and in Simon and others (2012) indicates that years of relatively high age-0 sucker production occurred in the late 1990s through at least 2000, in 2006, and in 2011. Our analysis of annual age-0 sucker catch per unit effort (CPUE), which accounted for zero inflated data and annual variation in sampling gears and locations, indicated that 2006 had the greatest apparent relative production of age-0 suckers ≥ 45 mm standard length (SL) during the time period examined. Midsummer trap net effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was too sparse to examine age-0 sucker CPUE from 2011 to 2013. Relatively frequent catches of age-1 suckers in 2001, 2007, and 2012 corroborated relatively high CPUE for age-0 suckers during 1999–2000, 2006, and 2011, as reported by USGS or Simon and others (2012).There were several indications in the data that juvenile sucker survival is low from at least midsummer of the first year of life through mid-September of the second year of life. Our estimated index of relative apparent age-0 sucker late-summer survival, which accounted for zero inflated data and variations in sampling gears and locations, was higher in 2009 than in 2004. Our index of apparent age-0 sucker mortality for all other years from 2001 to 2015 was similar among years. Seventy-five percent of age-1 suckers were captured prior to July 17 each year. In 2007, the one year with substantial age-1 sucker summertime catches, the proportion of nets to capture age-1 suckers decreased from July to mid-September. Maximum annual age-2+ sucker CPUE was 0.02 fish per net, 10,000 times less than the maximum annual age-0 sucker CPUE.Analysis of species data indicated that juvenile Lost River suckers may have greater apparent mortality than shortnose suckers. Lost River suckers made up a smaller proportion of age-0 suckers captured in July each year than would be expected, based on the abundance of adult Lost River suckers relative to shortnose suckers, and higher Lost River than shortnose sucker fecundity. The proportion of age-0 suckers captured that were Lost River suckers decreased from July to September in several years. Only 14 percent of age-1 or older juvenile suckers identified to species over the 15-year time period were Lost River suckers.

Demographics and 2008 Run Timing of Adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and Shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) Suckers in Upper Klamath Lake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Janney, Eric C.; Hayes, Brian S.; Hewitt, David A.; Barry, Patrick M.; Scott, Alta; Koller, Justin; Johnson, Mark; Blackwood, Greta

2009-01-01

We used capture-recapture data to assess population dynamics of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. The Cormack-Jolly-Seber method was used to estimate apparent survival probabilities, and a temporal symmetry model was used to estimate annual seniority probabilities. Information theoretic modeling was used to assess variation in parameter estimates due to time, gender, and species. In addition, length data were used to detect multiple year-class failures and events of high recruitment into adult spawning populations. Survival of adult Lost River and shortnose suckers varied substantially across years. Relatively high annual mortality was observed for the lakeshore-spawning Lost River sucker subpopulation in 2002 and for the river spawning subpopulation in 2001. Shortnose suckers experienced high mortality in 2001 and 2004. This indicates that high mortality events are not only species specific, but also are specific to subpopulations for Lost River suckers. Seniority probability estimates and length composition data indicate that recruitment of new individuals into adult sucker populations has been sparse. The overall fitness of Upper Klamath Lake sucker populations are of concern given the low observed survival in some years and the paucity of recent recruitment. During most years, estimates of survival probabilities were lower than seniority probabilities, indicating net losses in adult sucker population abundances. The evidence for decline was more marked for shortnose suckers than for Lost River suckers. Our data indicated that sucker survival for both species, but especially shortnose suckers, was sometimes low in years without any observed fish kills. This indicates that high mortality can occur over a protracted period, resulting in poor annual survival, but will not necessarily be observed in association with a fish kill. A better understanding of the factors influencing adult survival and recruitment into spawning populations is needed. Monitoring these vital parameters will provide a quantitative means to evaluate population status and assess the effectiveness of conservation and recovery efforts.

Cost of tobacco-related diseases, including passive smoking, in Hong Kong.

PubMed

McGhee, S M; Ho, L M; Lapsley, H M; Chau, J; Cheung, W L; Ho, S Y; Pow, M; Lam, T H; Hedley, A J

2006-04-01

Costs of tobacco-related disease can be useful evidence to support tobacco control. In Hong Kong we now have locally derived data on the risks of smoking, including passive smoking. To estimate the health-related costs of tobacco from both active and passive smoking. Using local data, we estimated active and passive smoking-attributable mortality, hospital admissions, outpatient, emergency and general practitioner visits for adults and children, use of nursing homes and domestic help, time lost from work due to illness and premature mortality in the productive years. Morbidity risk data were used where possible but otherwise estimates based on mortality risks were used. Utilisation was valued at unit costs or from survey data. Work time lost was valued at the median wage and an additional costing included a value of USD 1.3 million for a life lost. In the Hong Kong population of 6.5 million in 1998, the annual value of direct medical costs, long term care and productivity loss was USD 532 million for active smoking and USD 156 million for passive smoking; passive smoking accounted for 23% of the total costs. Adding the value of attributable lives lost brought the annual cost to USD 9.4 billion. The health costs of tobacco use are high and represent a net loss to society. Passive smoking increases these costs by at least a quarter. This quantification of the costs of tobacco provides strong motivation for legislative action on smoke-free areas in the Asia Pacific Region and elsewhere.

Bacterial contamination of drinking water and the economic burden of illnesses for the Nepalese households.

PubMed

Atreya, Kishor; Panthee, Santosh; Sharma, Prem

2006-10-01

A household survey was conducted to determine the number of working days lost and household medical expenditure (ME) due to six water-borne diseases in the Terai region of Nepal. Drinking water sources of each household were analysed for total coliforms (TC). The study found 61% of the household water sources were contaminated with TC at the time of sampling. Number of days lost due to water-borne diseases was 8 days for TC-negative households and 10 days for TC-positive households per year. The average annual household medical expenditure was NR 459 for TC-negative households, and NR 789 for TC-positive households (p = 0.02 at proportional to = 0.05). Regression result showed that the presence of TC in the drinking water sources, number of children in the household and income of the household significantly determined ME.

Demographic analysis of Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Janney, E.C.; Shively, R.S.; Hayes, B.S.; Barry, P.M.; Perkins, D.

2008-01-01

We used 13 years (1995-2007) of capture-mark-recapture data to assess population dynamics of endangered Lost River suckers Deltistes luxatus and shortnose suckers Chasmistes brevirostris in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. The Cormack-Jolly-Seber method was used to estimate survival, and information theoretic modeling was used to assess variation due to time, gender, species, and spawning subpopulations. Length data were used to detect multiple year-class failures and events of high recruitment into adult spawning populations. Average annual survival probability was 0.88 for Lost River suckers and 0.76 for shortnose suckers. Mean life span estimates based on these survival rates indicated that Lost River suckers survived long enough on average to attempt reproduction eight times, whereas shortnose suckers only survived to spawn three to four times. Shortnose sucker survival was not only poor in years of fish kills (1995-1997) but also was low in years without fish kills (i.e., 2002 and 2004). This suggests that high mortality occurs in some years but is not necessarily associated with fish kills. Annual survival probabilities were not only different between the two species but also differed between two spawning subpopulations of Lost River suckers. Length composition data indicated that recruitment into spawning populations only occurred intermittently. Populations of both species transitioned from primarily old individuals with little size diversity and consistently poor recruitment in the late 1980s and early 1990s to mostly small, recruit-sized fish by the late 1990s. A better understanding of the factors influencing adult survival and recruitment into spawning populations is needed. Monitoring these vital parameters will provide a quantitative means to evaluate population status and assess the effectiveness of conservation and recovery efforts.

Productivity costs in patients with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L; Schlosser, Rodney J; Hwang, Peter H; Mace, Jess C; Soler, Zachary M

2014-09-01

Disease-specific reductions in patient productivity can lead to substantial economic losses to society. The purpose of this study was to: 1) define the annual productivity cost for a patient with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and 2) evaluate the relationship between degree of productivity cost and CRS-specific characteristics. Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 U.S. National Census and the 2013 U.S. Department of Labor statistics. A total of 55 patients with refractory CRS were enrolled. The mean work days lost related to absenteeism and presenteeism were 24.6 and 38.8 days per year, respectively. A total of 21.2 household days were lost per year related to daily sinus care requirements. The overall annual productivity cost was $10,077.07 per patient with refractory CRS. Productivity costs increased with worsening disease-specific QoL (r = 0.440; p = 0.001). Results from this study have demonstrated that the annual productivity cost associated with refractory CRS is $10,077.07 per patient. This substantial cost to society provides a strong incentive to optimize current treatment protocols and continue evaluating novel clinical interventions to reduce this cost. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Productivity Costs in Patients with Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L.; Schlosser, Rodney J.; Hwang, Peter H.; Mace, Jess C.; Soler, Zachary M.

2014-01-01

Objective Disease-specific reductions in patient productivity can lead to substantial economic losses to society. The purpose of this study was to: 1) define the annual productivity cost for a patient with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and 2) evaluate the relationship between degree of productivity cost and CRS-specific characteristics. Study Design Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. Methods The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Results A total of 55 patients with refractory CRS were enrolled. The mean work days lost related to absenteeism and presenteeism was 24.6 and 38.8 days per year, respectively. A total of 21.2 household days were lost per year related to daily sinus care requirements. The overall annual productivity cost was $10,077.07 per patient with refractory CRS. Productivity costs increased with worsening disease-specific QoL (r=0.440; p=0.001). Conclusion Results from this study have demonstrated that the annual productivity cost associated with refractory CRS is $10,077.07 per patient. This substantial cost to society provides a strong incentive to optimize current treatment protocols and continue evaluating novel clinical interventions to reduce this cost. PMID:24619604

Lost life years due to premature mortality caused by diseases of the respiratory system.

PubMed

Maniecka-Bryła, Irena; Paciej-Gołębiowska, Paulina; Dziankowska-Zaborszczyk, Elżbieta; Bryła, Marek

2018-06-04

In Poland, as in most other European countries, diseases of the respiratory system are the 4th leading cause of mortality; they are responsible for about 8% of all deaths in the European Union (EU) annually. To assess the socio-economic aspects of mortality, it has become increasingly common to apply potential measures rather than conventionally used ratios. The aim of this study was to analyze years of life lost due to premature deaths caused by diseases of the respiratory system in Poland from 1999 to 2013. The study was based on a dataset of 5,606,516 records, obtained from the death certificates of Polish residents who died between 1999 and 2013. The information on deaths caused by diseases of the respiratory system, i.e., coded as J00-J99 according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10), was analyzed. The Standard Expected Years of Life Lost (SEYLL) indicator was used in the study. In the years 1999-2013, the Polish population suffered 280,519 deaths caused by diseases of the respiratory system (4.69% of all deaths). In the period analyzed, a gradual decrease in the standardized death rate was observed - from 46.31 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1999 to 41.02 in 2013. The dominant causes of death were influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18) and chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47). Diseases of the respiratory system were the cause of 4,474,548.92 lost life years. The Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per person (SEYLLp) was 104.72 per 10,000 males and 52.85 per 10,000 females. The Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per death (SEYLLd) for people who died due to diseases of the respiratory system was 17.54 years of life on average for men and 13.65 years on average for women. The use of the SEYLL indicator provided significant information on premature mortality due to diseases of the respiratory system, indicating the fact that they play a large role in the health status of the Polish population.

Understanding the sources and effects of abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear on marine turtles in northern Australia.

PubMed

Wilcox, Chris; Heathcote, Grace; Goldberg, Jennifer; Gunn, Riki; Peel, David; Hardesty, Britta Denise

2015-02-01

Globally, 6.4 million tons of fishing gear are lost in the oceans annually. This gear (i.e., ghost nets), whether accidently lost, abandoned, or deliberately discarded, threatens marine wildlife as it drifts with prevailing currents and continues to entangle marine organisms indiscriminately. Northern Australia has some of the highest densities of ghost nets in the world, with up to 3 tons washing ashore per kilometer of shoreline annually. This region supports globally significant populations of internationally threatened marine fauna, including 6 of the 7 extant marine turtles. We examined the threat ghost nets pose to marine turtles and assessed whether nets associated with particular fisheries are linked with turtle entanglement by analyzing the capture rates of turtles and potential source fisheries from nearly 9000 nets found on Australia's northern coast. Nets with relatively larger mesh and smaller twine sizes (e.g., pelagic drift nets) had the highest probability of entanglement for marine turtles. Net size was important; larger nets appeared to attract turtles, which further increased their catch rates. Our results point to issues with trawl and drift-net fisheries, the former due to the large number of nets and fragments found and the latter due to the very high catch rates resulting from the net design. Catch rates for fine-mesh gill nets can reach as high as 4 turtles/100 m of net length. We estimated that the total number of turtles caught by the 8690 ghost nets we sampled was between 4866 and 14,600, assuming nets drift for 1 year. Ghost nets continue to accumulate on Australia's northern shore due to both legal and illegal fishing; over 13,000 nets have been removed since 2005. This is an important and ongoing transboundary threat to biodiversity in the region that requires attention from the countries surrounding the Arafura and Timor Seas. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Alcohol- and drug-related absenteeism: a costly problem.

PubMed

Roche, Ann; Pidd, Ken; Kostadinov, Victoria

2016-06-01

Absenteeism related to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use can place a substantial burden on businesses and society. This study estimated the cost of AOD-related absenteeism in Australia using a nationally representative dataset. A secondary analysis of the 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (n=12,196) was undertaken. Two measures of AOD-related absenteeism were used: participants' self-reported absence due to AOD use (M1); and the mean difference in absence due to any illness/injury for AOD users compared to abstainers (M2). Both figures were multiplied by $267.70 (average day's wage in 2013 plus 20% on-costs) to estimate associated costs. M1 resulted in an estimation of 2.5 million days lost annually due to AOD use, at a cost of more than $680 million. M2 resulted in an estimation of almost 11.5 million days lost, at a cost of $3 billion. AOD-related absenteeism represents a significant and preventable impost upon Australian businesses. Workplaces should implement evidence-based interventions to promote healthy employee behaviour and reduce AOD-related absenteeism. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

Colville Confederated Tribes' Performance Project Wildlife Mitigation Acquisitions, Annual Report 2006.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitney, Richard; Berger, Matthew; Tonasket, Patrick

2006-12-01

The Colville Confederated Tribes Wildlife Mitigation Project is protecting lands as partial mitigation for hydropower's share of the wildlife losses resulting from Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. The Mitigation Project protects and manages 54,606 acres for the biological requirements of managed wildlife species that are important to the Colville Tribes. With the inclusion of 2006 acquisitions, the Colville Tribes have acquired approximately 32,018 habitat units (HUs) towards a total 35,819 HUs lost from original inundation due to hydropower development. This annual report for 2006 briefly describes that four priority land acquisitions that were considered for enrollment into the Colvillemore » Tribes Mitigation Project during the 2006 contract period.« less

Service use and costs for people with headache: a UK primary care study.

PubMed

McCrone, Paul; Seed, Paul T; Dowson, Andrew J; Clark, Lucy V; Goldstein, Laura H; Morgan, Myfanwy; Ridsdale, Leone

2011-12-01

This paper aims to estimate the service and social costs of headache presenting in primary care and to identify predictors of headache costs. Patients were recruited from GP practices in England and service use and lost employment recorded. Predictors of cost were identified using regression models. Service and social costs were available on 288 and 282 patients, respectively. Average service costs over 3 months were £117 whilst total costs (including lost production) were £582. Patients referred to neurologists had service costs that were £82 higher than those not referred (90% CI £36-£128). Costs including lost employment were higher by £150, but this was not significant (90% CI -£139-£439). The annual mean service and social costs, weighted to represent population rates of referral, were £468 and £2328, respectively. Higher costs were significantly related to pain. Age was linked to higher service costs and lower social costs. The figures extrapolated to the whole of the UK suggest £956 million due to service use and £4.8 billion including lost employment. These are likely to be underestimates because many people experiencing headaches do not consult their GP.

Aquifer-test results, direction of ground-water flow, and 1984-90 annual ground-water pumpage for irrigation, lower Big Lost River Valley, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bassick, M.D.; Jones, M.L.

1992-01-01

The study area (see index map of Idaho), part of the Big Lost River drainage basin, is at the northern side of the eastern Snake River Plain. The lower Big Lost River Valley extends from the confluence of Antelope Creek and the Big Lost River to about 4 mi south of Arco and encompasses about 145 mi2 (see map showing water-level contours). The study area is about 18 mi long and, at its narrowest, 4 mi wide. Arco, Butte City, and Moore, with populations of 1,016, 59, and 190, respectively, in 1990, are the only incorporated towns. The entire study area, except the extreme northwestern part, is in Butte City. The study area boundary is where alluvium and colluvium pinch out and abut against the White Knob Mountains (chiefly undifferentiated sedimentary rock with lesser amounts of volcanic rock) on the west and the Lost River Range (chiefly sedimentary rock) on the east. Gravel and sand in the valley fill compose the main aquifer. The southern boundary is approximately where Big Lost River valley fill intercalates with or abuts against basalt of the Snake River Group. Spring ground-water levels and flow in the Big Lost River depend primarily on temperature and the amount and timing of precipitation within the entire drainage basin. Periods of abundant water supply and water shortages are, therefore, related to the amount of annual precipitation. Surface reservoir capacity in the valley (Mackay Reservoir, about 20 mi northwest of Moore) is only 20 percent of the average annual flow of the Big Lost River (Crosthwaite and others, 1970, p. 3). Stored surface water is generally unavailable for carryover from years of abundant water supply to help relieve drought conditions in subsequent years. Many farmers have drilled irrigation wells to supplement surface-water supplies and to increase irrigated acreage. Average annual flow of the Big Lost River below Mackay Reservoir near Mackay (gaging station 13127000, not shown) in water years 1905, 1913-14, and 1920-90 was about 224,600 acre-ft; average annual flow of the Big Lost River near Arco (gaging station 13132500; see map showing water-level contours) in water years 1947-61, 1967-80, and 1983-90 was about 79,000 acre-ft (Harenberg and others, 1991, p. 254-255). Moore Canal and East Side Ditch divert water from the Big Lost River at the Moore Diversion, 3 mi north of Moore (see map showing water-level contours) and supply water for irrigation near the margins of the valley. When water supply is average or greater, water in the Big Lost River flows through the study area and onto the Snake River Plain, where it evaporates or infiltrates into the Snake River Plain aquifer. When water supply is below average, water in the Big Lost River commonly does not reach Arco; rather, it is diverted for irrigation in the interior of the valley, evaporates, or infiltrates to the valley-fill aquifer. This report describes the results of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, to collect hydrologic data needed to help address water-supply problems in the Big Lost River Valley. Work involved (1) field inventory of 81 wells, including 46 irrigation wells; (2) measurement of water levels in 154 wells in March 1991; (3) estimation of annual ground-water pumpage for irrigation from 1984 through 1990; and (4) analysis of results of an aquifer test conducted southwest of Moore. All data obtained during this study may be inspected at the U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho District office, Boise.

Productivity costs decrease after endoscopic sinus surgery for refractory chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L; Mace, Jess C; Schlosser, Rodney J; Hwang, Peter H; Soler, Zachary M

2016-03-01

The primary objective of this pilot study was to define the change in productivity costs following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Secondary objectives were to identify CRS-related characteristics that may influence the degree of productivity improvement after ESS. Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time were quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Twenty-seven patients with refractory CRS who underwent ESS were followed for a mean of 15 months (range, 8-25 months). Following ESS, there were improvements in annual absenteeism (22 days reduced to 3 days), annual presenteeism (41 days reduced to 19 days), and annual household days lost (12 days reduced to 6 days). Overall, the preoperative productivity costs were reduced after ESS ($9,190 vs. $3,373, respectively; P < .001). Daily productivity is negatively impacted by the presence of CRS. The outcomes from this study provide the first insights into the reduced productivity costs associated with receiving ESS for refractory CRS. Future studies with larger sample sizes will need to validate the results from this pilot study. 2c Laryngoscope, 126:570-574, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Productivity Costs Decrease After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery for Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L.; Mace, Jess C.; Schlosser, Rodney J.; Hwang, Peter H.; Soler, Zachary M.

2015-01-01

Objective The primary objective of this pilot study was to define the change in productivity costs following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Secondary objectives were to identify CRS-related characteristics that may influence the degree of productivity improvement after ESS. Study Design Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. Methods The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Results 27 patients with refractory CRS who underwent ESS were followed for a mean of 15 [SD 4.0] months (range: 8 – 25 months). Following ESS, there were improvements in annual absenteeism (22 days reduced to 3 days), annual presenteeism (41 days reduced to 19 days), and annual household days lost (12 days reduced to 6 days). Overall, the preoperative productivity costs were reduced after ESS, $9,097 vs. $3,301, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion Daily productivity is negatively impacted by the presence of CRS. The outcomes from this study provide the first insights into the reduced productivity costs associated with receiving ESS for refractory CRS. Future studies with larger sample sizes will need to validate the results from this pilot study. PMID:26371457

Estimating Economic Burden of Cancer Deaths Attributable to Smoking in Iran.

PubMed

Rezaei, Satar; Akbari Sari, Ali; Arab, Mohammad; Majdzadeh, Reza; Mohammadpoorasl, Asghar

2015-01-01

There is a broad consensus among health policy-makers that smoking has a significant impact on both heath system and society. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic burden of major cancer deaths caused by smoking in Iran in 2012. Number of major cancer deaths due to smoking by sex and age groups in 2012 was obtained from GLOBCAN database. The life expectancy and retirement age were used to estimate years of potential life lost (YPLL) and cost of productive lost attributable to smoking, respectively. Data on prevalence of smoking, relative risk of smoking, life expectancy table, annual wage and employment rate were extracted from the various resources such as previous studies, WHO database and Iranian statistic centers. The data analysis was conducted by Excel software. Smoking was responsible for 4,623 cancer deaths, 80808 YPLL and $US 83,019,583 cost of productivity lost. Lung cancer accounts for largest proportion of total cancer deaths, YPLL and cost of productivity lost attributable to smoking. Males account for 86.6% of cancer deaths, 82.6% of YPLL and 85.3% of cost of productivity lost caused by smoking. Smoking places a high economic burden on health system and society as a whole. In addition, if no one had been smokers in Iran, approximately two out of ten cancer deaths could be prevented.

Changes in stroke mortality trends and premature mortality due to stroke in Serbia, 1992-2013.

PubMed

Dolicanin, Zana; Bogdanovic, Dragan; Lazarevic, Konstansa

2016-01-01

To determine mortality trends and premature mortality due to stroke in Serbia in 1992-2013 period. We obtained mortality database from the Statistical Office of Serbia. From 1992 to 2005, age-standardized mortality rates (ASRs) per 100,000 for all stroke increased, with annual percentage change (APC) of 1.01 % in men and 1.05 % in women. From 2005 to 2013, ASRs decreased, with APC of -4.93 % in men, and -5.63 % in women. In men, years of life lost (YLLs) for all stroke deaths were 21,710 in 1992; 22,193 in 2003 and 17,464 in 2013, with average years of life lost (AYLLs) of 3.46, 2.89 and 3.00, respectively. In women, YLLs were 33,508 in 1992; 35,130 in 2003 and 21,676 in 2013, with AYLLs of 4.65; 3.57 and 2.97. From 1992 to 2013, ASRs and YLLs for all stroke showed two segment trends in Serbia, with increase in the first, and decrease in the second period. Due to the shorter AYLLs and longer life tables, in 2013 stroke deaths occurred at >4 years older age in both sexes than in 1992.

What drives productivity loss in chronic rhinosinusitis? A SNOT-22 subdomain analysis.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Naweed I; Mace, Jess C; Smith, Timothy L; Rudmik, Luke

2018-01-01

Previous studies have shown declines in productivity due to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are correlated with disease-specific quality-of-life (QOL) measures. However, it is unclear which symptom domains contribute primarily to productivity loss. This investigation sought to assess the association between CRS-specific QOL subdomain impairment and productivity loss. Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. There were 198 patients with refractory CRS enrolled between August 2012 and June 2015. Baseline QOL measures were obtained across five subdomains of the 22-item SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). Lost productivity time was determined from patient-reported measures of annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time, and then monetized using annual daily wage rates from the 2012 US National Census and 2013 Department of Labor statistics. Productivity losses correlated with impairments in both SNOT-22 psychological dysfunction (Spearman correlation coefficient [Rs] = 0.428, P < .001), and sleep dysfunction domain scores (Rs = 0.355, P < .001). Higher SNOT-22 total scores also significantly correlated with increased monetized productivity losses (Rs = 0.366, P < .001). The mean annual productivity cost was $11,820/patient, whereas patients with comorbid immunodeficiency ($23,285/patient), tobacco use ($23,195/patient), and steroid dependency ($18,910/patient) reported higher than average annual productivity costs. Multivariate linear regression found maximum annual productivity costs in adjusted psychological ($13,300/patient, P < .001) and sleep dysfunction ($9,275/patient, P < .001) domains. Impairments in sleep and psychological SNOT-22 domains correlate with productivity losses. Patients with comorbid immunodeficiency, smoking, and steroid dependency had higher than average productivity losses. Targeted management of psychological and sleep dysfunction in combination with standard symptom control may improve patient-centered care and reduce the annual economic burden of CRS. 2c. Laryngoscope, 128:23-30, 2018. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

75 FR 28620 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-21

... Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and Brief Description... approximately 440,000 deaths annually and contributing to $92 billion annually in lost worker productivity...

Disability pension from back pain among social security beneficiaries, Brazil.

PubMed

Meziat Filho, Ney; Silva, Gulnar Azevedo E

2011-06-01

To describe disability pension from back pain. Descriptive study based on data from the Brazilian Social Security Beneficiary Database and the Social Security Statistics Annual Report in 2007. The incidence rate of disability pension from back pain was estimated according to gender and age by Brazilian states. There were also estimated working days lost due to back pain disability by occupation. Idiopathic back pain was the most common cause of disability among social security pension and accidental retirement. Most pensioners were living in urban areas and were commercial workers. The rate of disability pension from back pain in Brazil was 29.96 per 100,000 beneficiaries. A higher rate was seen among males and older individuals. Rondônia showed the highest rate, four times as high as expected (RR= 4.05) followed by Bahia with a rate about twice as high as expected (RR=2.07). Commercial workers accounted for 96.9% of working days lost due to disability. Back pain was a major cause of disability in 2007 mostly among commercial workers showing great differences between the Brazilian states.

Economic burden of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in Canada.

PubMed

Levy, Adrian R; Davie, Alison M; Brazier, Nicole C; Jivraj, Farah; Albrecht, Lorne E; Gratton, David; Lynde, Charles W

2012-12-01

Psoriasis is a chronic debilitating disease affecting approximately one million Canadians. The objective of this study is to estimate the economic burden in $CDN (2008) of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis among Canadian adults. Using a cross-sectional design, direct resource use, costs, lost productivity, and quality of life were obtained for 90 subjects diagnosed with psoriasis in three dermatology clinics in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec. An Excel-based economic model was developed to project the annual cost of psoriasis, from the societal perspective. The estimated mean annual cost of psoriasis was $7999/subject (95% CI: $3563-$12,434) with direct costs accounting for 57%. Mean lost productivity costs, which accounted for 43% of the mean annual costs of psoriasis, were $3442/subject (95% CI: $1293-$5590). Projecting the mean costs per patient to the afflicted population yields an estimated total annual cost of $1.7 billion (95% CI: $0.8-$2.6 billion) attributable to moderate to severe psoriasis in Canada. Understanding the interplay between direct costs, lost productivity, and quality of life is critical for accurately identifying and evaluating effective treatments for this disease. © 2012 The International Society of Dermatology.

Productivity losses due to premature mortality from cancer in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS): A population-based comparison.

PubMed

Pearce, Alison; Sharp, Linda; Hanly, Paul; Barchuk, Anton; Bray, Freddie; de Camargo Cancela, Marianna; Gupta, Prakash; Meheus, Filip; Qiao, You-Lin; Sitas, Freddy; Wang, Shao-Ming; Soerjomataram, Isabelle

2018-04-01

Over two-thirds of the world's cancer deaths occur in economically developing countries; however, the societal costs of cancer have rarely been assessed in these settings. Our aim was to estimate the value of productivity lost in 2012 due to cancer-related premature mortality in the major developing economies of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). We applied an incidence-based method using the human capital approach. We used annual adult cancer deaths from GLOBOCAN2012 to estimate the years of productive life lost between cancer death and pensionable age in each country, valued using national and international data for wages, and workforce statistics. Sensitivity analyses examined various methodological assumptions. The total cost of lost productivity due to premature cancer mortality in the BRICS countries in 2012 was $46·3 billion, representing 0·33% of their combined gross domestic product. The largest total productivity loss was in China ($28 billion), while South Africa had the highest cost per cancer death ($101,000). Total productivity losses were greatest for lung cancer in Brazil, the Russian Federation and South Africa; liver cancer in China; and lip and oral cavity cancers in India. Locally-tailored strategies are required to reduce the economic burden of cancer in developing economies. Focussing on tobacco control, vaccination programs and cancer screening, combined with access to adequate treatment, could yield significant gains for both public health and economic performance of the BRICS countries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Productivity impact of headache on a heavy-manufacturing workforce in Turkey

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Headache disorders cause substantial productivity losses through absenteeism and impaired effectiveness at work (presenteeism). We measured productivity losses from both causes at a heavy-manufacturing company with a largely male workforce in north-western Turkey. Methods We used the HALT Index as the survey instrument. We first assessed productivity losses by surveying the entire workforce. Because we anticipated much non-participation, we also applied HALT at the annual health-checks provided to all employees by the company’s on-site health clinic. Results Mean age of the workforce (N = 7,200) was 31 yr. About two thirds (90% male) were manual workers rotating weekly through early, late and night shifts. One third (50% male) were clerical/managerial, working a standard 5-day week. In the first assessment, 3,939 questionnaires (54.7%) were returned with usable data. In the previous 3 months, absenteeism of ≥1 day was reported by 360 respondents (9.1%), of whom 4 (0.10%) recorded ≥45 days (average per worker: 0.92 days/yr). Presenteeism equivalent to ≥1 day’s absence was reported by 1,187 respondents (29.4%) (average per worker: 6.0 days/yr). We estimated that 23,519 days/yr were lost in total among respondents (2.3% of workforce capacity). In the first 6 months of annual health-checks, 2,691 employees (37.4%) attended (94.4% male). Absenteeism was reported by 40 (1.5%), with 74 days lost, presenteeism by 348 (12.9%), with 1,240 days lost. We estimated that, altogether, 41,771 man-days/yr were lost in the entire workforce (2.4% of capacity; 94% due to presenteeism), closely matching the earlier estimate. A small minority (5.7%) of those with headache, who were only 2.5% of the workforce, accounted for >45% of presenteeism-related lost productivity. Conclusion The high productivity losses in a largely male workforce were surprising. Possible factors were the nature of the work – manual labour for two thirds, often heavy – and the recurring schedule disturbances of shift-work. There was a highly-disabled minority. PMID:24171915

Effect of Continued Medical Therapy on Productivity Costs for Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Soler, Zachary M; Smith, Timothy L; Mace, Jess C; Schlosser, Rodney J; DeConde, Adam S

2015-11-01

It is estimated that lost productivity related to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) costs society in excess of $13 billion per year in the United States. Given this tremendous cost to society, it is important to evaluate the effect of current interventions on improving this productivity loss. To define the change in productivity costs in patients with refractory CRS who select continued medical therapy. Observational cohort study. Thirty-eight patients with a guideline-based diagnosis of CRS whose initial appropriate medical therapy failed were enrolled from 4 tertiary-level rhinology clinics. The study was conducted from December 6, 2010, to April 23, 2013, and data analysis was performed from December 6, 2010, to June 1, 2015. Continued medical therapy for CRS. The human capital approach was applied to quantify productivity costs. Absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time were quantified to define annual lost productive time, which was measured at enrollment (baseline) and at a minimum of 6 months after treatment. Lost productive time was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Thirty-eight patients with refractory CRS who selected continued medical therapy had a mean (SD) baseline annual productivity cost of $3464 ($4900) per patient. After continued medical therapy for a mean of 12.8 (4.8) months, productivity costs were $2730 ($3720) (before vs after continued medical therapy productivity cost, P = .74). Mean annual absenteeism was reduced from 5 (12) days to 2 (8) days (P = .02). Mean annual presenteeism (17 [27] days reduced to 15 [23] days; P = .93) and mean annual household days lost (7 [7] days reduced to 6 [6] days; P = .51) were maintained at baseline levels. There were no significant differences in productivity outcomes based on endoscopy, the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test score, age, or polyp status (all P ≥ .11). Patients with refractory CRS often make treatment decisions based on the degree of quality-of-life and productivity impairment. Outcomes from this study suggest that productivity in patients with refractory CRS who have minor reductions in baseline productivity can remain stable with continued medical therapy. Physicians can use this information to inform appropriate patients with CRS of their expected outcomes from continued medical therapy.

Economic costs attributable to smoking in Hong Kong in 2011: a possible increase from 1998.

PubMed

Chen, Jing; McGhee, Sarah; Lam, Tai Hing

2017-11-15

Reduction in smoking prevalence does not necessarily reduce the costs of smoking as evidence shows in developed countries. We provide up-to-date estimates for direct and indirect costs attributable to smoking in Hong Kong in 2011 and compare with our 1998 estimates. We took a societal perspective to include lives and life years lost, health care costs and time lost from work in the costing. We followed guidelines on estimating costs of active smoking for those aged 35 years or above (35+) and costs due to SHS exposure for 35+, infants aged 12 months and under and children aged 15 and below. All costs are in US$. We estimated that 6154 deaths among 35+ in Hong Kong in 2011 were attributable to active smoking, an increase of 10% from 1998. Besides, 672 deaths were attributable to SHS exposure, i.e. 10% of the total 6826 smoking-attributable deaths. The estimate of productive life lost due to deaths from active smoking by those aged under 65 years in 2011 was $166 million, an increase of about 4% over the estimate in 1998. Our conservative estimate of the annual tobacco-related disease cost in 2011 was $716 million which accounted for 0.3% of GDP. If we added the value of attributable lives lost, the annual cost would be $4.7 billion. Despite the reduction in smoking prevalence, smoking-attributable disease still imposes a substantial economic burden on Hong Kong society. These findings support more stringent and effective tobacco control legislation, polices and measures. Current evidence shows reduction in smoking prevalence does not necessarily reduce the economic costs of smoking. Most studies in developed countries employed a societal perspective, including costs of productivity loss and indirect costs, but not all studies estimated costs associated with second-hand smoking (SHS). The present study estimated the total costs of smoking in Hong Kong including direct and indirect costs attributable to active smoking and to SHS exposure. Our study confirms the pattern of smoking epidemic in developed countries, forewarns the increasing economic burdens from tobacco, and provides East Asian countries with a prediction of their own future costs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

78 FR 68784 - Cargo Securing Manuals

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-15

... New Jersey in 1992, which involved the loss of 21 containers, 4 of which contained the hazardous... raised about lost containers during a Congressional hearing, the Coast Guard estimated that between 500 and 2,000 containers are lost at sea annually. In a recent paper submitted by the International...

The full annual carbon balance of Eurasian boreal forests is highly sensitive to precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Öquist, Mats; Bishop, Kevin; Grelle, Achim; Klemedtsson, Leif; Köhler, Stephan; Laudon, Hjalmar; Lindroth, Anders; Ottosson Löfvenius, Mikaell; Wallin, Marcus; Nilsson, Mats

2013-04-01

Boreal forest biomes are identified as one of the major sinks for anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 and are also predicted to be particularly sensitive to climate change. Recent advances in understanding the carbon balance of these biomes stems mainly from eddy-covariance measurements of the net ecosystem exchange (NEE). However, NEE includes only the vertical CO2 exchange driven by photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. A full net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) also requires inclusion of lateral carbon export (LCE) through catchment discharge. Currently LCE is often regarded as negligible for the NECB of boreal forest ecosystems of the northern hemisphere, commonly corresponding to ~5% of annual NEE. Here we use long term (13 year) data showing that annual LCE and NEE are strongly correlated (p=0.003); years with low C sequestration by the forest coincide with years when lateral C loss is high. The fraction of NEE lost annually through LCE varied markedly from <3% to ca. 25%. Deviation in annual precipitation from the 28-year average (1980-2008) explained 90% of the variation observed in the fraction of C lost annually by LCE. The relationship suggests that an increase in annual precipitation of 10-20% in the boreal region would approximately double the fraction of NEE lost annually from the terrestrial system to surface waters. The correlation between NEE and LCE arises because the annual precipitation is correlated with both NEE (p<0.004) and LCE (p<0.001). Both these strong correlations contribute to an overall correlation between annual NECB and precipitation. The likely mechanism behind decreased NEE in response to increasing precipitation is a reduction in incoming solar radiation caused by clouds. The dual effect of precipitation implies that both the observed and the predicted increases in annual precipitation at high latitudes may reduce NECB in boreal forest ecosystems. Based on regional scaling of hydrological discharge and observed spatio-temporal variations in forest NEE we conclude that our finding is relevant for large areas of the boreal Eurasian landscape.

Economic Burden of Chronic Conditions Among Survivors of Cancer in the United States.

PubMed

Guy, Gery P; Yabroff, K Robin; Ekwueme, Donatus U; Rim, Sun Hee; Li, Rui; Richardson, Lisa C

2017-06-20

Purpose The prevalence of cancer survivorship and chronic health conditions is increasing. Limited information exists on the economic burden of chronic conditions among survivors of cancer. This study examines the prevalence and economic effect of chronic conditions among survivors of cancer. Methods Using the 2008 to 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we present nationally representative estimates of the prevalence of chronic conditions (heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, emphysema, high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma) and multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) and the incremental annual health care use, medical expenditures, and lost productivity for survivors of cancer attributed to individual chronic conditions and MCCs. Incremental use, expenditures, and lost productivity were evaluated with multivariable regression. Results Survivors of cancer were more likely to have chronic conditions and MCCs compared with adults without a history of cancer. The presence of chronic conditions among survivors of cancer was associated with substantially higher annual medical expenditures, especially for heart disease ($4,595; 95% CI, $3,262 to $5,927) and stroke ($3,843; 95% CI, $1,983 to $5,704). The presence of four or more chronic conditions was associated with increased annual expenditures of $10,280 (95% CI, $7,435 to $13,125) per survivor of cancer. Annual lost productivity was higher among survivors of cancer with other chronic conditions, especially stroke ($4,325; 95% CI, $2,687 to $5,964), and arthritis ($3,534; 95% CI, $2,475 to $4,593). Having four or more chronic conditions was associated with increased annual lost productivity of $9,099 (95% CI, $7,224 to $10,973) per survivor of cancer. The economic impact of chronic conditions was similar among survivors of cancer and individuals without a history of cancer. Conclusion These results highlight the importance of ensuring access to lifelong personalized screening, surveillance, and chronic disease management to help manage chronic conditions, reduce disruptions in employment, and reduce medical expenditures among survivors of cancer.

Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America insomnia survey.

PubMed

Kessler, Ronald C; Berglund, Patricia A; Coulouvrat, Catherine; Hajak, Goeran; Roth, Thomas; Shahly, Victoria; Shillington, Alicia C; Stephenson, Judith J; Walsh, James K

2011-09-01

To estimate the prevalence and associations of broadly defined (i.e., meeting full ICD-10, DSM-IV, or RDC/ICSD-2 inclusion criteria) insomnia with work performance net of comorbid conditions in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS). Cross-sectional telephone survey. National sample of 7,428 employed health plan subscribers (ages 18+). None. Broadly defined insomnia was assessed with the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire (BIQ). Work absenteeism and presenteeism (low on-the-job work performance defined in the metric of lost workday equivalents) were assessed with the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Regression analysis examined associations between insomnia and HPQ scores controlling 26 comorbid conditions based on self-report and medical/pharmacy claims records. The estimated prevalence of insomnia was 23.2%. Insomnia was significantly associated with lost work performance due to presenteeism (χ² (1) = 39.5, P < 0.001) but not absenteeism (χ² (1) = 3.2, P = 0.07), with an annualized individual-level association of insomnia with presenteeism equivalent to 11.3 days of lost work performance. This estimate decreased to 7.8 days when controls were introduced for comorbid conditions. The individual-level human capital value of this net estimate was $2,280. If we provisionally assume these estimates generalize to the total US workforce, they are equivalent to annualized population-level estimates of 252.7 days and $63.2 billion. Insomnia is associated with substantial workplace costs. Although experimental studies suggest some of these costs could be recovered with insomnia disease management programs, effectiveness trials are needed to obtain precise estimates of return-on-investment of such interventions from the employer perspective.

A prospective study on transplantation of third molars with complete root formation.

PubMed

Mejàre, Bertil; Wannfors, Karin; Jansson, Leif

2004-02-01

The study objective was to evaluate the prognosis for autotransplantation of third molar teeth with fully developed roots followed by endodontic treatment on the basis of a time-table analysis. A total of 50 third molars with completely developed roots were autotransplanted to replace a lost first or second molar in the same number of admitted patients. Root canal treatment was started 3 to 4 weeks later. Clinical and radiographic checkup of the transplanted and root-filled third molars was done annually according to a predesigned record form. Descriptive statistics including a life table and statistical analysis were performed. The cumulative survival rate during 4 years' follow-up was 81.4%. In all, 7 transplants were lost during the follow-up time, 4 of them due to marginal periodontal pathosis and the other 3 due to root resorption. None of the root resorptions was observed before the second postoperative year. The radiographic periapical status was considered normal in 96% of the transplants at the latest follow-up visit. Autotransplantation of mature third molar teeth is a reasonable treatment alternative to conventional prosthetic rehabilitation or implant treatment in cases of partial edentualism from both a therapeutic and an economic point of view.

Estimate of the direct and indirect annual cost of bacterial conjunctivitis in the United States

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to estimate both the direct and indirect annual costs of treating bacterial conjunctivitis (BC) in the United States. This was a cost of illness study performed from a U.S. healthcare payer perspective. Methods A comprehensive review of the medical literature was supplemented by data on the annual incidence of BC which was obtained from an analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) database for the year 2005. Cost estimates for medical visits and laboratory or diagnostic tests were derived from published Medicare CPT fee codes. The cost of prescription drugs was obtained from standard reference sources. Indirect costs were calculated as those due to lost productivity. Due to the acute nature of BC, no cost discounting was performed. All costs are expressed in 2007 U.S. dollars. Results The number of BC cases in the U.S. for 2005 was estimated at approximately 4 million yielding an estimated annual incidence rate of 135 per 10,000. Base-case analysis estimated the total direct and indirect cost of treating patients with BC in the United States at $ 589 million. One- way sensitivity analysis, assuming either a 20% variation in the annual incidence of BC or treatment costs, generated a cost range of $ 469 million to $ 705 million. Two-way sensitivity analysis, assuming a 20% variation in both the annual incidence of BC and treatment costs occurring simultaneously, resulted in an estimated cost range of $ 377 million to $ 857 million. Conclusion The economic burden posed by BC is significant. The findings may prove useful to decision makers regarding the allocation of healthcare resources necessary to address the economic burden of BC in the United States. PMID:19939250

Common Ground for Managing Invasive Annual Grasses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Invasive annual grasses often reach their full biological potential in ecosystems of the western United States. This suggests that crucial ecosystem "checks and balances" are not functioning. In other words, invasion occurs because ecosystems have lost resistance to invasion, and invasive plants a...

Company reference estimates for productivity loss due to migraine and productivity gains using rizatriptan 10 mg in Germany.

PubMed

Yoon, M-S; Katsarava, Z; Liedert, B; Krobot, K J; Diener, H C; Limmroth, V

2006-03-01

The prevalence of migraine in Germany is up to 14% in the female and up to 8% in the male population and peaks between the age of 35 and 45. Few studies have investigated the productivity loss and resulting costs attributable to migraine in Germany or addressed the question whether these costs can be reduced by optimal treatment. In recent years, 5-HT(1B/D) agonists (so-called triptans), a generation of drugs highly specific for migraine treatment, have been introduced. Seven 5-HT(1B/D) agonists have been approved in Germany with more than 20 dosage forms. We present a model that enables employers to estimate the annual cost of migraine and the annual cost that could be saved by treatment of migraine with rizatriptan compared with the use of non-specific antimigraine medication. A representative German company with 10,000 employees is used for the reference case analysis. This company is predicted to have 580 female and 284 male employees with migraine. These employees are estimated to lose 6992 workdays or 31.8 person years of productive effort annually due to migraine, valued approximately 1,431,719 euros. The value of work loss that could be avoided by treating migraine with rizatriptan is estimated at 619,094 euros annually. These data indicate that costs arising from lost productivity can be reduced by treating migraine headaches with a triptan.

The economic impact of diabetes through lost labour force participation on individuals and government: evidence from a microsimulation model

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Diabetes is a costly and debilitating disease. The aim of the study is to quantify the individual and national costs of diabetes resulting from people retiring early because of this disease, including lost income; lost income taxation, increased government welfare payments; and reductions in GDP. Methods A purpose-built microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, was used to estimate the economic costs of early retirement due to diabetes. The study included all Australians aged 45–64 years in 2010 based on Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers. A multiple regression model was used to identify significant differences in income, government welfare payments and taxation liabilities between people out of the labour force because of their diabetes and those employed full time with no chronic health condition. Results The median annual income of people who retired early because of their diabetes was significantly lower (AU$11 784) compared to those employed full time without a chronic health condition who received almost five times more income. At the national level, there was a loss of AU$384 million in individual earnings by those with diabetes, an extra AU$4 million spent in government welfare payments, a loss of AU$56 million in taxation revenue, and a loss of AU$1 324 million in GDP in 2010: all attributable to diabetes through its impact on labour force participation. Sensitivity analysis was used to assess the impact of different diabetes prevalence rates on estimates of lost income, lost income taxation, increased government welfare payments, and reduced GDP. Conclusions Individuals bear the cost of lost income in addition to the burden of the disease. The Government endures the impacts of lost productivity and income taxation revenue, as well as spending more in welfare payments. These national costs are in addition to the Government’s direct healthcare costs. PMID:24592931

Average years of life lost due to breast and cervical cancer and the association with the marginalization index in Mexico in 2000 and 2010.

PubMed

Cervantes, Claudio Alberto Dávila; Botero, Marcela Agudelo

2014-05-01

The objective of this study was to calculate average years of life lost due to breast and cervical cancer in Mexico in 2000 and 2010. Data on mortality in women aged between 20 and 84 years was obtained from the National Institute for Statistics and Geography. Age-specific mortality rates and average years of life lost, which is an estimate of the number of years that a person would have lived if he or she had not died prematurely, were estimated for both diseases. Data was disaggregated into five-year age groups and socioeconomic status based on the 2010 marginalization index obtained from the National Population Council. A decrease in average years of life lost due to cervical cancer (37.4%) and an increase in average years of life lost due breast cancer (8.9%) was observed during the period studied. Average years of life lost due to cervical cancer was greater among women living in areas with a high marginalization index, while average years of life lost due to breast cancer was greater in women from areas with a low marginalization index.

"Lost milk?": Counting the economic value of breast milk in gross domestic product.

PubMed

Smith, J P

2013-11-01

The contribution of breastfeeding and mothers milk to the economy is invisible in economic statistics. This article demonstrates how the economic value of human milk production can be included in economic statistics such as gross domestic product (GDP) and provides estimates for Australia, the United States, and Norway. The contribution of human milk and lactation to GDP in these countries is estimated using United Nations (System of National Accounting) guidelines and conventional economic valuation approaches to measuring production in GDP. In Australia, current human milk production levels exceed $3 billion annually. The United States has the potential to produce human milk worth more than US$110 billion a year, but currently nearly two thirds of this value is lost due to premature weaning. In Norway, production valued at US$907 million annually is 60% of its potential value. The potential loss of economic value from not protecting women's lactation and milk production from competing market pressures is large. Failure to account for mothers' milk production in GDP and other economic data has important consequences for public policy. The invisibility of human milk reduces the perceived importance of programs and regulations that protect and support women to breastfeed. The value of human milk can be measured using accepted international guidelines for calculating national income and production. It is quantitatively nontrivial and should be counted in GDP.

Assessing conservation tools for an at-risk shorebird: Feasibility of headstarting for American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliatus

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collins, Samantha A.; Sanders, Felicia J.; Jodice, Patrick G.R.

2016-01-01

Management of threatened and endangered populations of wildlife increasingly relies upon active intervention such as predator control, habitat manipulation, and ex situ breeding or care. One tool that has received consideration for the management of declining or threatened avian populations is headstarting, or the artificial incubation of eggs and subsequent placement of newly hatched chicks in original or foster nests. We assessed the feasibility of implementing a headstarting program for the American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus, a species of high conservation concern in the eastern USA. Annual productivity is often low and lost during incubation, suggesting artificial incubation could enhance annual productivity. We used a control-impact approach to assign nests as either control or headstart and measured daily survival rate, success of parents accepting headstarted chicks, attendance patterns and behaviours of parents, and chick survival. We also implemented a transparent scoring process to rate the success of each step and the overall program. Daily survival rates of nests were significantly higher at headstart compared to control nests, and parents continued to incubate when eggs were well secured at nest sites. Attendance patterns and behaviour did not differ between headstart and control parents, and parents readily accepted healthy chicks whether they were returned to original or foster nests. Chick survival and subsequently annual productivity were, however, not higher at headstart compared to control nests suggesting that although we were able to enhance nest survival, low chick survival was still limiting annual productivity. Ultimately, headstarting may be most appropriate for American Oystercatchers where productivity is lost primarily to flooding, predation, or disturbance during the incubation stage but not during the chick-rearing stage. If, for example, high rates of nest loss are due to predators that also may prey upon chicks, then headstarting may not be an effective conservation tool.

78 FR 66786 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-06

... the Regional Railroad Reorganization Act of 1973, as amended, and as extended by the Consolidated... Burden [The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows] Annual Form No. responses Time (minutes... claimed and did not receive income such as vacation pay or pay for time lost for any day claimed is...

CASE Annual Fund Ideas. The Best of CASE Currents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Virginia L., Ed.

Fund raising ideas for colleges and universities are compiled in a handbook of articles from "CASE Currents." The first section discusses the annual fund drive in such articles as: "Start that Habit Early--Senior Giving '5X'" (Lynn Segall); "Join Hands with Lost Friends" (Jeanne Knoerle); "Match Those…

Male reproductive disorders, diseases, and costs of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the European Union.

PubMed

Hauser, Russ; Skakkebaek, Niels E; Hass, Ulla; Toppari, Jorma; Juul, Anders; Andersson, Anna Maria; Kortenkamp, Andreas; Heindel, Jerrold J; Trasande, Leonardo

2015-04-01

Increasing evidence suggests that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) contribute to male reproductive diseases and disorders. To estimate the incidence/prevalence of selected male reproductive disorders/diseases and associated economic costs that can be reasonably attributed to specific EDC exposures in the European Union (EU). An expert panel evaluated evidence for probability of causation using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change weight-of-evidence characterization. Exposure-response relationships and reference levels were evaluated, and biomarker data were organized from carefully identified studies from the peer-reviewed literature to represent European exposure and approximate burden of disease as it occurred in 2010. The cost-of-illness estimation utilized multiple peer-reviewed sources. The expert panel identified low epidemiological and strong toxicological evidence for male infertility attributable to phthalate exposure, with a 40-69% probability of causing 618,000 additional assisted reproductive technology procedures, costing €4.71 billion annually. Low epidemiological and strong toxicological evidence was also identified for cryptorchidism due to prenatal polybrominated diphenyl ether exposure, resulting in a 40-69% probability that 4615 cases result, at a cost of €130 million (sensitivity analysis, €117-130 million). A much more modest (0-19%) probability of causation in testicular cancer by polybrominated diphenyl ethers was identified due to very low epidemiological and weak toxicological evidence, with 6830 potential cases annually and costs of €848 million annually (sensitivity analysis, €313-848 million). The panel assigned 40-69% probability of lower T concentrations in 55- to 64-year-old men due to phthalate exposure, with 24 800 associated deaths annually and lost economic productivity of €7.96 billion. EDCs may contribute substantially to male reproductive disorders and diseases, with nearly €15 billion annual associated costs in the EU. These estimates represent only a few EDCs for which there were sufficient epidemiological studies and those with the highest probability of causation. These public health costs should be considered as the EU contemplates regulatory action on EDCs.

An estimated cost of lost climate regulation services caused by thawing of the Arctic cryosphere.

PubMed

Euskirchen, Eugénie S; Goodstein, Eban S; Huntington, Henry P

2013-12-01

Recent and expected changes in Arctic sea ice cover, snow cover, and methane emissions from permafrost thaw are likely to result in large positive feedbacks to climate warming. There is little recognition of the significant loss in economic value that the disappearance of Arctic sea ice, snow, and permafrost will impose on humans. Here, we examine how sea ice and snow cover, as well as methane emissions due to changes in permafrost, may potentially change in the future, to year 2100, and how these changes may feed back to influence the climate. Between 2010 and 2100, the annual costs from the extra warming due to a decline in albedo related to losses of sea ice and snow, plus each year's methane emissions, cumulate to a present value cost to society ranging from US$7.5 trillion to US$91.3 trillion. The estimated range reflects uncertainty associated with (1) the extent of warming-driven positive climate feedbacks from the thawing cryosphere and (2) the expected economic damages per metric ton of CO2 equivalents that will be imposed by added warming, which depend, especially, on the choice of discount rate. The economic uncertainty is much larger than the uncertainty in possible future feedback effects. Nonetheless, the frozen Arctic provides immense services to all nations by cooling the earth's temperature: the cryosphere is an air conditioner for the planet. As the Arctic thaws, this critical, climate-stabilizing ecosystem service is being lost. This paper provides a first attempt to monetize the cost of some of those lost services.

Hungry Horse Dam Fisheries Mitigation; Kokanee Stocking and Monitoring in Flathead Lake, 1995 Annual Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fredenberg, Wade; Carty, Daniel; Cavigli, Jon

1996-06-01

The operation of Hungry Horse Dam on the South Fork-of the Flathead River reduced the reproductive success of kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) spawning in the Flathead River. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) authored a mitigation plan to offset those losses. The mitigation goal, stated in the Fisheries Mitigation Plan for Losses Attributed to the Construction and Operation of Hungry Horse Dam, is to: {open_quotes}Replace lost annual production of 100,000 kokanee adults, initially through hatchery production and pen rearing in Flathead Lake, partially replacing lost forage for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Flatheadmore » Lake.{close_quotes}« less

Seasonal and Perennial Changes in the Distribution of Water in the Sapwood of Conifers in a Sub-Frigid Zone1

PubMed Central

Utsumi, Yasuhiro; Sano, Yuzou; Funada, Ryo; Ohtani, Jun; Fujikawa, Seizo

2003-01-01

An analysis was made of progressive changes in patterns of cavitation in the sapwood of three species of conifer (Larix kaempferi, Abies sachalinensis, and Picea jezoensis) that were growing in a sub-frigid zone. In all three conifers, all tracheids of the newly forming outermost annual ring were filled with water or cytoplasm during the period from May to August. However, many tracheids in the transition zone from earlywood to latewood lost water in September, presumably through drought-induced cavitation. Cavitated tracheids tended to be continuously distributed in a tangential direction. Subsequently, some earlywood tracheids of the outermost annual ring lost water during the period from January to March. This was associated with freeze-thaw cycles. In the second and third annual rings from the cambium of all three conifers, the lumina of most tracheids in the transition zone from earlywood to latewood contained no water. In contrast, some latewood tracheids near the annual ring boundary and many earlywood tracheids retained water in their lumina. The third annual ring had more cavitated tracheids than the second annual ring. Our observations indicated that cavitation progressed gradually in the tracheids of the conifers and that they were never refilled once cavitation had occurred. The region involved in water transport in conifers did not include the entire sapwood and differed among annual rings. PMID:12692342

Long-term carbon loss in fragmented Neotropical forests.

PubMed

Pütz, Sandro; Groeneveld, Jürgen; Henle, Klaus; Knogge, Christoph; Martensen, Alexandre Camargo; Metz, Markus; Metzger, Jean Paul; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; de Paula, Mateus Dantas; Huth, Andreas

2014-10-07

Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, as they store a large amount of carbon (C). Tropical forest deforestation has been identified as a major source of CO2 emissions, though biomass loss due to fragmentation--the creation of additional forest edges--has been largely overlooked as an additional CO2 source. Here, through the combination of remote sensing and knowledge on ecological processes, we present long-term carbon loss estimates due to fragmentation of Neotropical forests: within 10 years the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has lost 69 (±14) Tg C, and the Amazon 599 (±120) Tg C due to fragmentation alone. For all tropical forests, we estimate emissions up to 0.2 Pg C y(-1) or 9 to 24% of the annual global C loss due to deforestation. In conclusion, tropical forest fragmentation increases carbon loss and should be accounted for when attempting to understand the role of vegetation in the global carbon balance.

Insomnia and the Performance of US Workers: Results from the America Insomnia Survey

PubMed Central

Kessler, Ronald C.; Berglund, Patricia A.; Coulouvrat, Catherine; Hajak, Goeran; Roth, Thomas; Shahly, Victoria; Shillington, Alicia C.; Stephenson, Judith J.; Walsh, James K.

2011-01-01

Study Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and associations of broadly defined (i.e., meeting full ICD-10, DSM-IV, or RDC/ICSD-2 inclusion criteria) insomnia with work performance net of comorbid conditions in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS). Design/Setting: Cross-sectional telephone survey. Participants: National sample of 7,428 employed health plan subscribers (ages 18+). Interventions: None. Measurements and Results: Broadly defined insomnia was assessed with the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire (BIQ). Work absenteeism and presenteeism (low on-the-job work performance defined in the metric of lost workday equivalents) were assessed with the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Regression analysis examined associations between insomnia and HPQ scores controlling 26 comorbid conditions based on self-report and medical/pharmacy claims records. The estimated prevalence of insomnia was 23.2%. Insomnia was significantly associated with lost work performance due to presenteeism (χ21 = 39.5, P < 0.001) but not absenteeism (χ21 = 3.2, P = 0.07), with an annualized individual-level association of insomnia with presenteeism equivalent to 11.3 days of lost work performance. This estimate decreased to 7.8 days when controls were introduced for comorbid conditions. The individual-level human capital value of this net estimate was $2,280. If we provisionally assume these estimates generalize to the total US workforce, they are equivalent to annualized population-level estimates of 252.7 days and $63.2 billion. Conclusions: Insomnia is associated with substantial workplace costs. Although experimental studies suggest some of these costs could be recovered with insomnia disease management programs, effectiveness trials are needed to obtain precise estimates of return-on-investment of such interventions from the employer perspective. Citation: Kessler RC; Berglund PA; Coulouvrat C; Hajak G; Roth T; Shahly V; Shillington AC; Stephenson JJ; Walsh JK. Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.SLEEP 2011;34(9):1161-1171. PMID:21886353

Estimated Cost to a Restaurant of a Foodborne Illness Outbreak.

PubMed

Bartsch, Sarah M; Asti, Lindsey; Nyathi, Sindiso; Spiker, Marie L; Lee, Bruce Y

Although outbreaks of restaurant-associated foodborne illness occur periodically and make the news, a restaurant may not be aware of the cost of an outbreak. We estimated this cost under varying circumstances. We developed a computational simulation model; scenarios varied outbreak size (5 to 250 people affected), pathogen (n = 15), type of dining establishment (fast food, fast casual, casual dining, and fine dining), lost revenue (ie, meals lost per illness), cost of lawsuits and legal fees, fines, and insurance premium increases. We estimated that the cost of a single foodborne illness outbreak ranged from $3968 to $1.9 million for a fast-food restaurant, $6330 to $2.1 million for a fast-casual restaurant, $8030 to $2.2 million for a casual-dining restaurant, and $8273 to $2.6 million for a fine-dining restaurant, varying from a 5-person outbreak, with no lost revenue, lawsuits, legal fees, or fines, to a 250-person outbreak, with high lost revenue (100 meals lost per illness), and a high amount of lawsuits and legal fees ($1 656 569) and fines ($100 000). This cost amounts to 10% to 5790% of a restaurant's annual marketing costs and 0.3% to 101% of annual profits and revenue. The biggest cost drivers were lawsuits and legal fees, outbreak size, and lost revenue. Pathogen type affected the cost by a maximum of $337 000, the difference between a Bacillus cereus outbreak (least costly) and a listeria outbreak (most costly). The cost of a single foodborne illness outbreak to a restaurant can be substantial and outweigh the typical costs of prevention and control measures. Our study can help decision makers determine investment and motivate research for infection-control measures in restaurant settings.

Hydrogeology and steady-state numerical simulation of groundwater flow in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Arnold, L.R.

2010-01-01

The Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin (Lost Creek basin) is an important alluvial aquifer for irrigation, public supply, and domestic water uses in northeastern Colorado. Beginning in 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Lost Creek Ground Water Management District and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, collected hydrologic data and constructed a steady-state numerical groundwater flow model of the Lost Creek basin. The model builds upon the work of previous investigators to provide an updated tool for simulating the potential effects of various hydrologic stresses on groundwater flow and evaluating possible aquifer-management strategies. As part of model development, the thickness and extent of regolith sediments in the basin were mapped, and data were collected concerning aquifer recharge beneath native grassland, nonirrigated agricultural fields, irrigated agricultural fields, and ephemeral stream channels. The thickness and extent of regolith in the Lost Creek basin indicate the presence of a 2- to 7-mile-wide buried paleovalley that extends along the Lost Creek basin from south to north, where it joins the alluvial valley of the South Platte River valley. Regolith that fills the paleovalley is as much as about 190 ft thick. Average annual recharge from infiltration of precipitation on native grassland and nonirrigated agricultural fields was estimated by using the chloride mass-balance method to range from 0.1 to 0.6 inch, which represents about 1-4 percent of long-term average precipitation. Average annual recharge from infiltration of ephemeral streamflow was estimated by using apparent downward velocities of chloride peaks to range from 5.7 to 8.2 inches. Average annual recharge beneath irrigated agricultural fields was estimated by using passive-wick lysimeters and a water-balance approach to range from 0 to 11.3 inches, depending on irrigation method, soil type, crop type, and the net quantity of irrigation water applied. Estimated average annual recharge beneath irrigated agricultural fields represents about 0-43 percent of net irrigation. The U.S. Geological Survey modular groundwater modeling program, MODFLOW-2000, was used to develop a steady-state groundwater flow model of the Lost Creek basin. Groundwater in the basin is simulated generally to flow from the basin margins toward the center of the basin and northward along the paleovalley. The largest source of inflow to the model occurs from recharge beneath flood- and sprinkler-irrigated agricultural fields (14,510 acre-feet per year [acre-ft/yr]), which represents 39.7 percent of total simulated inflow. Other substantial sources of inflow to the model are recharge from precipitation and stream-channel infiltration in nonirrigated areas (13,810 acre-ft/yr) seepage from Olds Reservoir (4,280 acre-ft/yr), and subsurface inflow from ditches and irrigated fields outside the model domain (2,490 acre-ft/yr), which contribute 37.7, 11.7, and 6.8 percent, respectively, of total inflow. The largest outflow from the model occurs from irrigation well withdrawals (26,760 acre-ft/yr), which represent 73.2 percent of total outflow. Groundwater discharge (6,640 acre-ft/yr) at the downgradient end of the Lost Creek basin represents 18.2 percent of total outflow, and evapotranspiration (3,140 acre-ft/yr) represents about 8.6 percent of total outflow.

Medical Countermeasure Models. Volume 4. Francisella tularensis

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-12

34 Medicine. 64(4). 1985. 187 Flax, L. " TYPHOIDAL TULAREMIA." Maryland state medical journal. 12(601). 1963. 188 Ford-Jones Let al."" Muskrat fever ...Work Lost A-37 Period of Fever A-37 Work Lost in an Individual Who Recovers A-38 Medical Countermeasure Models Volume 4: Francisella...symptom onset, period of fever , day of death, days of work lost due to MCM adverse effects, days of work lost due to illness, day of relapse, and

Years of Life Lost Due to External Causes of Death in the Lodz Province, Poland

PubMed Central

Pikala, Malgorzata; Bryla, Marek; Bryla, Pawel; Maniecka-Bryla, Irena

2014-01-01

Background The aim of the study is the analysis of years of life lost due to external causes of death, particularly due to traffic accidents and suicides. Materials and Methods The study material includes a database containing information gathered from 376,281 death certificates of inhabitants of the Lodz province who died between 1999 and 2010. The Lodz province is characterized by the highest mortality rates in Poland. The SEYLLp (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per living person) and the SEYLLd (per death) indices were used to determine years of life lost. Joinpoint models were used to analyze time trends. Results In 2010, deaths due to external causes constituted 6.0% of the total number of deaths. The standardized death rate (SDR) due to external causes was 110.0 per 100,000 males and was five times higher than for females (22.0 per 100,000 females). In 2010, the SEYLLp due to external causes was 3746 per 100,000 males and 721 per 100,000 females. Among males, suicides and traffic accidents were the most common causes of death (the values of the SEYLLp were: 1098 years and 887 years per 100,000 people, respectively). Among females, the SEYLLp values were 183 years due to traffic accidents and 143 years due to suicides (per 100,000 people). Conclusions A decrease in the number of years of life lost due to external causes is much higher among females. The authors observe that a growing number of suicides contribute to an increase in the value of the SEYLLp index. This directly contributes to over-mortality of males due to external causes. The analysis of the years of life lost focuses on the social and economic aspects of premature mortality due to external causes. PMID:24810942

Economic Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Different Stages of Disease: A Report From Southern Iran.

PubMed

Zare, Fatemeh; Fattahi, Mohammad Reza; Sepehrimanesh, Masood; Safarpour, Ali Reza

2016-04-01

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major blood-borne infection which imposes high economic cost on the patients. The current study aimed to evaluate the total annual cost due to chronic HCV related diseases imposed on each patient and their family in Southern Iran. Economic burden of chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases (chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) were examined. The current retrospective study evaluated 200 Iranian patients for their socioeconomic status, utilization (direct and indirect costs) and treatment costs and work days lost due to illness by a structured questionnaire in 2015. Costs of hospital admissions were extracted from databases of Nemazee hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The outpatient expenditure per patient was measured through the rate of outpatient visits and average cost per visit reported by the patients; while the inpatient costs were calculated through annual rate of hospital admissions and average expenditure. Self-medication and direct non-medical costs were also reported. The human capital approach was used to measure the work loss cost. The total annual cost per patient for chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) were USD 1625.50, USD 6117.2, and USD 11047.2 in 2015, respectively. Chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases impose a substantial economic burden on patients, families and the society. The current study provides useful information on cost of treatment and work loss for different disease states, which can be further used in cost-effectiveness evaluations.

Incidence and impact of damage and mortality trends to South Carolina's timber, 1986

Treesearch

Robert L. Anderson; Noel D. Cost; William H. Hoffard; Clair Redmond; Joe Glover

1990-01-01

On South Carolina's 12.2 million acres of timberland, 186 million cubic feet of timber were lost annually to mortality and cull between 1978 and 1986. The estimated annual monetary loss was $97.3 million. Among broad management types. natural pine, planted pine, upland hardwoods, and bottomland hardwoods - the greatest loss occurred in natural pine stands. About...

Evaluation and selection of security products for authentication of computer software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roenigk, Mark W.

2000-04-01

Software Piracy is estimated to cost software companies over eleven billion dollars per year in lost revenue worldwide. Over fifty three percent of all intellectual property in the form of software is pirated on a global basis. Software piracy has a dramatic effect on the employment figures for the information industry as well. In the US alone, over 130,000 jobs are lost annually as a result of software piracy.

Hydroelectric production from Brazil's São Francisco River could cease due to climate change and inter-annual variability.

PubMed

de Jong, Pieter; Tanajura, Clemente Augusto Souza; Sánchez, Antonio Santos; Dargaville, Roger; Kiperstok, Asher; Torres, Ednildo Andrade

2018-09-01

By the end of this century higher temperatures and significantly reduced rainfall are projected for the Brazilian North and Northeast (NE) regions due to Global Warming. This study examines the impact of these long-term rainfall changes on the Brazilian Northeast's hydroelectric production. Various studies that use different IPCC models are examined in order to determine the average rainfall reduction by the year 2100 in comparison to baseline data from the end of the 20th century. It was found that average annual rainfall in the NE region could decrease by approximately 25-50% depending on the emissions scenario. Analysis of historical rainfall data in the São Francisco basin during the last 57years already shows a decline of more than 25% from the 1961-90 long-term average. Moreover, average annual rainfall in the basin has been below its long-term average every year bar one since 1992. If this declining trend continues, rainfall reduction in the basin could be even more severe than the most pessimistic model projections. That is, the marked drop in average rainfall projected for 2100, based on the IPCC high emissions scenario, could actually eventuate before 2050. Due to the elasticity factor between rainfall and streamflow and because of increased amounts of irrigation in the São Francisco basin, the reduction in the NE's average hydroelectric production in the coming decades could be double the predicted decline in rainfall. Conversely, it is estimated that wind power potential in the Brazilian NE will increase substantially by 2100. Therefore both wind and solar power will need to be significantly exploited in order for the NE region to sustainably replace lost hydroelectric production. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of veterinarians in bovine practice and producers with beef cow-calf operations enrolled in the US Voluntary Bovine Johne's Disease Control Program concerning economic losses associated with Johne's disease.

PubMed

Bhattarai, Bikash; Fosgate, Geoffrey T; Osterstock, Jason B; Fossler, Charles P; Park, Seong C; Roussel, Allen J

2013-11-01

This study compares the perceptions of producers and veterinarians on the economic impacts of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in cow-calf herds. Questionnaires were mailed to beef producers through the Designated Johne's Coordinators and to veterinarians belonging to a nationwide professional organization. Important components of losses associated with MAP infected cows were used to estimate total loss per infected cow-year using an iterative approach based on collected survey data. Veterinarians were more likely to perceive a lower calving percentage in MAP infected cows compared to producers (P=0.02). Income lost due to the presence of Johne's disease (JD) in an infected cattle herd was perceived to be higher by veterinarians (P<0.01). Compared to veterinarians without JD certification, seedstock producers were more likely to perceive genetic losses due to culling cows positive for MAP (P<0.01). There were mixed opinions regarding the magnitude of lowered weaning weight in calves from infected cows and perceived differences in risk of other diseases or conditions in infected cows. An annual loss of $235 (95% CR: $89-$457) for each infected animal was estimated based on information from the producer survey. The analogous estimate using information inputs from veterinarians was $250 ($82-$486). Mean annual loss due to JD in a 100 cow herd with a 7% true prevalence was $1644 ($625-$3250) based on information provided by producers. Similarly, mean annual loss based on information collected from veterinarians was $1747 ($575-$3375). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The monetary value of human lives lost due to neglected tropical diseases in Africa.

PubMed

Kirigia, Joses Muthuri; Mburugu, Gitonga N

2017-12-18

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are an important cause of death and disability in Africa. This study estimates the monetary value of human lives lost due to NTDs in the continent in 2015. The lost output or human capital approach was used to evaluate the years of life lost due to premature deaths from NTDs among 10 high/upper-middle-income (Group 1), 17 middle-income (Group 2) and 27 low-income (Group 3) countries in Africa. The future losses were discounted to their present values at a 3% discount rate. The model was re-analysed using 5% and 10% discount rates to assess the impact on the estimated total value of human lives lost. The estimated value of 67 860 human lives lost in 2015 due to NTDs was Int$ 5 112 472 607. Out of that, 14.6% was borne by Group 1, 57.7% by Group 2 and 27.7% by Group 3 countries. The mean value of human life lost per NTD death was Int$ 231 278, Int$ 109 771 and Int$ 37 489 for Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 countries, respectively. The estimated value of human lives lost in 2015 due to NTDs was equivalent to 0.1% of the cumulative gross domestic product of the 53 continental African countries. Even though NTDs are not a major cause of death, they impact negatively on the productivity of those affected throughout their life-course. Thus, the case for investing in NTDs control should also be influenced by the value of NTD morbidity, availability of effective donated medicines, human rights arguments, and need to achieve the NTD-related target 3.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 (on health) by 2030.

77 FR 40359 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-09

... Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC... annually in lost worker productivity. Although the prevalence of current smoking among adults decreased...

Clinical Investigation Program.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

Tomographic (CT) Appearance of the ryc- cardium After Neversible and Irreversible Ischemic Injury . 29th Annual Meeting of the Association of University...Orthopedic Surgeons, San Antonio, TX, Nov 1980. (C) Greenfield, G. Q., Jr.: Injuries Related to Rollerskating. Annual Mleeting, Society of Military...volume reduction odiumw balance A c-umuatie-.EDLASE I E st Ac cumul a ti ye Perio -di-c ............ Lost: LOA Cost: $1LO0. Review Results: Continue

2013 NASA Range Safety Annual Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dumont, Alan G.

2013-01-01

Welcome to the 2013 edition of the NASA Range Safety Annual Report. Funded by NASA Headquarters, this report provides an Agency overview for current and potential range users. This report contains articles which cover a variety of subject areas, summaries of various activities performed during the past year, links to past reports, and information on several projects that may have a profound impact on the way business will be conducted in the future. Specific topics discussed in the 2013 NASA Range Safety Annual Report include a program overview and 2013 highlights, Range Safety Training, Independent Assessments, support to Program Operations at all ranges conducting NASA launch/flight operations, a continuing overview of emerging range safety-related technologies, and status reports from all of the NASA Centers that have Range Safety responsibilities. Every effort has been made to include the most current information available. We recommend this report be used only for guidance and that the validity and accuracy of all articles be verified for updates. As is the case each year, we had a wide variety of contributors to this report from across our NASA Centers and the national range safety community at large, and I wish to thank them all. On a sad note, we lost one of our close colleagues, Dr. Jim Simpson, due to his sudden passing in December. His work advancing the envelope of autonomous flight safety systems software/hardware development leaves a lasting impression on our community. Such systems are being flight tested today and may one day be considered routine in the range safety business. The NASA family has lost a pioneer in our field, and he will surely be missed. In conclusion, it has been a very busy and productive year, and I look forward to working with all of you in NASA Centers/Programs/Projects and with the national Range Safety community in making Flight/Space activities as safe as they can be in the upcoming year.

[Work days lost due to health problems in industry].

PubMed

Yano, Sylvia Regina Trindade; Santana, Vilma Sousa

2012-05-01

This cross-sectional study estimated the prevalence of work days lost due to health problems and associated factors among industrial workers. The study population was a simple random cluster sample of 3,403 workers from 16 to 65 years of age in the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil. Data were collected with individual home interviews. Among industrial workers, one-year prevalence of work days lost to health problems was 12.5%, of which 5.5% were directly work-related and 4.1% aggravated by work. There were no statistically significant differences when compared to other worker categories. Self-perceived workplace hazards, history of work-related injury, and poor self-rated health were associated with work days lost due to work-related injuries/diseases. The findings showed that work days lost are common among both industrial and non-industrial workers, thereby affecting productivity and requiring prevention programs.

The cost of care of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis patients in tertiary care rheumatology units in Turkey.

PubMed

Malhan, Simten; Pay, Salih; Ataman, Sebnem; Dalkilic, Ediz; Dinc, Ayhan; Erken, Eren; Ertenli, Ihsan; Ertugrul, Esin; Gogus, Feride; Hamuryudan, Vedat; Inanc, Murat; Karaarslan, Yasar; Karadag, Omer; Karakoc, Yuksel; Keskin, Goksal; Kisacik, Bunyamin; Kiraz, Sedat; Oksel, Fahrettin; Oksuz, Ergun; Pirildar, Timur; Sari, Ismail; Soy, Mehmet; Senturk, Taskin; Taylan, Ali

2012-01-01

To determine the direct and indirect costs due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients in Turkey. An expert panel was convened to estimate the direct and indirect costs of care of patients with RA and AS in Turkey. The panel was composed of 22 experts chosen from all national tertiary care rheumatology units (n=53). To calculate direct costs, the medical management of RA and AS patients was estimated using 'cost-of-illness' methodology. To measure indirect costs, the number of days of sick leave, the extent of disability, and the levels of early retirement and early death were also evaluated. Lost productivity costs were calculated using the 'human capital approach', based on the minimum wage. The total annual direct costs were 2,917.03 Euros per RA patient and 3,565.9 Euros for each AS patient. The direct costs were thus substantial, but the indirect costs were much higher because of extensive morbidity and mortality rates. The total annual indirect costs were 7,058.99 Euros per RA patient and 6,989.81 for each AS patient. Thus, the total cost for each RA patient was 9,976.01 Euros and that for an AS patient 10,555.72 Euros, in Turkey. From the societal perspective, both RA and AS have become burden in Turkey. The cost of lost productivity is higher than the medical cost. Another important conclusion is that indirect costs constitute 70% and 66% of total costs in patients with RA and AS, respectively.

Clarifying life lost due to cold and heat: a new approach using annual time series.

PubMed

Rehill, Nirandeep; Armstrong, Ben; Wilkinson, Paul

2015-04-15

To clarify whether deaths associated with hot and cold days are among the frail who would have died anyway in the next few weeks or months. Time series regression analysis of annual deaths in relation to annual summaries of cold and heat. London, UK. 3 530 280 deaths from all natural causes among London residents between October 1949 and September 2006. Change in annual risk of death (all natural cause, cardiovascular and respiratory) associated with each additional 1°C of average cold (or heat) below (above) the threshold (18°C) across each year. Cold years were associated with increased deaths from all causes. For each additional 1° of cold across the year, all-cause mortality increased by 2.3% (95% CI 0.7% to 3.8%), after adjustment for influenza and secular trends. The estimated association between hot years and all-cause mortality was very imprecise and thus inconclusive (effect estimate 1.7%, -2.9% to 6.5%). These estimates were broadly robust to changes in the way temperature and trend were modelled. Estimated risk increments using weekly data but otherwise comparable were cold: 2.0% (2.0% to 2.1%) and heat: 3.9% (3.4% to 3.8%). In this London annual series, we saw an association of cold with mortality which was broadly similar in magnitude to that found in published daily studies and our own weekly analysis, suggesting that most deaths due to cold were among individuals who would not have died in the next 6 months. The estimated association with heat was imprecise, with the CI including magnitudes found in daily studies but also including zero. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The net effect of smoking on healthcare and welfare costs. A cohort study.

PubMed

Tiihonen, Jari; Ronkainen, Kimmo; Kangasharju, Aki; Kauhanen, Jussi

2012-01-01

To study the net economic effect of smoking on society. Prospective cohort study. Eastern Finland. We studied mortality, paid income and tobacco taxes, and the cumulative costs due to pensions and medical care among tobacco smoking and non-smoking individuals in a 27-year prospective cohort study of 1976 men from Eastern Finland. These individuals were 54-60 years old at the beginning of the follow-up. The net contribution of smoking versus non-smoking individuals to public finance balance (euros). Smoking was associated with a greater mean annual healthcare cost of €1600 per living individual during follow-up. However, due to a shorter lifespan of 8.6 years, smokers' mean total healthcare costs during the entire study period were actually €4700 lower than for non-smokers. For the same reason, each smoker missed 7.3 years (€126 850) of pension. Overall, smokers' average net contribution to the public finance balance was €133 800 greater per individual compared with non-smokers. However, if each lost quality adjusted life year is considered to be worth €22 200, the net effect is reversed to be €70 200 (€71.600 when adjusted with propensity score) per individual in favour of non-smoking. Smoking was associated with a moderate decrease in healthcare costs, and a marked decrease in pension costs due to increased mortality. However, when a monetary value for life years lost was taken into account, the beneficial net effect of non-smoking to society was about €70 000 per individual.

Profitability and occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines☆

PubMed Central

Asfaw, Abay; Mark, Christopher; Pana-Cryan, Regina

2015-01-01

Background Coal plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy yet underground coal mining continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. In addition, there are large variations in both profitability and the incidence of occupational injuries across mines. Objective The objective of this study was to examine the association between profitability and the incidence rate of occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines between 1992 and 2008. Data and method We used mine-specific data on annual hours worked, geographic location, and the number of occupational injuries suffered annually from the employment and accident/injury databases of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and mine-specific data on annual revenue from coal sales, mine age, workforce union status, and mining method from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A total of 5669 mine-year observations (number of mines × number of years) were included in our analysis. We used a negative binomial random effects model that was appropriate for analyzing panel (combined time-series and cross-sectional) injury data that were non-negative and discrete. The dependent variable, occupational injury, was measured in three different and non-mutually exclusive ways: all reported fatal and nonfatal injuries, reported nonfatal injuries with lost workdays, and the ‘most serious’ (i.e. sum of fatal and serious nonfatal) injuries reported. The total number of hours worked in each mine and year examined was used as an exposure variable. Profitability, the main explanatory variable, was approximated by revenue per hour worked. Our model included mine age, workforce union status, mining method, and geographic location as additional control variables. Results After controlling for other variables, a 10% increase in real total revenue per hour worked was associated with 0.9%, 1.1%, and 1.6% decrease, respectively, in the incidence rates of all reported injuries, reported injuries with lost workdays, and the most serious injuries reported. Conclusion We found an inverse relationship between profitability and each of the three indicators of occupational injuries we used. These results might be partially due to factors that affect both profitability and safety, such as management or engineering practices, and partially due to lower investments in safety by less profitable mines, which could imply that some financially stressed mines might be so focused on survival that they forgo investing in safety. PMID:22884379

Profitability and occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines.

PubMed

Asfaw, Abay; Mark, Christopher; Pana-Cryan, Regina

2013-01-01

Coal plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy yet underground coal mining continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. In addition, there are large variations in both profitability and the incidence of occupational injuries across mines. The objective of this study was to examine the association between profitability and the incidence rate of occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines between 1992 and 2008. We used mine-specific data on annual hours worked, geographic location, and the number of occupational injuries suffered annually from the employment and accident/injury databases of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and mine-specific data on annual revenue from coal sales, mine age, workforce union status, and mining method from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A total of 5669 mine-year observations (number of mines×number of years) were included in our analysis. We used a negative binomial random effects model that was appropriate for analyzing panel (combined time-series and cross-sectional) injury data that were non-negative and discrete. The dependent variable, occupational injury, was measured in three different and non-mutually exclusive ways: all reported fatal and nonfatal injuries, reported nonfatal injuries with lost workdays, and the 'most serious' (i.e. sum of fatal and serious nonfatal) injuries reported. The total number of hours worked in each mine and year examined was used as an exposure variable. Profitability, the main explanatory variable, was approximated by revenue per hour worked. Our model included mine age, workforce union status, mining method, and geographic location as additional control variables. After controlling for other variables, a 10% increase in real total revenue per hour worked was associated with 0.9%, 1.1%, and 1.6% decrease, respectively, in the incidence rates of all reported injuries, reported injuries with lost workdays, and the most serious injuries reported. We found an inverse relationship between profitability and each of the three indicators of occupational injuries we used. These results might be partially due to factors that affect both profitability and safety, such as management or engineering practices, and partially due to lower investments in safety by less profitable mines, which could imply that some financially stressed mines might be so focused on survival that they forgo investing in safety. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Economic Study of Global Tobacco Burden

Cancer.gov

In an interview on Cancer Currents, Dr. Mark Parascandola discusses findings from an economics study showing that, globally, tobacco use burdens economies with more than US $1 trillion annually in health care costs and lost productivity.

Burden of Respiratory Disease in Korea: An Observational Study on Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, COPD, and Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Yoo, Kwang-Ha; Ahn, Hae-Ryun; Park, Jae-Kyoung; Kim, Jong-Woong; Nam, Gui-Hyun; Hong, Soon-Kwan; Kim, Mee-Ja; Ghoshal, Aloke Gopal; Muttalif, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul; Lin, Horng-Chyuan; Thanaviratananich, Sanguansak; Bagga, Shalini; Faruqi, Rab; Sajjan, Shiva; Baidya, Santwona; Wang, De Yun

2016-01-01

Purpose The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study is a cross-sectional, observational one which has used a standard protocol to examine the disease and economic burden of allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and rhinosinusitis across the Asia-Pacific region. Here, we report on symptoms, healthcare resource use, work impairment, and associated costs in Korea. Methods Consecutive participants aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, healthcare resource use, and work productivity and activity impairment. Costs included direct medical cost and indirect cost associated with lost work productivity. Results The study enrolled 999 patients. Patients were often diagnosed with multiple respiratory disorders (42.8%), with asthma/AR and AR/rhinosinusitis the most frequently diagnosed combinations. Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit in patients with a primary diagnosis of asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the main reasons in those with AR and rhinosinusitis. The mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US$8,853 (SD 11,245) per patient. Lost productivity due to presenteeism was the biggest contributor to costs. Conclusions Respiratory disease has a significant impact on disease burden in Korea. Treatment strategies for preventing lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of respiratory disease. PMID:27582404

Burden of Respiratory Disease in Korea: An Observational Study on Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, COPD, and Rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Yoo, Kwang Ha; Ahn, Hae Ryun; Park, Jae Kyoung; Kim, Jong Woong; Nam, Gui Hyun; Hong, Soon Kwan; Kim, Mee Ja; Ghoshal, Aloke Gopal; Muttalif, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul; Lin, Horng Chyuan; Thanaviratananich, Sanguansak; Bagga, Shalini; Faruqi, Rab; Sajjan, Shiva; Baidya, Santwona; Wang, De Yun; Cho, Sang Heon

2016-11-01

The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study is a cross-sectional, observational one which has used a standard protocol to examine the disease and economic burden of allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and rhinosinusitis across the Asia-Pacific region. Here, we report on symptoms, healthcare resource use, work impairment, and associated costs in Korea. Consecutive participants aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, healthcare resource use, and work productivity and activity impairment. Costs included direct medical cost and indirect cost associated with lost work productivity. The study enrolled 999 patients. Patients were often diagnosed with multiple respiratory disorders (42.8%), with asthma/AR and AR/rhinosinusitis the most frequently diagnosed combinations. Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit in patients with a primary diagnosis of asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the main reasons in those with AR and rhinosinusitis. The mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US$8,853 (SD 11,245) per patient. Lost productivity due to presenteeism was the biggest contributor to costs. Respiratory disease has a significant impact on disease burden in Korea. Treatment strategies for preventing lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of respiratory disease.

The prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain: a cohort of Ontario lost-time claimants.

PubMed

Côté, Pierre; Kristman, Vicki; Vidmar, Marjan; Van Eerd, Dwayne; Hogg-Johnson, Sheilah; Beaton, Dorcas; Smith, Peter M

2008-02-15

Cohort study. To measure the prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain in a cohort of claimants to the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). According to workers' compensation statistics, neck pain accounts for a small proportion of lost-time claims. However, these statistics may be biased by an underenumeration of claimants with neck disorders. We studied all lost-time claimants to the Ontario WSIB in 1998 and used 2 methods to enumerate neck pain cases. We report the prevalence and incidence of neck pain using 2 denominators: (1) annual number of lost-time claimants and (2) an estimate of the Ontario working population covered by the WSIB. The estimated percentage of lost-time claimants with neck pain ranged from 2.8% (95% CI 2.5-3.3) using only codes specific for neck pain to 11.3% (95% CI 9.5-13.1) using a weighted estimate of codes capturing neck pain cases. The health care sector had the highest percentage of claims with neck pain. The annual incidence of neck pain among the Ontario working population ranged from 6 per 10,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) (95% CI 5-6) to 23 per 10,000 FTE (95% CI 20-27) depending on the codes used to capture neck pain. Male workers between the ages of 20 and 39 years were the most likely to experience an episode of work absenteeism involving neck pain. Neck pain is a common and burdensome problem for Ontario workers. Our study highlights the importance of properly capturing all neck pain cases when describing its prevalence and incidence.

Mental illness and lost income among adult South Africans.

PubMed

Lund, Crick; Myer, Landon; Stein, Dan J; Williams, David R; Flisher, Alan J

2013-05-01

Little is known regarding the links between mental disorder and lost income in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between mental disorder and lost income in the first nationally representative psychiatric epidemiology survey in South Africa. A probability sample of South African adults was administered the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview schedule to assess the presence of mental disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version IV. The presence of severe depression or anxiety disorders was associated with a significant reduction in earnings in the previous 12 months among both employed and unemployed South African adults (p = 0.0043). In simulations of costs to individuals, the mean estimated lost income associated with severe depression and anxiety disorders was $4,798 per adult per year, after adjustment for age, gender, substance abuse, education, marital status, and household size. Projections of total annual cost to South Africans living with these disorders in lost earnings, extrapolated from the sample, were $3.6 billion. These data indicate either that mental illness has a major economic impact, through the effect of disability and stigma on earnings, or that people in lower income groups are at increased risk of mental illness. The indirect costs of severe depression and anxiety disorders stand in stark contrast with the direct costs of treatment in South Africa, as illustrated by annual government spending on mental health services, amounting to an estimated $59 million for adults. The findings of this study support the economic argument for investing in mental health care as a means of mitigating indirect costs of mental illness.

Economic Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Different Stages of Disease: A Report From Southern Iran

PubMed Central

Zare, Fatemeh; Fattahi, Mohammad Reza; Sepehrimanesh, Masood; Safarpour, Ali Reza

2016-01-01

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major blood-borne infection which imposes high economic cost on the patients. Objectives The current study aimed to evaluate the total annual cost due to chronic HCV related diseases imposed on each patient and their family in Southern Iran. Patients and Methods Economic burden of chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases (chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) were examined. The current retrospective study evaluated 200 Iranian patients for their socioeconomic status, utilization (direct and indirect costs) and treatment costs and work days lost due to illness by a structured questionnaire in 2015. Costs of hospital admissions were extracted from databases of Nemazee hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The outpatient expenditure per patient was measured through the rate of outpatient visits and average cost per visit reported by the patients; while the inpatient costs were calculated through annual rate of hospital admissions and average expenditure. Self-medication and direct non-medical costs were also reported. The human capital approach was used to measure the work loss cost. Results The total annual cost per patient for chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) were USD 1625.50, USD 6117.2, and USD 11047.2 in 2015, respectively. Conclusions Chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases impose a substantial economic burden on patients, families and the society. The current study provides useful information on cost of treatment and work loss for different disease states, which can be further used in cost-effectiveness evaluations. PMID:27257424

State-level medical and absenteeism cost of asthma in the United States.

PubMed

Nurmagambetov, Tursynbek; Khavjou, Olga; Murphy, Louise; Orenstein, Diane

2017-05-01

For medically treated asthma, we estimated prevalence, medical and absenteeism costs, and projected medical costs from 2015 to 2020 for the entire population and separately for children in the 50 US states and District of Columbia (DC) using the most recently available data. We used multiple data sources, including the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medical Statistical Information System, and Current Population Survey. We used a two-part regression model to estimate annual medical costs of asthma and a negative binomial model to estimate annual school and work days missed due to asthma. Per capita medical costs of asthma ranged from $1,860 (Mississippi) to $2,514 (Michigan). Total medical costs of asthma ranged from $60.7 million (Wyoming) to $3.4 billion (California). Medicaid costs ranged from $4.1 million (Wyoming) to $566.8 million (California), Medicare from $5.9 million (DC) to $446.6 million (California), and costs paid by private insurers ranged from $27.2 million (DC) to $1.4 billion (California). Total annual school and work days lost due to asthma ranged from 22.4 thousand (Wyoming) to 1.5 million days (California) and absenteeism costs ranged from $4.4 million (Wyoming) to $345 million (California). Projected increase in medical costs from 2015 to 2020 ranged from 9% (DC) to 34% (Arizona). Medical and absenteeism costs of asthma represent a significant economic burden for states and these costs are expected to rise. Our study results emphasize the urgency for strategies to strengthen state level efforts to prevent and control asthma attacks.

The prevalence and effects of mood disorders on work performance in a nationally representative sample of US workers

PubMed Central

Kessler, Ronald C.; Akiskal, Hagop S.; Ames, Minnie; Birnbaum, Howard; Greenberg, Paul; Hirschfeld, Robert M.A.; Jin, Robert; Merikangas, Kathleen R.; Wang, Philip S.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE Research on the workplace costs of mood disorders has focused largely on major depressive episodes (MDE). Bipolar disorder (BPD) has been overlooked both by failing to distinguish MDE due to major depressive disorder (MDD) versus BPD and by failing to evaluate the workplace costs of mania and hypomania. METHOD The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) assessed DSM-IV MDD and BPD with the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and assessed work impairment with the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Regression analysis of MDD and BPD predicting HPQ among workers (n = 3378) was used to estimate the workplace costs of mood disorders. RESULTS 1.1% of workers met CIDI criteria for 12-month BPD (bipolar I or bipolar II) and 6.4% for 12-month MDD. BPD was associated with 65.5 and MDD with 27.2 annual lost workdays per ill worker. Subgroup analysis showed that the higher work loss associated with BPD than MDD is due to more severe and persistent MDE in BPD than MDD rather than to stronger effects of mania-hypomania than depression. Annual human capital loss per ill worker was estimated at $9619 for BPD and $4426 for MDD. Annual projections to the US labor force were $14.1 billion for BPD and $36.6 billion for MDD. CONCLUSIONS Employer interest in the workplace costs of mood disorders should be broadened beyond MDD to include BPD. Effectiveness trials are needed to study the return on employer investment of coordinated programs for workplace screening and treatment of BPD and MDD. PMID:16946181

The Annual Burden of Seasonal Influenza in the US Veterans Affairs Population.

PubMed

Young-Xu, Yinong; van Aalst, Robertus; Russo, Ellyn; Lee, Jason K H; Chit, Ayman

2017-01-01

Seasonal influenza epidemics have a substantial public health and economic burden in the United States (US). On average, over 200,000 people are hospitalized and an estimated 23,000 people die from respiratory and circulatory complications associated with seasonal influenza virus infections each year. Annual direct medical costs and indirect productivity costs across the US have been found to average respectively at $10.4 billion and $16.3 billion. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic impact of severe influenza-induced illness on the US Veterans Affairs population. The five-year study period included 2010 through 2014. Influenza-attributed outcomes were estimated with a statistical regression model using observed emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths from the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic medical records and respiratory viral surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data from VA's Managerial Cost Accounting system were used to estimate the costs of the emergency department and hospital visits. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were used to estimate the costs of lost productivity; data on age at death, life expectancy and economic valuations for a statistical life year were used to estimate the costs of a premature death. An estimated 10,674 (95% CI 8,661-12,687) VA ED visits, 2,538 (95% CI 2,112-2,964) VA hospitalizations, 5,522 (95% CI 4,834-6,210) all-cause deaths, and 3,793 (95% CI 3,375-4,211) underlying respiratory or circulatory deaths (inside and outside VA) among adult Veterans were attributable to influenza each year from 2010 through 2014. The annual value of lost productivity amounted to $27 (95% CI $24-31) million and the annual costs for ED visits were $6.2 (95% CI $5.1-7.4) million. Ninety-six percent of VA hospitalizations resulted in either death or a discharge to home, with annual costs totaling $36 (95% CI $30-43) million. The remaining 4% of hospitalizations were followed by extended care at rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities with annual costs totaling $5.5 (95% CI $4.4-6.8) million. The annual monetary value of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost amounted to $1.1 (95% CI $1.0-1.2) billion. In total, the estimated annual economic burden was $1.2 (95% CI $1.0-1.3) billion, indicating the substantial burden of seasonal influenza epidemics on the US Veterans Affairs population. Premature death was found to be the largest driver of these costs, followed by hospitalization.

Effects of erosion control structures along a portion of the northern Chesapeake Bay shoreline

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zabawa, C.F.; Kerhin, R.T.; Bayley, S.

1981-01-01

A 6.500-meter reach of western Chesapeake Bay shoreline (lower Mayo Peninsula) lost about 1.1??106 cubic meters of sediment (equivalent to 170 cubic meters lost per meter of shoreline) between 1846 and 1932, when the first aerial photographs show the shoreline already substantially protected by a system of groins and intermittent bulkheading. These structures have eliminated the fastland as a source of erodable material, and have starved the supply of sand for littoral drift, thus limiting the extent of the beaches to the remaining groin fields. Volumes of sediment involved in these impacts are small in the overall sediment budget. Bulkheads produce no deficit in the budget since scouring of the beaches on their seaward sides makes up for the decreased erosion of protected fastland. Groins trap little of the potential littoral drift (computed to be about 104 cubic meters per meter of shoreline per year). The sand supply in the remaining beaches is nearly equivalent to the annual loss of sediment from the entire shoreline system due to the long-term rate of erosion of the shoreline and nearshore between 1846 and 1932. ?? 1981 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Safety performance factor.

PubMed

Venkataraman, Naray

2008-01-01

Workplace safety performance is computed using frequency rate (FR) and severity rate (SR). Only work time lost due to occupational incidents that need to be reported is counted. FR and SR are the 2 most important safety performance indicators that are applied universally; however, calculations differ from country to country. All injuries and time lost should be considered while calculating safety performance. The extent of severity does not matter as every incident is counted. So, a new factor has to be defined; it should be based on the hours or days lost due to each occupational incident, irrespective of its severity. The new safety performance factor is defined as the average human-hour unit lost due to occupational accidents/incidents, including fatalities, first-aid incidents, bruises and cuts. The formula is simple and easy to apply.

The personal and national costs of mental health conditions: impacts on income, taxes, government support payments due to lost labour force participation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Mental health conditions have the ability to interrupt an individual's ability to participate in the labour force, and this can have considerable follow on impacts to both the individual and the state. Method Cross-sectional analysis of the base population of Health&WealthMOD, a microsimulation model built on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers and STINMOD, an income and savings microsimulation model was used to quantify the personal cost of lost income and the cost to the state from lost income taxation, increased benefits payments and lost GDP as a result of early retirement due to mental health conditions in Australians aged 45-64 in 2009. Results Individuals aged 45 to 64 years who have retired early due to depression personally have 73% lower income then their full time employed counterparts and those retired early due to other mental health conditions have 78% lower incomes. The national aggregate cost to government due to early retirement from these conditions equated to $278 million (£152.9 million) in lost income taxation revenue, $407 million (£223.9 million) in additional transfer payments and around $1.7 billion in GDP in 2009 alone. Conclusions The costs of mental health conditions to the individuals and the state are considerable. While individuals has to bear the economic costs of lost income in addition to the burden of the conditions itself, the impact on the state is loss of productivity from reduced workforce participation, lost income taxation revenue, and increased government support payments - in addition to direct health care costs. PMID:21526993

Workdays lost due to occupational injuries among young workers in Brazil.

PubMed

Santana, Vilma S; Villaveces, Andrés; Bangdiwala, Shrikant I; Runyan, Carol W; Albuquerque-Oliveira, Paulo Rogério

2012-10-01

The severity of non-fatal work-related injuries has seldom been examined among young workers. We estimated the extent and distribution of workdays lost due to non-fatal work injuries using compensation data. Data are from the Brazilian Institute of Social Insurance, for 2006. The study population is comprised of all insured workers of age 16-24. Descriptive statistics reflect workdays lost due to health-related disability, according to sex, age group, wage, and trade. Out of 4.8 million insured workers ages 16-24 years, we estimated 1,282,940 workdays lost. We observed a larger number of median workdays lost among males age 20-24 in retail and service trades (83 days) and among 16-19-year-old females in the agriculture/fish/forestry/cattle (142 days). Young workers experience a heavy burden of work-related injuries. Disability workdays may compromise school attendance and performance. Other potential impacts affect productivity and social insurance costs. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project : Annual Report 2008.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitney, Richard P.; Berger, Matthew T.; Rushing, Samuel

The Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project (Hellsgate Project) was proposed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) as partial mitigation for hydropower's share of the wildlife losses resulting from Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. At present, the Hellsgate Project protects and manages 57,418 acres (approximately 90 miles2) for the biological requirements of managed wildlife species; most are located on or near the Columbia River (Lake Rufus Woods and Lake Roosevelt) and surrounded by Tribal land. To date we have acquired about 34,597 habitat units (HUs) towards a total 35,819 HUs lost from original inundationmore » due to hydropower development. In addition to the remaining 1,237 HUs left unmitigated, 600 HUs from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that were traded to the Colville Tribes and 10 secure nesting islands are also yet to be mitigated. This annual report for 2008 describes the management activities of the Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project (Hellsgate Project) during the past year.« less

[Burden of mortality due to diabetes mellitus in Latin America 2000-2011: the case of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.

PubMed

Agudelo-Botero, Marcela; Dávila-Cervantes, Claudio Alberto

2015-03-05

To analyze trends in mortality in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, between 2000 and 2011, by sex and 5-year age groups (between 20 and 79 years of age). Mortality vital statistics and census data or projected population estimates were used for each country. Age-specific mortality rates and the years of life lost were calculated. Among the countries analyzed, Mexico had the highest mortality rate and lost the most years of life due to diabetes. Between 2000 and 2011, Mexicans lost an average of 1.13 years of life, while Colombia (0.24), Argentina (0.21) and Chile (0.18) lost considerably fewer life years. In general, deaths from diabetes were higher in men than in women except in Colombia. Nearly 80% of years of life lost due to diabetes occurred between 50 and 74 years of age in the four countries. Diabetes is a huge challenge for Latin America, especially in Mexico where mortality due to diabetes is accelerating. Even though the proportion of deaths due to diabetes in Argentina, Chile and Colombia is smaller, this disease figures among the main causes of death in these countries. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Estimating economic losses to tourism in Africa from the illegal killing of elephants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naidoo, Robin; Fisher, Brendan; Manica, Andrea; Balmford, Andrew

2016-11-01

Recent surveys suggest tens of thousands of elephants are being poached annually across Africa, putting the two species at risk across much of their range. Although the financial motivations for ivory poaching are clear, the economic benefits of elephant conservation are poorly understood. We use Bayesian statistical modelling of tourist visits to protected areas, to quantify the lost economic benefits that poached elephants would have delivered to African countries via tourism. Our results show these figures are substantial (~USD $25 million annually), and that the lost benefits exceed the anti-poaching costs necessary to stop elephant declines across the continent's savannah areas, although not currently in the forests of central Africa. Furthermore, elephant conservation in savannah protected areas has net positive economic returns comparable to investments in sectors such as education and infrastructure. Even from a tourism perspective alone, increased elephant conservation is therefore a wise investment by governments in these regions.

Estimating economic losses to tourism in Africa from the illegal killing of elephants.

PubMed

Naidoo, Robin; Fisher, Brendan; Manica, Andrea; Balmford, Andrew

2016-11-01

Recent surveys suggest tens of thousands of elephants are being poached annually across Africa, putting the two species at risk across much of their range. Although the financial motivations for ivory poaching are clear, the economic benefits of elephant conservation are poorly understood. We use Bayesian statistical modelling of tourist visits to protected areas, to quantify the lost economic benefits that poached elephants would have delivered to African countries via tourism. Our results show these figures are substantial (∼USD $25 million annually), and that the lost benefits exceed the anti-poaching costs necessary to stop elephant declines across the continent's savannah areas, although not currently in the forests of central Africa. Furthermore, elephant conservation in savannah protected areas has net positive economic returns comparable to investments in sectors such as education and infrastructure. Even from a tourism perspective alone, increased elephant conservation is therefore a wise investment by governments in these regions.

Impact of a musculoskeletal disability management program on medical costs and productivity in a large manufacturing company.

PubMed

Bunn, William B; Baver, Robin S; Ehni, Thomas K; Stowers, Allan D; Taylor, David D; Holloway, Anita M; Duong, Duyen; Pikelny, Dan B; Sotolongo, David

2006-12-01

To evaluate a program to reduce musculoskeletal disability-related absenteeism at a North American manufacturing facility. Staged communication and educational interventions targeting physicians to improve care of musculoskeletal conditions and reduce related absenteeism. The program was implemented in three 1-year stages. The first stage required physicians to complete assessment forms for employees claiming disability because of musculoskeletal injuries. The second stage added physician education programs focusing on current clinical guidelines. The third stage incorporated local physician education about the facility's onsite physical therapy program. Annual number of work-related injuries, days lost per injury and per scheduled full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee, light-duty days per injury, average annual indemnity per FTE, indemnity per injury, medical costs per FTE, and medical costs per injury were examined to determine the program's effectiveness. Overall productivity improved by a mean of 12.5 days per injured employee. Mean days lost per work-related injury decreased from 35.1 to 27.6. Number of light-duty days increased from 6.1 to 11.1 per work-related injury. Mean annual indemnity per work-related injury decreased from $9327 to $4493; mean annual medical costs per work-related injury decreased from $4848 to $2679. The annual incidence of musculoskeletal injuries declined by up to 50%. This intervention was associated with reduced musculoskeletal disability-related absenteeism and increased productivity. The program reduced medical costs per work-related injury and improved the company's communications and relationship with local physicians.

The impact of influenza on working days lost: a review of the literature.

PubMed

Keech, Martin; Beardsworth, Paul

2008-01-01

Seasonal influenza is a prevalent and highly contagious acute respiratory disease that, year on year, results in increased morbidity and mortality on a global scale. Because of the widespread and debilitating nature of the disease, annual influenza epidemics result in substantial workplace absenteeism, and the associated cost of lost productivity is a significant component of the substantial financial burden of the disease to society. The objective of this review was to identify studies that had attempted to quantify the impact of influenza upon otherwise healthy adults in terms of working days lost associated with an episode of influenza.Studies were included if they reported estimates of working days lost due to clinical, physician and/or self-diagnosis in adult patients or their dependants, or where this figure could be estimated from the data. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS and the Cochrane Collaboration for articles published since 1995 in English, French or German. Of the 289 papers identified in the search, 28 (9.7%) met the inclusion criteria. The studies, involving study sites in North America, Western Europe, Asia and Australia, were categorized into three groups: (i) those reporting influenza diagnoses confirmed by laboratory testing, i.e. studies where influenza was the unambiguous cause of the working days lost (n = 7 studies reported in ten publications); (ii) those where influenza was confirmed by a physician without an accompanying laboratory test (n = 4 studies); and (iii) those where influenza was self-reported by study participants (n = 14 studies). Qualitative reporting of results was performed because of the large degree of heterogeneity observed between studies, potentially complicating the interpretation of any meta-analysis.The results from studies involving a laboratory-confirmed influenza diagnosis suggested that the mean number of working days lost ranged between 1.5 and 4.9 days per episode. Those papers that detailed working days lost per episode following physician diagnosis of influenza reported a range of 3.7-5.9 days per episode. Finally, estimates from papers reporting working days lost per episode of self-reported influenza ranged from <1 day to 4.3 days per episode.Influenza imposes a significant burden on society, and this review highlights the significant economic impact it causes, i.e. the loss of productivity caused by both absenteeism and by staff functioning at reduced capacity even after they have returned to work. A number of prophylaxis and treatment options exist for influenza and should be given serious consideration in an attempt to reduce the economic burden on society.

The economic burden of depression in Switzerland.

PubMed

Tomonaga, Yuki; Haettenschwiler, Josef; Hatzinger, Martin; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Rufer, Michael; Hepp, Urs; Szucs, Thomas D

2013-03-01

Despite the high prevalence of depression, information about the burden of this disease in Switzerland is scarce. A better knowledge of the costs of depression may provide important information for future national preventive programmes, optimizing cost-effective budgeting. The estimates of national costs may improve the public's awareness of depression and depression-related costs, breaking down the taboo of depression as an illness. The aims of this study were to analyse the annual cost for different levels of depression and to investigate the annual economic burden of depression in Switzerland. A retrospective, multicentre, non-interventional study in psychiatrist practices was carried out. Outpatients who had been diagnosed with depression in the last 3 years were included. Patient demographics and information on clinical characteristics and resource utilization in the first 12 months after diagnosis were collected. Costs analysis, subdivided into direct and indirect costs, was performed for three depression severity classes (mild, moderate and severe), according to the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17). Costs were also extrapolated to a national level. Regression analysis was performed to control for factors that may have an impact on the cost of depression. A total of 556 patients were included. Hospitalization and hospitalization days were directly correlated with disease severity (p < 0.001). Medical resource utilization linked to depression and antidepressant treatments was also correlated to the disease status. Severely depressed patients reported a significantly higher number of workdays lost and were significantly more often on disability insurance. The mean total direct costs per person per year, mainly due to hospitalization costs, were 3,561 for mild, 9,744 for moderate and 16,240 for severe depression. The mean indirect costs per person per year, mainly due to workdays lost, were 8,730 for mild, 12,675 for moderate and 16,669 for severe depression (year 2007/2008 values). Regression analysis showed that hospitalization days, psychiatrist visits in hospital, disability insurance, workdays lost and the HDRS-17 score were significantly correlated to the total costs. Extrapolation at a national level resulted in a total burden of about 8.1-8.3 billion per year. The burden of depression in Switzerland was estimated to be about 8 billion per year. The costs of depression were directly related to disease severity. However, since many cases of depression remain unreported and since this analysis only included individuals between 18 and 65 years of age, it is reasonable to suppose that the total burden of depression may be even higher.

28 CFR 301.203 - Payment of lost-time wages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... receive lost-time wages for the number of regular work hours absent from work due to injury sustained in the performance of the assigned work. (b) Lost-time wages are paid for time lost in excess of three... of the inmate's regular work assignment at the time of the injury. [55 FR 9296, Mar. 12, 1990...

28 CFR 301.203 - Payment of lost-time wages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... receive lost-time wages for the number of regular work hours absent from work due to injury sustained in the performance of the assigned work. (b) Lost-time wages are paid for time lost in excess of three... of the inmate's regular work assignment at the time of the injury. [55 FR 9296, Mar. 12, 1990...

Latin American Clinical Epidemiology Network Series - Paper 5: Years of life lost due to premature death in traffic accidents in Bogota, Colombia.

PubMed

Quitian-Reyes, Hoover; Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Gómez, Maria Juliana; Naranjo, Salome; Heredia, Patricia; Villegas, John

2017-06-01

This study aimed to quantify the number of years of life lost in traffic accidents in Bogota, Colombia. The years of life lost were calculated using the 'age-standardized expected years of life lost' method, the table of Japanese adjusted life expectancy and the database of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science between September 2012 and August 2013. During a period of 1 year, 430 people died and 10,056.3 years of life were lost in Bogota due to traffic accidents. The mortality burden of traffic accidents in Bogota is high. Further studies are required in order to characterize the accidents and develop effective policy decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Secukinumab Significantly Reduces Psoriasis-Related Work Impairment and Indirect Costs Compared With Ustekinumab and Etanercept in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Warren, R B; Halliday, A; Graham, C N; Gilloteau, I; Miles, L; McBride, D

2018-05-30

Psoriasis causes work productivity impairment that increases with disease severity. Whether differential treatment efficacy translates into differential indirect cost savings is unknown. To assess work hours lost and indirect costs associated with secukinumab versus ustekinumab and etanercept in the United Kingdom (UK). This was a post hoc analysis of work impairment data collected in the CLEAR study (secukinumab vs. ustekinumab) and applied to the FIXTURE study (secukinumab vs. etanercept). Weighted weekly and annual average indirect costs per patient per treatment were calculated from (1) overall work impairment derived from Work Productivity and Activity Impairment data collected in CLEAR at 16 and 52 weeks by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) response level; (2) weekly/annual work productivity loss by PASI response level; (3) weekly and annual indirect costs by PASI response level, based on hours of work productivity loss; and (4) weighted average indirect costs for each treatment. In the primary analysis, work impairment data for employed patients in CLEAR at Week 16 were used to compare secukinumab and ustekinumab. Secondary analyses were conducted at different timepoints and with patient cohorts, including FIXTURE. In CLEAR, 452 patients (67%) were employed at baseline. At Week 16, percentages of weekly work impairment/mean hours lost decreased with higher PASI: PASI <50: 22.8%/7.60 hours; PASI 50-74: 13.3%/4.45 hours; PASI 75-89: 6.4%/2.14 hours; PASI ≥90: 4.9%/1.65 hours. Weighted mean weekly/annual work hours lost were significantly lower for secukinumab than ustekinumab (1.96/102.51 vs. 2.40/125.12; P=0.0006). Results were consistent for secukinumab versus etanercept (2.29/119.67 vs. 3.59/187.17; Ρ<0.0001). Average annual indirect cost savings with secukinumab were £355 versus ustekinumab and £1,061 versus etanercept. Results at 52 weeks were similar. Secukinumab significantly reduced work impairment and associated indirect costs of psoriasis compared with ustekinumab and etanercept at Week 16 through 52 in the UK. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the Impact of Ambient Temperatures on Occupational Injuries in Spain.

PubMed

Martínez-Solanas, Èrica; López-Ruiz, María; Wellenius, Gregory A; Gasparrini, Antonio; Sunyer, Jordi; Benavides, Fernando G; Basagaña, Xavier

2018-06-01

Extreme cold and heat have been linked to an increased risk of occupational injuries. However, the evidence is still limited to a small number of studies of people with relatively few injuries and with a limited geographic extent, and the corresponding economic effect has not been studied in detail. We assessed the relationship between ambient temperatures and occupational injuries in Spain along with its economic effect. The daily number of occupational injuries that caused at least one day of leave and the daily maximum temperature were obtained for each Spanish province for the years 1994-2013. We estimated temperature-injuries associations with distributed lag nonlinear models, and then pooled the results using a multivariate meta-regression model. We calculated the number of injuries attributable to cold and heat, the corresponding workdays lost, and the resulting economic effect. The study included 15,992,310 occupational injuries. Overall, 2.72% [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.44-2.97] of all occupational injuries were attributed to nonoptimal ambient temperatures, with moderate heat accounting for the highest fraction. This finding corresponds to an estimated 0.67 million (95% CI: 0.60-0.73) person-days of work lost every year in Spain due to temperature, or an annual average of 42 d per 1,000 workers. The estimated annual economic burden is €370 million, or 0.03% of Spain's GDP (€2,015). Our findings suggest that extreme ambient temperatures increased the risk of occupational injuries, with substantial estimated health and economic costs. These results call for public health interventions to protect workers in the context of climate change. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2590.

Burden of disease and costs of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) in the United Kingdom

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background To estimate life years and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost and the economic burden of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) in the United Kingdom including healthcare and non-healthcare costs from a societal perspective. Methods All UK residents in 2005 with aSAH (International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) code I60). Sex and age-specific abridged life tables were generated for a general population and aSAH cohorts. QALYs in each cohort were calculated adjusting the life tables with health-related quality of life (HRQL) data. Healthcare costs included hospital expenditure, cerebrovascular rehabilitation, primary care and community health and social services. Non-healthcare costs included informal care and productivity losses arising from morbidity and premature death. Results A total of 80,356 life years and 74,807 quality-adjusted life years were estimated to be lost due to aSAH in the UK in 2005. aSAH costs the National Health Service (NHS) £168.2 million annually with hospital inpatient admissions accounting for 59%, community health and social services for 18%, aSAH-related operations for 15% and cerebrovascular rehabilitation for 6% of the total NHS estimated costs. The average per patient cost for the NHS was estimated to be £23,294. The total economic burden (including informal care and using the human capital method to estimate production losses) of a SAH in the United Kingdom was estimated to be £510 million annually. Conclusion The economic and disease burden of aSAH in the United Kingdom is reported in this study. Decision-makers can use these results to complement other information when informing prevention policies in this field and to relate health care expenditures to disease categories. PMID:20423472

The net effect of smoking on healthcare and welfare costs. A cohort study

PubMed Central

Tiihonen, Jari; Ronkainen, Kimmo; Kangasharju, Aki; Kauhanen, Jussi

2012-01-01

Objective To study the net economic effect of smoking on society. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Eastern Finland. Patients We studied mortality, paid income and tobacco taxes, and the cumulative costs due to pensions and medical care among tobacco smoking and non-smoking individuals in a 27-year prospective cohort study of 1976 men from Eastern Finland. These individuals were 54–60 years old at the beginning of the follow-up. Main outcome measures The net contribution of smoking versus non-smoking individuals to public finance balance (euros). Results Smoking was associated with a greater mean annual healthcare cost of €1600 per living individual during follow-up. However, due to a shorter lifespan of 8.6 years, smokers’ mean total healthcare costs during the entire study period were actually €4700 lower than for non-smokers. For the same reason, each smoker missed 7.3 years (€126 850) of pension. Overall, smokers’ average net contribution to the public finance balance was €133 800 greater per individual compared with non-smokers. However, if each lost quality adjusted life year is considered to be worth €22 200, the net effect is reversed to be €70 200 (€71.600 when adjusted with propensity score) per individual in favour of non-smoking. Conclusions Smoking was associated with a moderate decrease in healthcare costs, and a marked decrease in pension costs due to increased mortality. However, when a monetary value for life years lost was taken into account, the beneficial net effect of non-smoking to society was about €70 000 per individual. PMID:23233699

[Labor productivity losses attributable to premature deaths due to traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012].

PubMed

Cubí-Mollá, Patricia; Peña-Longobardo, Luz María; Casal, Bruno; Rivera, Berta; Oliva-Moreno, Juan

2015-09-01

To estimate the years of potential life lost, years of potential productive life lost and the labor productivity losses attributable to premature deaths due to traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain. Several statistical sources were combined (Spanish Registry of Deaths, Labor Force Survey and Wage Structure Survey) to develop a simulation model based on the human capital approach. This model allowed us to estimate the loss of labor productivity caused by premature deaths following traffic injuries from 2002 to 2012. In addition, mortality tables with life expectancy estimates were used to compute years of potential life lost and years of potential productive life lost. The estimated loss of labour productivity caused by fatal traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain amounted to 9,521 million euros (baseline year 2012). The aggregate number of years of potential life lost in the period amounted to 1,433,103, whereas the years of potential productive life lost amounted to 875,729. Throughout the period analyzed, labor productivity losses and years of life lost diminished substantially. Labor productivity losses due to fatal traffic injuries decreased throughout the period analyzed. Nevertheless, the cumulative loss was alarmingly high. Estimation of the economic impact of health problems can complement conventional indicators of distinct dimensions and be used to support public policy making. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The Indian Education Act in the 1980's: Quest for Equity and Quality. The 12th Annual Report to the Congress of the United States. Fiscal Year 1985.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Advisory Council on Indian Education, Washington, DC.

The 12th annual report to Congress from the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE) details activities during fiscal year 1985 and is dedicated to all Indian youth who benefit from any federal programs that support Indian education and those Indian youths lost from the Wind River Indian Reservation because of suicide. Part I contains…

Energy Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (Energy SMARRT): Manufacturing Advanced Engineered Components Using Lost Foam Casting Technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Littleton, Harry; Griffin, John

2011-07-31

This project was a subtask of Energy Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (Energy SMARRT) Program. Through this project, technologies, such as computer modeling, pattern quality control, casting quality control and marketing tools, were developed to advance the Lost Foam Casting process application and provide greater energy savings. These technologies have improved (1) production efficiency, (2) mechanical properties, and (3) marketability of lost foam castings. All three reduce energy consumption in the metals casting industry. This report summarizes the work done on all tasks in the period of January 1, 2004 through June 30, 2011. Current (2011) annual energy savingmore » estimates based on commercial introduction in 2011 and a market penetration of 97% by 2020 is 5.02 trillion BTU's/year and 6.46 trillion BTU's/year with 100% market penetration by 2023. Along with these energy savings, reduction of scrap and improvement in casting yield will result in a reduction of the environmental emissions associated with the melting and pouring of the metal which will be saved as a result of this technology. The average annual estimate of CO2 reduction per year through 2020 is 0.03 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent (MM TCE).« less

The impact of a national alcohol policy on deaths due to transport accidents in Russia.

PubMed

Pridemore, William Alex; Chamlin, Mitchell B; Kaylen, Maria T; Andreev, Evgeny

2013-12-01

To determine the impact of a suite of 2006 Russian alcohol control policies on deaths due to traffic accidents in the country. We used autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) interrupted time-series techniques to model the impact of the intervention on the outcome series. The time-series began in January 2000 and ended in December 2010. The alcohol policy was implemented in January 2006, providing 132 monthly observations in the outcome series, with 72 months of pre-intervention data and 60 months of post-intervention data. The outcome variables were the monthly number of male- and female-specific deaths of those aged 15+ years due to transport accidents in Russia. The 2006 set of alcohol policies had no impact on female deaths due to traffic accidents (ω0  = -50.31, P = 0.27). However, the intervention model revealed an immediate and sustained monthly decrease of 203 deaths due to transport accidents for males (ω0  = -203.40, P = 0.04), representing an 11% reduction relative to pre-intervention levels. The implementation of the suite of 2006 Russian alcohol control policies is partially responsible for saving more than 2400 male lives annually that would otherwise have been lost to traffic accidents. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Managing Enrollment Bandits: Recovering Enrollments Lost during Registration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Head, Joe F.; Blake, Susan; Hughes, Thomas M.

2009-01-01

Good enrollment managers know that keeping current enrollment must be Job Number One and that maintaining enrollment must be the concern of all campus constituencies. However, a large number of students are "lost" during registration due to closed classes. Lost enrollments are a largely invisible phenomenon that represents frantic and…

Vaccination versus treatment of influenza in working adults: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

Rothberg, Michael B; Rose, David N

2005-01-01

To determine the cost-effectiveness of influenza vaccination, antiviral therapy, or no intervention for healthy working adults, accounting for annual variation in vaccine efficacy. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis based on published clinical trials of influenza vaccine and antiviral drugs, incorporating 10 years of surveillance data from the World Health Organization. We modeled influenza vaccination, treatment of influenza-like illness with antiviral drugs, or both, as compared with no intervention, targeting healthy working adults under age 50 years in the general community or workplace. Outcomes included costs, illness days, and quality-adjusted days gained. In the base case analysis, the majority of costs incurred for all strategies were related to lost productivity from influenza illness. The least expensive strategy varied from year to year. For the 10-year period, antiviral therapy without vaccination was associated with the lowest overall costs (234 US dollars per person per year). Annual vaccination cost was 239 US dollars per person, and was associated with 0.0409 quality-adjusted days saved, for a marginal cost-effectiveness ratio of 113 US dollars per quality-adjusted day gained or 41,000 US dollars per quality-adjusted life-year saved compared with antiviral therapy. No intervention was the most expensive and least effective option. In sensitivity analyses, lower vaccination costs, higher annual probabilities of influenza, and higher numbers of workdays lost to influenza made vaccination more cost-effective than treatment. If vaccination cost was less than 16 US dollars or time lost from work exceeded 2.4 days per episode of influenza, then vaccination was cost saving compared with all other strategies. Influenza vaccination for healthy working adults is reasonable economically, and under certain circumstances is cost saving. Antiviral therapy is consistently cost saving.

Invasive meningococcal disease epidemiology and control measures: a framework for evaluation.

PubMed

Caro, J Jaime; Möller, Jörgen; Getsios, Denis; Coudeville, L; El-Hadi, Wissam; Chevat, Catherine; Nguyen, Van Hung; Caro, Ingrid

2007-06-29

Meningococcal disease can have devastating consequences. As new vaccines emerge, it is necessary to assess their impact on public health. In the absence of long-term real world data, modeling the effects of different vaccination strategies is required. Discrete event simulation provides a flexible platform with which to conduct such evaluations. A discrete event simulation of the epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease was developed to quantify the potential impact of implementing routine vaccination of adolescents in the United States with a quadrivalent conjugate vaccine protecting against serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135. The impact of vaccination is assessed including both the direct effects on individuals vaccinated and the indirect effects resulting from herd immunity. The simulation integrates a variety of epidemiologic and demographic data, with core information on the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease and outbreak frequency derived from data available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Simulation of the potential indirect benefits of vaccination resulting from herd immunity draw on data from the United Kingdom, where routine vaccination with a conjugate vaccine has been in place for a number of years. Cases of disease are modeled along with their health consequences, as are the occurrence of disease outbreaks. When run without a strategy of routine immunization, the simulation accurately predicts the age-specific incidence of invasive meningococcal disease and the site-specific frequency of outbreaks in the Unite States. 2,807 cases are predicted annually, resulting in over 14,000 potential life years lost due to invasive disease. In base case analyses of routine vaccination, life years lost due to infection are reduced by over 45% (to 7,600) when routinely vaccinating adolescents 12 years of age at 70% coverage. Sensitivity analyses indicate that herd immunity plays an important role when this population is targeted for vaccination. While 1,100 cases are avoided annually when herd immunity effects are included, in the absence of any herd immunity, the number of cases avoided with routine vaccination falls to 380 annually. The duration of vaccine protection also strongly influences results. In the absence of appropriate real world data on outcomes associated with large-scale vaccination programs, decisions on optimal immunization strategies can be aided by discrete events simulations such as the one described here. Given the importance of herd immunity on outcomes associated with routine vaccination, published estimates of the economic efficiency of routine vaccination with a quadrivalent conjugate vaccine in the United States may have considerably underestimated the benefits associated with a policy of routine immunization of adolescents.

Costs resulting from premature mortality due to cardiovascular causes: A 20-year follow-up of the DRECE study.

PubMed

Gómez-de la Cámara, A; Pinilla-Domínguez, P; Vázquez-Fernández Del Pozo, S; García-Pérez, L; Rubio-Herrera, M A; Gómez-Gerique, J A; Gutiérrez-Fuentes, J A; Rivero-Cuadrado, A; Serrano-Aguilar, P

2014-10-01

Cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death in Spain. The DRECE study (Diet and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Spain), based on a representative cohort of the Spanish general population, analyzed nutritional habits and lifestyle and their association with morbidity and mortality patterns. We estimated the impact, in terms of loss of productivity, of premature mortality attributed to cardiovascular diseases. The loss of productivity attributed to premature mortality was calculated from 1991, based on the potential years of life lost and the potential years of working life lost. During the 20-year follow-up of a cohort of 4779 patients, 225 of these patients died (men, 152). Sixteen percent of the deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease. The costs due to lost productivity by premature mortality exceeded 29 million euros. Of these, 4 million euros (14% of the total cost) were due to cardiovascular causes. Premature cardiovascular mortality in the DRECE cohort represented a significant social cost due to lost productivity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Colonial waterbird predation on Lost River and Shortnose suckers in the Upper Klamath Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Evans, Allen F.; Hewitt, David A.; Payton, Quinn; Cramer, Bradley M.; Collis, Ken; Roby, Daniel D.

2016-01-01

We evaluated predation on Lost River Suckers Deltistes luxatus and Shortnose Suckers Chasmistes brevirostris by American white pelicans Pelecanus erythrorhynchos and double-crested cormorants Phalacrocorax auritus nesting at mixed-species colonies in the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California during 2009–2014. Predation was evaluated by recovering (detecting) PIT tags from tagged fish on bird colonies and calculating minimum predation rates, as the percentage of available suckers consumed, adjusted for PIT tag detection probabilities but not deposition probabilities (i.e., probability an egested tag was deposited on- or off-colony). Results indicate that impacts of avian predation varied by sucker species, age-class (adult, juvenile), bird colony location, and year, demonstrating dynamic predator–prey interactions. Tagged suckers ranging in size from 72 to 730 mm were susceptible to cormorant or pelican predation; all but the largest Lost River Suckers were susceptible to bird predation. Minimum predation rate estimates ranged annually from <0.1% to 4.6% of the available PIT-tagged Lost River Suckers and from <0.1% to 4.2% of the available Shortnose Suckers, and predation rates were consistently higher on suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir, California, than on suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. There was evidence that bird predation on juvenile suckers (species unknown) in Upper Klamath Lake was higher than on adult suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, where minimum predation rates ranged annually from 5.7% to 8.4% of available juveniles. Results suggest that avian predation is a factor limiting the recovery of populations of Lost River and Shortnose suckers, particularly juvenile suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and adult suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir. Additional research is needed to measure predator-specific PIT tag deposition probabilities (which, based on other published studies, could increase predation rates presented herein by a factor of roughly 2.0) and to better understand biotic and abiotic factors that regulate sucker susceptibility to bird predation.

78 FR 53174 - Agency Forms Submitted for OMB Review, Request for Comments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-28

... income such as vacation pay or pay for time lost shall constitute sufficient evidence unless there is...: Form No. Annual responses Time (minutes) Burden (hours) ID-5i 1,050 15 262 ID-5R (SUP) 400 10 67 UI-48...

Matching Countermeasures to Driver Types and Speeding Behavior : Traffic Tech

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-06-01

Speeding is a common behavior; most drivers exceed the speed limit some of the time. It is also a complicated behavior that varies by driver and situation. Speeding-related crashes take a large annual toll in injuries, lost lives, and high economic c...

Breeding for disease resistance in cacao

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cacao production must increase in order to meet the projected rise in the demand for chocolate. Approximately one-third of global production is lost annually to diseases and insects. Four diseases account for the greatest losses worldwide: black pod, caused by four Phytophthora spp; witches’ broom...

Silo-stored pistachios at varying humidity levels produce distinct volatile biomarkers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aflatoxin contamination in California tree nuts results in millions of dollars of lost product annually. The current method for detection of aflatoxin is destructive, expensive and time-intensive. Previous studies have demonstrated that volatile profiles of fungal-contaminated tissues are different ...

Estimating economic losses to tourism in Africa from the illegal killing of elephants

PubMed Central

Naidoo, Robin; Fisher, Brendan; Manica, Andrea; Balmford, Andrew

2016-01-01

Recent surveys suggest tens of thousands of elephants are being poached annually across Africa, putting the two species at risk across much of their range. Although the financial motivations for ivory poaching are clear, the economic benefits of elephant conservation are poorly understood. We use Bayesian statistical modelling of tourist visits to protected areas, to quantify the lost economic benefits that poached elephants would have delivered to African countries via tourism. Our results show these figures are substantial (∼USD $25 million annually), and that the lost benefits exceed the anti-poaching costs necessary to stop elephant declines across the continent's savannah areas, although not currently in the forests of central Africa. Furthermore, elephant conservation in savannah protected areas has net positive economic returns comparable to investments in sectors such as education and infrastructure. Even from a tourism perspective alone, increased elephant conservation is therefore a wise investment by governments in these regions. PMID:27802262

Productivity loss due to presenteeism among patients with arthritis: estimates from 4 instruments.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Gignac, Monique A M; Beaton, Dorcas; Tang, Kenneth; Anis, Aslam H

2010-09-01

To estimate and compare lost work hours attributable to presenteeism, defined as reduced productivity while working, in individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to 4 instruments. In our prospective study, 250 workers with OA (n = 130) or RA (n = 120) were recruited from community and clinical sites. Lost hours due to presenteeism at baseline were estimated using the Health and Labor Questionnaire (HLQ), the Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ), the World Health Organization's Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI). Only those respondents working over the past 2 weeks were included. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare the lost-time estimates, according to each instrument. Of the 212 respondents included in the analyses, the frequency of missing and "0" values among the instruments was different (17% and 61% for HLQ, 8% and 5% for WLQ, 1% and 16% for HPQ, 0% and 27% for WPAI, respectively). The average numbers of lost hours (SD) per 2 weeks due to presenteeism using HLQ, WLQ, HPQ, and WPAI were 1.6 (3.9), 4.0 (3.9), 13.5 (12.5), and 14.2 (16.7). The corresponding costs for the 2-week period were CAN$30.03, $83.05, $284.07, and $285.10. The differences in the lost-hour estimates according to instruments were significant (p < 0.001). Among individuals with arthritis, estimates of productivity losses while working vary widely according to the instruments chosen. Further research on instrument design and implications for a standardized approach to estimate lost time due to presenteeism is needed.

The economic consequences of neurosurgical disease in low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Rudolfson, Niclas; Dewan, Michael C; Park, Kee B; Shrime, Mark G; Meara, John G; Alkire, Blake C

2018-05-18

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to estimate the economic consequences of neurosurgical disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS The authors estimated gross domestic product (GDP) losses and the broader welfare losses attributable to 5 neurosurgical disease categories in LMICs using two distinct economic models. The value of lost output (VLO) model projects annual GDP losses due to neurosurgical disease during 2015-2030, and is based on the WHO's "Projecting the Economic Cost of Ill-health" tool. The value of lost economic welfare (VLW) model estimates total welfare losses, which is based on the value of a statistical life and includes nonmarket losses such as the inherent value placed on good health, resulting from neurosurgical disease in 2015 alone. RESULTS The VLO model estimates the selected neurosurgical diseases will result in $4.4 trillion (2013 US dollars, purchasing power parity) in GDP losses during 2015-2030 in the 90 included LMICs. Economic losses are projected to disproportionately affect low- and lower-middle-income countries, risking up to a 0.6% and 0.54% loss of GDP, respectively, in 2030. The VLW model evaluated 127 LMICs, and estimates that these countries experienced $3 trillion (2013 US dollars, purchasing power parity) in economic welfare losses in 2015. Regardless of the model used, the majority of the losses can be attributed to stroke and traumatic brain injury. CONCLUSIONS The economic impact of neurosurgical diseases in LMICs is significant. The magnitude of economic losses due to neurosurgical diseases in LMICs provides further motivation beyond already compelling humanitarian reasons for action.

24 CFR 570.482 - Eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...) A job is considered to be lost due to the provision of CDBG assistance if the job is relocated... which the affected business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non... business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non-metropolitan areas, a LMA is...

24 CFR 570.482 - Eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

...) A job is considered to be lost due to the provision of CDBG assistance if the job is relocated... which the affected business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non... business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non-metropolitan areas, a LMA is...

24 CFR 570.482 - Eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) A job is considered to be lost due to the provision of CDBG assistance if the job is relocated... which the affected business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non... business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non-metropolitan areas, a LMA is...

24 CFR 570.482 - Eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

...) A job is considered to be lost due to the provision of CDBG assistance if the job is relocated... which the affected business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non... business is currently located and from which current jobs may be lost. For non-metropolitan areas, a LMA is...

Barriers to compliance with screening guidelines for diabetic retinopathy.

PubMed

Mukamel, D B; Bresnick, G H; Wang, Q; Dickey, C F

1999-03-01

To identify barriers to compliance with guidelines for diabetic retinopathy screening. The population studied included 4410 adults, aged 31 to 64, enrolled in an Independent Practice Association (IPA) plan in Upstate New York, who were diagnosed with diabetes, and their Primary Care Physicians (408 PCPs). Claims data were used to calculate variables characterizing patients and their PCPs. Logistic regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with higher probability of screening. 34% of patients were screened in 1993. The probability of screening was significantly higher for older patients, for women, for patients who visit their PCPs more often and for those living in areas of higher average education and lower percentage of blacks. However, only 16% of diabetic patients received an annual screen in two consecutive years (1992 and 1993). The probability of consecutive annual screening was significantly associated only with gender and patient expenditures per month. The very low rate of diabetic retinopathy screening has implications for quality of life of patients with diabetes, long term costs of caring for them and social costs due to lost productivity. Interventions to increase screening rates are needed and should target both patients and their Primary Care Physicians.

Caribbean-wide, long-term study of seagrass beds reveals local variations, shifts in community structure and occasional collapse.

PubMed

van Tussenbroek, Brigitta I; Cortés, Jorge; Collin, Rachel; Fonseca, Ana C; Gayle, Peter M H; Guzmán, Hector M; Jácome, Gabriel E; Juman, Rahanna; Koltes, Karen H; Oxenford, Hazel A; Rodríguez-Ramirez, Alberto; Samper-Villarreal, Jimena; Smith, Struan R; Tschirky, John J; Weil, Ernesto

2014-01-01

The CARICOMP monitoring network gathered standardized data from 52 seagrass sampling stations at 22 sites (mostly Thalassia testudinum-dominated beds in reef systems) across the Wider Caribbean twice a year over the period 1993 to 2007 (and in some cases up to 2012). Wide variations in community total biomass (285 to >2000 g dry m(-2)) and annual foliar productivity of the dominant seagrass T. testudinum (<200 and >2000 g dry m(-2)) were found among sites. Solar-cycle related intra-annual variations in T. testudinum leaf productivity were detected at latitudes > 16°N. Hurricanes had little to no long-term effects on these well-developed seagrass communities, except for 1 station, where the vegetation was lost by burial below ∼1 m sand. At two sites (5 stations), the seagrass beds collapsed due to excessive grazing by turtles or sea-urchins (the latter in combination with human impact and storms). The low-cost methods of this regional-scale monitoring program were sufficient to detect long-term shifts in the communities, and fifteen (43%) out of 35 long-term monitoring stations (at 17 sites) showed trends in seagrass communities consistent with expected changes under environmental deterioration.

Impulsive Vaccination for an Epidemiology Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Sen, M.; Garrido, A. J.

2017-03-01

This paper investigates sufficient conditions of almost periodic sand periodic solutions of an integral model under impulsive controls. Since the model is of generic epidemiological interest, such impulsive controls are either vaccination actions or abrupt variations of the infected population due to infected immigration or lost of infective numbers due to either vaccination or lost of infected population by out-migration.

Examining the Relationship Between Symptomatic Burden and Self-reported Productivity Losses Among Patients With Uterine Fibroids in the United States.

PubMed

Soliman, Ahmed M; Anand, Savita Bakhshi; Coyne, Karin S; Castelli-Haley, Jane; Snabes, Michael; Owens, Charlotte D

2017-10-01

To evaluate the impact of uterine fibroid symptoms on employment and household productivity. An online survey of US women between 18 and 54 was conducted. Productivity was assessed using the health related productivity questionnaire (HRPQ). Descriptive statistics and logistic multivariable regressions examined the relationship between uterine fibroids (UF) symptom experience and employment and household productivity. Of 1365 eligible women, 873 (64.0%) were employed. Women lost an average of 0.8 hours to employment-related absenteeism and 4.4 hours due to employment-related presenteeism for 5.1 hours of employment productivity lost/week. Women lost an average of 1.4 hours due to household-related absenteeism and 1.6 hours due to household-related presenteeism for a total of 3.0 hours of household lost productivity. Productivity losses increased with increases in symptom burden. UF has a substantial impact on employment-related and household-related productivity.

The Economic Gains of Achieving Reduced Alcohol Consumption Targets for Australia

PubMed Central

Magnus, Anne; Cadilhac, Dominique; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby; Pearce, Dora; Carter, Rob

2012-01-01

Objectives. To inform prevention policy, we estimated the economic benefits to health, production, and leisure in the 2008 Australian population of a realistic target reduction in per capita annual adult alcohol consumption. Methods. We chose a target of 6.4 liters annually per capita on average. We modeled lifetime health benefits as fewer incident cases of alcohol-related disease, deaths, and disability adjusted life years. We estimated production gains with surveyed participation and absenteeism rates. We valued gains with friction cost and human capital methods. We estimated and valued household production and leisure gains from time-use surveys. Results. A reduction of 3.4 liters of alcohol consumed annually per capita would result in one third fewer incident cases of disease (98 000), deaths (380), working days lost (5 million), days of home-based production lost (54 000), and a A$ 789-million health sector cost reduction. Workforce production had a A$ 427 million gain when we used the friction cost method. By contrast, we estimated a loss of 28 000 leisure days and 1000 additional early retirements. Conclusions. Economic savings and health benefits from reduced alcohol consumption may be substantial—particularly in the health sector with reduced alcohol-related disease and injury. PMID:22594720

Developing ribonucleic acid interference technology to manage whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Of nearly 300 viruses transmitted by the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), 90% of them belong to the genus Begomovirus. Begomoviruses are efficiently transmitted by whiteflies to a range of agricultural crops. This results in billions of dollars lost annually, while jeopardizing food security worldwide. Se...

77 FR 20400 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-04

.../ 2012)--Extension--National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP... to $92 billion annually in lost worker productivity, and die an average of 14 years earlier than...) the elimination of nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke, (3) the promotion of quitting among...

78 FR 43886 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-22

... Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and... annually in direct medical expenses and lost productivity. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) provides funding to health departments in States, territories, and...

78 FR 43885 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-22

... Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and... annually in direct medical expenses and lost productivity. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) provides funding to health departments in States, territories, and...

The Cost of Smoking in California.

PubMed

Max, Wendy; Sung, Hai-Yen; Shi, Yanling; Stark, Brad

2016-05-01

The economic impact of smoking, including healthcare costs and the value of lost productivity due to illness and mortality, was estimated for California for 2009. Smoking-attributable healthcare costs were estimated using a series of econometric models that estimate expenditures for hospital care, ambulatory care, prescriptions, home health care, and nursing home care. Lost productivity due to illness was estimated using an econometric model predicting how smoking status affects the number of days lost from work or other activities. The value of lives lost from premature mortality due to smoking was estimated using an epidemiological approach. Almost 4 million Californians still smoke, including 146 000 adolescents. The cost of smoking in 2009 totaled $18.1 billion, including $9.8 billion in healthcare costs, $1.4 billion in lost productivity from illness, and $6.8 billion in lost productivity from premature mortality. This amounts to $487 per California resident and $4603 per smoker. Costs were greater for men than for women. Hospital costs comprised 44% of healthcare costs. Despite extensive efforts at tobacco control in California, healthcare and lost productivity costs attributable to smoking remain high. Compared to costs for 1999, the total cost was 15% greater in 2009. However, after adjusting for inflation, real costs have fallen by 13% over the past decade, indicating that efforts have been successful in reducing the economic burden of smoking in the state. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Deaths and years of life lost due to suboptimal breast-feeding among children in the developing world: a global ecological risk assessment.

PubMed

Lauer, Jeremy A; Betrán, Ana Pilar; Barros, Aluísio J D; de Onís, Mercedes

2006-09-01

We estimate attributable fractions, deaths and years of life lost among infants and children < or = 2 years of age due to suboptimal breast-feeding in developing countries. We compare actual practices to a minimum exposure pattern consisting of exclusive breast-feeding for infants < or = 6 months of age and continued breast-feeding for older infants and children < or = 2 years of age. For infants, we consider deaths due to diarrhoeal disease and lower respiratory tract infections, and deaths due to all causes are considered in the second year of life. Outcome measures are attributable fractions, deaths, years of life lost and offsetting deaths potentially caused by mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breast-feeding. Developing countries. Infants and children < or = 2 years of age. Attributable fractions for deaths due to diarrhoeal disease and lower respiratory tract infections are 55% and 53%, respectively, for the first six months of infancy, 20% and 18% for the second six months, and are 20% for all-cause deaths in the second year of life. Globally, as many as 1.45 million lives (117 million years of life) are lost due to suboptimal breast-feeding in developing countries. Offsetting deaths caused by mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breast-feeding could be as high as 242,000 (18.8 million years of life lost) if relevant World Health Organization recommendations are not followed. The size of the gap between current practice and recommendations is striking when one considers breast-feeding involves no out-of-pocket costs, that there exists universal consensus on best practices, and that implementing current international recommendations could potentially save 1.45 million children's lives each year.

On impulsive controls for almost periodic solutions of a nonlinear delay integral equation of epidemiological modeling interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Sen, Manuel; Garrido, Aitor J.

2016-11-01

This paper investigates sufficient conditions of almost periodic solutions of an epidemiological model under impulsive controls. Such impulsive controls are either vaccination actions or abrupt variations of the infected population due to infected immigration or lost of infective numbers due to either vaccination or lost of infected population by out-migration.

75 FR 73073 - Washington Gas Light Company; Notice of Filing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-29

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. PR11-74-000] Washington Gas Light Company; Notice of Filing November 18, 2010. Take notice that on November 15, 2010, Washington Gas Light Company (Washington Gas) filed its annual actual lost and unaccounted for volumes (LAUF...

Counseling Adult Clients Experiencing Chronic Pain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Stephanie T.

2010-01-01

Chronic pain affects 35% to 57% of the adult population in the United States and results in billions of dollars spent annually in direct health-care costs and lost productivity. Extensive research confirms the considerable role psychological factors play in the experience and expression of chronic pain. The author discusses implications for…

77 FR 21092 - San Jose Water Company; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-09

... Generation Facility (Hostetter Modernization Project) f. Location: The proposed Hostetter Modernization... electricity, energy that would otherwise be lost, and would have an average annual generation of 240 megawatt... resource agencies, and distributing and consulting on a draft exemption application. Dated: April 3, 2012...

2017 A Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-26

Apollo launch team member John Tribe addresses guests at Kennedy Space Center's Day of Remembrance ceremony. Held this year in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the annual event honors the contributions of all astronauts who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.

75 FR 9224 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-01

... Quitline Data Warehouse -- New--National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion... contribute to $92 billion annually in lost worker productivity, and die an average of 14 years earlier than... elimination of nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke, (3) the promotion of quitting among adults and young...

Differentiation of volatile profiles of stockpiled almonds at varying relative humidity levels using benchtop and portable GC-MS

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Contamination by aflatoxin, a toxic metabolite produced by Aspergillus fungi ubiquitous in California almond and pistachio orchards, results in millions of dollars of lost product annually. Current detection of aflatoxin relies on destructive, expensive and time-intensive laboratory-based methods. T...

Haverfordian, I Presume? How One College Found 593 Lost Alumni.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaye, William G.

1985-01-01

Through an alumni-led effort called Project Search, Haverford College found 72 percent of its 825 missing graduates. The project has paid off in more than renewed alumni ties, with a 20-fold return in the first 3 years of combined annual and capital fund raising. (MLW)

Determinants of survival in patients receiving dialysis in Libya.

PubMed

Alashek, Wiam A; McIntyre, Christopher W; Taal, Maarten W

2013-04-01

Maintenance dialysis is associated with reduced survival when compared with the general population. In Libya, information about outcomes on dialysis is scarce. This study, therefore, aimed to provide the first comprehensive analysis of survival in Libyan dialysis patients. This prospective multicenter study included all patients in Libya who had been receiving dialysis for >90 days in June 2009. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected upon enrollment and survival status after 1 year was determined. Two thousand two hundred seventy-three patients in 38 dialysis centers were followed up for 1 year. The majority were receiving hemodialysis (98.8%). Sixty-seven patients were censored due to renal transplantation, and 46 patients were lost to follow-up. Thus, 2159 patients were followed up for 1 year. Four hundred fifty-eight deaths occurred, (crude annual mortality rate of 21.2%). Of these, 31% were due to ischemic heart disease, 16% cerebrovascular accidents, and 16% due to infection. Annual mortality rate was 0% to 70% in different dialysis centers. Best survival was in age group 25 to 34 years. Binary logistic regression analysis identified age at onset of dialysis, physical dependency, diabetes, and predialysis urea as independent determinants of increased mortality. Patients receiving dialysis in Libya have a crude 1-year mortality rate similar to most developed countries, but the mean age of the dialysis population is much lower, and this outcome is thus relatively poor. As in most countries, cardiovascular disease and infection were the most common causes of death. Variation in mortality rates between different centers suggests that survival could be improved by promoting standardization of best practice. © 2012 The Authors. Hemodialysis International © 2012 International Society for Hemodialysis.

Economic costs of chronic disease through lost productive life years (PLYs) among Australians aged 45-64 years from 2015 to 2030: results from a microsimulation model.

PubMed

Schofield, Deborah; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Cunich, Michelle M; Tanton, Robert; Veerman, Lennert; Kelly, Simon J; Passey, Megan E

2016-09-22

To project the number of older workers with lost productive life years (PLYs) due to chronic disease and resultant lost income; and lost taxes and increased welfare payments from 2015 to 2030. Using a microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, the costs of chronic disease in Australians aged 45-64 were projected to 2030. The model integrates household survey data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDACs) 2003 and 2009, output from long-standing microsimulation models (STINMOD (Static Incomes Model) and APPSIM (Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model)) used by various government departments, population and labour force growth data from Treasury, and disease trends data from the Australian Burden of Disease and Injury Study (2003). Respondents aged 45-64 years in the SDACs 2003 and 2009 formed the base population. Lost PLYs due to chronic disease; resultant lost income, lost taxes and increased welfare payments in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. We projected 380 000 (6.4%) people aged 45-64 years with lost PLYs in 2015, increasing to 462 000 (6.5%) in 2030-a 22% increase in absolute numbers. Those with lost PLYs experience the largest reduction in income than any other group in each year compared to those employed full time without a chronic disease, and this income gap widens over time. The total economic loss due to lost PLYs consisted of lost income modelled at $A12.6 billion in 2015, increasing to $A20.5 billion in 2030-a 62.7% increase. Additional costs to the government consisted of increased welfare payments at $A6.2 billion in 2015, increasing to $A7.3 billion in 2030-a 17.7% increase; and a loss of $A3.1 billion in taxes in 2015, increasing to $A4.7 billion in 2030-a growth of 51.6%. There is a need for greater investment in effective preventive health interventions which improve workers' health and work capacity. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Economic costs of chronic disease through lost productive life years (PLYs) among Australians aged 45–64 years from 2015 to 2030: results from a microsimulation model

PubMed Central

Schofield, Deborah; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Cunich, Michelle M; Tanton, Robert; Veerman, Lennert; Kelly, Simon J

2016-01-01

Objectives To project the number of older workers with lost productive life years (PLYs) due to chronic disease and resultant lost income; and lost taxes and increased welfare payments from 2015 to 2030. Design, setting and participants Using a microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, the costs of chronic disease in Australians aged 45–64 were projected to 2030. The model integrates household survey data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDACs) 2003 and 2009, output from long-standing microsimulation models (STINMOD (Static Incomes Model) and APPSIM (Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model)) used by various government departments, population and labour force growth data from Treasury, and disease trends data from the Australian Burden of Disease and Injury Study (2003). Respondents aged 45–64 years in the SDACs 2003 and 2009 formed the base population. Main outcome measures Lost PLYs due to chronic disease; resultant lost income, lost taxes and increased welfare payments in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. Results We projected 380 000 (6.4%) people aged 45–64 years with lost PLYs in 2015, increasing to 462 000 (6.5%) in 2030—a 22% increase in absolute numbers. Those with lost PLYs experience the largest reduction in income than any other group in each year compared to those employed full time without a chronic disease, and this income gap widens over time. The total economic loss due to lost PLYs consisted of lost income modelled at $A12.6 billion in 2015, increasing to $A20.5 billion in 2030—a 62.7% increase. Additional costs to the government consisted of increased welfare payments at $A6.2 billion in 2015, increasing to $A7.3 billion in 2030—a 17.7% increase; and a loss of $A3.1 billion in taxes in 2015, increasing to $A4.7 billion in 2030—a growth of 51.6%. Conclusions There is a need for greater investment in effective preventive health interventions which improve workers’ health and work capacity. PMID:27660315

Burden of disease due to cancer in Spain

PubMed Central

Fernández de Larrea-Baz, Nerea; Álvarez-Martín, Elena; Morant-Ginestar, Consuelo; Gènova-Maleras, Ricard; Gil, Ángel; Pérez-Gómez, Beatriz; López-Abente, Gonzalo

2009-01-01

Background Burden of disease is a joint measure of mortality and morbidity which makes it easier to compare health problems in which these two components enjoy different degrees of relative importance. The objective of this study is ascertaining the burden of disease due to cancer in Spain via the calculation of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Methods DALYs are the sum of years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lost due to disability. World Health Organization methodology and the following sources of data were used: the Mortality Register and Princeton Model Life Table for Years of life lost due to premature mortality and population, incidence estimates (Spanish tumour registries and fitting of generalized linear mixed models), duration (from data of survival in Spain from the EUROCARE-3 study and fitting of Weibull distribution function) and disability (weights published in the literature) for Years lost due to disability. Results There were 828,997 DALYs due to cancer (20.5 DALYs/1,000 population), 61% in men. Of the total, 51% corresponded to lung, colorectal, breast, stomach and prostate cancers. Mortality (84% of DALYs) predominated over disability. Subjects aged under 20 years accounted for 1.6% and those aged over 70 years accounted for 30.1% of DALYs. Conclusion Lung, colorectal and breast cancers are responsible for the highest number of DALYs in Spain. Even if the burden of disease due to cancer is predominantly caused by mortality, some cancers have a significant weight of disability. Information on 2000 burden of disease due to cancer can be useful to assess how it has evolved over time and the impact of medical advances on it in terms of mortality and disability. PMID:19183440

Climate Patterns and Trends of Tree-Mortality in the Southwestern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, C.; Mu, G.; Hendrey, G. R.; Vicente-Serrano, S.

2016-12-01

Evidence suggests a world-wide increase in tree mortality associated with climate change in regions subjected to prolonged drought. This is particularly evident in the Southwestern USA (SWUSA) where trees are dying at an accelerating and alarming rate where we investigated climate patterns and trends over the past century in combination with abundant tree-ring data, and thresholds of tree-mortality. In this drought-prone region we found a strong correlation between annual tree-ring width and the corresponding annual average temperature and amount of precipitation. A standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI) was a robust predictor of annual tree growth. At a SPEI of -1.6, tree-ring width was found to be zero. We hypothesize that this is a tipping point for tree-ring mortality. This is confirmed in that approximately 225 million trees died in SWUSA in 2002 when SPEI fell below this tipping point. An analysis of future trends in SPEI based on four GHG concentration scenarios of the IPCC predicts that in coming decades, the conifer forest in SWUSA is expected to be lost entirely due to the prolonged drought there, as the SPEI is predicted to pass the tipping point. It can be anticipated that as the area impacted by prolonged drought increases with SPEI falling below -1.6 tree mortality will become a regional or semi-continental phenomenon. Acknowledgement:This research was supported by PSC-CUNY award (PSC-CUNY-ENHC-68849-0046) and the CUNY Collaborative Incentive Research Grant (CUNY-CIRG-80209-08 22).

Continuity planning for workplace infectious diseases.

PubMed

Welch, Nancy; Miller, Pamela Blair; Engle, Lisa

2016-01-01

Traditionally, business continuity plans prepare for worst-case scenarios; people plan for the exception rather than the common. Plans focus on infrastructure damage and recovery wrought by such disasters as hurricanes, terrorist events or tornadoes. Yet, another very real threat looms present every day, every season and can strike without warning, wreaking havoc on the major asset -- human capital. Each year, millions of dollars are lost in productivity, healthcare costs, absenteeism and services due to infectious, communicable diseases. Sound preventive risk management and recovery strategies can avert this annual decimation of staff and ensure continuous business operation. This paper will present a strong economic justification for the recognition, prevention and mitigation of communicable diseases as a routine part of continuity planning for every business. Recommendations will also be provided for environmental/engineering controls as well as personnel policies that address employee and customer protection, supply chain contacts and potential legal issues.

Disability-adjusted Life Years Lost to Ischemic Heart Disease in Spain.

PubMed

Fernández de Larrea-Baz, Nerea; Morant-Ginestar, Consuelo; Catalá-López, Ferrán; Gènova-Maleras, Ricard; Álvarez-Martín, Elena

2015-11-01

The health indicator disability-adjusted life years combines the fatal and nonfatal consequences of a disease in a single measure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the burden of ischemic heart disease in 2008 in Spain by calculating disability-adjusted life years. The years of life lost due to premature death were calculated using the ischemic heart disease deaths by age and sex recorded in the Spanish National Institute of Statistics and the life-table in the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study. The years lived with disability, calculated for acute coronary syndrome, stable angina, and ischemic heart failure, used hospital discharge data and information from population studies. Disability weights were taken from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study. We calculated crude and age standardized rates (European Standard Population). Univariate sensitivity analyses were performed. In 2008, 539 570 disability-adjusted life years were lost due to ischemic heart disease in Spain (crude rate, 11.8/1000 population; standardized, 8.6/1000). Of the total years lost, 96% were due to premature death and 4% due to disability. Among the years lost due to disability, heart failure accounted for 83%, stable angina 15%, and acute coronary syndrome 2%. In the sensitivity analysis, weighting by age was the factor that changed the results to the greatest degree. Ischemic heart disease continues to have a huge impact on the health of our population, mainly because of premature death. The results of this study provide an overall vision of the epidemiologic situation in Spain and could serve as the basis for evaluating interventions targeting the acute and chronic manifestations of cardiac ischemia. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Human exposures to pesticides in the United States.

PubMed

Langley, Ricky L; Mort, Sandra Amiss

2012-01-01

Pesticides are used in most homes, businesses, and farms to control a variety of pests, including insects, weeds, fungi, rodents, and even microbial organisms. Inappropriate use of pesticides can lead to adverse effects to humans and the environment. This study provides updated information on the magnitude of adverse pesticide exposures in the United States. Data on pesticide exposure were obtained from calls to poison control centers (PCCs) reported by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Estimates of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and health care costs were reported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and deaths from pesticide poisonings reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research). An average of 23 deaths occur each year with pesticides as the underlying cause of death, most due to suicidal ingestions. An average of 130,136 calls to poison control centers were reported from 2006 to 2010, with an average of 20,116 cases (17.8%) treated in health care facilities annually. AHQR reported an annual average of 7385 emergency room visits during 2006 to 2008, and 1419 annual hospitalizations during 2005 to 2009. Excluding cost from lost work time, hospital physician fees, and pesticide-induced cancers, the annual national cost associated with pesticide exposures was estimated as nearly $200 million USD based on data from emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and for deaths. Pesticide exposures remain a significant public health issue. Health care providers, cooperative extension agents, and pesticide manufactures can help prevent exposures by increasing education of parents and workers, encourage use of less toxic agents, and encourage the practice of integrated pest management.

Transcriptomics-guided development of RNA interference strategies to manage whiteflies: a globally distributed vector of crop viruses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over 300 viruses are transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, with 90% of them belonging to the genus, Begomovirus. Begomoviruses are exclusively transmitted by whiteflies to a range of agriculture crops, resulting in billions of dollars lost annually, while jeopardizing food security worldwide....

Tales of Technology Innovation Gone Wrong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mallery, Mary

2008-01-01

People do not want to talk about failure, and technological innovations that do not work out are especially difficult for librarians to discuss. Technological failures are expensive in terms of money and time lost, and they are often minimized by library directors in their annual reports in favor of reporting more positive outcomes. Today's…

A new tool for estimating phosphorus loss from cattle barnyards and outdoor lots

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Phosphorus (P) loss from agriculture can compromise quality of receiving water bodies. For cattle farms, P can be lost from cropland, pastures, and outdoor animal lots. We developed a new model that predicts annual runoff, total solids loss, and total and dissolved P loss from cattle lots. The model...

76 FR 6351 - Great Lakes Pilotage: 2011 Annual Review and Adjustment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-04

... Area. There are no pilots currently in either of these slots and no jobs are being lost as a result of.... Abbreviations II. Regulatory History III. Basis and Purpose IV. Background V. Discussion of Comments and Changes... Changes We received comments from three persons during the NPRM public comment period. Comments outside...

Intelligent transportation systems for traveler information : deployment benefits and lessons learned

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

In the 10 most congested areas of the country, each rush hour traveler pays an annual "congestion tax" of $850 to $1,600 in lost time and fuel and spends a total of almost 8 work days each year stuck in traffic. To address this costly problem, the U....

Incidence and Impact of Selected Infectious Diseases in Childhood.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vital and Health Statistics, 1991

1991-01-01

This report provides estimates of the lifetime and annual incidence of certain infectious diseases of children in various demographic groups. Data on the social and health care impact of the diseases in terms of limited activity, days spent in bed, school days lost, contacts with physicians, hospitalizations, surgery, and use of medication are…

Opt-Outs: What Is Lost When Students Do Not Test. Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Croft, Michelle

2015-01-01

Scores on annual statewide achievement tests can provide parents, students, educators, and policymakers with valuable information--but only if students participate. This issue brief provides the background about recent increases in (and efforts to expand) the number of students opting out of statewide assessments, describes the information and…

The effects of tropospheric ozone on net primary production and implications for climate change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a global air pollutant that causes billions of dollars in lost plant productivity annually. It is an important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, and as a secondary air pollutant, can persist at high concentrations in rural areas far from industrial sources. Ozone reduces plant...

Seasonal Influenza: An Overview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Christina; Freedman, Marian

2009-01-01

Seasonal influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. It also has major social and economic consequences in the form of high rates of absenteeism from school and work as well as significant treatment and hospitalization costs. In fact, annual influenza epidemics and the resulting deaths and lost days of productivity…

42 CFR 51c.107 - Use of project funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... governing board members for wages lost by reason of participation in the activities of such board if the member is from a family with an annual family income below $10,000 or if the member is a single person... Secretary; (3) The reimbursement of members of the grantee's governing board, if any, for reasonable...

Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2016-17. IDRA Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Roy L.; Montes, Felix

2017-01-01

Since 1986, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted an annual attrition study to track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public secondary school enrollment prior to graduation. The study builds on the series of studies that began when IDRA conducted the first comprehensive study of school…

Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2014-15. IDRA Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Roy L.; Montes, Felix

2015-01-01

Since 1986, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted an annual attrition study to track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public secondary school enrollment prior to graduation. The study builds on the series of studies that began when IDRA conducted the first comprehensive study of school…

Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2013-14. IDRA Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Roy L.; Montes, Felix

2014-01-01

Since 1986, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted an annual attrition study to track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public secondary school enrollment prior to graduation. The study builds on the series of studies that began when IDRA conducted the first comprehensive study of school…

Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2015-16. IDRA Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Roy L.; Montes, Felix; Hinojosa, David

2016-01-01

Since 1986, Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted an annual attrition study to track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public secondary school enrollment prior to graduation. The study builds on the series of studies that began when IDRA conducted the first comprehensive study of school…

Autonomous long-range open area fire detection and reporting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engelhaupt, Darell E.; Reardon, Patrick J.; Blackwell, Lisa; Warden, Lance; Ramsey, Brian D.

2005-03-01

Approximately 5 billion dollars in US revenue was lost in 2003 due to open area fires. In addition many lives are lost annually. Early detection of open area fires is typically performed by manned observatories, random reporting and aerial surveillance. Optical IR flame detectors have been developed previously. They typically have experienced high false alarms and low flame detection sensitivity due to interference from solar and other causes. Recently a combination of IR detectors has been used in a two or three color mode to reduce false alarms from solar, or background sources. A combination of ultra-violet C (UVC) and near infra-red (NIR) detectors has also been developed recently for flame discrimination. Relatively solar-blind basic detectors are now available but typically detect at only a few tens of meters at ~ 1 square meter fuel flame. We quantify the range and solar issues for IR and visible detectors and qualitatively define UV sensor requirements in terms of the mode of operation, collection area issues and flame signal output by combustion photochemistry. We describe innovative flame signal collection optics for multiple wavelengths using UV and IR as low false alarm detection of open area fires at long range (8-10 km/m2) in daylight (or darkness). A circular array detector and UV-IR reflective and refractive devices including cylindrical or toroidal lens elements for the IR are described. The dispersion in a refractive cylindrical IR lens characterizes the fire and allows a stationary line or circle generator to locate the direction and different flame IR "colors" from a wide FOV. The line generator will produce spots along the line corresponding to the fire which can be discriminated with a linear detector. We demonstrate prototype autonomous sensors with RF digital reporting from various sites.

Effects of climate change and land use on duck abundance in Canadian prairie-parklands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bethke, R.W.; Nudds, T.D.

Recent declines in breeding ducks in the Canadian prairie-parklands may be due to loss of habitat to agriculture. However, prairie-parkland also has experienced wetland loss to drought as well as to agriculture. For sucessful habitat restoration, it is important to separate the effects of anthropogenic changes to the landscape from those caused by changes in climate. The researchers used data from annual air-ground surveys and from precipitation records to develop relationships between indices of abundance of each of 10 species of ducks and indices of wetland conditions during 1955-1974. Average annual deficits within Canadian prairie-parkland over the period 1975-1989 weremore » estimated at 1.2 x 10{sup 6} birds for both Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and Northern Pintail (A. acuta), 480 000 for Blue-winged Teal (A. discors), 190 000 for American Wigeon (A. americana), 175 000 for Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata), 50 000 for Gadwall (A. strepera), 10 000 for Green-winged Teal (A. crecca), 40 000 for Canvasback (Aythya valisineria), 25 000 for Lesser Scaup (A. affinis), and 5000 for Redhead (A. americana). The effect of agricultural expansion in the east on prime waterfowl habitat since 1951 appears to have been negligible. There, as much as 90% had been already lost prior to 1951. In the west, however, where prime waterfowl habitat was still relatively abundant in 1951, agricultural development has encroached substantially. The relationship between the lost area of the best breeding habitats and the size of population deficits for Mallards and Northern Pintails in the entire Canadian prairie-parkland region was significant for both species (P < 0.0027 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Consequently, habitat restoration programs located where the highest quality waterfowl habitat and the lowest quality agricultural lands overlap most should have the greatest potential to affect recovery of breeding duck populations in the Canadian prairie-parklands. 39 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Juvenile Lost River and shortnose sucker year class strength, survival, and growth in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California—2016 Monitoring Report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burdick, Summer M.; Ostberg, Carl O.; Hoy, Marshal S.

2018-04-20

Executive SummaryThe largest populations of federally endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) exist in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir, California. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing because adult mortality, which is relatively low, is not being balanced by recruitment of young adult suckers into known spawning aggregations. Most Upper Klamath Lake juvenile sucker mortality appears to occur within the first year of life. Annual production of juvenile suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir appears to be highly variable and may not occur at all in very dry years. However, juvenile sucker survival is much higher in Clear Lake, with non-trivial numbers of suckers surviving to join spawning aggregations. Long-term monitoring of juvenile sucker populations is needed to (1) determine if there are annual and species-specific differences in production, survival, and growth, (2) to identify the season (summer or winter) in which most mortality occurs, and (3) to help identify potential causes of high juvenile sucker mortality, particularly in Upper Klamath Lake.We initiated an annual juvenile sucker monitoring program in 2015 to track cohorts in 3 months (June, August, and September) annually in Upper Klamath Lake and Clear Lake Reservoir. We tracked annual variability in age-0 sucker apparent production, juvenile sucker apparent survival, and apparent growth. Using genetic markers, we were able to classify suckers as one of three taxa: shortnose or Klamath largescale suckers, Lost River, or suckers with genetic markers of both species (Intermediate Prob[LRS]). Using catch data, we generated taxa-specific indices of year class strength, August–September apparent survival, and overwinter apparent survival. We also examined prevalence and severity of afflictions such as parasites, wounds, and deformities.Indices of year class strength in Upper Klamath Lake were similar for shortnose suckers in 2015 and 2016, but about twice as high for Lost River suckers and suckers having intermediate Prob[LRS] in 2016 than in 2015. Indices of apparent August–September survival were lower in 2016 (0.41) than in 2015 (1.07) for shortnose suckers and suckers identified as having intermediate Prob [LRS] (0.14 in 2016 and 1.69 in 2015). Indices of apparent August—September survival were similar in 2016 (0.16) and 2015 (0.07) for Lost River suckers. Indices of apparent survival were lower for age-0 Lost River suckers than age-0 shortnose suckers in both years. Although samples sizes are small, a declining trend in the ratio of Lost River to shortnose suckers from 28/23 (1.22) as age-0 fish in September of 2015 to 1/9 (0.11) as age-1 fish in June of 2016 is consistent with higher over winter apparent mortality for Lost River suckers than shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake.Shortnose sucker year class strength was greater in years with high Willow Creek inflows and Clear Lake surface elevation during the spawning season, indicating that access to spawning habitat was an important contributing factor. In previous sampling, age-0 sucker catch per unit effort (CPUE) was relatively high in 2011 and 2012, moderately high in 2013, and zero in 2014 and 2015. The 2011 and 2012 year classes continued to be detected, but the 2013 year class went undetected for the first time in 2016. The 2014 year class continued to be undetected in 2016. Three suckers with one annulus each on fin rays were captured in Clear Lake in 2016. Although these fish are potential representatives of the 2015 year class, they were small for their age, indicating they may have hatched in 2016. Age-0 shortnose and Lost River suckers were captured in Clear Lake in 2016, indicating new cohorts of both taxa were produced. Moderate to abundant year classes were produced in 2011, 2012, and 2016 when lake surface elevation greater than 1,378.9 m (4,524 ft) during the February–June spawning season. Also in 2011 and 2016, rapid increases in lake-surface elevation indicated potentially high Willow Creek inflows. A somewhat less abundant year class produced in 2012 than in 2011 and 2016 was associated with lower spawning season inflows. The apparently smaller 2013 year class was formed when Willow Creek inflows were apparently low and lake surface never exceeded 1,379.2 m (4,524.9 ft). In 2014 and 2015, when year-classes were small or not detected, the Clear Lake surface elevations were at or below 1,378.2 m (4,522 ft), and there was very little spring time Willow Creek inflow.Age-0 shortnose sucker CPUE in Clear Lake was correlated with seasonal decreases in water volumes in 2016 and could not be used to create indices of August–September survival. Age-0 shortnose sucker catch rates in Clear Lake Reservoir were about seven times less in August than in September. Meanwhile, the water volume in Clear Lake Reservoir declined by about 36 percent between these two sampling periods. Higher September catch rates may have resulted from additional age-0 suckers entering the lake from the river, a concentrating effect of declining water volumes, or both.Differences in August standard length, apparent growth rates, and the prevalence of abnormalities were consistent with healthier age-0 suckers in Clear Lake Reservoir than in Upper Klamath Lake. Age-0 suckers were larger in August in Clear Lake Reservoir than in Upper Klamath Lake, which may be due to an earlier hatch date, faster growth, or both in Clear Lake Reservoir. Sample sizes were only large enough to compare growth rates of age-0 shortnose suckers from Upper Klamath Lake in 2015 to Clear Lake Reservoir in 2016. Age-0 shortnose suckers grew more between August and September in Clear Lake Reservoir in 2016 than in Upper Klamath Lake in 2015. Petechial hemorrhages of the skin on age-0 suckers were more prevalent in Upper Klamath Lake than in Clear Lake Reservoir in 2016. Deformed opercula, black-spot forming parasites, and infections presumed to be Columnaris sp. were observed on less than 12 percent of suckers from Upper Klamath Lake but were not observed on suckers from Clear Lake Reservoir in 2016.

Variations in the most abundant types of glucosinolates found in the leaves of baby leaf rocket under typical commercial conditions.

PubMed

Hall, Matthew K D; Jobling, Jenny J; Rogers, Gordon S

2015-02-01

Changes in the concentration of the three most abundant glucosinolates were measured in the leaves of perennial wall rocket [Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC.], and annual garden rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.). HPLC-MS was used to identify glucoraphanin, 4-hydroxyglucobrassin and glucoerucin from perennial wall rocket, and glucoraphanin, glucobrassicin and 4-methoxyglucobrassicin from annual garden rocket. In separate experiments the responses of glucosinolates to harvest number, seasonal conditions, nitrogen supply and post-harvest storage conditions were measured. For perennial wall rocket, season influenced the concentration of glucoraphanin, which were highest for the spring [379 µg kg(-1) fresh weight (FW)] and summer (317 µg kg(-1) FW) plantings. The concentration of 4-hydroxyglucobrassin was higher in the leaves of first harvest crops. This response was due to this glucosinolate not being detected in the leaves of second harvest crops. Thus, the parent glucosinolate was altered between the first and second harvests in response to the abiotic stresses caused by harvesting. For annual garden rocket, there was an interaction between the harvest number and season for all glucosinolates measured. However, no clear response was observed between these factors. Higher concentrations of glucobrassicin and 4-methoxyglucobrassicin were measured for first harvest leaves when compared to the second harvest. This was due to the absence of detection of these glucosinolates in the leaves of second harvested plants; consequently higher total glucosinolate concentrations were measured for the first harvest winter (1224 µg kg(-1) FW) and summer (864 µg kg(-1) FW) crops. The concentrations of individual glucosinolates vary greatly over typical pre- and post-harvest commercial conditions. The absence of 4-hydroxyglucobrassin for perennial wall rocket, and glucobrassicin and 4-methoxyglucobrassicin for annual garden rocket between harvests, illustrates that abiotic stress from harvesting has the capacity to alter the types of glucosinolates in leaves. Concentrations do not generally decline during a typical storage period, indicating that the potential benefits of these compounds are not lost during post-harvest storage. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

The direct and indirect costs of Dravet Syndrome.

PubMed

Whittington, Melanie D; Knupp, Kelly G; Vanderveen, Gina; Kim, Chong; Gammaitoni, Arnold; Campbell, Jonathan D

2018-03-01

The objective of this study was to estimate the annual direct and indirect costs associated with Dravet Syndrome (DS). A survey was electronically administered to the caregivers of patients with DS treated at Children's Hospital Colorado. Survey domains included healthcare utilization of the patient with DS and DS caregiver work productivity and activity impairment. Patient healthcare utilization was measured using modified questions from the National Health Interview Survey; caregiver work productivity and activity impairment were measured using modified questions from the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. Direct costs were calculated by multiplying the caregiver-reported healthcare utilization rates by the mean unit cost for each healthcare utilization category. Indirect costs included lost productivity, income loss, and lost leisure time. The indirect costs were a function of caregiver-reported hours spent caregiving and an hourly unit cost. The survey was emailed to 60 DS caregivers, of which 34 (57% response rate) responded. Direct costs on average were $27,276 (95% interval: $15,757, $41,904) per patient with DS. Hospitalizations ($11,565 a year) and in-home medical care visits ($9894 a year) were substantial cost drivers. Additionally, caregivers reported extensive time spent providing care to an individual with DS. This caregiver time resulted in average annual indirect costs of $81,582 (95% interval: $57,253, $110,151), resulting in an average total annual financial burden of $106,378 (95% interval: $78,894, $137,906). Dravet Syndrome results in substantial healthcare utilization, financial burden, and time commitment. Establishing evidence on the financial burden of DS is essential to understanding the overall impact of DS, identifying potential areas for support needs, and assessing the impact of novel treatments as they become available. Based on the study findings, in-home visits, hospitalizations, and lost productivity and leisure time of caregivers are key domains for DS economic evaluations. Future research should extend these estimates to include the potential additional healthcare utilization of the DS caregiver. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global, Regional, and National Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived With Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for 29 Cancer Groups, 1990 to 2016: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study.

PubMed

Fitzmaurice, Christina; Akinyemiju, Tomi F; Al Lami, Faris Hasan; Alam, Tahiya; Alizadeh-Navaei, Reza; Allen, Christine; Alsharif, Ubai; Alvis-Guzman, Nelson; Amini, Erfan; Anderson, Benjamin O; Aremu, Olatunde; Artaman, Al; Asgedom, Solomon Weldegebreal; Assadi, Reza; Atey, Tesfay Mehari; Avila-Burgos, Leticia; Awasthi, Ashish; Ba Saleem, Huda Omer; Barac, Aleksandra; Bennett, James R; Bensenor, Isabela M; Bhakta, Nickhill; Brenner, Hermann; Cahuana-Hurtado, Lucero; Castañeda-Orjuela, Carlos A; Catalá-López, Ferrán; Choi, Jee-Young Jasmine; Christopher, Devasahayam Jesudas; Chung, Sheng-Chia; Curado, Maria Paula; Dandona, Lalit; Dandona, Rakhi; das Neves, José; Dey, Subhojit; Dharmaratne, Samath D; Doku, David Teye; Driscoll, Tim R; Dubey, Manisha; Ebrahimi, Hedyeh; Edessa, Dumessa; El-Khatib, Ziad; Endries, Aman Yesuf; Fischer, Florian; Force, Lisa M; Foreman, Kyle J; Gebrehiwot, Solomon Weldemariam; Gopalani, Sameer Vali; Grosso, Giuseppe; Gupta, Rahul; Gyawali, Bishal; Hamadeh, Randah Ribhi; Hamidi, Samer; Harvey, James; Hassen, Hamid Yimam; Hay, Roderick J; Hay, Simon I; Heibati, Behzad; Hiluf, Molla Kahssay; Horita, Nobuyuki; Hosgood, H Dean; Ilesanmi, Olayinka S; Innos, Kaire; Islami, Farhad; Jakovljevic, Mihajlo B; Johnson, Sarah Charlotte; Jonas, Jost B; Kasaeian, Amir; Kassa, Tesfaye Dessale; Khader, Yousef Saleh; Khan, Ejaz Ahmad; Khan, Gulfaraz; Khang, Young-Ho; Khosravi, Mohammad Hossein; Khubchandani, Jagdish; Kopec, Jacek A; Kumar, G Anil; Kutz, Michael; Lad, Deepesh Pravinkumar; Lafranconi, Alessandra; Lan, Qing; Legesse, Yirga; Leigh, James; Linn, Shai; Lunevicius, Raimundas; Majeed, Azeem; Malekzadeh, Reza; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Mantovani, Lorenzo G; McMahon, Brian J; Meier, Toni; Melaku, Yohannes Adama; Melku, Mulugeta; Memiah, Peter; Mendoza, Walter; Meretoja, Tuomo J; Mezgebe, Haftay Berhane; Miller, Ted R; Mohammed, Shafiu; Mokdad, Ali H; Moosazadeh, Mahmood; Moraga, Paula; Mousavi, Seyyed Meysam; Nangia, Vinay; Nguyen, Cuong Tat; Nong, Vuong Minh; Ogbo, Felix Akpojene; Olagunju, Andrew Toyin; Pa, Mahesh; Park, Eun-Kee; Patel, Tejas; Pereira, David M; Pishgar, Farhad; Postma, Maarten J; Pourmalek, Farshad; Qorbani, Mostafa; Rafay, Anwar; Rawaf, Salman; Rawaf, David Laith; Roshandel, Gholamreza; Safiri, Saeid; Salimzadeh, Hamideh; Sanabria, Juan Ramon; Santric Milicevic, Milena M; Sartorius, Benn; Satpathy, Maheswar; Sepanlou, Sadaf G; Shackelford, Katya Anne; Shaikh, Masood Ali; Sharif-Alhoseini, Mahdi; She, Jun; Shin, Min-Jeong; Shiue, Ivy; Shrime, Mark G; Sinke, Abiy Hiruye; Sisay, Mekonnen; Sligar, Amber; Sufiyan, Muawiyyah Babale; Sykes, Bryan L; Tabarés-Seisdedos, Rafael; Tessema, Gizachew Assefa; Topor-Madry, Roman; Tran, Tung Thanh; Tran, Bach Xuan; Ukwaja, Kingsley Nnanna; Vlassov, Vasiliy Victorovich; Vollset, Stein Emil; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Williams, Hywel C; Yimer, Nigus Bililign; Yonemoto, Naohiro; Younis, Mustafa Z; Murray, Christopher J L; Naghavi, Mohsen

2018-06-02

The increasing burden due to cancer and other noncommunicable diseases poses a threat to human development, which has resulted in global political commitments reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan on Non-Communicable Diseases. To determine if these commitments have resulted in improved cancer control, quantitative assessments of the cancer burden are required. To assess the burden for 29 cancer groups over time to provide a framework for policy discussion, resource allocation, and research focus. Cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were evaluated for 195 countries and territories by age and sex using the Global Burden of Disease study estimation methods. Levels and trends were analyzed over time, as well as by the Sociodemographic Index (SDI). Changes in incident cases were categorized by changes due to epidemiological vs demographic transition. In 2016, there were 17.2 million cancer cases worldwide and 8.9 million deaths. Cancer cases increased by 28% between 2006 and 2016. The smallest increase was seen in high SDI countries. Globally, population aging contributed 17%; population growth, 12%; and changes in age-specific rates, -1% to this change. The most common incident cancer globally for men was prostate cancer (1.4 million cases). The leading cause of cancer deaths and DALYs was tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer (1.2 million deaths and 25.4 million DALYs). For women, the most common incident cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths and DALYs was breast cancer (1.7 million incident cases, 535 000 deaths, and 14.9 million DALYs). In 2016, cancer caused 213.2 million DALYs globally for both sexes combined. Between 2006 and 2016, the average annual age-standardized incidence rates for all cancers combined increased in 130 of 195 countries or territories, and the average annual age-standardized death rates decreased within that timeframe in 143 of 195 countries or territories. Large disparities exist between countries in cancer incidence, deaths, and associated disability. Scaling up cancer prevention and ensuring universal access to cancer care are required for health equity and to fulfill the global commitments for noncommunicable disease and cancer control.

Impact of deforestation and climate on the Amazon Basin's above-ground biomass during 1993-2012.

PubMed

Exbrayat, Jean-François; Liu, Yi Y; Williams, Mathew

2017-11-15

Since the 1960s, large-scale deforestation in the Amazon Basin has contributed to rising global CO 2 concentrations and to climate change. Recent advances in satellite observations enable estimates of gross losses of above-ground biomass (AGB) stocks due to deforestation. However, because of simultaneous regrowth, the net contribution of deforestation emissions to rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations is poorly quantified. Climate change may also reduce the potential for forest regeneration in previously disturbed regions. Here, we address these points of uncertainty with a machine-learning approach that combines satellite observations of AGB with climate data across the Amazon Basin to reconstruct annual maps of potential AGB during 1993-2012, the above-ground C storage potential of the undisturbed landscape. We derive a 2.2 Pg C loss of AGB over the study period, and, for the regions where these losses occur, we estimate a 0.7 Pg C reduction in potential AGB. Thus, climate change has led to a decline of ~1/3 in the capacity of these disturbed forests to recover and recapture the C lost in disturbances during 1993-2012. Our approach further shows that annual variations in land use change mask the natural relationship between the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and AGB stocks in disturbed regions.

Caribbean-Wide, Long-Term Study of Seagrass Beds Reveals Local Variations, Shifts in Community Structure and Occasional Collapse

PubMed Central

van Tussenbroek, Brigitta I.; Cortés, Jorge; Collin, Rachel; Fonseca, Ana C.; Gayle, Peter M. H.; Guzmán, Hector M.; Jácome, Gabriel E.; Juman, Rahanna; Koltes, Karen H.; Oxenford, Hazel A.; Rodríguez-Ramirez, Alberto; Samper-Villarreal, Jimena; Smith, Struan R.; Tschirky, John J.; Weil, Ernesto

2014-01-01

The CARICOMP monitoring network gathered standardized data from 52 seagrass sampling stations at 22 sites (mostly Thalassia testudinum-dominated beds in reef systems) across the Wider Caribbean twice a year over the period 1993 to 2007 (and in some cases up to 2012). Wide variations in community total biomass (285 to >2000 g dry m−2) and annual foliar productivity of the dominant seagrass T. testudinum (<200 and >2000 g dry m−2) were found among sites. Solar-cycle related intra-annual variations in T. testudinum leaf productivity were detected at latitudes > 16°N. Hurricanes had little to no long-term effects on these well-developed seagrass communities, except for 1 station, where the vegetation was lost by burial below ∼1 m sand. At two sites (5 stations), the seagrass beds collapsed due to excessive grazing by turtles or sea-urchins (the latter in combination with human impact and storms). The low-cost methods of this regional-scale monitoring program were sufficient to detect long-term shifts in the communities, and fifteen (43%) out of 35 long-term monitoring stations (at 17 sites) showed trends in seagrass communities consistent with expected changes under environmental deterioration. PMID:24594732

Transcriptome analysis of Bemisia tabaci during tomato yellow leaf curl virus acquisition and ribonucleic acid interference to manage whitefly-transmitted viruses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over 300 viruses are transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, with 90% of them belonging to the genus, Begomovirus. Begomoviruses are obligately transmitted by whiteflies to a wide range of agriculture crops, resulting in billions of dollars lost annually, while jeopardizing food security worldw...

How Productive Are Southeastern Wisconsin Schools? Regional Report. Volume 3, Number 10

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Jeffrey K.; Lemke, Melissa

2006-01-01

Public schools can be considered a form of workforce development, and thus it is important to measure the "work product" of the schools. The Public Policy Forum's annual analysis of public schools in the 50 districts serving southeastern Wisconsin measured absenteeism as educational opportunities lost because children were not in class.…

Development of metal-organic framework for gaseous plant hormone encapsulation to manage ripening of climacteric produce

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spoilage of fruits and vegetables accounts for 50% of the 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars lost annually to global food wastage. Seventy-eight percent of this wastage is associated with overripe produce. Fresh fruits and vegetables are composed of biological tissues and their life processes continue after ...

Statistical summaries of streamflow data for selected gaging stations on and near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho, through September 1990

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stone, M.A.J.; Mann, Larry J.; Kjelstrom, L.C.

1993-01-01

Statistical summaries and graphs of streamflow data were prepared for 13 gaging stations with 5 or more years of continuous record on and near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Statistical summaries of streamflow data for the Big and Little Lost Rivers and Birch Creek were analyzed as a requisite for a comprehensive evaluation of the potential for flooding of facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The type of statistical analyses performed depended on the length of streamflow record for a gaging station. Streamflow statistics generated for stations with 5 to 9 years of record were: (1) magnitudes of monthly and annual flows; (2) duration of daily mean flows; and (3) maximum, median, and minimum daily mean flows. Streamflow statistics generated for stations with 10 or more years of record were: (1) magnitudes of monthly and annual flows; (2) magnitudes and frequencies of daily low, high, instantaneous peak (flood frequency), and annual mean flows; (3) duration of daily mean flows; (4) exceedance probabilities of annual low, high, instantaneous peak, and mean annual flows; (5) maximum, median, and minimum daily mean flows; and (6) annual mean and mean annual flows.

Socioeconomic status, non-communicable disease risk factors, and walking speed in older adults: multi-cohort population based study

PubMed Central

Carmeli, Cristian; Jokela, Markus; Avendaño, Mauricio; McCrory, Cathal; d’Errico, Angelo; Bochud, Murielle; Barros, Henrique; Costa, Giuseppe; Chadeau-Hyam, Marc; Delpierre, Cyrille; Gandini, Martina; Fraga, Silvia; Goldberg, Marcel; Giles, Graham G; Lassale, Camille; Kenny, Rose Anne; Kelly-Irving, Michelle; Paccaud, Fred; Layte, Richard; Muennig, Peter; Marmot, Michael G; Ribeiro, Ana Isabel; Severi, Gianluca; Steptoe, Andrew; Shipley, Martin J; Zins, Marie; Mackenbach, Johan P; Vineis, Paolo; Kivimäki, Mika

2018-01-01

Abstract Objective To assess the association of low socioeconomic status and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (diabetes, high alcohol intake, high blood pressure, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking) with loss of physical functioning at older ages. Design Multi-cohort population based study. Setting 37 cohort studies from 24 countries in Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, 1990-2017. Participants 109 107 men and women aged 45-90 years. Main outcome measure Physical functioning assessed using the walking speed test, a valid index of overall functional capacity. Years of functioning lost was computed as a metric to quantify the difference in walking speed between those exposed and unexposed to low socioeconomic status and risk factors. Results According to mixed model estimations, men aged 60 and of low socioeconomic status had the same walking speed as men aged 66.6 of high socioeconomic status (years of functioning lost 6.6 years, 95% confidence interval 5.0 to 9.4). The years of functioning lost for women were 4.6 (3.6 to 6.2). In men and women, respectively, 5.7 (4.4 to 8.1) and 5.4 (4.3 to 7.3) years of functioning were lost by age 60 due to insufficient physical activity, 5.1 (3.9 to 7.0) and 7.5 (6.1 to 9.5) due to obesity, 2.3 (1.6 to 3.4) and 3.0 (2.3 to 4.0) due to hypertension, 5.6 (4.2 to 8.0) and 6.3 (4.9 to 8.4) due to diabetes, and 3.0 (2.2 to 4.3) and 0.7 (0.1 to 1.5) due to tobacco use. In analyses restricted to high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was 8.0 (5.7 to 13.1) for men and 5.4 (4.0 to 8.0) for women, whereas in low and middle income countries it was 2.6 (0.2 to 6.8) for men and 2.7 (1.0 to 5.5) for women. Within high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was greater in the United States than in Europe. Physical functioning continued to decline as a function of unfavourable risk factors between ages 60 and 85. Years of functioning lost were greater than years of life lost due to low socioeconomic status and non-communicable disease risk factors. Conclusions The independent association between socioeconomic status and physical functioning in old age is comparable in strength and consistency with those for established non-communicable disease risk factors. The results of this study suggest that tackling all these risk factors might substantially increase life years spent in good physical functioning. PMID:29572376

Carbon loss from an unprecedented Arctic tundra wildfire.

PubMed

Mack, Michelle C; Bret-Harte, M Syndonia; Hollingsworth, Teresa N; Jandt, Randi R; Schuur, Edward A G; Shaver, Gaius R; Verbyla, David L

2011-07-27

Arctic tundra soils store large amounts of carbon (C) in organic soil layers hundreds to thousands of years old that insulate, and in some cases maintain, permafrost soils. Fire has been largely absent from most of this biome since the early Holocene epoch, but its frequency and extent are increasing, probably in response to climate warming. The effect of fires on the C balance of tundra landscapes, however, remains largely unknown. The Anaktuvuk River fire in 2007 burned 1,039 square kilometres of Alaska's Arctic slope, making it the largest fire on record for the tundra biome and doubling the cumulative area burned since 1950 (ref. 5). Here we report that tundra ecosystems lost 2,016 ± 435 g C m(-2) in the fire, an amount two orders of magnitude larger than annual net C exchange in undisturbed tundra. Sixty per cent of this C loss was from soil organic matter, and radiocarbon dating of residual soil layers revealed that the maximum age of soil C lost was 50 years. Scaled to the entire burned area, the fire released approximately 2.1 teragrams of C to the atmosphere, an amount similar in magnitude to the annual net C sink for the entire Arctic tundra biome averaged over the last quarter of the twentieth century. The magnitude of ecosystem C lost by fire, relative to both ecosystem and biome-scale fluxes, demonstrates that a climate-driven increase in tundra fire disturbance may represent a positive feedback, potentially offsetting Arctic greening and influencing the net C balance of the tundra biome.

Estimating the Non-Monetary Burden of Neurocysticercosis in Mexico

PubMed Central

Bhattarai, Rachana; Budke, Christine M.; Carabin, Hélène; Proaño, Jefferson V.; Flores-Rivera, Jose; Corona, Teresa; Ivanek, Renata; Snowden, Karen F.; Flisser, Ana

2012-01-01

Background Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a major public health problem in many developing countries where health education, sanitation, and meat inspection infrastructure are insufficient. The condition occurs when humans ingest eggs of the pork tapeworm Taenia solium, which then develop into larvae in the central nervous system. Although NCC is endemic in many areas of the world and is associated with considerable socio-economic losses, the burden of NCC remains largely unknown. This study provides the first estimate of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) associated with NCC in Mexico. Methods DALYs lost for symptomatic cases of NCC in Mexico were estimated by incorporating morbidity and mortality due to NCC-associated epilepsy, and morbidity due to NCC-associated severe chronic headaches. Latin hypercube sampling methods were employed to sample the distributions of uncertain parameters and to estimate 95% credible regions (95% CRs). Findings In Mexico, 144,433 and 98,520 individuals are estimated to suffer from NCC-associated epilepsy and NCC-associated severe chronic headaches, respectively. A total of 25,341 (95% CR: 12,569–46,640) DALYs were estimated to be lost due to these clinical manifestations, with 0.25 (95% CR: 0.12–0.46) DALY lost per 1,000 person-years of which 90% was due to NCC-associated epilepsy. Conclusion This is the first estimate of DALYs associated with NCC in Mexico. However, this value is likely to be underestimated since only the clinical manifestations of epilepsy and severe chronic headaches were included. In addition, due to limited country specific data, some parameters used in the analysis were based on systematic reviews of the literature or primary research from other geographic locations. Even with these limitations, our estimates suggest that healthy years of life are being lost due to NCC in Mexico. PMID:22363827

Microeconomic analysis of military aircraft bearing restoration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hein, G. F.

1976-01-01

The risk and cost of a bearing restoration by grinding program was analyzed. A microeconomic impact analysis was performed. The annual cost savings to U.S. Army aviation is approximately $950,000.00 for three engines and three transmissions. The capital value over an indefinite life is approximately ten million dollars. The annual cost savings for U.S. Air Force engines is approximately $313,000.00 with a capital value of approximately 3.1 million dollars. The program will result in the government obtaining bearings at lower costs at equivalent reliability. The bearing industry can recover lost profits during a period of reduced demand and higher costs.

Bee diversity associated with Limnanthes floral patches in California vernal pool habitats

Treesearch

Joan M. Leong; Robbin W. Thorp

2005-01-01

As with other kinds of wetland habitats in California, approximately 90 percent of vernal pool habitat (estimated) has been lost in California. In southern California, losses are estimated to be even greater. The flora of these endangered habitats is reasonably well known, especially the spring flowering annuals that are found in or at the margins of vernal pools (for...

The Cost of College Attrition at Four-Year Colleges & Universities. Policy Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raisman, Neal

2013-01-01

This report, an analysis of 1669 U.S. institutions, is a first-time study of the relationship of attrition to revenues lost in four-year public, private, and for-profit colleges and universities on an annual basis. The report is the result of a study investigating the financial impact of attrition on four-year colleges and universities. Other…

The Final Frontier: Exploring Spaces in the Education of Adults. SCUTREA Annual Conference (29th, Warwick, England, July 5-7, 1999).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrill, Barbara, Ed.

This document contains 51 papers from a conference devoted to the theme of exploring spaces in adult education. The following are among the papers included: "Exploring Everyday Spaces: Women's Transitions from Welfare to Paid Work and Education" (Cynthia Lee Andruske); "Lost in Space? Re-valuing the Impact of Education…

Universal paid leave increases influenza vaccinations among employees in the U.S.

PubMed

Wilson, Fernando A; Wang, Yang; Stimpson, Jim P

2014-05-01

We predict the impact of paid leave in increasing influenza vaccinations for employees, thus decreasing workdays lost and healthcare visits resulting from infection. Nationally representative data from the 2006-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were used. We examined working adults aged 18 and above (N=51,471). Logistic regression measured the association of paid leave with flu vaccination. We predicted the impact on labor and healthcare markets if universal paid leave were provided. The proportion of workers receiving vaccination annually was higher for those with paid leave versus without paid leave (34.0% vs. 21.0%, P<0.001). Adjusted odds of having a vaccination increased with paid leave vs. without paid leave (OR=1.42, CI: 1.31-1.53). Universal paid leave is predicted to increase vaccinations by 1.6 million, resulting in 63.8 thousand fewer absences from work and 18.2 thousand fewer healthcare visits for the flu annually. Our study suggests that employees without paid leave are significantly less likely to have had a flu vaccination. Expanding paid leave could substantially increase flu vaccination, resulting in fewer workdays lost to influenza and savings in healthcare costs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the Personal Losses Suffered by Correctional Officers due to Burnout Syndrome.

PubMed

Stoyanova, R G; Harizanova, S N

2016-01-01

Professional burnout is defined as a state of depletion and loss of motivation accompanied by different mental and physical symptoms. To assess personal losses suffered by correctional officers due to burnout. This cross-sectional study conducted between June and December 2012 included 201 correctional officers in two Bulgarian prisons. The mean age of the whole group was 41.2 (SD 8.0) years. The respondents was mostly male (56.7%), married (72.6%), had a secondary educational level (61.7%), and 76.1% of them had been in current prison work over 5 years. The demographic characteristics had no influence on the occurrence of burnout but there was a correlation between level of burnout and the number of sick-leaves, the need for medical help, and the expenses spent on medications. Officers affected by burnout took more sick-leaves and this affected adversely their remuneration as they lost 3.1% of their annual wages. Their expenses spent on user fees for medical services were 3 times higher. Their monthly expenses spent on medications were 3.14 times higher than those of people without the burnout syndrome. The high level of burnout has a negative personal economic effect on the prison employees.

Uncharted territories of the patent-restoration due-diligence challenge.

PubMed

Gaudry, Kate S

2011-01-01

The innovation and development incentives offered by the patent system are mitigated if a substantial portion of the patent term is lost while obtaining product approval through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Drug Price Competition and Patent Restoration Act was enacted to return some of the lost patent term to the patentee. However, any person can petition the FDA, contending that the patentee did not act with due diligence in seeking FDA approval of the product during the regulatory review period. A successful challenge will reduce the restored term, such that the patentee is not compensated for time lost due to his own non-diligent actions. While the current due-diligence regulations provide a vague and flexible standard, earlier drafts of the regulations and FDA responses to comments provide insight as to the types of factors the FDA is likely to consider when assessing an applicant's diligence. A due-diligence petition has only been filed three times, and in none of these cases did the FDA issue a decision based on substantive diligence matters. Still, detailed examination of these petitions is also instructive in predicting the success of due-diligence challenges. Statute-imposed maximums and applicants' own incentives to act diligently may minimize the utility of the due-diligence challenges in some contexts. However, in other contexts, I propose that these petitions offer a feasible approach towards limiting pharmaceutical monopolies.

The Boston Methane Project: Mapping Surface Emissions to Inform Atmospheric Estimation of Urban Methane Flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, N.; Crosson, E.; Down, A.; Hutyra, L.; Jackson, R. B.; McKain, K.; Rella, C.; Raciti, S. M.; Wofsy, S. C.

2012-12-01

Lost and unaccounted natural gas can amount to over 6% of Massachusetts' total annual greenhouse gas inventory (expressed as equivalent CO2 tonnage). An unknown portion of this loss is due to natural gas leaks in pipeline distribution systems. The objective of the Boston Methane Project is to estimate the overall leak rate from natural gas systems in metropolitan Boston, and to compare this flux with fluxes from the other primary methane emissions sources. Companion talks at this meeting describe the atmospheric measurement and modeling framework, and chemical and isotopic tracers that can partition total atmospheric methane flux into natural gas and non-natural gas components. This talk focuses on estimation of surface emissions that inform the atmospheric modeling and partitioning. These surface emissions include over 3,300 pipeline natural gas leaks in Boston. For the state of Massachusetts as a whole, the amount of natural gas reported as lost and unaccounted for by utility companies was greater than estimated landfill emissions by an order of magnitude. Moreover, these landfill emissions were overwhelmingly located outside of metro Boston, while gas leaks are concentrated in exactly the opposite pattern, increasing from suburban Boston toward the urban core. Work is in progress to estimate spatial distribution of methane emissions from wetlands and sewer systems. We conclude with a description of how these spatial data sets will be combined and represented for application in atmospheric modeling.

Quantitative assessment of carbon sequestration reduction induced by disturbances in temperate Eurasian steppe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yizhao; Ju, Weimin; Groisman, Pavel; Li, Jianlong; Propastin, Pavel; Xu, Xia; Zhou, Wei; Ruan, Honghua

2017-11-01

The temperate Eurasian steppe (TES) is a region where various environmental, social, and economic stresses converge. Multiple types of disturbance exist widely across the landscape, and heavily influence carbon cycling in this region. However, a current quantitative assessment of the impact of disturbances on carbon sequestration is largely lacking. In this study, we combined the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS), the Shiyomi grazing model, and the global fire model (Glob-FIRM) to investigate the impact of the two major types of disturbance in the TES (i.e. domestic grazing and fire) on regional carbon sequestration. Model performance was validated using satellite data and field observations. Model outputs indicate that disturbance has a significant impact on carbon sequestration at a regional scale. The annual total carbon lost due to disturbances was 7.8 TgC yr-1, accounting for 14.2% of the total net ecosystem productivity (NEP). Domestic grazing plays the dominant role in terrestrial carbon consumption, accounting for 95% of the total carbon lost from the two disturbances. Carbon losses from both disturbances significantly increased from 1999 to 2008 (R 2 = 0.82, P < 0.001 for grazing, R 2 = 0.51, P < 0.05 for fire). Heavy domestic grazing in relatively barren grasslands substantially reduced carbon sequestration, particularly in the grasslands of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the far southwest of Inner Mongolia. This spatially-explicit information has potential implications for sustainable management of carbon sequestration in the vast grassland ecosystems.

Socioeconomic status, non-communicable disease risk factors, and walking speed in older adults: multi-cohort population based study.

PubMed

Stringhini, Silvia; Carmeli, Cristian; Jokela, Markus; Avendaño, Mauricio; McCrory, Cathal; d'Errico, Angelo; Bochud, Murielle; Barros, Henrique; Costa, Giuseppe; Chadeau-Hyam, Marc; Delpierre, Cyrille; Gandini, Martina; Fraga, Silvia; Goldberg, Marcel; Giles, Graham G; Lassale, Camille; Kenny, Rose Anne; Kelly-Irving, Michelle; Paccaud, Fred; Layte, Richard; Muennig, Peter; Marmot, Michael G; Ribeiro, Ana Isabel; Severi, Gianluca; Steptoe, Andrew; Shipley, Martin J; Zins, Marie; Mackenbach, Johan P; Vineis, Paolo; Kivimäki, Mika

2018-03-23

To assess the association of low socioeconomic status and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (diabetes, high alcohol intake, high blood pressure, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking) with loss of physical functioning at older ages. Multi-cohort population based study. 37 cohort studies from 24 countries in Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, 1990-2017. 109 107 men and women aged 45-90 years. Physical functioning assessed using the walking speed test, a valid index of overall functional capacity. Years of functioning lost was computed as a metric to quantify the difference in walking speed between those exposed and unexposed to low socioeconomic status and risk factors. According to mixed model estimations, men aged 60 and of low socioeconomic status had the same walking speed as men aged 66.6 of high socioeconomic status (years of functioning lost 6.6 years, 95% confidence interval 5.0 to 9.4). The years of functioning lost for women were 4.6 (3.6 to 6.2). In men and women, respectively, 5.7 (4.4 to 8.1) and 5.4 (4.3 to 7.3) years of functioning were lost by age 60 due to insufficient physical activity, 5.1 (3.9 to 7.0) and 7.5 (6.1 to 9.5) due to obesity, 2.3 (1.6 to 3.4) and 3.0 (2.3 to 4.0) due to hypertension, 5.6 (4.2 to 8.0) and 6.3 (4.9 to 8.4) due to diabetes, and 3.0 (2.2 to 4.3) and 0.7 (0.1 to 1.5) due to tobacco use. In analyses restricted to high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was 8.0 (5.7 to 13.1) for men and 5.4 (4.0 to 8.0) for women, whereas in low and middle income countries it was 2.6 (0.2 to 6.8) for men and 2.7 (1.0 to 5.5) for women. Within high income countries, the number of years of functioning lost attributable to low socioeconomic status by age 60 was greater in the United States than in Europe. Physical functioning continued to decline as a function of unfavourable risk factors between ages 60 and 85. Years of functioning lost were greater than years of life lost due to low socioeconomic status and non-communicable disease risk factors. The independent association between socioeconomic status and physical functioning in old age is comparable in strength and consistency with those for established non-communicable disease risk factors. The results of this study suggest that tackling all these risk factors might substantially increase life years spent in good physical functioning. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Lost working days, productivity, and restraint use among occupants of motor vehicles that crashed in the United States.

PubMed

Ebel, B E; Mack, C; Diehr, P; Rivara, F P

2004-10-01

In 2001, 6.3 million passengers were involved in motor vehicle crashes. This study aimed to determine the number of work days lost as a result of motor vehicle crashes and factors that influenced people's return to work. This was a retrospective, population based cohort study of occupants in motor vehicles involved in crashes from the 1993-2001 Crashworthiness Data System produced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The sample population of people aged 18-65 years included two groups: occupants who survived and were working before the crash and occupants who were injured fatally and were estimated to have been working before the crash. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the impact of restraint use and injury type on return to work. Overall, 30.1% of occupants of vehicles that crashed missed one or more days of work. A crash resulted in a mean 28.0 (95% confidence interval 15.8 to 40.1) days lost from work, including losses associated with fatalities. The 2.1 million working occupants of vehicles that crashed in 2001 lost a total of 60 million days of work, resulting in annual productivity losses of over $7.5 billion (2964 to 12 075). Unrestrained vehicle occupants accounted for $5.6 billion in lost productivity. Motor vehicle crashes result in large and potentially preventable productive losses that are mostly attributable to fatal injuries.

Socioeconomic and urban-rural differentials in exposure to air pollution and mortality burden in England.

PubMed

Milojevic, Ai; Niedzwiedz, Claire L; Pearce, Jamie; Milner, James; MacKenzie, Ian A; Doherty, Ruth M; Wilkinson, Paul

2017-10-06

Socioeconomically disadvantaged populations often have higher exposures to particulate air pollution, which can be expected to contribute to differentials in life expectancy. We examined socioeconomic differentials in exposure and air pollution-related mortality relating to larger scale (5 km resolution) variations in background concentrations of selected pollutants across England. Ozone and particulate matter (sub-divided into PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PM 2.5-10 , primary, nitrate and sulphate PM 2.5 ) were simulated at 5 km horizontal resolution using an atmospheric chemistry transport model (EMEP4UK). Annual mean concentrations of these pollutants were assigned to all 1,202,578 residential postcodes in England, which were classified by urban-rural status and socioeconomic deprivation based on the income and employment domains of the 2010 English Index of Multiple Deprivation for the Lower-level Super Output Area of residence. We used life table methods to estimate PM 2.5 -attributable life years (LYs) lost in both relative and absolute terms. Concentrations of the most particulate fractions, but not of nitrate PM 2.5 or ozone, were modestly higher in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation. Relationships between pollution level and socioeconomic deprivation were non-linear and varied by urban-rural status. The pattern of PM 2.5 concentrations made only a small contribution to the steep socioeconomic gradient in LYs lost due to PM 2.5 per 10 3 population, which primarily was driven by the steep socioeconomic gradient in underlying mortality rates. In rural areas, the absolute burden of air pollution-related LYs lost was lowest in the most deprived deciles. Air pollution shows modest socioeconomic patterning at 5 km resolution in England, but absolute attributable mortality burdens are strongly related to area-level deprivation because of underlying mortality rates. Measures that cause a general reduction in background concentrations of air pollution may modestly help narrow socioeconomic differences in health.

Headache-attributed burden and its impact on productivity and quality of life in Russia: structured healthcare for headache is urgently needed.

PubMed

Ayzenberg, I; Katsarava, Z; Sborowski, A; Chernysh, M; Osipova, V; Tabeeva, G; Steiner, T J

2014-05-01

The study evaluated headache-attributed burden and its impact on productivity and quality of life (QoL) in Russia. Its purpose was to support recommendations for change. A countrywide population-based random sample of 2725 biologically unrelated adults (aged 18-65 years) in 35 cities and nine rural areas of Russia were interviewed in a door-to-door survey. The structured questionnaire enquired into symptom burden, functional disability, lost productive time and QoL (applying the WHOQoL-8 question set), as well as willingness to pay (WTP) for adequate headache treatment, if it were available. Mean lost paid-work days due to headache in the previous 3 months were 1.9 ± 4.2, and mean lost household work days were 3.4 ± 5.7. The estimated annual indirect cost of primary headache disorders was USD 22.8 billion, accounting for 1.75% of gross domestic product. QoL was reduced by all types of primary headaches. According to WHOQoL-8, it was significantly lower in those with headache on ≥15 days/month than in those with episodic headache (24.7 ± 4.6 vs. 28.1 ± 5.0; P < 0.05) and lower in those with migraine than in those with tension-type headache (TTH) (27.1 ± 4.9 vs. 28.8 ± 5.0; P < 0.05). Average WTP for adequate headache treatment was RUB 455 ± 494 per month (median RUB 300), a sum sufficient in most cases, and correlated with illness severity (higher for headache on ≥15 days/month than for migraine, and for migraine than for TTH). Headache is common, burdensome and costly in Russia and, manifestly, poorly mitigated by existing healthcare. Structured healthcare services for headache need to be urgently put in place. © 2014 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2014 EFNS.

The costs of hazardous alcohol consumption in Germany.

PubMed

Effertz, Tobias; Verheyen, Frank; Linder, Roland

2017-07-01

Hazardous alcohol consumption in Germany is a main threat to health. By using insurance claim data from the German Statutory Health Insurance and a classification strategy based on ICD10 diagnoses-codes we analyzed a sample of 146,000 subjects with more than 19,000 hazardous alcohol consumers. Employing different regression models with a control function approach, we calculate life years lost due to alcohol consumption, annual direct and indirect health costs, and the burden of pain and suffering measured by the Charlson-Index and assessed pain diagnoses. Additionally, we simulate the net accumulated premium payments over expenses in the German Statutory Health Insurance and the Statutory Pension Fund for hazardous alcohol consumers from a lifecycle perspective. In total, €39.3 billion each year result from hazardous alcohol consumption with an average loss of 7 years in life expectancy. Hazardous alcohol consumers clearly do not "pay their way" in the two main German social security systems and also display a higher intangible burden according to our definitions of pain and suffering.

Lost in Translation: Public Policies, Evidence-Based Practice, and Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillenburger, Karola; McKerr, Lyn; Jordan, Julie-Ann

2014-01-01

Prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorder have risen dramatically over the past few decades (now estimated at 1:50 children). The estimated total annual cost to the public purse in the United States is US$137 billion, with an individual lifetime cost in the United Kingdom estimated at between £0.8 million and £1.23 million depending on the…

Global charcoal mobilization from soils via dissolution and riverine transport to the oceans

Treesearch

Rudolf Jaffe; Yan Ding; Jutta Niggemann; Anssi V. Vahatalo; Aron Stubbins; Robert G. M. Spencer; John Campbell; Thorsten Dittmar

2013-01-01

Global biomass burning generates 40 million to 250 million tons of charcoal every year, part of which is preserved for millennia in soils and sediments. We have quantified dissolution products of charcoal in a wide range of rivers worldwide and show that globally, a major portion of the annual charcoal production is lost from soils via dissolution and subsequent...

Incidence and impact of damage to East Oklahoma's timber, 1986

Treesearch

Stephen Clarke; Clair Redmond; Dennis May; Dale Starkey

1994-01-01

An average of 57.4 million cubic feet of timber was lost annually to mortality and cull from 1976 to 1986 in east Oklahoma's 4.75 million acres of commercial forest land, resulting in a monetary loss of $7.2 million per year. Hardwoods generally had more damage than softwoods, with upland hardwoods accounting for 63 percent of cull volume loss. Of the ownership...

Fire in Mediterranean climate ecosystems: a comparative overview

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeley, Jon E.

2012-01-01

Four regions of the world share a similar climate and structurally similar plant communities with the Mediterranean Basin. These five areas, known collectively as "mediterranean-type climate (MTC) regions", are dominated by evergreen sclerophyllous-leaved shrublands, semi-deciduous scrub, and woodlands, all of which are prone to widespread crown fires. Summer droughts produce an annual fire hazard that contributes to a highly predictable fire regime. Fire has been an important factor driving the convergence of these systems and is reflected in plant traits such as lignotubers in resprouting shrubs and delayed reproduction that restricts recruitment to a postfire pulse of seedlings. On fertile soils where postfire resprouting is very rapid, opportunities for postfire seedling recruitment are limited and thus these woody taxa have not opted for delaying reproduction. Such fire-independent recruitment is widespread in the floras of MTC regions of the Mediterranean Basin and California and postfire seeding tends to dominate at the more arid end of the gradient. Due to very different geological histories in South Africa and Western Australia, substrates are nutrient poor and thus postfire resprouters do not pose a similar competitive challenge to seedlings and thus postfire seeding is very widespread in these floras. Although circumstantial evidence suggests that the MTC region of Chile had fire-prone landscapes in the Tertiary, these were lost with the late Miocene completion of the Andean uplift, which now blocks summer lightning storms from moving into the region. Today these five regions pose a significant fire management challenge due to the annual fire hazard and metropolitan centers juxtaposed with highly flammable vegetation. This challenge varies across the five MTC landscapes as a function of differences in regional fuel loads and population density.

Alternative medicine, worker health, and absenteeism in the United States.

PubMed

Rybczynski, Kate

2017-06-01

Health related absenteeism costs an estimated $153 billion annually in the United States (Witters and Agrawal, 2011). 1 Chronic conditions (major contributors to absenteeism) are often successfully managed by Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). As CAM becomes an increasingly visible component of healthcare, firms may wish to consider whether CAM therapies can help reduce illness-related absenteeism. This paper aims to extend the literature on healthcare utilization and absenteeism by exploring whether CAM treatment is associated with fewer workdays missed due to illness. Using the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and propensity score matching (PSM), this study estimates the relationship between visits to CAM practitioners, health, and illness-related absenteeism. In a sample of 8820 workers, the average annual number of workdays lost due to illness is 3.69. Visiting an acupuncturist correlates with lower absenteeism among men (1.182 fewer workdays missed, p<0.05), whereas visiting a naturopathic doctor correlates with 2.359 and 2.521 fewer workdays missed for women and men, respectively (both p<0.001). Active mind-body practices, massage, chiropractic and acupuncture treatments are all significantly associated with improved health. Estimates suggest that some CAM modalities correlate with lower absenteeism, and many correlate with improved health. Two limitations of this study are worth noting. First, a small proportion of the sample uses CAM, limiting the generalizability of results. Second, if health conscious individuals are more likely to use CAM, then health attitudes may be contributing to lower absenteeism among the treated. Further research is needed to identify a causal relationship between CAM treatment, health, and absenteeism. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Projecting productivity losses for cancer-related mortality 2011 - 2030.

PubMed

Pearce, Alison; Bradley, Cathy; Hanly, Paul; O'Neill, Ciaran; Thomas, Audrey Alforque; Molcho, Michal; Sharp, Linda

2016-10-18

When individuals stop working due to cancer this represents a loss to society - the loss of productivity. The aim of this analysis was to estimate productivity losses associated with premature mortality from all adult cancers and from the 20 highest mortality adult cancers in Ireland in 2011, and project these losses until 2030. An incidence-based method was used to estimate the cost of cancer deaths between 2011 and 2030 using the Human Capital Approach. National data were used for cancer, population and economic inputs. Both paid work and unpaid household activities were included. Sensitivity analyses estimated the impact of assumptions around future cancer mortality rates, retirement ages, value of unpaid work, wage growth and discounting. The 233,000 projected deaths from all invasive cancers in Ireland between 2011 and 2030 will result in lost productivity valued at €73 billion; €13 billion in paid work and €60 billion in household activities. These losses represent approximately 1.4 % of Ireland's GDP annually. The most costly cancers are lung (€14.4 billion), colorectal and breast cancer (€8.3 billion each). However, when viewed as productivity losses per cancer death, testis (€364,000 per death), cervix (€155,000 per death) and brain cancer (€136,000 per death) are most costly because they affect working age individuals. An annual 1 % reduction in mortality reduces productivity losses due to all invasive cancers by €8.5 billion over 20 years. Society incurs substantial losses in productivity as a result of cancer-related mortality, particularly when household production is included. These estimates provide valuable evidence to inform resource allocation decisions in cancer prevention and control.

Estimating the financial risks of Andropogon gayanus to greenhouse gas abatement projects in northern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Vanessa M.; Setterfield, Samantha A.

2013-06-01

Financial mechanisms such as offsets are one strategy to abate greenhouse gas emissions, and the carbon market is expanding with a growing demand for offset products. However, in the case of carbon offsets, if the carbon is released due to intentional or unintentional reversal through environmental events such as fire, the financial liability to replace lost offsets will likely fall on the provider. This liability may have implications for future participation in programmes, but common strategies such as buffer pool and insurance products can be used to minimize this liability. In order for these strategies to be effective, an understanding of the spatial and temporal distributions of expected reversals is needed. We use the case study of savanna burning, an approved greenhouse gas abatement methodology under the Carbon Farming Initiative in Australia, to examine potential risks to carbon markets in northern Australia and quantify the financial risks. We focus our analysis on the threat of Andropogon gayanus (gamba grass) to savanna burning due to its documented impacts of increased fuel loads and altered fire regimes. We assess the spatial and financial extent to which gamba grass poses a risk to savanna burning programmes in northern Australia. We find that 75% of the eligible area for savanna burning is spatially coincident with the high suitability range for gamba grass. Our analysis demonstrates that the presence of gamba grass seriously impacts the financial viability of savanna burning projects. For example, in order to recuperate the annual costs of controlling 1 ha of gamba grass infestation, 290 ha of land must be enrolled in annual carbon abatement credits. Our results show an immediate need to contain gamba grass to its current extent to avoid future spread into large expanses of land, which are currently profitable for savanna burning.

Redesigning alfalfa to reduce protein losses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Alfalfa is often referred to as the “Queen of Forages” due to its relatively good digestibility, high protein, and ability to readily fix nitrogen. But there’s a big drawback to alfalfa – much of its protein is lost during the harvest and ensiling process, and more is lost in the rumen of livestock....

Economic assessment of wild bird mortality induced by the use of lead gunshot in European wetlands.

PubMed

Andreotti, Alessandro; Guberti, Vittorio; Nardelli, Riccardo; Pirrello, Simone; Serra, Lorenzo; Volponi, Stefano; Green, Rhys E

2018-01-01

In European wetlands, at least 40 bird species are exposed to the risk of lead poisoning caused by ingestion of spent lead gunshot. Adopting a methodology developed in North America, we estimated that about 700,000 individuals of 16 waterbird species die annually in the European Union (EU) (6.1% of the wintering population) and one million in whole Europe (7.0%) due to acute effects of lead poisoning. Furthermore, threefold more birds suffer sub-lethal effects. We assessed the economic loss due to this lead-induced mortality of these 16 species by calculating the costs of replacing lethally poisoned wild birds by releasing captive-bred ones. We assessed the cost of buying captive-bred waterbirds for release from market surveys and calculated how many captive-bred birds would have to be released to compensate for the loss, taking into account the high mortality rate of captive birds (72.7%) in the months following release into the wild. Following this approach, the annual cost of waterbird mortality induced by lead shot ingestion is estimated at 105 million euros per year in the EU countries and 142 million euros in the whole of Europe. An alternative method, based upon lost opportunities for hunting caused by deaths due to lead poisoning, gave similar results of 129 million euros per year in the EU countries and 185 million euros per year in the whole of Europe. For several reasons these figures should be regarded as conservative. Inclusion of deaths of species for which there were insufficient data and delayed deaths caused indirectly by lead poisoning and effects on reproduction would probably increase the estimated losses substantially. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the benefits of a restriction on the use of lead gunshot over wetlands could exceed the cost of adapting to non-lead ammunition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health and productivity among U.S. workers.

PubMed

Davis, Karen; Collins, Sara R; Doty, Michelle M; Ho, Alice; Holmgren, Alyssa

2005-08-01

This analysis of Commonwealth Fund survey data estimates the economic impact of health problems on worker productivity. In 2003, an estimated 18 million adults ages 19 to 64 were not working and had a disability or chronic disease, or were not working because of health reasons. Sixty-nine million workers reported missing days due to illness, for a total of 407 million days of lost time at work. Fifty-five million workers reported a time when they were unable to concentrate at work because of their own illness or that of a family member, accounting for another 478 million days. Together, labor time lost due to health reasons represents lost economic output totaling $260 billion per year. Workers without paid time off to see a physician are more likely to report missing work or being unable to concentrate at their job.

Economic Burden of Thalassemia Major in Iran, 2015.

PubMed

Esmaeilzadeh, Firooz; Azarkeivan, Azita; Emamgholipour, Sara; Akbari Sari, Ali; Yaseri, Mehdi; Ahmadi, Batoul; Ghaffari, Mohtasham

2016-01-01

Major Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive disease with complications, mortality and serious pathology. Today, the life expectancy of patients with major thalassemia has increased along with therapeutic advances. Therefore, they need lifelong care, and caring for them would incur many costs. Being aware of the patients' costs can be effective for controlling and managing the costs and providing efficient treatments for the care of patients. Hence, this study was conducted to estimate the economic burden of the patients with major thalassemia. Totally, 198 patients with major thalassemia were randomly selected from among the patients with major thalassemia in Tehran, Iran in 2015. The economic burden of the patients was estimated from a social perspective and through a bottom-up, prevalence-based approach. The average annual cost per patient was estimated $ 8321.8 regardless of the cost of lost welfare. Of this amount, $ 7286.8 was related to direct medical costs, $ 461.4 to direct non-medical costs, and $ 573.5 to indirect costs. In addition, the annual cost per patient was estimated $ 1360.5 due to the distress caused by the disease CONCLUSIONS: Considering the high costs of the treatment of patients with major thalassemia, adopting new policies to reduce the costs that patients have to pay seems necessary. In addition, making new decisions regarding thalassemia screening, even with higher costs than the usual screening costs, can be useful since the costs of treatment are high.

HIV-positive pregnant women attending the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) services in Ethiopia: economic productivity losses across urban-rural settings.

PubMed

Zegeye, Elias Asfaw; Mbonigaba, Josue; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche

2018-06-01

HIV/AIDS impacts significantly on pregnant women and on children in Ethiopia. This impact has a multiplier effect on household economies and on productivity losses, and is expected to vary across rural and urban settings. Applying the human capital approach to data collected from 131 respondents, this study estimated productivity losses per HIV-positive pregnant woman-infant pair across urban and rural health facilities in Ethiopia, which in turn were used to estimate the national productivity loss. The study found that the annual productivity loss per woman-infant pair was Ethiopian birr (ETB) 7,433 or United States dollar (US$) 378 and ETB 625 (US$ 32) in urban and rural settings, respectively. The mean patient days lost per year due to inpatient admission at hospitals/health centres was 11 in urban and 22 in rural health facilities. On average, urban home care-givers spent 20 (SD = 21) days annually providing home care services, while their rural counterparts spent 23 days (SD = 26). The productivity loss accounted for 16% and 7% of household income in urban and rural settings, respectively. These high and varying productivity losses require preventive interventions that are appropriate to each setting to ensure the welfare of women and children in Ethiopia.

Simulated Martian pressure cycle based on the sublimation and deposition of polar CO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kemppinen, Osku; Paton, Mark; Savijärvi, Hannu; Harri, Ari-Matti

2014-05-01

The Martian atmospheric pressure cycle is driven by sublimation and deposition of CO2 at polar caps. In the thin atmosphere of Mars the surface energy balance and thus the phase changes of CO2 are dominated by radiation. Additionally, because the atmosphere is so thin, the annual polar cap cycle can have a large relative effect on the pressure. In this work we utilize radiative transfer models to calculate the amount of radiation incoming to Martian polar latitudes over each sol of the year, as well as the amount of energy lost from the surface due to thermal radiation. The energy budget calculated in this way allows us to estimate the amount of CO2 sublimating and depositing at each hour of the Martian year. Since virtually all of the sublimated CO2 is believed to enter and stay in the atmosphere until depositing, this estimate allows us to calculate the annual pressure cycle, assuming that the CO2 is distributed approximately evenly over the planet. The model is running with physically plausible parameters and producing encouragingly good fits to in situ measured data made by e.g. Viking landers. In the next phase we will validate the simulation runs against polar ice cap thickness measurements as well as compare the calculated CO2 source and sink strengths to the sources and sinks of global atmospheric models.

Hours Lost to Planned and Unplanned Dental Visits Among US Adults.

PubMed

Kelekar, Uma; Naavaal, Shillpa

2018-01-11

Poor oral health is associated with lost hours at work or school, which may affect a person's productivity. The objective of our study was to estimate work or school hours lost to dental visits among adults aged 18 and older by the types of visits (emergency or unplanned; routine, planned, or orthodontic; or cosmetic) and to determine the factors associated with hours lost. We used the most recent Oral Health Supplement data, from the 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), to estimate the total hours lost at work or school for dental visits among adults in the United States. The associations of the hours lost in unplanned and planned dental visits with socioeconomic characteristics, oral health status, and affordability were calculated. We used χ 2 tests and logistic regression to determine associations at P < .05. An average of 320.8 million work or school hours were lost annually for dental care in the United States, of which 92.4 million hours were for emergency (unplanned) care (0.99 h/adult), 159.8 million for routine (planned) care or orthodontic care (1.71 h/adult), and 68.6 million for cosmetic care (0.73 h/adult). Adults with poor oral health were more likely to lose one or more hours in unplanned dental visits (OR = 5.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.25-9.63) than those who reported very good oral health. Not being able to afford dental care was positively associated with more work hours lost in unplanned care (odds ratio [OR] = 2.56; 95% CI, 1.76-3.73). Compared with Hispanic adults, non-Hispanic white adults (OR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.40-3.11) and non-Hispanic Asian adults and adults of other races/ethnicities (OR =1.91; 95% CI, 1.06-3.47) were more likely to lose any hours for planned care. Consistently, those with more than a high school education were more likely to lose any hours in planned care (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.06-1.83) than those with a high school education or less. Dental problems result in hours lost from work and may adversely affect a person's productivity. There is disparity in lost hours at work by race/ethnicity and dental care affordability.

Brief communication: Loss and damage from a catastrophic landslide in Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Geest, Kees; Schindler, Markus

2016-11-01

This brief communication reports key findings of a recent piece of research that studied the impacts of the 2014 Jure landslide in Sindhupalchok (Nepal) and the effectiveness of household preventive and coping measures. The people-centered methods reveal not just what was lost in the disaster, but also how and why. A key finding of the household survey is that households in higher income groups incurred higher losses in monetary terms, simply because they had more to lose. By contrast, lower-income households lost more in relative terms: the value of their losses amounted to 14 times their annual earnings. Many lower-income households will never fully recover from this blow to their livelihoods and wellbeing. The findings have important implications for discussions on loss and damage valuation, compensation and relief.

The clinical and cost burden of coronary calcification in a Medicare cohort: An economic model to address under-reporting and misclassification.

PubMed

Garrison, Louis P; Lewin, Jack; Young, Christopher H; Généreux, Philippe; Crittendon, Janna; Mann, Marita R; Brindis, Ralph G

2015-01-01

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a well-established risk factor for the occurrence of adverse ischemic events. However, the economic impact of the presence of CAC is unknown. Through an economic model analysis, we sought to estimate the incremental impact of CAC on medical care costs and patient mortality for de novo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients in the 2012 cohort of the Medicare elderly (≥65) population. This aggregate burden-of-illness study is incidence-based, focusing on cost and survival outcomes for an annual Medicare cohort based on the recently introduced ICD9 code for CAC. The cost analysis uses a one-year horizon, and the survival analysis considers lost life years and their economic value. For calendar year 2012, an estimated 200,945 index (de novo) PCI procedures were performed in this cohort. An estimated 16,000 Medicare beneficiaries (7.9%) were projected to have had severe CAC, generating an additional cost in the first year following their PCI of $3500, on average, or $56 million in total. In terms of mortality, the model projects that an additional 397 deaths would be attributable to severe CAC in 2012, resulting in 3770 lost life years, representing an estimated loss of about $377 million, when valuing lost life years at $100,000 each. These model-based CAC estimates, considering both moderate and severe CAC patients, suggest an annual burden of illness approaching $1.3 billion in this PCI cohort. The potential clinical and cost consequences of CAC warrant additional clinical and economic attention not only on PCI strategies for particular patients but also on reporting and coding to achieve better evidence-based decision-making. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Early retirement and the influence on healthcare budgets and insurance premiums in a diabetes population.

PubMed

Walzer, Stefan

2007-01-01

To contribute to current discussions about budget impact modeling, two different approaches for the impact of a new pharmaceutical product were analyzed: firstly considering the impact on annual healthcare expenditures only, and secondly additional inclusion of lost insurance premiums due to possible early retirement in patients with chronic diseases. The dynamic model calculates the budget impact from two different perspectives: (a) the impact on healthcare expenditures and (b) on expenditures as well as on health insurance revenues due to premiums. The latter approach could especially be useful for patients with chronic diseases who have higher probabilities of early retirement. Early retirement rates and indirect costs were derived from published data. Healthcare premiums were calculated based on an average premium and a mean income. Epidemiological input data were obtained from the literature. Time horizon was 10 years. Results in terms of reimbursement decisions of the budget impact analysis varied depending on the assumptions made for the insurance premiums, costs, and early retirement rate. Sensitivity analyses revealed that in extreme cases the decision for accepting a new pharmaceutical product would probably be negative using approach (a), but positive using approach (b). Depending on the disease and population of interest in a budget impact analysis, not only the healthcare expenditures for a health insurance have to be considered but also the revenue side for an insurance due to retirement should be included.

Long-term cost and life-expectancy consequences of hypertension.

PubMed

Kiiskinen, U; Vartiainen, E; Puska, P; Aromaa, A

1998-08-01

To estimate hypertension's long-term cost and impact on life expectancy. A 19-year individual follow-up study. Subjects were categorized according to their baseline (1972) diastolic blood pressure (DBP) level into three groups: normotensive (DBP < 95 mmHg), mildly hypertensive (DBP 95-104 mmHg), and severely hypertensive (DBP > 104 mmHg). By using their social security identification numbers, we linked the subjects to a set of national registers covering hospital admissions, use of major drugs, absence due to sickness, disability pensions, and deaths. A random population sample of 10 284 men and women aged 25-59 years from the provinces of Kuopio and North Karelia in eastern Finland. The numbers of years of life and years of work lost, the cost of drugs and hospitalization, and the value of productivity lost due to disability and premature mortality. The difference in life expectancy between normotensive and severely hypertensive men was 2.7 years, of which 2.0 years was due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Among women the corresponding differences were 2.0 and 1.5 years. Severely hypertensive men lost 2.6 years of work more than did normotensive men, of which 1.7 years was due to CVD. Among women the differences were 2.2 and 1.3 years. The mean undiscounted total costs (USA dollars at 1992 prices) were $132 500 among normotensive, $146 500 among mildly hypertensive, and $219 300 among severely hypertensive men, of which CVD accounted for 28, 39, and 43%, respectively. More than 90% of the total costs were indirect productivity losses. Among women the total costs were lower for all DBP categories, as were the shares of CVD-related costs. The proportional increase in costs on going from the lowest to the highest DBP category was, however, somewhat larger among women. On the population level, severe hypertension leads to considerable losses in terms of years of life lost, years of work lost, and costs. However, the overall impact of mild hypertension is much more limited.

Does the Institution of a Statewide Trauma System Reduce Preventable Mortality and Yield a Positive Return on Investment for Taxpayers?

PubMed

Maxson, Todd; Mabry, Charles D; Sutherland, Michael J; Robertson, Ronald D; Booker, James O; Collins, Terry; Spencer, Horace J; Rinker, Charles F; Sanddal, Teri L; Sanddal, Nels D

2017-04-01

In July 2009, Arkansas began to annually fund $20 million for a statewide trauma system (TS). We studied injury deaths both pre-TS (2009) and post-TS (2013 to 2014), with attention to causes of preventive mortality, societal cost of those preventable mortality deaths, and benefit to tax payers of the lives saved. A multi-specialty trauma-expert panel met and reviewed records of 672 decedents (290 pre-TS and 382 post-TS) who met standardized inclusion criteria, were judged potentially salvageable, and were selected by a proportional sampling of the roughly 2,500 annual trauma deaths. Deaths were adjudicated into sub-categories of nonpreventable and preventable causes. The value of lives lost was calculated for those lives potentially saved in the post-TS period. Total preventable mortality was reduced from 30% of cases pre-TS to 16% of cases studied post-TS, a reduction of 14%. Extrapolating a 14% reduction of preventable mortality to the post-TS study period, using the same inclusion criteria of the post-TS, we calculate that 79 lives were saved in 2013 to 2014 due to the institution of a TS. Using a minimal standard estimate of $100,000 value for a life-year, a lifetime value of $2,365,000 per person was saved. This equates to an economic impact of the lives saved of almost $186 million annually, representing a 9-fold return on investment from the $20 million of annual state funding invested in the TS. The implementation of a TS in Arkansas during a 5-year period resulted in a reduction of the preventable death rate to 16% post-TS, and a 9-fold return on investment by the tax payer. Additional life-saving gains can be expected with ongoing financial support and additional system performance-improvement efforts. Copyright © 2017 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Demography of woody species in a semi-arid African savanna reserve following the re-introduction of elephants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connor, Timothy G.

2017-01-01

The hypothesis that African elephants may cause the local extirpation of selected woody species was evaluated in a medium-sized, semi-arid reserve following their reintroduction at low density. Mortality, state-change, and regeneration of 25 tree and 17 shrub species were studied between 1997 and 2010. Annual mortality of shrub species ranged from 0.2 to 8.0%, with six species experiencing 6-8%. Eight shrub species lost more than half their adult population (range 10-94%). Annual tree mortality ranged from 0.2 to 10.5%. The two dominant dryland tree species experienced <1% annual mortality, 18 species lost more than half their tree population, and one was eliminated. Elephants accounted for >63% and stress-related agents >20% of tree deaths. The manner in which elephants induced tree death depended on species. The proportion of individuals of a species killed by pollarding or uprooting ranged from 0 to 74%, and by debarking from 0 to 100%. Complete uprooting was a common cause of death for three shrub species. Regeneration ranged from zero for six tree and one shrub species to a seedling every 7 m2 for Colophospermum mopane and 23 m2 for Dichrostachys cinerea in riparian habitat. Three shrub and eight tree species were identified as vulnerable to local extirpation owing to a combination of high mortality and poor regeneration that is likely to result in a considerably simplified system. Reintroduction of elephants into medium-sized reserves without regulation of their numbers may not be a desirable action.

Quantifying watershed-scale groundwater loading and in-stream fate of nitrate using high-frequency water quality data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Matthew P.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Capel, Paul D.; Pellerin, Brian A.; Hyer, Kenneth E.; Burns, Douglas A.

2016-01-01

We describe a new approach that couples hydrograph separation with high-frequency nitrate data to quantify time-variable groundwater and runoff loading of nitrate to streams, and the net in-stream fate of nitrate at the watershed-scale. The approach was applied at three sites spanning gradients in watershed size and land use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Results indicate that 58-73% of the annual nitrate load to the streams was groundwater-discharged nitrate. Average annual first order nitrate loss rate constants (k) were similar to those reported in both modelling and in-stream process-based studies, and were greater at the small streams (0.06 and 0.22 d-1) than at the large river (0.05 d-1), but 11% of the annual loads were retained/lost in the small streams, compared with 23% in the large river. Larger streambed area to water volume ratios in small streams result in greater loss rates, but shorter residence times in small streams result in a smaller fraction of nitrate loads being removed than in larger streams. A seasonal evaluation of k values suggests that nitrate was retained/lost at varying rates during the growing season. Consistent with previous studies, streamflow and nitrate concentration were inversely related to k. This new approach for interpreting high-frequency nitrate data and the associated findings furthers our ability to understand, predict, and mitigate nitrate impacts on streams and receiving waters by providing insights into temporal nitrate dynamics that would be difficult to obtain using traditional field-based studies.

The economics of health care quality and medical errors.

PubMed

Andel, Charles; Davidow, Stephen L; Hollander, Mark; Moreno, David A

2012-01-01

Hospitals have been looking for ways to improve quality and operational efficiency and cut costs for nearly three decades, using a variety of quality improvement strategies. However, based on recent reports, approximately 200,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors including facility-acquired conditions and millions may experience errors. In 2008, medical errors cost the United States $19.5 billion. About 87 percent or $17 billion were directly associated with additional medical cost, including: ancillary services, prescription drug services, and inpatient and outpatient care, according to a study sponsored by the Society for Actuaries and conducted by Milliman in 2010. Additional costs of $1.4 billion were attributed to increased mortality rates with $1.1 billion or 10 million days of lost productivity from missed work based on short-term disability claims. The authors estimate that the economic impact is much higher, perhaps nearly $1 trillion annually when quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are applied to those that die. Using the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) estimate of 98,000 deaths due to preventable medical errors annually in its 1998 report, To Err Is Human, and an average of ten lost years of life at $75,000 to $100,000 per year, there is a loss of $73.5 billion to $98 billion in QALYs for those deaths--conservatively. These numbers are much greater than those we cite from studies that explore the direct costs of medical errors. And if the estimate of a recent Health Affairs article is correct-preventable death being ten times the IOM estimate-the cost is $735 billion to $980 billion. Quality care is less expensive care. It is better, more efficient, and by definition, less wasteful. It is the right care, at the right time, every time. It should mean that far fewer patients are harmed or injured. Obviously, quality care is not being delivered consistently throughout U.S. hospitals. Whatever the measure, poor quality is costing payers and society a great deal. However, health care leaders and professionals are focusing on quality and patient safety in ways they never have before because the economics of quality have changed substantially.

Lack of Host Specialization on Winter Annual Grasses in the Fungal Seed Bank Pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda

PubMed Central

Beckstead, Julie; Meyer, Susan E.; Ishizuka, Toby S.; McEvoy, Kelsey M.; Coleman, Craig E.

2016-01-01

Generalist plant pathogens may have wide host ranges, but many exhibit varying degrees of host specialization, with multiple pathogen races that have narrower host ranges. These races are often genetically distinct, with each race causing highest disease incidence on its host of origin. We examined host specialization in the seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda by reciprocally inoculating pathogen strains from Bromus tectorum and from four other winter annual grass weeds (Bromus diandrus, Bromus rubens, Bromus arvensis and Taeniatherum caput-medusae) onto dormant seeds of B. tectorum and each alternate host. We found that host species varied in resistance and pathogen strains varied in aggressiveness, but there was no evidence for host specialization. Most variation in aggressiveness was among strains within populations and was expressed similarly on both hosts, resulting in a positive correlation between strain-level disease incidence on B. tectorum and on the alternate host. In spite of this lack of host specialization, we detected weak but significant population genetic structure as a function of host species using two neutral marker systems that yielded similar results. This genetic structure is most likely due to founder effects, as the pathogen is known to be dispersed with host seeds. All host species were highly susceptible to their own pathogen races. Tolerance to infection (i.e., the ability to germinate even when infected and thereby avoid seed mortality) increased as a function of seed germination rate, which in turn increased as dormancy was lost. Pyrenophora semeniperda apparently does not require host specialization to fully exploit these winter annual grass species, which share many life history features that make them ideal hosts for this pathogen. PMID:26950931

Assessing alternative industrial fortification portfolios: a Bangladesh case study.

PubMed

Fiedler, John L; Lividini, Keith; Guyondet, Christophe; Bermudez, Odilia I

2015-03-01

Approximately 1.2 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost annually in Bangladesh due to deficiencies of vitamin A, iron, and zinc. To provide evidence on the coverage, costs, and cost-effectiveness of alternative fortification interventions to inform nutrition policy-making in Bangladesh. Combining the 2005 Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey with a Bangladesh food composition table, apparent intakes of energy, vitamin A, iron, and zinc, and the coverage and apparent consumption levels of fortifiable vegetable oil and wheat flour are estimated. Assuming that fortification levels are those established in official regulations, the costs and cost-effectiveness of the two vehicles are assessed independently and as a two-vehicle portfolio. Vegetable oil has a coverage rate of 76% and is estimated to reduce the prevalence of inadequate vitamin A intake from 83% to 64%. The coverage of wheat flour is high (65%), but the small quantities consumed result in small reductions in the prevalence of inadequate intakes: 1.5 percentage points for iron, less than 1 for zinc, and 2 for vitamin A, while reducing average Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) gaps by 8%, 9%, and 15%, respectively. The most cost-effective 10-micronutrient wheat flour formulation costs US $1.91 million annually, saving 129,212 DALYs at a unit cost of US $14.75. Fortifying vegetable oil would cost US $1.27 million annually, saving 406,877 DALYs at an average cost of US $3.25. Sensitivity analyses explore various permutations of the wheat flour formulation. Divisional variations in coverage, cost, and impact are examined. Vegetable oil fortification is the most cost-effective of the three portfolios analyzed, but all three are very cost-effective options for Bangladesh.

Lost Instruction: The Disparate Impact of the School Discipline Gap in California

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losen, Daniel J.; Whitaker, Amir

2017-01-01

This report is the first to analyze California's school discipline data as measured by days of missed instruction due to suspension. The state reports the number of suspensions for each district, disaggregated by racial/ethnic groups, but it does not provide any information on how much instructional time was lost. The authors used information from…

Lost life years due to premature deaths caused by diseases of the digestive system in Poland in 2013

PubMed

Paciej, Paulina; Ciabiada, Beata; Maniecka-Bryła, Irena

In order to evaluate the health status of a population, besides indicators measuring the incidence of diseases and deaths, potential measures are becoming more frequently used, ie. measures that take into account life-time potential of the individuals in the population. They can particularly by applied to analyse the problem of premature mortality, which is measured by lost life years. The aim of the study was to evaluate life years lost due to diseases of digestive system in Polish population in 2013. The study was based on a dataset containing 387,312 death certificates of Poles who died in 2013, provided by the Central Statistical Office in Poland. Data on deaths caused by diseases of digestive system (K00-K93 by ICD-10) were used in the study – that were 16,543 records (4.3% of all the deaths). Lost life years were assessed with the measures: SEYLL (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost), SEYLLp (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per living person), SEYLLd (Standard Expected Years of Life Lost per death). In the analysed year among men there were 9,275 deaths caused by diseases of digestive system and in women 7,268 deaths. SEYLL in the group of men amounted to 102 230.7 and in the group of women it was 53,475.5. The number of lost life years calculated per 10 000 male inhabitants was 54.9, and for 10,000 females it was 26.9. The highest share in lost life years had alcoholic liver disease (SEYLLp for men – 20.87, for women – 6.1), fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver (SEYLLp for men- 9.7, for women- 5.6) and acute pancreatitis (SEYLLp for men – 5.3, for women – 2.1). The results of the study indicate that diseases of digestive system have an important contribution to the loss of life-time potential in Polish population (6.6% of all SEYLL in 2013). The dominant role in this class of diseases played alcoholic liver disease – K70, fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver – K74 and acute pancreatitis – K85.

Smoking: An independent risk factor for lost productivity in chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Campbell, Adam P; Hoehle, Lloyd P; Phillips, Katie M; Caradonna, David S; Gray, Stacey T; Sedaghat, Ahmad R

2017-08-01

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with a significant loss of patient productivity that costs billions of dollars every year. Smoking is associated with worsening sinonasal symptoms, but its effect on lost productivity in CRS patients has yet to be described. Therefore, we sought to determine the association between smoking and productivity in patients with CRS. Prospective cross-sectional cohort study of 140 patients with CRS. Sinonasal symptom severity was measured using the 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test. Lost productivity was assessed by asking participants how many days of work and/or school they missed in the last 3 months due to CRS. Associations were sought between lost productivity and smoking. Participants missed a mean of 3.0 days (standard deviation = 12.8 days) of work or school due to CRS. Having any history of smoking was associated with 6 days of lost productivity due to CRS (adjusted β = 6.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64 to 11.77, P = .031). Although the number of active smokers in our study cohort was very small (N = 6), we performed a univariate association between smoking status, considering former smokers and active smokers separately, and found that active smoking (β = 11.75, 95% CI: 2.11 to 21.40, P = .018) had a much larger impact on CRS-related productivity loss than that experienced by former smokers (β = 4.45, 95% CI: -0.32 to 9.23, P = .070). Smoking (likely driven by active smoking) is independently associated with missed days of work or school in patients with CRS. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions directed at smoking may impact CRS-related productivity loss. 2c Laryngoscope, 127:1742-1745, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

The Economic Burden of Traumatic Brain Injury Due to Fatal Traffic Accidents in Shahid Rajaei Trauma Hospital, Shiraz, Iran

PubMed Central

Kavosi, Zahra; Jafari, Abdosaleh; Hatam, Nahid; Enaami, Meysam

2015-01-01

Background: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) as a result of traffic accidents are one of the major causes of deaths, which lead to the loss of individuals’ productive and working years of life. Objectives: This study aimed to calculate the economic burden of traumatic brain injuries in fatal crashes at Shahid Rajaei Trauma Hospital, Shiraz, Iran for a period of five years. Patients and Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study the population included people who had died as a result of TBIs during 2009 to 2013 in Shiraz Shahid Rajaei Trauma Hospital. Cost and demographic data were obtained from the participants’ medical records using data gathering forms, and some other information was also collected via telephone calls to the victims’ families. Economic burden of TBIs due to traffic accidents, which led to death, was estimated using the human capital as direct costs of treatment, and the number of potential years of life lost and lost productivity as indirect costs. Results: Deaths resulting from TBIs due to traffic accidents in Shiraz imposed 6.2 billion Rials (511000 USD) of hospital costs, 6390 potential years of life lost, and 506 billion Rials (20 million USD) of productivity lost. In the present study, the mean age of the individuals who died was 38.4 ± 19.41 and the productivity lost per capita was 1.8 billion Rials (73000 USD). Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that the economic burden of TBIs was high in fatal accidents in Fars Province so that it was equivalent to 0.00011% of Iran’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013. Therefore, more attention has to be paid to the rules to prevent the fatal accidents. PMID:25834791

Productivity losses from road traffic deaths in Turkey.

PubMed

Naci, Huseyin; Baker, Timothy D

2008-03-01

The importance of road traffic injuries in Turkey is not generally appreciated, in part due to lack of knowledge of its economic burden and in part due to major underestimation in official statistics. The total years of potential life lost and potentially productive years of life lost from mortality were calculated in order to estimate the cost of productivity losses from road traffic deaths in Turkey. More years of potentially productive life are lost due to road traffic deaths than to respiratory tract illnesses or diabetes mellitus, two other serious health problems in Turkey. Road traffic deaths cost Turkey an estimated USD 2.6 billion every year in productivity losses alone, more than the World Bank estimate of the indirect costs from the 1999 Marmara earthquake (USD 1.2-2 billion), Turkey's worst earthquake since 1939 (World Bank Turkey Country Office, 1999). This study highlights the importance of accurate information in ameliorating the burden of road traffic safety in Turkey. Turkey has great opportunities to implement cost-effective interventions to reduce the economic burden of fatal and non-fatal road traffic injuries.

Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the USA: a population-based disease burden and cost analysis.

PubMed

Attina, Teresa M; Hauser, Russ; Sathyanarayana, Sheela; Hunt, Patricia A; Bourguignon, Jean-Pierre; Myers, John Peterson; DiGangi, Joseph; Zoeller, R Thomas; Trasande, Leonardo

2016-12-01

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) contribute to disease and dysfunction and incur high associated costs (>1% of the gross domestic product [GDP] in the European Union). Exposure to EDCs varies widely between the USA and Europe because of differences in regulations and, therefore, we aimed to quantify disease burdens and related economic costs to allow comparison. We used existing models for assessing epidemiological and toxicological studies to reach consensus on probabilities of causation for 15 exposure-response relations between substances and disorders. We used Monte Carlo methods to produce realistic probability ranges for costs across the exposure-response relation, taking into account uncertainties. Estimates were made based on population and costs in the USA in 2010. Costs for the European Union were converted to US$ (€1=$1·33). The disease costs of EDCs were much higher in the USA than in Europe ($340 billion [2·33% of GDP] vs $217 billion [1·28%]). The difference was driven mainly by intelligence quotient (IQ) points loss and intellectual disability due to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (11 million IQ points lost and 43 000 cases costing $266 billion in the USA vs 873 000 IQ points lost and 3290 cases costing $12·6 billion in the European Union). Accounting for probability of causation, in the European Union, organophosphate pesticides were the largest contributor to costs associated with EDC exposure ($121 billion), whereas in the USA costs due to pesticides were much lower ($42 billion). EDC exposure in the USA contributes to disease and dysfunction, with annual costs taking up more than 2% of the GDP. Differences from the European Union suggest the need for improved screening for chemical disruption to endocrine systems and proactive prevention. Endocrine Society, Ralph S French Charitable Foundation, and Broad Reach Foundation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mitigation of acidified salmon rivers - effects of liming on young brown trout Salmo trutta.

PubMed

Hesthagen, T; Larsen, B M; Bolstad, G; Fiske, P; Jonsson, B

2017-11-01

In southern Norway, 22 acidified rivers supporting anadromous salmonids were mitigated with lime to improve water quality and restore fish populations. In 13 of these rivers, effects on Salmo trutta and Salmo salar densities were monitored over 10-12 years, grouped into age 0 and age ≥ 1 year fish. These rivers had a mean annual discharge of between 4·9 and 85·5 m 3  s -1 , and six of them were regulated for hydro-power production. Salmo salar were lost in six of these rivers prior to liming, and highly reduced in the remaining seven rivers. Post-liming, S. salar became re-established in all six rivers with lost populations, and recovered in the seven other rivers. Salmo trutta occurred in all 13 study rivers prior to liming. Despite the improved water quality, both age 0 and age ≥ 1 year S. trutta densities decreased as S. salar density increased, with an average reduction of >50% after 10 years of liming. For age 0 year S. trutta this effect was less strong in rivers where S. salar were present prior to liming. In contrast, densities of S. trutta increased in unlimed streams above the anadromous stretches in two of the rivers following improved water quality due to natural recovery. Density increases of both age 0 and age ≥ 1 year S. salar showed a positive effect of river discharge. The results suggest that the decline in S. trutta density after liming is related to interspecific resource competition due to the recovery of S. salar. Thus, improved water quality through liming may not only sustain susceptible species, but can have a negative effect on species that are more tolerant prior to the treatment, such as S. trutta. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Tennessee's forest land area was stable 1999-2005 but early successional forest area declined

Treesearch

Christopher M. Oswalt

2008-01-01

A new analysis of the most recent (2005) annualized moving average data for Tennessee indicates that the area of forest land in the State remained stable between 1999 and 2005. Although trends in forest land area vary from region to region within the State, Tennessee neither lost nor gained forest land between 1999 and 2005. However, Tennessee had more than 2.5 times...

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (77th, Atlanta, Georgia, August 10-13, 1994). Part VIII: Advertising and Public Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Advertising and Public Relations section of this collection of conference presentations contains the following 17 papers: "Using the FCB Grid and the 'Lost Quadrants' to Write Advertising Strategy" (Johan C. Yssel); "Antitrust and the Marketplace of Ideas: The Continuing Problem of Issue Advertising Access to Broadcast…

Estimated annual health care expenditures in individuals with peripheral arterial disease.

PubMed

Scully, Rebecca E; Arnaoutakis, Dean J; DeBord Smith, Ann; Semel, Marcus; Nguyen, Louis L

2018-02-01

The clinical impact of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is well characterized and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Health care-related expenditures among individuals with PAD, particularly for patients, are not well described. Health care-related expenditure data from the 2011 to 2014 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys were analyzed for individuals with a diagnosis of PAD compared with U.S. adults 40 years of age and older. Weighted average annual expenditures were estimated using a multivariable generalized linear model. Subanalyses were also performed for out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures by insurance type. Adjusted for age, gender, and race, individuals with a diagnosis of PAD (weighted n = 640,098) had significantly higher average annual health care-related expenditures compared with the U.S. adult population as a whole (weighted n = 148,387,362). Average annual expenditures per individual for patients with PAD were $11,553 (95% confidence interval [CI], $8137-$14,968) compared with only $4219 (95% CI, $4064-$4375; P < .001) for those without. Expenditures were driven by increased prescription medication expenditures as well as by expenditures for inpatient care, outpatient hospital-based care, and outpatient office-based care. Individuals with PAD had significantly higher OOP prescription medication expenditures ($386 [95% CI, $258-$515] vs $192 [95% CI, $183-$202]; P = .003), which varied by insurance type, ranging from $179 (95% CI, $70-$288) for those with Medicare to $1196 (95% CI, $106-$2244) for those without insurance, although this difference did not reach significance. Individuals with a diagnosis of PAD have higher health care-related expenditures and OOP expenses compared with other US adults. These expenditures compound lost wages, care by family members, and lost opportunity costs, increasing the burden carried by patients with PAD. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Economic Consequences Of Mortality Amenable To High-Quality Health Care In Low- And Middle-Income Countries.

PubMed

Alkire, Blake C; Peters, Alexander W; Shrime, Mark G; Meara, John G

2018-06-01

We estimated deaths amenable to high-quality health care globally and then modeled the macroeconomic impact in low- and middle-income countries using two macroeconomic perspectives: a value-of-lost-output approach to project gross domestic product (GDP) losses annually for the period 2015-30, and a value-of-lost-welfare approach to estimate the present value of total economic welfare losses in 2015. We estimated that eight million amenable deaths occurred in 2015, 96 percent of them in low- and middle-income countries. The value of lost output resulted in a projected cumulative loss of $11.2 trillion in these countries during 2015-30, with a potential economic output loss of up to 2.6 percent of GDP in low-income countries by 2030, compared to 0.9 percent in upper-middle-income countries. The value-of-lost-welfare approach estimated welfare losses of $6.0 trillion in 2015. Inadequate access to high-quality health care results in significant mortality and imposes a macroeconomic burden that is inequitably distributed, with the largest relative burden falling on low-income countries. Given that these deaths are unnecessary and the projected GDP losses are avoidable, there is a strong ethical and economic case for promoting high-quality health care as an essential component of universal health coverage.

Impact of Father Absence During Childhood on College Age Females' Psychological Adjustment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, E. R.; Parish, T. S.

This study was carried out with a group of 98 female volunteers. The control group consisted of 27 who had not lost their fathers; the experimental group consisted of 71 who had lost their fathers due to death or divorce. All subjects were administered two checklists to measure personal adjustment and security. Results revealed that fatherless…

Years of Potential Life Lost among Heroin Addicts 33 Years after Treatment

PubMed Central

Smyth, Breda; Hoffman, Valerie; Fan, Jing; Hser, Yih-Ing

2007-01-01

Objective To examine premature mortality in terms of years of potential life lost (YPLL) among a cohort of long-term heroin addicts. Method This longitudinal, prospective study followed a cohort of 581 male heroin addicts in California for more than 33 years. In the latest follow-up conducted in 1996/97, 282 subjects (48.5%) were confirmed as deceased by death certificates. YPLL before age 65 years were calculated by causes of death. Ethnic differences in YPLL were assessed among Whites, Hispanics, and African Americans. Results On average, addicts in this cohort lost 18.3 years (SD = 10.7) of potentiallife before age 65. Of the total YPLL for the cohort, 22.3% of the years lost was due to heroin overdose, 14.0% due to chronic liver disease, and 10.2% to accidents. The total YPLL and YPLL by death cause in addict cohort were significant higher than that of US population. The YPLL among African Americans was significantly lower than that among Whites or Hispanics. Conclusion The YPLL among addicts was much higher than that in the national population; within the cohort, premature mortality was higher among Whites and Hispanics compared to African American addicts. PMID:17291577

Avoiding revenue loss due to 'lesser of' contract clauses.

PubMed

Stodolak, Frederick; Gutierrez, Henry

2014-08-01

Finance managers seeking to avoid lost revenue attributable to lesser-of-charge-or-fixed-fee (lesser-of) clauses in their contracts should: Identify payer contracts that contain lesser-of clauses. Prepare lesser-of lost-revenue reports for non-bundled and bundled rates. For claims with covered charges below the bundled rate, identify service codes associated with the greatest proportion of total gross revenue and determine new, higher charge levels for those codes. Establish an approach for setting charges for non-bundled fee schedules to address lost-revenue-related issues. Incorporate changes into overall strategic or hospital zero-based pricing modeling and parameters.

Retrieving the lost fermionic entanglement by partial measurement in noninertial frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Xing; Xie, Ying-Mao; Yao, Yao; Li, Yan-Ling; Wang, Jieci

2018-03-01

The initial entanglement shared between inertial and accelerated observers degrades due to the influence of the Unruh effect. Here, we show that the Unruh effect can be completely eliminated by the technique of partial measurement. The lost entanglement could be entirely retrieved or even amplified, which is dependent on whether the optimal strength of reversed measurement is state-independent or state-dependent. Our work provides a novel and unexpected method to recover the lost entanglement under Unruh decoherence and exhibits the ability of partial measurement as an important technique in relativistic quantum information.

A cost-effective weight loss program at the worksite.

PubMed

Seidman, L S; Sevelius, G G; Ewald, P

1984-10-01

A major focus of Lockheed Missiles and Space Company's wellness program (Sunnyvale, Calif.) was to motivate weight loss in a cost-effective manner. The educationally based "Take It Off '83" campaign was created using the concepts of competition and self-responsibility. Seventy percent of the initial 2,499 participants completed the program, and 90% of these lost weight. Program completion rates and weight lost were higher for men than for women and higher for those who participated as team members rather than as individuals. Encouraging the formation of supportive/competitive teams proved to be a very effective means of promoting weight loss. The cost-effective motivation of weight loss in an industrial setting was accomplished successfully through this program (the cost to the company per initial participant was +5.40). Because of these results, the program will be repeated annually.

Simulating the effects of frequent fire on southern california coastal shrublands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Syphard, A.D.; Franklin, J.; Keeley, J.E.

2006-01-01

Fire disturbance is a primary agent of change in the mediterranean-climate chaparral shrublands of southern California, USA. However, fire frequency has been steadily increasing in coastal regions due to ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface. Although chaparral is resilient to a range of fire frequencies, successively short intervals between fires can threaten the persistence of some species, and the effects may differ according to plant functional type. California shrublands support high levels of biological diversity, including many endangered and endemic species. Therefore, it is important to understand the long-term effects of altered fire regimes on these communities. A spatially explicit simulation model of landscape disturbance and succession (LANDIS) was used to predict the effects of frequent fire on the distribution of dominant plant functional types in a study area administered by the National Park Service. Shrubs dependent on fire-cued seed germination were most sensitive to frequent fire and lost substantial cover to other functional types, including drought-deciduous subshrubs that typify coastal sage scrub and nonnative annual grasses. Shrubs that resprout were favored by higher fire frequencies and gained in extent under these treatments. Due to this potential for vegetation change, caution is advised against the widespread use of prescribed fire in the region. ?? 2006 by the Ecological Society of America.

Variation in the carbon and oxygen isotope composition of plant biomass and its relationship to water-use efficiency at the leaf- and ecosystem-scales in a northern Great Plains grassland.

PubMed

Flanagan, Lawrence B; Farquhar, Graham D

2014-02-01

Measurements of the carbon (δ(13) Cm ) and oxygen (δ(18) Om ) isotope composition of C3 plant tissue provide important insights into controls on water-use efficiency. We investigated the causes of seasonal and inter-annual variability in water-use efficiency in a grassland near Lethbridge, Canada using stable isotope (leaf-scale) and eddy covariance measurements (ecosystem-scale). The positive relationship between δ(13) Cm and δ(18) Om values for samples collected during 1998-2001 indicated that variation in stomatal conductance and water stress-induced changes in the degree of stomatal limitation of net photosynthesis were the major controls on variation in δ(13) Cm and biomass production during this time. By comparison, the lack of a significant relationship between δ(13) Cm and δ(18) Om values during 2002, 2003 and 2006 demonstrated that water stress was not a significant limitation on photosynthesis and biomass production in these years. Water-use efficiency was higher in 2000 than 1999, consistent with expectations because of greater stomatal limitation of photosynthesis and lower leaf ci /ca during the drier conditions of 2000. Calculated values of leaf-scale water-use efficiency were 2-3 times higher than ecosystem-scale water-use efficiency, a difference that was likely due to carbon lost in root respiration and water lost during soil evaporation that was not accounted for by the stable isotope measurements. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The personal and national costs of lost labour force participation due to arthritis: an economic study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The costs of arthritis to the individuals and the state are considerable. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of the base population of Health&WealthMOD, a microsimulation model of 45 to 64 year old Australians built on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers and STINMOD, an income and savings microsimulation model. Results Individuals aged 45 to 64 years who had retired early due to arthritis had a median value of AU$260 in total weekly income whereas those who were employed full time were likely to average more than five times this. The large national aggregate impact of early retirement due to arthritis includes AU$9.4 billion in lost GDP, attributable to arthritis through its impact on labour force participation. When looking at the ongoing impact of being out of the labour force those who retired from the labour force early due to arthritis were estimated to have a median value of total savings by the time they are 65 of as little as $300 (for males aged 45–54). This is far lower than the median value of savings for those males aged 45–54 who remained in the labour force full time, who would have an estimated $339 100 of savings at age 65. Conclusions The costs of arthritis to the individuals and the state are considerable. The impacts on the state include loss of productivity from reduced workforce participation, lost income taxation revenue, and increased government support payments – in addition to direct health care costs. Individuals bear the economic costs of lost income and the reduction of their savings over the long term. PMID:23452565

Modelling the effects of exposure to whole-body vibration on low-back pain and its long-term consequences for sickness absence and associated work disability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdorf, A.; Hulshof, C. T. J.

2006-12-01

BackgroundExposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) is a well-known risk factor for the occurrence of low-back pain (LBP). Little is known about the long-term course of back pain in workers exposed to WBV and the consequences for (temporary) disability, due to lack of cohort studies with sufficiently long follow-up periods. MethodsA systematic review of the literature was performed to assess associations between exposure to WBV and LBP, sickness absence due to low-back disorders and permanent disability. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalences of LBP and sickness absence due to low-back disorders in occupational populations, depending on relevant exposure characteristics. These prevalences were converted into probabilities for transitions between no complaints, LBP, sickness due to LBP, and disability. A Markov model was applied to evaluate a hypothetical cohort of workers without LBP at the start of the cohort and a follow-up of 40 years (40 cycles of 1 year) to reflect a long-life career with continuous exposure to WBV. ResultsIn this hypothetical cohort it was estimated that among workers with the highest exposure to WBV on average about 47 weeks of their working life were lost due to sick leave because of LBP, which is approximately 2.5% of their working life. When all workers on prolonged sick leave for 52 weeks would remain disabled for the rest of their working life, a maximum of 23.4% of their working life could be lost due to high WBV exposure. Among workers without or low exposure to WBV the corresponding losses were 0.8% and 7.8%, respectively. ConclusionThe approach to assess years of work lost due to an occupational exposure may provide a more adequate description for stakeholders than the traditional measures of relative risk or attributable risk fraction. The concept of work years lost may also facilitate a better appreciation of the potential benefits of preventive measures.

Raiders of the Lost Art -- Recovering and Implementing the Intellectual Lineage of Campaign Planning for 21st Century Joint Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-30

American billionaire and financier Warren Buffett , “is the enemy of good thinking.”42 And there is “bad terminology” spilling from the pages of JP...be productive and become a meaningless catch-all word? 42 Warren Buffett , Berkshire Hathaway, 2001...Harrisburg, PA: The Telegraph Press (1940). Buffett , Warren . Berkshire Hathaway, 2001 Annual Report. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint

Modelling energy production by small hydro power plants in collective irrigation networks of Calabria (Southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zema, Demetrio Antonio; Nicotra, Angelo; Tamburino, Vincenzo; Marcello Zimbone, Santo

2017-04-01

The availability of geodetic heads and considerable water flows in collective irrigation networks suggests the possibility of recovery potential energy using small hydro power plants (SHPP) at sustainable costs. This is the case of many Water Users Associations (WUA) in Calabria (Southern Italy), where it could theoretically be possible to recovery electrical energy out of the irrigation season. However, very few Calabrian WUAs have currently built SHPP in their irrigation networks and thus in this region the potential energy is practically fully lost. A previous study (Zema et al., 2016) proposed an original and simple model to site turbines and size their power output as well as to evaluate profits of SHPP in collective irrigation networks. Applying this model at regional scale, this paper estimates the theoretical energy production and the economic performances of SHPP installed in collective irrigation networks of Calabrian WUAs. In more detail, based on digital terrain models processed by GIS and few parameters of the water networks, for each SHPP the model provides: (i) the electrical power output; (iii) the optimal water discharge; (ii) costs, revenues and profits. Moreover, the map of the theoretical energy production by SHPP in collective irrigation networks of Calabria was drawn. The total network length of the 103 water networks surveyed is equal to 414 km and the total geodetic head is 3157 m, of which 63% is lost due to hydraulic losses. Thus, a total power output of 19.4 MW could theoretically be installed. This would provide an annual energy production of 103 GWh, considering SHPPs in operation only out of the irrigation season. The single irrigation networks have a power output in the range 0.7 kW - 6.4 MW. However, the lowest SHPPs (that is, turbines with power output under 5 kW) have been neglected, because the annual profit is very low (on average less than 6%, Zema et al., 2016). On average each irrigation network provides an annual revenue from electrical energy sale of about 103000 €. Even though this revenue may appear quite low, it represents an important share of the annual WUA income. For the entire region, the total revenues from recovery energy in collective irrigation networks through SHPPs have been estimated in about 12 million Euros; investment and operating costs have been evaluated by parametric equations and the total profit theoretically available for each WUA has been quantified. This study has shown the economic opportunity of integrating SHPP in existing collecting irrigation networks of WUAs, in view of providing additional economic resources for users and enhancing the exploitation of a renewable energy source. REFERENCE Zema D.A., Nicotra A., Tamburino V., Zimbone S.M. 2016. A simple method to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of micro hydro power plants in existing irrigation systems. Renewable Energy 85, 498-506. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.06.066.

[Evaluation of the burden of diabetes in Poland].

PubMed

Kissimova-Skarbek, K; Pach, D; Płaczkiewicz, E; Szurkowska, M; Szybiński, Z

2001-09-01

Burden of diabetes in terms of economic costs and life years lost due to premature deaths and disability in Poland is analyzed. This study calculates direct costs of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Poland in 1998 and burden of diabetes in terms of years of life lost using Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) measure within the Polish Multicenter Study of Diabetes Epidemiology (1998-1999). There is a consequent need to evaluate the burden of diabetes for the society and to develop affordable and cost-effective preventing strategies. The burden of diabetes is examined in terms of resources used by diabetic patients and time lost due to premature deaths and disability caused by diabetes. The profile of "a standard patient" (type 1 and type 2 diabetes) resource utilization is created using patient survey in Krakow. This includes main elements of cost associated with prevention, diagnosis and treatment: ambulatory care (visits); hospital care (bed/days and dialysis sessions); pharmaceuticals (goods consumed) and diagnosis (tests). This study calculates direct costs to the health sector of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Poland 1998. Burden of diabetes in Poland in terms of time lost in 1998 is expressed in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) unit of measurement. DALY is a combination of two dimensions: YLL--number of years lost due to premature mortality; YLD--loss of healthy years due to disability caused by diabetes (with and without complications). The incidence approach is applied for the YLD caused by diabetes type 1 calculations by gender and age groups (0-29 years). Incidence rates are obtained from the prospective data collection [1, 2]. Other data as average age of onset, average duration of the disease (with or without complications), severity (age specific disability weight for treated or untreated forms of diabetes--with or without complications) are obtained from the GBD study for the Formerly Socialist Economies of Europe [9]. Discounting and age weighting procedure is applied. The prevalence approach is applied for YLD caused by diabetes type 2 calculations for treated and untreated forms of diabetes (with and without complications) by gender and age groups (35 years and more). Prevalence data are obtained from the Polish Multicenter Study on Diabetes Epidemiology. Age specific disability weights for treated or untreated forms of diabetes (with or without complication) are obtained from the GBD study for the Formerly Socialist Economies. Discounting procedure is not applied (duration of the disease is assumed 1 year). Years of Life Lost are calculated using Polish mortality data and life expectancy at the time of death in 1998. Cost of diabetes study is particularly useful in indicating the magnitude of the costs involved, which tend to be much higher than perceived by the general public. In 1998 the average diabetes type 1 patient's costs were 6.4 times and diabetes type 2 patient's costs 3 times higher than average public direct health care costs. The total costs of diabetes in Poland 1998 accounted for 9.3% of total public health care expenditures. The cost of diabetic patient's estimation indicates the potential benefits of effective medical interventions. Not only mortality rates should be taken into consideration in the creation of health policy and financial planning. Disability of the population is also an important factor, particularly in diseases which do not lead to fatalities. In 1998 112,584 DALYs (46% for males and 54% for females) were lost in Poland due to premature deaths and disability caused by diabetes. 72% of the total was due to disability. Secondary prevention is very important especially for diabetes type 2 patients. 95% of total time lost due to disability is caused by diabetes type 2. National burden of disease evaluation is helpful to develop a justifiable basis for setting priorities in purchasing and investing at central and local levels especially in prevention.

Estimating Global “Blue Carbon” Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Murray, Brian C.; Crooks, Stephen; Jenkins, W. Aaron; Sifleet, Samantha; Craft, Christopher; Fourqurean, James W.; Kauffman, J. Boone; Marbà, Núria; Megonigal, Patrick; Pidgeon, Emily; Herr, Dorothee; Gordon, David; Baldera, Alexis

2012-01-01

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems—marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses—that may be lost with habitat destruction (‘conversion’). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this ‘blue carbon’ can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15–1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3–19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6–42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats. PMID:22962585

Estimating global "blue carbon" emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems.

PubMed

Pendleton, Linwood; Donato, Daniel C; Murray, Brian C; Crooks, Stephen; Jenkins, W Aaron; Sifleet, Samantha; Craft, Christopher; Fourqurean, James W; Kauffman, J Boone; Marbà, Núria; Megonigal, Patrick; Pidgeon, Emily; Herr, Dorothee; Gordon, David; Baldera, Alexis

2012-01-01

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems--marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses--that may be lost with habitat destruction ('conversion'). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this 'blue carbon' can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15-1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3-19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6-42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.

Hydrologic conditions and lake-level fluctuations at Long Lost Lake, 1939-2004, White Earth Indian Reservation, Clearwater County, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christensen, Victoria G.; Bergman, Andrea L.

2005-01-01

Aerial photography and a geographic information system were used to construct a historical lake record from 1939 to 2001. Lake-level increases match similar increases in precipitation, indicating a strong link between the two. Results show that lake-level increases in Long Lost Lake appear to primarily be due to natural rather than anthropogenic effects.

Years of potential life lost and productivity costs due to premature cancer-related mortality in Iran.

PubMed

Khorasani, Soheila; Rezaei, Satar; Rashidian, Hamideh; Daroudi, Rajabali

2015-01-01

Cancer is recently one of the major concerns of the public health both in the world and Iran. To inform priorities for cancer control, this study estimated years of potential life lost (YPLL) and productivity losses due to cancer-related premature mortality in Iran in 2012. The number of cancer deaths by sex for all cancers and the ten leading causes of cancer deaths in Iran in 2012 were obtained from the GLOBOCAN database. The life expectancy method and the human capital approach were used to estimate the YPLL and the value of productivity lost due to cancer-related premature mortality. There were 53,350 cancer-related deaths in Iran. We estimated that these cancer deaths resulted in 1,112,680 YPLL in total, 563,332 (50.6%) in males and 549,348 (49.4%) in females. The top 10 ranked cancers accounted for 75% of total death and 70% of total YPLL in the males and 69% for both death and YPLL in the females. The largest contributors for YPLL in the two genders were stomach and breast cancers, respectively. The total cost of lost productivity due to cancer-related premature mortality discounted at 3% rate in Iran, was US$ 1.93 billion. The most costly cancer for the males was stomach, while for the females it was breast cancer. The percentage of the total costs that were attributable to the top 10 cancers was 67% in the males and 71% in the females. The YPLL and productivity losses due to cancer-related premature mortality are substantial in Iran. Setting resource allocation priorities to cancers that occur in younger working-age individuals (such as brain and central nervous system) and/or cancers with high incidence and mortality rates (such as stomach and breast) could potentially decrease the productivity losses and the YPLL to a great extent in Iran.

Sensitivity of annual mass balance gradient and Hypsometry to the changing climate: the case of Dokriani Glacier, central Himalaya, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratap, B.

2015-12-01

The glacier mass balance is undelayed, unfiltered and direct method to assess the impact of climate change on the glaciers. Many studies suggest that some of the Himalayan glaciers have lost their mass at an increased rate during the past few decades. Furthermore, the mass balance gradient and hypsometric analysis are important to understand the glacier response towards climatic perturbations. Our long term in-situ monitoring on the Dokriani Glacier provides great insights to understand the variability in central Himalayan glaciers. We report the relationship between glacier hypsometry and annual mass balance gradient (12 years) to understand the glacier's response towards climate change. Dokriani Glacier in the Bhagirathi basin is a small (7 km2) NNW exposed glacier in the western part of central Himalaya, India. The study analysed the annual balance, mass balance gradient and length changes observed during first decade of 21st century (2007-2013) and compare with the previous observations of 1990s (1992-2000). A large spatial variability in the mass balance gradients of two different periods has been observed. The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) was fluctuated between 5000 and 5100 m a.s.l. and the derived time averaged ELA (ELAn) and balance budget ELA (ELA0) were 5075 and 4965 m a.s.l respectively during 1992-2013. The observed time-averaged accumulation-area ratio (AARn) and balance budget AAR (AAR0) were 0.67 and 0.72 respectively during 1992-2013. The higher value of AAR comprises due to flat and broader accumulation area (4.50 km2) of the glacier. Although, having larger accumulation area, the glacier has faced strong mass wasting with average annual ablation of -1.82 m w.e. a-1 in the ablation zone as compare to residual average annual accumulation of 0.41 m w.e. a-1. Based on the annual mass balance series (12 years) Dokriani Glacier has continuous negative annual balances with monotonically negative cumulative mass loss of -3.86 m w.e with the average loss of -0.32 m w.e a-1. Dokriani Glacier also showed continues recession from 1992 to present. Snout was ascended 95 m a.s.l. from an elevation of 3870 m a.s.l. in 1992 to an elevation of 3965 m a.s.l. in 2013. The progressive retreat of the glacier affects its extension and volume and covered by continuous enhancement of debris in the lower ablation zone.

Recent landscape change in California's Central Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soulard, C. E.; Wilson, T. S.

2012-12-01

Long term monitoring of land use and land cover in California's intensively farmed Central Valley reveals several key physical and socioeconomic factors driving landscape change. As part of the USGS Land Cover Trends Project, we analyzed modern land-use/land-cover change for the California Central Valley ecoregion between 2000 and 2010, monitoring annual change between 2005 and 2010, while creating two new change intervals (2000-2005 and 2005-2010) to update the existing 27-year, interval-based analysis. Between 2000 and 2010, agricultural lands fluctuated due to changes in water allocations and emerging drought conditions, or were lost permanently to development (240 square km). Land-use pressure from agriculture and development also led to a decline in grasslands and shrublands across the region (280 square km). Overall, 400 square km of new developed lands were added in the first decade of the 21st century. From 2007 to 2010, development only expanded by 50 square km, coinciding with defaults in the banking system, the onset of historic foreclosure crisis in California and the global economic downturn. Our annual LULC change estimates capture landscape-level change in response to regional policy changes, climate, and fluctuations (e.g., growth or decline) in the national and global economy. The resulting change data provide insights into the drivers of landscape change in the California Central Valley and the combination of two consistent mapping efforts represents the first continuous, 37-year endeavor of its kind.

Potential for early warning of maalria in India using NOAA-AVHRR based vegetation health indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhiman, R. C.; Kogan, Felix; Singh, Neeru; Singh, R. P.; Dash, A. P.

Malaria is still a major public health problem in India with about 1 82 million cases annually and 1000 deaths As per World Health Organization WHO estimates about 1 3 million Disability Adjusted Life Years DALYs are lost annually due to malaria in India Central peninsular region of India is prone to malaria outbreaks Meteorological parameters changes in ecological conditions development of resistance in mosquito vectors development of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum parasite and lack of surveillance are the likely reasons of outbreaks Based on satellite data and climatic factors efforts have been made to develop Early Warning System EWS in Africa but there is no headway in this regard in India In order to find out the potential of NOAA satellite AVHRR derived Vegetation Condition Index VCI Temperature Condition Index TCI and a cumulative indicator Vegetation Health Index VHI were attempted to find out their potential for development of EWS Studies were initiated by analysing epidemiological data of malaria vis-a-vis VCI TCI and VHI from Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan and Tumkur and Raichur districts of Karnataka Correlation coefficients between VCI and monthly malaria cases for epidemic years were computed Positive correlation 0 67 has been found with one-month lag between VCI and malaria incidence in respect of Tumkur while a negative correlation with TCI -0 45 is observed In Bikaner VCI is found to be negatively related -0 71 with malaria cases in epidemic year of 1994 Weekly

Real-world costs of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in the Nordics.

PubMed

Eriksson, Daniel; Karlsson, Linda; Eklund, Oskar; Dieperink, Hans; Honkanen, Eero; Melin, Jan; Selvig, Kristian; Lundberg, Johan

2017-08-15

There is limited real-world data on the economic burden of patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The objective of this study was to estimate the annual direct and indirect costs of patients with ADPKD by severity of the disease: chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 1-3; CKD stages 4-5; transplant recipients; and maintenance dialysis patients. A retrospective study of ADPKD patients was undertaken April-December 2014 in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Data on medical resource utilisation were extracted from medical charts and patients were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 266 patients were contacted, 243 (91%) of whom provided consent to participate in the study. Results showed that the economic burden of ADPKD was substantial at all levels of the disease. Lost wages due to reduced productivity were large in absolute terms across all disease strata. Mean total annual costs were highest in dialysis patients, driven by maintenance dialysis care, while the use of immunosuppressants was the main cost component for transplant care. Costs were twice as high in patients with CKD stages 4-5 compared to CKD stages 1-3. Costs associated with ADPKD are significant and the progression of the disease is associated with an increased frequency and intensity of medical resource utilisation. Interventions that can slow the progression of the disease have the potential to lead to substantial reductions in costs for the treatment of ADPKD.

Spawning migration movements of Lost River and shortnose suckers in the Williamson and Sprague Rivers, Oregon, following the removal of Chiloquin Dam-2009 Annual Report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellsworth, Craig M.; VanderKooi, Scott P.

2011-01-01

The Chiloquin Dam was located at river kilometer (rkm) 1.3 on the Sprague River near the town of Chiloquin, Oregon. The dam was identified as a barrier that potentially inhibited or prevented the upstream spawning migrations and other movements of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus), shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris), and other fish in the Sprague River. Our research objectives in 2009 were to evaluate adult catostomid spawning migration patterns using radio telemetry to identify and describe shifts in spawning area distribution and migration behavior following the removal of Chiloquin Dam in 2008. We attached external radio transmitters to 58 Lost River suckers and 59 shortnose suckers captured at the Williamson River fish weir. A total of 17 radio-tagged Lost River suckers and one radio-tagged shortnose sucker were detected approaching the site of the former Chiloquin Dam but only two radio-tagged fish (one male Lost River sucker and one female Lost River sucker) were detected crossing upstream of the dam site. A lower proportion of radio-tagged shortnose suckers were detected migrating into the Sprague River when compared with previous years. Detections on remote passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag arrays located in the Sprague River show that although the proportion of fish coming into the Sprague River is small when compared to the number of fish crossing the Williamson River fish weir, the number of fish migrating upstream of the Chiloquin Dam site increased exponentially in the first year since its removal. These data will be used in conjunction with larval production and adult spawning distribution data to evaluate the effectiveness of dam removal in order to provide increased access to underutilized spawning habitat located further upstream in the Sprague River and to reduce the crowding of spawning fish below the dam site.

Measuring mining safety with injury statistics: lost workdays as indicators of risk.

PubMed

Coleman, Patrick J; Kerkering, John C

2007-01-01

Mining in the United States remains one of the most hazardous industries, despite significant reductions in fatal injury rates over the last century. Coal mine fatality rates, for example, have dropped almost a thousand-fold since their peak in 1908. While incidence rates are very important indicators, lost worktime measures offer an alternative metric for evaluating job safety and health performance. The first objective of this study examined the distributions and summary statistics of all injuries reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration from 1983 through 2004. Over the period studied (1983-2004), there were 31,515,368 lost workdays associated with mining injuries, for an equivalent of 5,700 person-years lost annually. The second objective addressed the problem of comparing safety program performance in mines for situations where denominator data were lacking. By examining the consequences of injuries, comparisons can be made between disparate operations without the need for denominators. Total risk in the form of lost workday sums can help to distinguish between lower- and higher-risk operations or time periods. Our method was to use a beta distribution to model the losses and to compare underground coal mining to underground metal/nonmetal mining from 2000 to 2004. Our results showed the probability of an injury having 10 or more lost workdays was 0.52 for coal mine cases versus 0.35 for metal/nonmetal mine cases. In addition, a comparison of injuries involving continuous mining machines over 2001-2002 versus 2003-2004 showed that the ratio of average losses in the later period to those in the earlier period was approximately 1.08, suggesting increasing risks for such operations. This denominator-free safety measure will help the mining industry more effectively identify higher-risk operations and more realistically evaluate their safety improvement programs. Attention to a variety of metrics concerning the performance of a job safety and health program will enhance industry's ability to manage these programs and reduce risk.

Ten‐Year Blood Pressure Trajectories, Cardiovascular Mortality, and Life Years Lost in 2 Extinction Cohorts: the Minnesota Business and Professional Men Study and the Zutphen Study

PubMed Central

Tielemans, Susanne M. A. J.; Geleijnse, Johanna M.; Menotti, Alessandro; Boshuizen, Hendriek C.; Soedamah‐Muthu, Sabita S.; Jacobs, David R.; Blackburn, Henry; Kromhout, Daan

2015-01-01

Background Blood pressure (BP) trajectories derived from measurements repeated over years have low measurement error and may improve cardiovascular disease prediction compared to single, average, and usual BP (single BP adjusted for regression dilution). We characterized 10‐year BP trajectories and examined their association with cardiovascular mortality, all‐cause mortality, and life years lost. Methods and Results Data from 2 prospective and nearly extinct cohorts of middle‐aged men—the Minnesota Business and Professional Men Study (n=261) and the Zutphen Study (n=632)—were used. BP was measured annually during 1947–1957 in Minnesota and 1960–1970 in Zutphen. BP trajectories were identified by latent mixture modeling. Cox proportional hazards and linear regression models examined BP trajectories with cardiovascular mortality, all‐cause mortality, and life years lost. Associations were adjusted for age, serum cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes mellitus. Mean initial age was about 50 years in both cohorts. After 10 years of BP measurements, men were followed until death on average 20 years later. All Minnesota men and 98% of Zutphen men died. Four BP trajectories were identified, in which mean systolic BP increased by 5 to 49 mm Hg in Minnesota and 5 to 20 mm Hg in Zutphen between age 50 and 60. The third systolic BP trajectories were associated with 2 to 4 times higher cardiovascular mortality risk, 2 times higher all‐cause mortality risk, and 4 to 8 life years lost, compared to the first trajectory. Conclusions Ten‐year BP trajectories were the strongest predictors, among different BP measures, of cardiovascular mortality, all‐cause mortality, and life years lost in Minnesota. However, average BP was the strongest predictor in Zutphen. PMID:25753924

The fear factor: drivers and barriers to follow-up screening for human papillomavirus-related anal cancer in men who have sex with men.

PubMed

Truesdale, M D; Goldstone, S E

2010-07-01

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related anal cancer incidence is rising in men who have sex with men (MSM). Effective screening strategies exist, but many patients are lost to follow-up (LTF). We studied factors impacting screening compliance to recommended annual screening visits. Retrospective chart review identified MSM with anal dysplasia. MSM were grouped as regular screeners (regular to follow-up [RF]) (≥1 visit/year), lost to follow-up (LTF) (>1 year since previous screening) and LTF who then returned for screening (lost came back [LCB]). From June 2007 to March 2008, subjects completed a questionnaire in-person at the time of screening or via telephone (LTF). Questionnaires were completed after anal dysplasia diagnosis. One hundred and ninety-five MSM were enrolled (96 RF, 50 LTF and 49 LCB). RF were compliant for 4.8 years; LTF were lost for 2.3 years. LCB were previously lost for 5.6 years before returning. Mean knowledge score of screening procedures was larger in RF versus LTF (P < 0.001). MSM with more sexual partners in the past six months were more likely to be LCB versus LTF (P = 0.05). RF were more likely to describe their HPV diagnosis as 'upsetting' (P = 0.003). RF were more likely driven by physical symptoms versus LTF (P = 0.002). MSM with high-grade intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) were more likely to be RF versus those with low-grade intraepithelial lesions (P = 0.001. Positive predictors for screening compliance include an upsetting experience during the HPV diagnosis, physical symptoms driving the initial visit and HSIL. Engaging patients in a firm, salient approach may facilitate follow-up compliance.

Protons, Aerospace, and Electronics: A National Interest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Label, Kenneth A.; Turflinger, Thomas L.

2017-01-01

The aerospace and semiconductor industries lost 2000 hours annually of research access when IUCF closed. An ad hoc team between the U.S. government and industry was formed to evaluate other facility options. In this presentation, we will discuss: 1) Why aerospace, semiconductor manufacturers, and others are interested in proton facility access, as well as, 2) Some of the basics of a typical test for electronics, and 3) We'll conclude with the brief current status on progress.

Protons, Aerospace, and Electronics: A National Interest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.; Turflinger, Thomas L.

2018-01-01

The aerospace and semiconductor industries lost approximately 2000 hours annually of research access when IUCF closed. An ad hoc team between the U.S. government and industry was formed to evaluate other facility options. In this presentation, we will discuss: 1) Why aerospace, semiconductor manufacturers, and others are interested in proton facility access, as well as, 2) Some of the basics of a typical tests for electronics, and 3) We'll conclude with the brief current status on progress.

Protons, Aerospace, and Electronics: A National Interest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.; Turflinger, Thomas L.

2018-01-01

The aerospace and semiconductor industries lost approx. 2000 hours annually of research access when IUCF closed. An ad hoc team between the U.S. government and industry was formed to evaluate other facility options. In this presentation, we will discuss: 1) Why aerospace, semiconductor manufacturers, and others are interested in proton facility access, as well as, 2) Some of the basics of a typical test for electronics, and 3) We"ll conclude with the brief current status on progress.

Sensitivity Monitoring of the SECCHI COR1 Telescopes on STEREO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, William T.

2018-03-01

Measurements of bright stars passing through the fields of view of the inner coronagraphs (COR1) on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) are used to monitor changes in the radiometric calibration over the course of the mission. Annual decline rates are found to be 0.648 ± 0.066%/year for COR1-A on STEREO Ahead and 0.258 ± 0.060%/year for COR1-B on STEREO Behind. These rates are consistent with decline rates found for other space-based coronagraphs in similar radiation environments. The theorized cause for the decline in sensitivity is darkening of the lenses and other optical elements due to exposure to high-energy solar particles and photons, although other causes are also possible. The total decline in the COR-B sensitivity when contact with Behind was lost on 1 October 2014 was 1.7%, while COR1-A was down by 4.4%. As of 1 November 2017, the COR1-A decline is estimated to be 6.4%. The SECCHI calibration routines will be updated to take these COR1 decline rates into account.

Global carbon stocks and potential emissions due to mangrove deforestation from 2000 to 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Stuart E.; Friess, Daniel A.

2018-03-01

Mangrove forests store high densities of organic carbon, which, when coupled with high rates of deforestation, means that mangroves have the potential to contribute substantially to carbon emissions. Consequently, mangroves are strong candidates for inclusion in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes that financially incentivize the conservation of forested carbon stocks. This study quantifies annual mangrove carbon stocks from 2000 to 2012 at the global, national and sub-national levels, and global carbon emissions resulting from deforestation over the same time period. Globally, mangroves stored 4.19 Pg of carbon in 2012, with Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea accounting for more than 50% of the global stock. 2.96 Pg of the global carbon stock is contained within the soil and 1.23 Pg in the living biomass. Two percent of global mangrove carbon was lost between 2000 and 2012, equivalent to a maximum potential of 316,996,250 t of CO2 emissions.

Seasonal patterns in carbon dioxide in 15 mid-continent (USA) reservoirs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, John R.; Obrecht, Daniel V.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Balmer, Michelle B.; Filstrup, Christopher T.; Downing, John A.

2016-01-01

Evidence suggests that lakes are important sites for atmospheric CO2 exchange and so play a substantial role in the global carbon budget. Previous research has 2 weaknesses: (1) most data have been collected only during the open-water or summer seasons, and (2) data are concentrated principally on natural lakes in northern latitudes. Here, we report on the full annual cycle of atmospheric CO2 exchanges of 15 oligotrophic to eutrophic reservoirs in the Glacial Till Plains of the United States. With one exception, these reservoirs showed an overall loss of CO2 during the year, with most values within the lower range reported for temperate lakes. There was a strong cross-system seasonal pattern: an average of 70% of total annual CO2 efflux occurred by the end of spring mixis; some 20% of annual flux was reabsorbed during summer stratification; and the remaining 50% of efflux was lost during autumnal mixing. Net annual flux was negatively correlated with depth and positively correlated with both water residence time and DOC, with the smallest annual CO2 efflux measured in shallow fertile impoundments. Strong correlations yield relationships allowing regional up-scaling of CO2 evasion. Understanding lacustrine CO2 uptake and evasion requires seasonal analyses across the full range of lake trophic states and morphometric attributes.

The personal and national costs of early retirement because of spinal disorders: impacts on income, taxes, and government support payments.

PubMed

Schofield, Deborah J; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Percival, Richard; Passey, Megan E; Callander, Emily J; Kelly, Simon J

2012-12-01

Spinal disorders can reduce an individual's ability to participate in the labor force, and this can lead to considerable impacts on both the individual and the state. This study was aimed to quantify the personal cost of lost income and the cost to the state from lost income taxation, increased benefits payments, and lost gross domestic product (GDP) as a result of early retirement because of spinal disorders in Australians aged 45 to 64 years in 2009. This was done using cross-sectional analysis of the base population of Health&WealthMOD, a microsimulation model built on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, and STINMOD, an income and savings microsimulation model. Linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between spinal disorders, labor force participation, income, taxation, and government support payments. It was found that individuals aged 45 to 64 years who have retired early because of spinal disorders have significantly lower income (79% less; 95% confidence interval [CI], -84.7, -71.1; p<.0001), pay significantly less taxation (100% less; 95% CI, -100.0, 99.9; p<.0001), and receive significantly more in government support payments (21,000% more; 95% CI, 12,767.0, 35,336.4; p<.0001) than those employed full time with no health condition. Individuals who have retired early because of spinal disorders have a median value of total weekly income of only AU$310, whereas those who are employed full time are likely to receive four times this. This has a large national aggregate impact, with AU$4.8 billion lost in annual individual earnings, AU$622 million in additional welfare payments, AU$497 million lost in taxation revenue for governments, and AU$2.9 billion in lost GDP: all attributable to spinal disorders through their impact on labor force participation. Although the individual has to bear the economic costs of lost income in addition to the burden of the condition itself, the state experiences the impacts of loss of productivity from reduced workforce participation, lost income taxation revenue, and increasing government support payments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do people with type 2 diabetes and their carers lose income? (T2ARDIS-4).

PubMed

Holmes, Jeremy; Gear, Elena; Bottomley, Julia; Gillam, Stephen; Murphy, Moira; Williams, Rhys

2003-06-01

T(2)ARDIS is a study of the full costs of care for a sample of people with type 2 diabetes in the UK. This paper reports on individual earnings lost by patients (n=653) and carers (n=253) aged <65 years, based on 1998 values. Mean annual lost earnings are calculated on three different bases. Across the total survey population aged <65 years, mean lost earnings are estimated at pound 869 (S.D. pound 4109) per patient and pound 1300 (S.D. pound 4093) per carer. However, for the sub-set of respondents who actually lose earnings, the mean levels are pound 13841 (S.D. pound 9551) and pound 10960 (S.D. pound 6002), respectively. Patients and carers who lose earnings incur higher personal care-related expenditure than those who do not lose earnings (although for the patients this is not statistically significant). Patients who lose earnings also report poorer health-related quality of life and carers who lose earnings report higher levels of strain. Only one third of carers report receiving state benefits, and for both carers and patients the shortfall between reported benefits received and lost earnings is substantial. A strong association was found between patients' loss of earnings and the presence of diabetic complications (P<0.001), especially micro-vascular complications. Policy priorities should, therefore, include facilitating comprehensive access to state benefits (especially for carers) and a clear focus on reducing the incidence of diabetic complications.

Leg loss in Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) due to pyrethroid exposure: Toxic effect or defense by autotomy?

PubMed

Santamaría, E; Cabrera, O L; Avendaño, J; Pardo, R H

2016-01-01

Phlebotomine sandflies lose their legs after exposure to pyrethroids. In some insects leg loss helps to defend them from intoxication and predation, a phenomenon known as autotomy. A field observation has shown that sandflies that have lost some legs are still able to blood-feed. The aims of the study were to determine whether leg loss in sandflies, after exposure to deltamethrin, is due to autotomy and to establish the effect of the leg loss on blood-feeding. Two experiments were carried out with Lutzomyia longipalpis: (i) Females were individually exposed to a sublethal time of deltamethrin and mortality and the number of leg loss were recorded; and (ii) Groups of females with complete legs or with 1-3 legs lost due to pyrethroid exposure were offered a blood meal and percentages of blood-fed and fully-fed females were recorded. Most females lost a median of 1 leg within 1-48 h post-exposure to deltamethrin. Mortality (after 24 h) was significantly higher for exposed females with lost legs (31.1%), compared to exposed females with complete legs (7.3%), and there were no differences in mortality between females with complete legs and the control (unexposed females). There were no differences between the three treatments in the percentages of blood-fed and fully-fed females. Leg loss in sandflies is a toxic effect of pyrethroids and there was no evidence of autotomy. The loss of up to three legs after exposure to pyrethroids does not affect blood-feeding behaviour in laboratory and probably also in wild conditions.

[Analysis of the impact of mortality due to suicides in Mexico, 2000-2012].

PubMed

Dávila Cervantes, Claudio Alberto; Ochoa Torres, María del Pilar; Casique Rodríguez, Irene

2015-12-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the burden of disease due to suicide in Mexico using years of life lost (YLL) between 2000 and 2012 by sex, age group (for those under 85 years of age) and jurisdiction. Vital statistics on mortality and population estimates were used to calculate standardized mortality rates and years of life lost due to suicide. Between 2000 and 2012 a sustained increase in the suicide mortality rate was observed in Mexico. The age group with the highest rate was 85 years of age or older for men, and 15-19 years of age for women. The highest impact in life expectancy due to suicide occurred at 20 to 24 years of age in men and 15 to 19 years of age in women. The states with the highest mortality due to suicide were located in the Yucatan Peninsula (Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Campeche). Mortality due to suicide in Mexico has increased continually. As suicides are preventable, the implementation of health public policies through timely identification, integral prevention strategies and the detailed study of associated risk factors is imperative.

Occupational injury and illness in the United States. Estimates of costs, morbidity, and mortality.

PubMed

Leigh, J P; Markowitz, S B; Fahs, M; Shin, C; Landrigan, P J

1997-07-28

To estimate the annual incidence, the mortality and the direct and indirect costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses in the United States in 1992. Aggregation and analysis of national and large regional data sets collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, the National Center for Health Statistics, the Health Care Financing Administration, and other governmental bureaus and private firms. To assess incidence of and mortality from occupational injuries and illnesses, we reviewed data from national surveys and applied an attributable risk proportion method. To assess costs, we used the human capital method that decomposes costs into direct categories such as medical and insurance administration expenses as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Some cost estimates were drawn from the literature while others were generated within this study. Total costs were calculated by multiplying average costs by the number of injuries and illnesses in each diagnostic category. Approximately 6500 job-related deaths from injury, 13.2 million nonfatal injuries, 60,300 deaths from disease, and 862,200 illnesses are estimated to occur annually in the civilian American workforce. The total direct ($65 billion) plus indirect ($106 billion) costs were estimated to be $171 billion. Injuries cost $145 billion and illnesses $26 billion. These estimates are likely to be low, because they ignore costs associated with pain and suffering as well as those of within-home care provided by family members, and because the numbers of occupational injuries and illnesses are likely to be undercounted. The costs of occupational injuries and illnesses are high, in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and societal resources devoted to their prevention and amelioration. Occupational injuries and illnesses are an insufficiently appreciated contributor to the total burden of health care costs in the United States.

ANNUAL WATER BUDGETS FOR A FORESTED SINKHOLE WETLAND

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hill, Dr. Andrew Jason; Neary, Vincent S

2012-01-01

Annual water budgets spanning two years, 2004 and 2005, are constructed for a sinkhole wetland in the Tennessee Highland Rim following conversion of 13 % of its watershed to impervious surfaces. The effect of watershed development on the hydrology of the study wetland was significant. Surface runoff was the dominant input, with a contribution of 61.4 % of the total. An average of 18.9 % of gross precipitation was intercepted by the canopy and evaporated. Seepage from the surface water body to the local groundwater system accounted for 83.1 % of the total outflow. Deep recharge varied from 43.2 %more » (2004) to 12.1 % (2005) of total outflow. Overall, evapotranspiration accounted for 72.4 % of the total losses, with an average of 65.7 % lost from soil profile storage. The annual water budgets indicate that deep recharge is a significant hydrologic function performed by isolated sinkhole wetlands, or karst pans, on the Tennessee Highland Rim. Continued hydrologic monitoring of sinkhole wetlands are needed to evaluate hydrologic function and response to anthropogenic impacts. The regression technique developed to estimate surface runoff entering the wetland is shown to provide reasonable annual runoff estimates, but further testing is needed.« less

The societal cost of Taenia solium cysticercosis in Tanzania.

PubMed

Trevisan, Chiara; Devleesschauwer, Brecht; Schmidt, Veronika; Winkler, Andrea Sylvia; Harrison, Wendy; Johansen, Maria Vang

2017-01-01

Taenia solium is a zoonotic parasite prevalent in many low income countries throughout Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. The parasite is recognized as a public health threat; however the burden it poses on populations of Tanzania is unknown. The aim of this study was to estimate the societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis in Tanzania, by assessing both the health and economic burden. The societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis was assessed in humans and pigs based on data obtained by a systematic review. Experts' opinion was sought in cases where data were not retrievable. The health burden was assessed in terms of annual number of neurocysticercosis (NCC) associated epilepsy incident cases, deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), while the economic burden was assessed in terms of direct and indirect costs imposed by NCC-associated epilepsy and potential losses due to porcine cysticercosis. Based on data retrieved from the systematic review and burden assessments, T. solium cysticercosis contributed to a significant societal cost for the population. The annual number of NCC-associated epilepsy incident cases and deaths were 17,853 (95% Uncertainty Interval (UI), 5666-36,227) and 212 (95% UI, 37-612), respectively. More than 11% (95% UI, 6.3-17) of the pig population was infected with the parasite when using tongue examination as diagnostic method. For the year 2012 the number of DALYs per thousand person-years for NCC-associated epilepsy was 0.7 (95% UI, 0.2-1.6). Around 5 million USD (95% UI, 797,535-16,933,477) were spent due to NCC-associated epilepsy and nearly 3 million USD (95% UI, 1,095,960-5,366,038) were potentially lost due to porcine cysticercosis. Our results show that T. solium imposes a serious public health, agricultural and economic threat for Tanzania. We urge that a One Health approach, which involves the joint collaboration and effort of veterinarians, medical doctors, agricultural extension officers, researchers and relevant governmental agencies, is taken to find sustainable solutions for prevention, control and elimination of T. solium. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global economic consequences of selected surgical diseases: a modelling study.

PubMed

Alkire, Blake C; Shrime, Mark G; Dare, Anna J; Vincent, Jeffrey R; Meara, John G

2015-04-27

The surgical burden of disease is substantial, but little is known about the associated economic consequences. We estimate the global macroeconomic impact of the surgical burden of disease due to injury, neoplasm, digestive diseases, and maternal and neonatal disorders from two distinct economic perspectives. We obtained mortality rate estimates for each disease for the years 2000 and 2010 from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Burden of Disease 2010 study, and estimates of the proportion of the burden of the selected diseases that is surgical from a paper by Shrime and colleagues. We first used the value of lost output (VLO) approach, based on the WHO's Projecting the Economic Cost of Ill-Health (EPIC) model, to project annual market economy losses due to these surgical diseases during 2015-30. EPIC attempts to model how disease affects a country's projected labour force and capital stock, which in turn are related to losses in economic output, or gross domestic product (GDP). We then used the value of lost welfare (VLW) approach, which is conceptually based on the value of a statistical life and is inclusive of non-market losses, to estimate the present value of long-run welfare losses resulting from mortality and short-run welfare losses resulting from morbidity incurred during 2010. Sensitivity analyses were performed for both approaches. During 2015-30, the VLO approach projected that surgical conditions would result in losses of 1·25% of potential GDP, or $20·7 trillion (2010 US$, purchasing power parity) in the 128 countries with data available. When expressed as a proportion of potential GDP, annual GDP losses were greatest in low-income and middle-income countries, with up to a 2·5% loss in output by 2030. When total welfare losses are assessed (VLW), the present value of economic losses is estimated to be equivalent to 17% of 2010 GDP, or $14·5 trillion in the 175 countries assessed with this approach. Neoplasm and injury account for greater than 95% of total economic losses with each approach, but maternal, digestive, and neonatal disorders, which represent only 4% of losses in high-income countries with the VLW approach, contribute to 26% of losses in low-income countries. The macroeconomic impact of surgical disease is substantial and inequitably distributed. When paired with the growing number of favourable cost-effectiveness analyses of surgical interventions in low-income and middle-income countries, our results suggest that building surgical capacity should be a global health priority. US National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. Copyright © 2015 Alkire et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Energy-Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (E-SMARRT): Lost Foam Thin Wall - Feasibility of Producing Lost Foam Castings in Aluminum and Magnesium Based Alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fasoyinu, Yemi; Griffin, John A.

2014-03-31

With the increased emphasis on vehicle weight reduction, production of near-net shape components by lost foam casting will make significant inroad into the next-generation of engineering component designs. The lost foam casting process is a cost effective method for producing complex castings using an expandable polystyrene pattern and un-bonded sand. The use of un-bonded molding media in the lost foam process will impose less constraint on the solidifying casting, making hot tearing less prevalent. This is especially true in Al-Mg and Al-Cu alloy systems that are prone to hot tearing when poured in rigid molds partially due to their longmore » freezing range. Some of the unique advantages of using the lost foam casting process are closer dimensional tolerance, higher casting yield, and the elimination of sand cores and binders. Most of the aluminum alloys poured using the lost foam process are based on the Al-Si system. Very limited research work has been performed with Al-Mg and Al-Cu type alloys. With the increased emphasis on vehicle weight reduction, and given the high-strength-to-weight-ratio of magnesium, significant weight savings can be achieved by casting thin-wall (≤ 3 mm) engineering components from both aluminum- and magnesium-base alloys.« less

Global Burden of Leptospirosis: Estimated in Terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years

PubMed Central

Torgerson, Paul R.; Hagan, José E.; Costa, Federico; Calcagno, Juan; Kane, Michael; Martinez-Silveira, Martha S.; Goris, Marga G. A.; Stein, Claudia; Ko, Albert I.; Abela-Ridder, Bernadette

2015-01-01

Background Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonosis, occurs in diverse epidemiological settings and affects vulnerable populations, such as rural subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers. Although leptospirosis can cause life-threatening disease, there is no global burden of disease estimate in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) available. Methodology/Principal Findings We utilised the results of a parallel publication that reported global estimates of morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. We estimated Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from age and gender stratified mortality rates. Years of Life with Disability (YLDs) were developed from a simple disease model indicating likely sequelae. DALYs were estimated from the sum of YLLs and YLDs. The study suggested that globally approximately 2·90 million DALYs are lost per annum (UIs 1·25–4·54 million) from the approximately annual 1·03 million cases reported previously. Males are predominantly affected with an estimated 2·33 million DALYs (UIs 0·98–3·69) or approximately 80% of the total burden. For comparison, this is over 70% of the global burden of cholera estimated by GBD 2010. Tropical regions of South and South-east Asia, Western Pacific, Central and South America, and Africa had the highest estimated leptospirosis disease burden. Conclusions/Significance Leptospirosis imparts a significant health burden worldwide, which approach or exceed those encountered for a number of other zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases. The study findings indicate that highest burden estimates occur in resource-poor tropical countries, which include regions of Africa where the burden of leptospirosis has been under-appreciated and possibly misallocated to other febrile illnesses such as malaria. PMID:26431366

Evapotranspiration from drained wetlands: drivers, modeling, storage functions, and restoration implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, S.; Wu, C. L.; Shrestha, N.

2017-12-01

Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component of wetland and watershed water budgets. The effect of wetland drainage on ET is not well understood. We tested whether the current understanding of insignificant effect of drainage on ET in the temperate region wetlands applies to those in the sub-tropics. Eddy covariance (EC) based ET measurements were made for two years at two previously drained and geographically close wetlands in the Everglades region of Florida. One wetland was significantly drained with 97% of its storage capacity lost. The other was a more functional wetland with 42% of storage capacity lost. Annual average ET at the significantly drained wetland was 836 mm, 34% less than the function wetland (1271 mm) and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.001). Such differences in wetland ET in the same climatic region have not been observed. The difference in ET was mainly due to drainage driven differences in inundation and associated effects on net radiation (Rn) and local relative humidity. Two daily ET models, a regression (r2 = 0.80) and a Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) model (r2 = 0.84), were developed with the latter being more robust. These models, when used in conjunction with hydrologic models, improved ET predictions for drained wetlands. Predictions from an integrated model showed that more intensely drained wetlands at higher elevation should be targeted for restoration of downstream flows (flooding) because they have the ability to loose higher water volume through ET which increases available water storage capacity of wetlands. Daily ET models can predict changes in ET for improved evaluation of basin-scale effects of restoration programs and climate change scenarios.

Excess cost burden of diabetes in Southern India: a clinic-based, comparative cost-of-illness study.

PubMed

Sharma, K M; Ranjani, H; Zabetian, A; Datta, M; Deepa, M; Moses, C R Anand; Narayan, K M V; Mohan, V; Ali, M K

2016-01-01

There are few data on excess direct and indirect costs of diabetes in India and limited data on rural costs of diabetes. We aimed to further explore these aspects of diabetes burdens using a clinic-based, comparative cost-of-illness study. Persons with diabetes ( n  = 606) were recruited from government, private, and rural clinics and compared to persons without diabetes matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status ( n  = 356). We used interviewer-administered questionnaires to estimate direct costs (outpatient, inpatient, medication, laboratory, and procedures) and indirect costs [absence from (absenteeism) or low productivity at (presenteeism) work]. Excess costs were calculated as the difference between costs reported by persons with and without diabetes and compared across settings. Regression analyses were used to separately identify factors associated with total direct and indirect costs. Annual excess direct costs were highest amongst private clinic attendees (INR 19 552, US$425) and lowest amongst government clinic attendees (INR 1204, US$26.17). Private clinic attendees had the lowest excess absenteeism (2.36 work days/year) and highest presenteeism (0.06 work days/year) due to diabetes. Government clinic attendees reported the highest absenteeism (7.48 work days/year) and lowest presenteeism (-0.31 work days/year). Ten additional years of diabetes duration was associated with 11% higher direct costs ( p  < 0.001). Older age ( p  = 0.02) and longer duration of diabetes ( p  < 0.001) were associated with higher total lost work days. Excess health expenditures and lost productivity amongst individuals with diabetes are substantial and different across care settings. Innovative solutions are needed to cope with diabetes and its associated cost burdens in India.

Miscellaneous bacterial diseases

USGS Publications Warehouse

Friend, M.

1999-01-01

Disease in free-ranging birds is caused by many other pathogenic bacteria in addition to those illustrated within this section. These other diseases are currently considered less important because of their infrequent occurrence, the small numbers of birds generally lost annually, or because they primarily result from infection by opportunistic pathogens and they require concurrent disease processes for them to become apparent. The following brief highlights about the more important of these diseases are included to acquaint readers with their existence and provide some basic information about their ecology.

The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

Participation Rate 352-10. Average Weekly Hours Worked in the Nonfarm Business Sector 352-11. People Who Have Lost Jobs as a Percentage of All Unemployed...in the past they have not lasted more than a few quarters. Figure 2-10. Average Weekly Hours Worked in the Nonfarm Business Sector (Hours per week...in the nonfarm business sector , which accounts for about three-fourths of the economy, are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 0.5 per

Schooling and wage income losses due to early-childhood growth faltering in developing countries: national, regional, and global estimates.

PubMed

Fink, Günther; Peet, Evan; Danaei, Goodarz; Andrews, Kathryn; McCoy, Dana Charles; Sudfeld, Christopher R; Smith Fawzi, Mary C; Ezzati, Majid; Fawzi, Wafaie W

2016-07-01

The growth of >300 million children <5 y old was mildly, moderately, or severely stunted worldwide in 2010. However, national estimates of the human capital and financial losses due to growth faltering in early childhood are not available. We quantified the economic cost of growth faltering in developing countries. We combined the most recent country-level estimates of linear growth delays from the Nutrition Impact Model Study with estimates of returns to education in developing countries to estimate the impact of early-life growth faltering on educational attainment and future incomes. Primary outcomes were total years of educational attainment lost as well as the net present value of future wage earnings lost per child and birth cohort due to growth faltering in 137 developing countries. Bootstrapped standard errors were computed to account for uncertainty in modeling inputs. Our estimates suggest that early-life growth faltering in developing countries caused a total loss of 69.4 million y of educational attainment (95% CI: 41.7 million, 92.6 million y) per birth cohort. Educational attainment losses were largest in South Asia (27.6 million y; 95% CI: 20.0 million, 35.8 million y) as well as in Eastern (10.3 million y; 95% CI: 7.2 million, 12.9 million y) and Western sub-Saharan Africa (8.8 million y; 95% CI: 6.4 million, 11.5 million y). Globally, growth faltering in developing countries caused a total economic cost of $176.8 billion (95% CI: $100.9 billion, $262.6 billion)/birth cohort at nominal exchange rates, and $616.5 billion (95% CI: $365.3 billion, $898.9 billion) at purchasing power parity-adjusted exchange rates. At the regional level, economic costs were largest in South Asia ($46.6 billion; 95% CI: $33.3 billion, $61.1 billion), followed by Latin America ($44.7 billion; 95% CI: $19.2 billion, $74.6 billion) and sub-Saharan Africa ($34.2 billion; 95% CI: $24.4 billion, $45.3 billion). Our results indicate that the annual cost of early-childhood growth faltering is substantial. Further investment in scaling up effective interventions in this area is urgently needed and likely to yield long run benefits of $3 for every $1 invested. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Satellite passive microwaves for monitoring deforestation and drought-induced carbon losses in sub-Saharan Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, M.; Wigneron, J. P.; Chave, J.; Tagesson, T.; Penuelas, J.; Ciais, P.; Rasmussen, K.; Tian, F.; Mbow, C.; Al-Yaari, A.; Rodriguez-Fernandez, N.; Zhang, W.; Kerr, Y. H.; Tucker, C. J.; Mialon, A.; Verger, A.; Fensholt, R.

2017-12-01

The African continent is facing one of the driest periods in the past three decades and continuing deforestation. These disturbances threaten vegetation carbon (C) stocks and highlight the need for an operational tool for monitoring carbon stock dynamics. Knowledge of the amount, distribution, and turnover of carbon in African vegetation is crucial for understanding the effects of human pressure and climate change, but the shortcomings of optical and radar satellite products and the lack of systematic field inventories have led to considerable uncertainty in documenting patterns and dynamics of carbon stocks, in particular for drylands. Static carbon maps have been developed, but the temporal dynamics of carbon stocks cannot be derived from the benchmark maps, impeding timely, repeated, and reliable carbon assessments. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission launched in 2009 was the first passive microwave-based satellite system operating at L-band (1.4 GHz) frequency. The low frequencies allow the satellite to sense deep within the canopy layer with less influence by the green non-woody plant components. The vegetation optical depth (VOD) derived from SMOS, henceforth L-VOD, is thus less sensitive to saturation effects, marking an important step forward in the monitoring of carbon as a natural resource. In this study, we apply for the first time L-VOD to quantify the inter-annual dynamics of aboveground carbon stocks for the period 2010-2016. We use this new technique to document patterns of carbon gains and losses in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus of dryland response to recent dry years. Results show that drylands lost carbon at a rate of -0.06 Pg C y-1 associated with drying trends, while humid areas lost only -0.02 Pg C y-1. These trends reflect a high inter-annual variability with a very wet (2011) and a very dry year (2016) associated with carbon gains and losses respectively. This study demonstrates, first, the operational applicability of L-VOD to monitor the dynamics of carbon loss and gain due to climate variations and deforestation, and second, the importance of the highly dynamic and drought prone carbon pool of dryland savannahs for the global carbon balance, despite the relatively low carbon stock per unit area.

Effectiveness of job rotation for preventing work-related musculoskeletal diseases: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Comper, Maria Luiza Caires; Dennerlein, Jack Tigh; Evangelista, Gabriela Dos Santos; Rodrigues da Silva, Patricia; Padula, Rosimeire Simprini

2017-08-01

Job rotation is an organisational strategy widely used on assembly lines in manufacturing industries to mitigate workers' exposure so as to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of job rotation for reducing working hours lost due to sick leave resulting from musculoskeletal diseases. The design consisted of a 1-year cluster randomised controlled trial with a blinded assessor. Production sectors of the textile industry were randomised to intervention and control groups. Both groups received ergonomic training. The intervention group performed a job rotation programme. The primary outcome measure was number of working hours lost due to sick leave as a result of musculoskeletal disease (ICD-10). The secondary outcome measures were musculoskeletal symptoms (Yes/No), risk factors for musculoskeletal diseases (0-10), psychosocial factors and fatigue (0-100), general health (0-100), and productivity (0-10). All secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and 12-month follow-up. At the 12-month follow-up, both groups showed an increase in the number of working hours lost due to sick leave for musculoskeletal disease. There was no significant difference between the job rotation intervention group (mean deviation -5.6 hours, 95% CI -25.0 to 13.8) at the 12-month follow-up and the control group. There were no significant differences between groups for the secondary outcomes (p>0.05). The job rotation programme was not effective in reducing the number of working hours lost due to sick leave, decreasing the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms, or improving perception of musculoskeletal pain and workplace risk factors, psychosocial risk factors and productivity. NCT01979731. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

On the measurement and valuation of travel time variability due to incidents on freeways

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-12-01

Incidents on freeways frequently cause long, unanticipated delays, increasing the economic cost of travel to motorists. This paper provides a simple model for estimating the mean and variance of time lost due to incidents on freeways. It also reviews...

The association of health risks with on-the-job productivity.

PubMed

Burton, Wayne N; Chen, Chin-Yu; Conti, Daniel J; Schultz, Alyssa B; Pransky, Glenn; Edington, Dee W

2005-08-01

Decreased on-the-job productivity represents a large yet poorly characterized indirect cost to employers. We studied the impact of employee health risk factors on self-reported worker productivity (presenteeism). Using a brief version of the Work Limitation Questionnaire incorporated into a Health Risk Appraisal, 28,375 employees of a national company responded to the survey. The association between health risks and work limitation and each of the four domains was examined. Percentage of lost productivity also was estimated. Ten of 12 health risk factors studied were significantly associated with self-reported work limitations. The strength of the associations varied between risks and the four domains of work limitation. Perception-related risk factors such as life dissatisfaction, job dissatisfaction, poor health, and stress showed the greatest association with presenteeism. As the number of self-reported health risk factors increased, so did the percentage of employees reporting work limitations. Each additional risk factor was associated with 2.4% excess productivity reduction. Medium and high-risk individuals were 6.2% and 12.2% less productive than low-risk individuals, respectively. The annual cost of lost productivity in this corporation was estimated at between 99Mdollars and 185Mdollars or between 1392dollars and 2592dollars per employee. Health risk factors represent additional causes of lost productivity.

Differential response of coral communities to Caulerpa spp. bloom in the reefs of Indian Ocean.

PubMed

Manikandan, B; Ravindran, J

2017-02-01

Coral reef ecosystems are disturbed in tandem by climatic and anthropogenic stressors. A number of factors act synergistically to reduce the live coral cover and threaten the existence of reefs. Continuous monitoring of the coral communities during 2012-2014 captured an unprecedented growth of macroalgae as a bloom at Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and Palk Bay (PB) which are protected and unprotected reefs, respectively. The two reefs varying in their protection level enabled to conduct an assessment on the response of coral communities and their recovery potential during and after the macroalgal bloom. Surveys in 2012 revealed a live coral cover of 36.8 and 14.6% in GoM and PB, respectively. Live coral cover was lost at an annual rate of 4% in PB due to the Caulerpa racemosa blooms that occurred in 2013 and 2014. In GoM, the loss of live coral cover was estimated to be 16.5% due to C. taxifolia bloom in 2013. Tissue regeneration by the foliose and branching coral morphotypes aided the recovery of live coral cover in GoM, whereas the chances for the recovery of live coral cover in PB reef were low, primarily due to frequent algal blooms, and the existing live coral cover was mainly due to the abundance of slow-growing massive corals. In combination, results of this study suggested that the recovery of a coral reef after a macroalgal bloom largely depends on coral species composition and the frequency of stress events. A further study linking macroalgal bloom to its specific cause is essential for the successful intervention and management.

Lost productive life years caused by chronic conditions in Australians aged 45-64 years, 2010-2030.

PubMed

Schofield, Deborah J; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Cunich, Michelle; Tanton, Robert; Kelly, Simon; Passey, Megan E; Veerman, Lennert J

2015-09-21

To estimate (1) productive life years (PLYs) lost because of chronic conditions in Australians aged 45-64 years from 2010 to 2030, and (2) the impact of this loss on gross domestic product (GDP) over the same period. A microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, was used to project lost PLYs caused by chronic conditions from 2010 to 2030. The base population consisted of respondents aged 45-64 years to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2003 and 2009. The national impact of lost PLYs was assessed with Treasury's GDP equation. Lost PLYs due to chronic disease at 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030 (ie, whole life years lost because of chronic disease); the national impact of lost PLYs at the same time points (GDP loss caused by PLYs); the effects of population growth, labour force trends and chronic disease trends on lost PLYs and GDP at each time point. Using Health&WealthMOD2030, we estimated a loss of 347,000 PLYs in 2010; this was projected to increase to 459,000 in 2030 (32.28% increase over 20 years). The leading chronic conditions associated with premature exits from the labour force were back problems, arthritis and mental and behavioural problems. The percentage increase in the number of PLYs lost by those aged 45-64 years was greater than that of population growth for this age group (32.28% v 27.80%). The strongest driver of the increase in lost PLYs was population growth (accounting for 89.18% of the increase), followed by chronic condition trends (8.28%). Our study estimates an increase of 112 000 lost PLYs caused by chronic illness in older workers in Australia between 2010 and 2030, with the most rapid growth projected to occur in men aged 55-59 years and in women aged 60-64 years. The national impact of this lost labour force participation on GDP was estimated to be $37.79 billion in 2010, increasing to $63.73 billion in 2030.

Mitigating Financial Burden of Tuberculosis through Active Case Finding Targeting Household and Neighbourhood Contacts in Cambodia

PubMed Central

Morishita, Fukushi; Yadav, Rajendra-Prasad; Eang, Mao Tan; Saint, Saly; Nishikiori, Nobuyuki

2016-01-01

Background Despite free TB services available in public health facilities, TB patients often face severe financial burden due to TB. WHO set a new global target that no TB-affected families experience catastrophic costs due to TB. To monitor the progress and strategize the optimal approach to achieve the target, there is a great need to assess baseline cost data, explore potential proxy indicators for catastrophic costs, and understand what intervention mitigates financial burden. In Cambodia, nationwide active case finding (ACF) targeting household and neighbourhood contacts was implemented alongside routine passive case finding (PCF). We analyzed household cost data from ACF and PCF to determine the financial benefit of ACF, update the baseline cost data, and explore whether any dissaving patterns can be a proxy for catastrophic costs in Cambodia. Methods In this cross-sectional comparative study, structured interviews were carried out with 108 ACF patients and 100 PCF patients. Direct and indirect costs, costs before and during treatment, costs as percentage of annual household income and dissaving patterns were compared between the two groups. Results The median total costs were lower by 17% in ACF than in PCF ($240.7 [IQR 65.5–594.6] vs $290.5 [IQR 113.6–813.4], p = 0.104). The median costs before treatment were significantly lower in ACF than in PCF ($5.1 [IQR 1.5–25.8] vs $22.4 [IQR 4.4–70.8], p<0.001). Indirect costs constituted the largest portion of total costs (72.3% in ACF and 61.5% in PCF). Total costs were equivalent to 11.3% and 18.6% of annual household income in ACF and PCF, respectively. ACF patients were less likely to dissave to afford TB-related expenses. Costs as percentage of annual household income were significantly associated with an occurrence of selling property (p = 0.02 for ACF, p = 0.005 for PCF). Conclusions TB-affected households face severe financial hardship in Cambodia. ACF has the great potential to mitigate the costs incurred particularly before treatment. Social protection schemes that can replace lost income are critically needed to compensate for the most devastating costs in TB. An occurrence of selling household property can be a useful proxy for catastrophic cost in Cambodia. PMID:27611908

Geospatial and temporal patterns of annual cholera outbreaks in Matlab, Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majumder, M. S.; de Klerk, K.; Meyers, D.

2012-12-01

Cholera is a waterborne diarrheal disease endemic to Bangladesh, resulting in 1 million diagnoses annually. Such disease burden results in incalculable lost wages and treatment expenses, taken from the pockets of an already impoverished society. Two seasonally correlated outbreaks of cholera occur in Bangladesh every year. In the spring and early summer, the Bay of Bengal - which serves as a natural reservoir for the cholera bacteria - flows inland, causing the first outbreak amongst coastal communities. Waste containing the cholera bacteria enters the sewage system and remains untreated due to poor water and sanitation infrastructure. Therefore, during the following monsoon season, flooding of cholera-contaminated sewage into drinking water sources results in a second outbreak. Though considered common knowledge among local populations, this geographic and temporal progression has not been empirically verified in the current literature. The aim of our ongoing study is to systematically analyze the seasonal trajectory of endemic cholera in Bangladesh. This paper discusses the results obtained from a comprehensive survey of available cholera data from the International Centre of Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) in Matlab, Bangladesh. Matlab thana is a near-coastal community that consists of 142 villages. Monsoon season takes place from June through October. Due to its proximity to the Meghna River, which opens into the Bay of Bengal, the area experiences significant flooding during these months. Using 10 years of geographically referenced cholera data, cases were plotted in time and space. Preliminary patterns suggest that villages closer to the Meghna River experience the majority of the area's cholera outbreaks and that case count is highest in late spring and late fall. April/May and November/December represent 25% and 23% of total annual case counts respectively. Moreover, villages further from the coastline demonstrate 57% higher relative prevalence in fall than in the spring. Such initial results demonstrate great promise in advancing our present knowledge of endemic cholera in Bangladesh. By improving our understanding of cholera proliferating in time and space, disease mitigation resources can be distributed to the most susceptible areas when they need them most. The next step forward for our ongoing study involves the use of mobile health (mHealth) case surveillance and cloud computing for real-time geographic and temporal cholera data acquisition.

The economic costs of malaria in children in three sub-Saharan countries: Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Malaria causes significant mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially among children less than five years of age (U5 children). Although the economic burden of malaria in this region has been assessed previously, the extent and variation of this burden remains unclear. This study aimed to estimate the economic costs of malaria in U5 children in three countries (Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya). Methods Health system and household costs previously estimated were integrated with costs associated with co-morbidities, complications and productivity losses due to death. Several models were developed to estimate the expected treatment cost per episode per child, across different age groups, by level of severity and with or without controlling for treatment-seeking behaviour. Total annual costs (2009) were calculated by multiplying the treatment cost per episode according to severity by the number of episodes. Annual health system prevention costs were added to this estimate. Results Household and health system costs per malaria episode ranged from approximately US$ 5 for non-complicated malaria in Tanzania to US$ 288 for cerebral malaria with neurological sequelae in Kenya. On average, up to 55% of these costs in Ghana and Tanzania and 70% in Kenya were assumed by the household, and of these costs 46% in Ghana and 85% in Tanzania and Kenya were indirect costs. Expected values of potential future earnings (in thousands) lost due to premature death of children aged 0–1 and 1–4 years were US$ 11.8 and US$ 13.8 in Ghana, US$ 6.9 and US$ 8.1 in Tanzania, and US$ 7.6 and US$ 8.9 in Kenya, respectively. The expected treatment costs per episode per child ranged from a minimum of US$ 1.29 for children aged 2–11 months in Tanzania to a maximum of US$ 22.9 for children aged 0–24 months in Kenya. The total annual costs (in millions) were estimated at US$ 37.8, US$ 131.9 and US$ 109.0 nationwide in Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya and included average treatment costs per case of US$ 11.99, US$ 6.79 and US$ 20.54, respectively. Conclusion This study provides important insight into the economic burden of malaria in SSA that may assist policy makers when designing future malaria control interventions. PMID:24004482

Evaluation of a Digital Behavioral Counseling Program for Reducing Risk Factors for Chronic Disease in a Workforce.

PubMed

Wilson, Mark G; Castro Sweet, Cynthia M; Edge, Michael D; Madero, Erica N; McGuire, Megan; Pilsmaker, Megan; Carpenter, Dan; Kirschner, Scott

2017-08-01

To evaluate a digitally delivered, intensive behavioral counseling program for a workforce at risk for obesity-related chronic disease. Employees were offered a digital health program modeled after the diabetes prevention program (DPP). Annual workforce health assessments were used to examine changes in chronic disease risk factors between participants (n = 634) relative to a matched comparison group (n = 1268). Overall, employees were gaining an average of 3.5 pounds annually before program inception. Program engagement was positive; 83% completed the majority of the curriculum and 31% lost at least 5% of their starting weight. Compared with non-participating peers, participants demonstrated reduced weight, improved fasting blood glucose, and improved nutritional intake after a year. The digital health program was effective for engaging employees in health behavior change. Digital options facilitate widespread implementation.

Economic burden of malaria on businesses in Ghana: a case for private sector investment in malaria control.

PubMed

Nonvignon, Justice; Aryeetey, Genevieve Cecilia; Malm, Keziah L; Agyemang, Samuel Agyei; Aubyn, Vivian N A; Peprah, Nana Yaw; Bart-Plange, Constance N; Aikins, Moses

2016-09-06

Despite the significant gains made globally in reducing the burden of malaria, the disease remains a major public health challenge, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Ghana. There is a significant gap in financing malaria control globally. The private sector could become a significant source of financing malaria control. To get the private sector to appreciate the need to invest in malaria control, it is important to provide evidence of the economic burden of malaria on businesses. The objective of this study, therefore, was to estimate the economic burden on malaria on businesses in Ghana, so as to stimulate the sector's investment in malaria control. Data covering 2012-2014 were collected from 62 businesses sampled from Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana, which have the highest concentration of businesses in the country. Data on the cost of businesses' spending on treatment and prevention of malaria in staff and their dependants as well as staff absenteeism due to malaria and expenditure on other health-related activities were collected. Views of business leaders on the effect of malaria on their businesses were also compiled. The analysis was extrapolated to cover 5828 businesses across the country. The results show that businesses in Ghana lost about US$6.58 million to malaria in 2014, 90 % of which were direct costs. A total of 3913 workdays were lost due to malaria in firms in the study sample during the period 2012-2014. Businesses in the study sample spent an average of 0.5 % of the annual corporate returns on treatment of malaria in employees and their dependants, 0.3 % on malaria prevention, and 0.5 % on other health-related corporate social responsibilities. Again business leaders affirmed that malaria affects their businesses' efficiency, employee attendance and productivity and expenses. Finally, about 93 % of business leaders expressed the need private sector investment in malaria control. The economic burden of malaria on businesses in Ghana cannot be underestimated. This, together with business leaders' acknowledgement that it is important for private sector investment in malaria control, provides motivation for engagement of the private sector in financing malaria control activities.

Seasonal migrations, body temperature fluctuations, and infection dynamics in adult amphibians.

PubMed

Daversa, David R; Monsalve-Carcaño, Camino; Carrascal, Luis M; Bosch, Jaime

2018-01-01

Risks of parasitism vary over time, with infection prevalence often fluctuating with seasonal changes in the annual cycle. Identifying the biological mechanisms underlying seasonality in infection can enable better prediction and prevention of future infection peaks. Obtaining longitudinal data on individual infections and traits across seasons throughout the annual cycle is perhaps the most effective means of achieving this aim, yet few studies have obtained such information for wildlife. Here, we tracked spiny common toads ( Bufo spinosus ) within and across annual cycles to assess seasonal variation in movement, body temperatures and infection from the fungal parasite, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) . Across annual cycles, toads did not consistently sustain infections but instead gained and lost infections from year to year. Radio-tracking showed that infected toads lose infections during post-breeding migrations, and no toads contracted infection following migration, which may be one explanation for the inter-annual variability in Bd infections. We also found pronounced seasonal variation in toad body temperatures. Body temperatures approached 0 °C during winter hibernation but remained largely within the thermal tolerance range of Bd . These findings provide direct documentation of migratory recovery (i.e., loss of infection during migration) and escape in a wild population. The body temperature reductions that we observed during hibernation warrant further consideration into the role that this period plays in seasonal Bd dynamics.

Seasonal migrations, body temperature fluctuations, and infection dynamics in adult amphibians

PubMed Central

Daversa, David R.; Monsalve-Carcaño, Camino; Carrascal, Luis M.

2018-01-01

Risks of parasitism vary over time, with infection prevalence often fluctuating with seasonal changes in the annual cycle. Identifying the biological mechanisms underlying seasonality in infection can enable better prediction and prevention of future infection peaks. Obtaining longitudinal data on individual infections and traits across seasons throughout the annual cycle is perhaps the most effective means of achieving this aim, yet few studies have obtained such information for wildlife. Here, we tracked spiny common toads (Bufo spinosus) within and across annual cycles to assess seasonal variation in movement, body temperatures and infection from the fungal parasite, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Across annual cycles, toads did not consistently sustain infections but instead gained and lost infections from year to year. Radio-tracking showed that infected toads lose infections during post-breeding migrations, and no toads contracted infection following migration, which may be one explanation for the inter-annual variability in Bd infections. We also found pronounced seasonal variation in toad body temperatures. Body temperatures approached 0 °C during winter hibernation but remained largely within the thermal tolerance range of Bd. These findings provide direct documentation of migratory recovery (i.e., loss of infection during migration) and escape in a wild population. The body temperature reductions that we observed during hibernation warrant further consideration into the role that this period plays in seasonal Bd dynamics. PMID:29761041

Long-Term Drainage Reduces CO2 Uptake and CH4 Emissions in a Siberian Permafrost Ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kittler, Fanny; Heimann, Martin; Kolle, Olaf; Zimov, Nikita; Zimov, Sergei; Göckede, Mathias

2017-12-01

Permafrost landscapes in northern high latitudes with their massive organic carbon stocks are an important, poorly known, component of the global carbon cycle. However, in light of future Arctic warming, the sustainability of these carbon pools is uncertain. To a large part, this is due to a limited understanding of the carbon cycle processes because of sparse observations in Arctic permafrost ecosystems. Here we present an eddy covariance data set covering more than 3 years of continuous CO2 and CH4 flux observations within a moist tussock tundra ecosystem near Chersky in north-eastern Siberia. Through parallel observations of a disturbed (drained) area and a control area nearby, we aim to evaluate the long-term effects of a persistently lowered water table on the net vertical carbon exchange budgets and the dominating biogeochemical mechanisms. Persistently drier soils trigger systematic shifts in the tundra ecosystem carbon cycle patterns. Both, uptake rates of CO2 and emissions of CH4 decreased. Year-round measurements emphasize the importance of the non-growing season—in particular the "zero-curtain" period in the fall—to the annual budget. Approximately 60% of the CO2 uptake in the growing season is lost during the cold seasons, while CH4 emissions during the non-growing season account for 30% of the annual budget. Year-to-year variability in temperature conditions during the late growing season was identified as the primary control of the interannual variability observed in the CO2 and CH4 fluxes.

Compensatory mortality in a recovering top carnivore: wolves in Wisconsin, USA (1979-2013).

PubMed

Stenglein, Jennifer L; Wydeven, Adrian P; Van Deelen, Timothy R

2018-05-01

Populations of large terrestrial carnivores are in various stages of recovery worldwide and the question of whether there is compensation in mortality sources is relevant to conservation. Here, we show variation in Wisconsin wolf survival from 1979 to 2013 by jointly estimating the hazard of wolves' radio-telemetry ending (endpoint) and endpoint cause. In previous analyses, wolves lost to radio-telemetry follow-up (collar loss) were censored from analysis, thereby assuming collar loss was unconfounded with mortality. Our approach allowed us to explicitly estimate hazard due to collar loss and did not require censoring these records from analysis. We found mean annual survival was 76% and mean annual causes of mortality were illegal killing (9.4%), natural and unknown causes (9.5%), and other human-caused mortality such as hunting, vehicle collisions and lethal control (5.1%). Illegal killing and natural mortality were highest during winter, causing wolf survival to decrease relative to summer. Mortality was highest during early recovery and lowest during a period of sustained population growth. Wolves again experienced higher risk of human-caused mortality relative to natural mortality as wolves expanded into areas with more human activity. We detected partial compensation in human- and natural-caused mortality since 2004 as the population saturated more available habitat. Prior to 2004, we detected additivity in mortality sources. Assessments of wolf survival and cause of mortality rates and the finding of partial compensation in mortality sources will inform wolf conservation and management efforts by identifying sources and sinks, finding areas of conservation need, and assessing management zone delineation.

Simulating the impact of changing trends in smoking and obesity on productivity of an industrial population: an observational study

PubMed Central

Bhojani, Faiyaz A; Tsai, Shan P; Wendt, Judy K; Koller, Kim L

2014-01-01

Objective To estimate the impact of trends in smoking and obesity prevalence on productivity loss among petrochemical employees from 1980 to 2009. Methods Smoking and obesity informations were collected during company physical examinations. Productivity loss was calculated as differential workdays lost between smokers and non-smokers, and obese and normal-weight employees. Results During 1980–2009, smoking prevalence decreased from 32% to 17%, while obesity prevalence increased from 14% to 42%. In 1982, lost productivity from obesity was an estimated 43 days/100 employees, and for smoking, 65 days/100 employees, but by 1987, workdays lost due to obesity exceeded that attributable to smoking. In 2007, workdays lost from obesity were 3.7 times higher than for smoking. Conclusions Owing to the increasing trend in obesity, the productivity impact on employers from obesity will continue to rise without effective measures supporting employee efforts to achieve healthy weight through sustainable lifestyle changes. PMID:24747795

Ten-year blood pressure trajectories, cardiovascular mortality, and life years lost in 2 extinction cohorts: the Minnesota Business and Professional Men Study and the Zutphen Study.

PubMed

Tielemans, Susanne M A J; Geleijnse, Johanna M; Menotti, Alessandro; Boshuizen, Hendriek C; Soedamah-Muthu, Sabita S; Jacobs, David R; Blackburn, Henry; Kromhout, Daan

2015-03-09

Blood pressure (BP) trajectories derived from measurements repeated over years have low measurement error and may improve cardiovascular disease prediction compared to single, average, and usual BP (single BP adjusted for regression dilution). We characterized 10-year BP trajectories and examined their association with cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, and life years lost. Data from 2 prospective and nearly extinct cohorts of middle-aged men—the Minnesota Business and Professional Men Study (n=261) and the Zutphen Study (n=632)—were used. BP was measured annually during 1947-1957 in Minnesota and 1960-1970 in Zutphen. BP trajectories were identified by latent mixture modeling. Cox proportional hazards and linear regression models examined BP trajectories with cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, and life years lost. Associations were adjusted for age, serum cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes mellitus. Mean initial age was about 50 years in both cohorts. After 10 years of BP measurements, men were followed until death on average 20 years later. All Minnesota men and 98% of Zutphen men died. Four BP trajectories were identified, in which mean systolic BP increased by 5 to 49 mm Hg in Minnesota and 5 to 20 mm Hg in Zutphen between age 50 and 60. The third systolic BP trajectories were associated with 2 to 4 times higher cardiovascular mortality risk, 2 times higher all-cause mortality risk, and 4 to 8 life years lost, compared to the first trajectory. Ten-year BP trajectories were the strongest predictors, among different BP measures, of cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, and life years lost in Minnesota. However, average BP was the strongest predictor in Zutphen. © 2015 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

[Social psychiatry in the field of contrasting context between psychiatry and Social Medicine].

PubMed

Dietrich, Sandra; Born, Anja; Holzinger, Anita

2006-11-01

There has been a discussion going on that Social Psychiatry has entered a state of crisis in terms of its socio-scientific roots. Little is known, however, about its relationship to Social Medicine. The question is whether Social Psychiatry, having grown apart from Sociology, has also lost its scientific relation to Social Medicine. A systematic literature analysis of all works published in "Psychiatrische Praxis" - PP and "Das Gesundheitswesen"--GHW in the years 2004/2005 was done. All works concerning Social Psychiatry were analysed. The same procedure was applied to all abstracts, posters and presentations for the annual meetings of the German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP). 10 % off all articles published in GHW and 97 % in PP address issues of Social Psychiatry. Apart from similarities in terms of their theoretical, practical and institutional background and the research methods applied, there are a number of differences. Social Psychiatry has not lost its scientific relation to Social Medicine, however, the scientific cooperation between the two needs to be intensified.

A new estimate of the impact of OSHA inspections on manufacturing injury rates, 1998-2005.

PubMed

Haviland, Amelia M; Burns, Rachel M; Gray, Wayne B; Ruder, Teague; Mendeloff, John

2012-11-01

A prior study indicated that the effect of OSHA inspections on lost workday injuries had declined from 1979 through 1998. This study provides an updated estimate for 1998-2005. Injury data from the Pennsylvania workers' compensation program were linked with employment data from unemployment compensation records to calculate lost-time rates for single-establishment manufacturing firms with more than 10 employees. These rates were linked to OSHA inspection findings. The RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee determined that this study was exempt from review. Inspections with penalties reduced injuries by an average of 19-24% annually in the 2 years following the inspection. These effects were not found for workplaces with fewer than 20 or more than 250 employees or for inspections without penalties. These findings should be generalizable to the 29 states where federal OSHA directly enforces standards. They suggest that the impact of inspections has increased from the 1990s. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

National and sub-national burden of breast cancer in Iran; 1990-2013.

PubMed

Naderimagham, Shohreh; Alipour, Sadaf; Djalalinia, Shirin; Kasaeian, Amir; Noori, Atefeh; Rahimzadeh, Shadi; Modirian, Mitra; Khosravi, Ardeshir; Etemad, Kourosh; Jamshidi, Hamid Reza; Farzadfar, Fashad

2014-12-01

Estimating the burden of diseases, injuries and major risk factors is necessary for adopting appropriate health policies in every country, and this paper aims to explain the study protocol of national and sub-national burden of breast cancer in Iran from 1990 to 2013. We will perform a systematic review of the confirmed databases and literature to gather data on breast cancer epidemiology in Iran. The definitions, data sources, organizing the team, methods of data gathering and data generating will be explained in this paper. The methodology of estimating the trend of prevalence, years of life lost due to premature death (YLLs), years of life lost due to disability (YLDs) and disability-adjusted life years lost (DALYs) of breast cancer by age groups, provinces and probable inequalities will be explained. We will tackle possible data problems due to the lack of data points on provinces and years and also geographical misalignment by using two advanced statistical methods, namely Bayesian autoregressive multilevel and Spatio-temporal models. Trend estimation will be reported using these two models together with uncertainty intervals. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of breast cancer and its specific pattern in Iran. The results will help policy makers to know the trend of prevalence, the distribution, and the inequalities of breast cancer in Iran to allocate resources in a better way.

Estimating investment worthiness of an ergonomic intervention for preventing low back pain from a firm's perspective.

PubMed

Hughes, Richard E; Nelson, Nancy A

2009-05-01

A mathematical model was developed for estimating the net present value (NPV) of the cash flow resulting from an investment in an intervention to prevent occupational low back pain (LBP). It combines biomechanics, epidemiology, and finance to give an integrated tool for a firm to use to estimate the investment worthiness of an intervention based on a biomechanical analysis of working postures and hand loads. The model can be used by an ergonomist to estimate the investment worthiness of a proposed intervention. The analysis would begin with a biomechanical evaluation of the current job design and post-intervention job. Economic factors such as hourly labor cost, overhead, workers' compensation costs of LBP claims, and discount rate are combined with the biomechanical analysis to estimate the investment worthiness of the proposed intervention. While this model is limited to low back pain, the simulation framework could be applied to other musculoskeletal disorders. The model uses Monte Carlo simulation to compute the statistical distribution of NPV, and it uses a discrete event simulation paradigm based on four states: (1) working and no history of lost time due to LBP, (2) working and history of lost time due to LBP, (3) lost time due to LBP, and (4) leave job. Probabilities of transitions are based on an extensive review of the epidemiologic review of the low back pain literature. An example is presented.

Impact of Lead Time and Safety Factor in Mixed Inventory Models with Backorder Discounts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, Ming-Cheng; Chao-Hsien Pan, Jason; Lin, Kai-Cing; Hsu, Jia-Wei

This study investigates the impact of safety factor on the continuous review inventory model involving controllable lead time with mixture of backorder discount and partial lost sales. The objective is to minimize the expected total annual cost with respect to order quantity, backorder price discount, safety factor and lead time. A model with normal demand is also discussed. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the procedures of the algorithms and the effects of parameters on the result of the proposed models are analyzed.

Road traffic accidents: Global Burden of Disease study, Brazil and federated units, 1990 and 2015.

PubMed

Ladeira, Roberto Marini; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Morais, Otaliba Libânio de; Montenegro, Marli de Mesquita Silva; Soares, Adauto Martins; Vasconcelos, Cíntia Honório; Mooney, Meghan; Naghavi, Mohsen

2017-05-01

To describe the global burden of disease due to road traffic accidents in Brazil and federated units in 1990 and 2015. This is an analysis of secondary data from the 2015 Global Burden of Disease study estimates. The following estimates were used: standardized mortality rates and years of life lost by death or disability, potential years of life lost due to premature death, and years of unhealthy living conditions. The Mortality Information System was the main source of death data. Underreporting and redistribution of ill-defined causes and nonspecific codes were corrected. Around 52,326 deaths due to road traffic accidents were estimated in Brazil in 2015. From 1990 to 2015, mortality rates decreased from 36.9 to 24.8/100 thousand people, a reduction of 32.8%. Tocantins and Piauí have the highest mortality risks among the federated units (FU), with 41.7/100 and 33.1/100 thousand people, respectively. They both present the highest rates of potential years of life lost due to premature deaths. Road traffic accidents are a public health problem. Using death- or disability-adjusted life years in studies of these causes is important because there are still no sources to know the magnitude of sequelae, as well as the weight of early deaths. Since its data are updated every year, the Global Burden of Disease study may provide evidence to formulate traffic security and health attention policies, which are guided to the needs of the federated units and of different groups of traffic users.

Constraints on continental crustal mass loss via chemical weathering using lithium and its isotopes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xiao-Ming; Rudnick, Roberta L.

2011-01-01

Chemical weathering, as well as physical erosion, changes the composition and shapes the surface of the continental crust. However, the amount of continental material that has been lost over Earth’s history due to chemical weathering is poorly constrained. Using a mass balance model for lithium inputs and outputs from the continental crust, we find that the mass of continental crust that has been lost due to chemical weathering is at least 15% of the original mass of the juvenile continental crust, and may be as high as 60%, with a best estimate of approximately 45%. Our results suggest that chemical weathering and subsequent subduction of soluble elements have major impacts on both the mass and the compositional evolution of the continental crust. PMID:22184221

Tuberculosis prevalence in forensic autopsies.

PubMed

Ozsoy, Sait; Demirel, Birol; Albay, Ali; Kisa, Ozgul; Dinc, Ahmet H; Safali, Mukerrem

2010-03-01

According to the 2008 World Health Organization report, in 2006, 9.2 million new cases were determined, and 1.7 million people have lost their life due to tuberculosis (TB) in all around the world. In our country (Turkey), it is estimated that 35,000 to 40,000 people have TB disease annually. The Ministry of Health could just determine 18,500 of these cases, and only 6500 patient could be treated effectively. According to the Tuberculosis Dispensary records, the incidence for TB in Turkey is 28/100,000. It is aimed to determine the infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis using acidoresistant bacilli microscopy, TB culture, and histopathological methods in tissue samples that were obtained from lungs of forensic cases whose autopsies had been performed in Council of Forensic Medicine Ankara Department Morgue Specialized Committee. A total of 3 tissue samples that were obtained from lungs of randomized 302 cases, were positive for TB in Löwenstein-Jensen medium. Granuloma with caseating necrosis was found in histopathological examination and acidoresistant (+) bacilli (1+, 2+, and 2+, respectively) in microscopically analysis were also demonstrated in this 3 tissue samples. For this reason, we think that autopsy workers have to be careful about tuberculosis during their autopsy working.

Musculoskeletal trauma services in Uganda.

PubMed

Naddumba, E K

2008-10-01

Approximately 2000 lives are lost in Uganda annually through road traffic accidents. In Kampala, they account for 39% of all injuries, primarily in males aged 16-44 years. They are a result of rapid motorization and urbanization in a country with a poor economy. Uganda's population is an estimated 28 million with a growth rate of 3.4% per year. Motorcycles and omnibuses, the main taxi vehicles, are the primary contributors to the accidents. Poor roads and drivers compound the situation. Twenty-three orthopaedic surgeons (one for every 1,300,000 people) provide specialist services that are available only at three regional hospitals and the National Referral Hospital in Kampala. The majority of musculoskeletal injuries are managed nonoperatively by 200 orthopaedic officers distributed at the district, regional and national referral hospitals. Because of the poor economy, 9% of the national budget is allocated to the health sector. Patients with musculoskeletal injuries in Uganda frequently fail to receive immediate care due to inadequate resources and most are treated by traditional bonesetters. Neglected injuries typically result in poor outcomes. Possible solutions include a public health approach for prevention of road traffic injuries, training of adequate human resources, and infrastructure development.

Landsat monitoring of albedo changes in northwestern Arizona, 1977-1980

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robinove, Charles Joseph

1982-01-01

As part of a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management, changes in albedo (percentage of light reflected from the ground) were calculated and mapped from Landsat images for an area in northwestern Arizona for three periods: August 26, 1977, to September 3, 1979; September 3, 1979, to August 28, 1980; and August 26, 1977, to August 28, 1980. The mapped albedo changes were field checked in April 1981. Decreases in albedo were associated with increases in vegetation, primarily the flush of annual vegetation and the regrowth of vegetation in chained areas and sites of past fires. Increases in albedo were due to recent fires. Continuous monitoring of changes in albedo using current, rather than historical, Landsat images can provide the Bureau of Land Management with a means of monitoring vegetation growth, determining areas of high fire potential, and more efficiently deploying of field personnel to sites where severe changes are occuring in the quality of the land and vegetation resources. For example, an albedo change could be an indication of encroachment by an invader species. Similarly, it could indicate where rangeland is being lost to desertification.

Economic burden of neurocysticercosis: results from Peru.

PubMed

Rajkotia, Yogesh; Lescano, Andres G; Gilman, Robert H; Cornejo, Christian; Garcia, Hector H

2007-08-01

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a major cause of neurological morbidity in the developing world. This study aimed to assess the treatment costs and productivity losses associated with NCC in Peru. NCC patients were identified through retrospective chart analysis. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were interviewed in order to obtain data on symptom history, treatment costs, productivity losses and health service utilisation patterns. These data were modelled to determine average treatment costs and productivity losses over 2 years. Our findings show that treatment costs and productivity losses consume 54% of an annual minimum wage salary during the first year of treatment and 16% during the second year. Diagnosis (36%) and drug therapy (27%) represent the most expensive healthcare-related costs. These costs are prohibitive for some-8% of our study sample had no diagnostic tests during their first 6 months of disease, and two-thirds of those who delayed treatment reportedly did so due to their inability to pay. Two-thirds of wage-earners lost their jobs owing to NCC and only 61% were able to re-engage in wage-earning activities. This study highlights the need to expand financial coverage to ensure the poor have access to health services and do not become further impoverished.

Evaluation of a Digital Behavioral Counseling Program for Reducing Risk Factors for Chronic Disease in a Workforce

PubMed Central

Wilson, Mark G.; Castro Sweet, Cynthia M.; Edge, Michael D.; Madero, Erica N.; McGuire, Megan; Pilsmaker, Megan; Carpenter, Dan; Kirschner, Scott

2017-01-01

Objective: To evaluate a digitally delivered, intensive behavioral counseling program for a workforce at risk for obesity-related chronic disease. Methods: Employees were offered a digital health program modeled after the diabetes prevention program (DPP). Annual workforce health assessments were used to examine changes in chronic disease risk factors between participants (n = 634) relative to a matched comparison group (n = 1268). Results: Overall, employees were gaining an average of 3.5 pounds annually before program inception. Program engagement was positive; 83% completed the majority of the curriculum and 31% lost at least 5% of their starting weight. Compared with non-participating peers, participants demonstrated reduced weight, improved fasting blood glucose, and improved nutritional intake after a year. Conclusions: The digital health program was effective for engaging employees in health behavior change. Digital options facilitate widespread implementation. PMID:28650899

Water resources inventory of Connecticut Part 1: Quinebaug River basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Randall, Allan D.; Thomas, Mendall P.; Thomas, Chester E.; Baker, John A.

1966-01-01

The Quinebaug River basin is blessed with a relatively abundant supply of water of generally good quality which is derived from precipitation that has fallen on the basin. Annual precipitation has ranged from about 30 to 67 inches and has averaged about 45 inches over a 44-year period. Approximately 21 inches of water are returned to the atmosphere each year by evaporation and transpiration; the remainder of the annual precipitation either flows overland to streams or percolates downward to the water table and ultimately flows out of the basin in the Quinebaug River. During the autumn and winter months precipitation normally is sufficient to cause a substantial increase in the amount of water stored underground and in surface reservoirs within the basin, whereas in the summer most of the precipitation is lost through evaporation and transpiration, resulting in sharply reduced streamflow and lowered ground-water levels.

Glacierized headwater streams as aquifer recharge corridors, subarctic Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lilledahl, Anna K.; Gadeke, Anne; O'Neel, Shad; Gatesman, T. A.; Douglas, T. A.

2017-01-01

Arctic river discharge has increased in recent decades although sources and mechanisms remain debated. Abundant literature documents permafrost thaw and mountain glacier shrinkage over the past decades. Here we link glacier runoff to aquifer recharge via a losing headwater stream in subarctic Interior Alaska. Field measurements in Jarvis Creek (634 km2), a subbasin of the Tanana and Yukon Rivers, show glacier meltwater runoff as a large component (15–28%) of total annual streamflow despite low glacier cover (3%). About half of annual headwater streamflow is lost to the aquifer (38 to 56%). The estimated long-term change in glacier-derived aquifer recharge exceeds the observed increase in Tanana River base flow. Our findings suggest a linkage between glacier wastage, aquifer recharge along the headwater stream corridor, and lowland winter discharge. Accordingly, glacierized headwater streambeds may serve as major aquifer recharge zones in semiarid climates and therefore contributing to year-round base flow of lowland rivers.

Incidence and burden of earaches due to recreational swimming: Results from a nationwide study ofover 50,000 respondents

EPA Science Inventory

Background: Earaches and ear pain due to outer ear infections (otitis externa) are common following swimming and can result in time lost from work and school and visits to the physician or hospital. Objectives: Determine the proportion of self-reported earache attributable to ma...

77 FR 4547 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-30

..., electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology... Payments for Federal Property. Local Educational Agencies that have lost taxable property due to Federal...

Impact of obesity and knee osteoarthritis on morbidity and mortality in older Americans.

PubMed

Losina, Elena; Walensky, Rochelle P; Reichmann, William M; Holt, Holly L; Gerlovin, Hanna; Solomon, Daniel H; Jordan, Joanne M; Hunter, David J; Suter, Lisa G; Weinstein, Alexander M; Paltiel, A David; Katz, Jeffrey N

2011-02-15

Obesity and knee osteoarthritis are among the most frequent chronic conditions affecting Americans aged 50 to 84 years. To estimate quality-adjusted life-years lost due to obesity and knee osteoarthritis and health benefits of reducing obesity prevalence to levels observed a decade ago. The U.S. Census and obesity data from national data sources were combined with estimated prevalence of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis to assign persons aged 50 to 84 years to 4 subpopulations: nonobese without knee osteoarthritis (reference group), nonobese with knee osteoarthritis, obese without knee osteoarthritis, and obese with knee osteoarthritis. The Osteoarthritis Policy Model, a computer simulation model of knee osteoarthritis and obesity, was used to estimate quality-adjusted life-year losses due to knee osteoarthritis and obesity in comparison with the reference group. United States. U.S. population aged 50 to 84 years. Quality-adjusted life-years lost owing to knee osteoarthritis and obesity. Estimated total losses of per-person quality-adjusted life-years ranged from 1.857 in nonobese persons with knee osteoarthritis to 3.501 for persons affected by both conditions, resulting in a total of 86.0 million quality-adjusted life-years lost due to obesity, knee osteoarthritis, or both. Quality-adjusted life-years lost due to knee osteoarthritis and/or obesity represent 10% to 25% of the remaining quality-adjusted survival of persons aged 50 to 84 years. Hispanic and black women had disproportionately high losses. Model findings suggested that reversing obesity prevalence to levels seen 10 years ago would avert 178,071 cases of coronary heart disease, 889,872 cases of diabetes, and 111,206 total knee replacements. Such a reduction in obesity would increase the quantity of life by 6,318,030 years and improve life expectancy by 7,812,120 quality-adjusted years in U.S. adults aged 50 to 84 years. Comorbidity incidences were derived from prevalence estimates on the basis of life expectancy of the general population, potentially resulting in conservative underestimates. Calibration analyses were conducted to ensure comparability of model-based projections and data from external sources. The number of quality-adjusted life-years lost owing to knee osteoarthritis and obesity seems to be substantial, with black and Hispanic women experiencing disproportionate losses. Reducing mean body mass index to the levels observed a decade ago in this population would yield substantial health benefits. The National Institutes of Health and the Arthritis Foundation.

Sojourner's First Images From Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

These images are views of the Mars Pathfinder Lander's forward ramp before (top image) and after (bottom image) deployment. Some data from the before image was lost due to rover-lander communication problems.

Forecasting the future of stroke in the United States: a policy statement from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.

PubMed

Ovbiagele, Bruce; Goldstein, Larry B; Higashida, Randall T; Howard, Virginia J; Johnston, S Claiborne; Khavjou, Olga A; Lackland, Daniel T; Lichtman, Judith H; Mohl, Stephanie; Sacco, Ralph L; Saver, Jeffrey L; Trogdon, Justin G

2013-08-01

Stroke is a leading cause of disability, cognitive impairment, and death in the United States and accounts for 1.7% of national health expenditures. Because the population is aging and the risk of stroke more than doubles for each successive decade after the age of 55 years, these costs are anticipated to rise dramatically. The objective of this report was to project future annual costs of care for stroke from 2012 to 2030 and discuss potential cost reduction strategies. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association developed methodology to project the future costs of stroke-related care. Estimates excluded costs associated with other cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure). By 2030, 3.88% of the US population>18 years of age is projected to have had a stroke. Between 2012 and 2030, real (2010$) total direct annual stroke-related medical costs are expected to increase from $71.55 billion to $183.13 billion. Real indirect annual costs (attributable to lost productivity) are projected to rise from $33.65 billion to $56.54 billion over the same period. Overall, total annual costs of stroke are projected to increase to $240.67 billion by 2030, an increase of 129%. These projections suggest that the annual costs of stroke will increase substantially over the next 2 decades. Greater emphasis on implementing effective preventive, acute care, and rehabilitative services will have both medical and societal benefits.

Coral population dynamics across consecutive mass mortality events.

PubMed

Riegl, Bernhard; Purkis, Sam

2015-11-01

Annual coral mortality events due to increased atmospheric heat may occur regularly from the middle of the century and are considered apocalyptic for coral reefs. In the Arabian/Persian Gulf, this situation has already occurred and population dynamics of four widespread corals (Acropora downingi, Porites harrisoni, Dipsastrea pallida, Cyphastrea micropthalma) were examined across the first-ever occurrence of four back-to-back mass mortality events (2009-2012). Mortality was driven by diseases in 2009, bleaching and subsequent diseases in 2010/2011/2012. 2009 reduced P. harrisoni cover and size, the other events increasingly reduced overall cover (2009: -10%; 2010: -20%; 2011: -20%; 2012: -15%) and affected all examined species. Regeneration was only observed after the first disturbance. P. harrisoni and A. downingi severely declined from 2010 due to bleaching and subsequent white syndromes, while D. pallida and P. daedalea declined from 2011 due to bleaching and black-band disease. C. microphthalma cover was not affected. In all species, most large corals were lost while fission due to partial tissue mortality bolstered small size classes. This general shrinkage led to a decrease of coral cover and a dramatic reduction of fecundity. Transition matrices for disturbed and undisturbed conditions were evaluated as Life Table Response Experiment and showed that C. microphthalma changed the least in size-class dynamics and fecundity, suggesting they were 'winners'. In an ordered 'degradation cascade', impacts decreased from the most common to the least common species, leading to step-wise removal of previously dominant species. A potentially permanent shift from high- to low-coral cover with different coral community and size structure can be expected due to the demographic dynamics resultant from the disturbances. Similarities to degradation of other Caribbean and Pacific reefs are discussed. As comparable environmental conditions and mortality patterns must be expected worldwide, demographic collapse of many other coral populations may soon be widespread. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Recharge studies on the High Plains in northern Lea County, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Havens, John S.

1966-01-01

The area described in this report is that part of the southern High Plains principally within northern Lea County, N. Mex. ; it comprises about 1,400,000 acres. Hydrologic boundaries isolate the main aquifer of the area, the Ogallala Formation, from outside sources of natural recharge other than precipitation on the area. Natural recharge to this aquifer from the 15-inch average annual precipitation for the period 1949-60 is estimated to be about 95,000 acre-ft (acre-feet) which is between the 59,000 and 118,000 acre-ft a year obtained from the This estimate (1934) of ? to 1 inch a year. About one-sixth of the water pumped for irrigation, or an average of about 23,000 acre-ft a year in the period 1949-60, returns to the aquifer. The estimated long-term (1939-60) average annual recharge to the aquifer is about 77,000 acre-ft. Discharge from the aquifer is by pumping and underflow from the area. Gross pumpage averaged about 151,000 acre-ft a year in the period 1949-60. Underflow from the area is estimated to have been about 36,000 acre-ft a year. Thus, the estimated average annual discharge from the aquifer was about 187,000 acre-ft a year, and this exceeded recharge by about 69,000 acre-ft a year. This overdraft is reflected in a general net decline of the water table of 10 ft in the period 1950-60 and net declines of as much as 30 feet in local areas. Data obtained during this study indicate that about 100,000 acre-ft of water collects in closed depressions on the surface of the High Plains in years when precipitation is normal. Studies of water losses from ponds in selected depressions indicate that between 20 and 80 percent of this loss recharges the groundwater body and the balance is lost to evapotranspiration, principally evaporation. Artificial recharge facilities constructed in the depressions could put at least 50,000 acre-ft of water underground annually that otherwise would be lost to evaporation. Recharging through pits or spreading ponds would cost less per unit volume of water than recharge through wells.

Cost of dengue cases in eight countries in the Americas and Asia: a prospective study.

PubMed

Suaya, Jose A; Shepard, Donald S; Siqueira, João B; Martelli, Celina T; Lum, Lucy C S; Tan, Lian Huat; Kongsin, Sukhontha; Jiamton, Sukhum; Garrido, Fàtima; Montoya, Romeo; Armien, Blas; Huy, Rekol; Castillo, Leticia; Caram, Mariana; Sah, Binod K; Sughayyar, Rana; Tyo, Karen R; Halstead, Scott B

2009-05-01

Despite the growing worldwide burden of dengue fever, the global economic impact of dengue illness is poorly documented. Using a common protocol, we present the first multicountry estimates of the direct and indirect costs of dengue cases in eight American and Asian countries. We conducted prospective studies of the cost of dengue in five countries in the Americas (Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Venezuela) and three countries in Asia (Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand). All studies followed the same core protocol with interviews and medical record reviews. The study populations were patients treated in ambulatory and hospital settings with a clinical diagnosis of dengue. Most studies were performed in 2005. Costs are in 2005 international dollars (I$). We studied 1,695 patients (48% pediatric and 52% adult); none died. The average illness lasted 11.9 days for ambulatory patients and 11.0 days for hospitalized patients. Among hospitalized patients, students lost 5.6 days of school, whereas those working lost 9.9 work days per average dengue episode. Overall mean costs were I$514 and I$1,394 for an ambulatory and hospitalized case, respectively. With an annual average of 574,000 cases reported, the aggregate annual economic cost of dengue for the eight study countries is at least I$587 million. Preliminary adjustment for under-reporting could raise this total to $1.8 billion, and incorporating costs of dengue surveillance and vector control would raise the amount further. Dengue imposes substantial costs on both the health sector and the overall economy.

The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Kasturiratne, Anuradhani; Pathmeswaran, Arunasalam; Wickremasinghe, A Rajitha; Jayamanne, Shaluka F; Dawson, Andrew; Isbister, Geoff K; de Silva, Hithanadura Janaka; Lalloo, David G

2017-07-01

Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. Data from a representative nation-wide community based household survey were used to estimate the number of bites and deaths nationally, and household and out of pocket costs were derived from household questionnaires. Health system costs were obtained from hospital cost accounting systems and estimates of antivenom usage. DALYs lost to snakebite were estimated using standard approaches using disability weights for poisoning. 79% of victims suffered economic loss following a snakebite with a median out of pocket expenditure of $11.82 (IQR 2-28.57) and a median estimated loss of income of $28.57 and $33.21 for those in employment or self-employment, respectively. Family members also lost income to help care for patients. Estimated health system costs for Sri Lanka were $ 10,260,652 annually. The annual estimated total number of DALYS was 11,101 to 15,076 per year for envenoming following snakebite. Snakebite places a considerable economic burden on the households of victims in Sri Lanka, despite a health system which is accessible and free at the point of care. The disability burden is also considerable, similar to that of meningitis or dengue, although the relatively low case fatality rate and limited physical sequelae following bites by Sri Lankan snakes means that this burden may be less than in countries on the African continent.

Occupational illnesses within two national data sets.

PubMed

Leigh, J P; Miller, T R

1998-01-01

To describe occupational illness data in two large data sets, two national data sets were aggregated, and the numbers, percentages, and rates of cases of occupational illnesses were determined. Job-related illness data were from Bureau of Labor Statistics documents containing Annual Survey and Census of Fatal Occupational Injury data. A severity index was created to assess the overall burden of a disease. The index multiplies the number of cases times the median days lost. Circulatory disease accounted for 85% of the deaths in the Census and at least 80% in the Annual Survey. More fatal myocardial infarctions occurred on Monday than on any other day. Low-paying occupations had the most myocardial infarctions: operators, laborers, and truck drivers; high-paying occupations had the least: executives, administrators, and managers. Carpal tunnel syndrome and hearing loss accounted for more morbidity, measured by cases and days lost, than any other illness. Persons at great risk for carpal tunnel syndrome included dental hygienists, butchers, sewing machine operators, and dentists. Mental disorders generated more morbidity than is generally acknowledged. Neurotic reactions to stress were highest in the transportation and public utility industries, as well as in finance, insurance, and real estate. Manufacturing contributed far more cases than any other industry. Industries generating significant asbestos-related deaths included construction and boat building. Ninety-three percent of all illness fatalities were among men. Few African Americans died from coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. Illness cases increased much faster than injury cases in recent years. The two data sets provide insights into the incidences and prevalences of occupational illnesses, but underestimate the burden of job-related illnesses.

Complicated grief and bereavement in young adults following close friend and sibling loss.

PubMed

Herberman Mash, Holly B; Fullerton, Carol S; Ursano, Robert J

2013-12-01

This study examined the association between types of loss (i.e., sibling or close friend) and relationship quality (i.e., depth and conflict) with complicated grief, depression, somatic symptoms, and world assumptions in bereaved young adults. Participants were 107 young adults aged 17-29 years who were either bereaved or had never experienced a loss. Among bereaved participants, 66 lost a close friend and seven lost a sibling within the past 3 years (M = 1.63 years). Nineteen percent of the young adults met criteria for complicated grief and 31% had mild to severe depression. Participants with a deceased sibling reported greater depth in the relationship as compared to those who lost a friend. They were also more likely to have complicated grief (57% versus 15%) and report significantly higher levels of grief, depression, and somatic symptoms. Those who lost a sibling reported a lower sense of meaningfulness and benevolence of the world and self-worth as compared with those who lost a close friend or had not experienced a loss. Complicated grief and depression are common among bereaved young adults. Sibling loss is particularly distressing to young adults, due in part to the high level of relationship depth, and is associated with increased psychological and physical symptoms postloss. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Histologic and morphologic evaluation of explanted bone anchors from bone-anchored hearing aids.

PubMed

Mlynski, Robert; Goldberg, Eva; Ebmeyer, Joerg; Scheich, Matthias; Gattenlöhner, Stefan; Schwager, Konrad; Hagen, Rudolf; Shehata-Dieler, Wafaa

2009-05-01

Bone-anchored hearing aids are a standard option in rehabilitation of patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss, and also CROS fitting. However, the skin-penetrating bone anchor repeatedly gives reason for discussion about the risk of infection of surrounding tissues as a major cause of malfunction. In the present study, explanted bone anchors with surrounding bone and soft tissue were examined and compared with the morphology of lost implants. The anchors originated from five patients. Two needed explantation due to deafness with the need of cochlea implantation. A third patient underwent explantation due to meningeal irritation by the bone anchor. Another patient lost the implant due to mechanical stress shortly after implantation. The last implant was lost in a child without apparent reason. All implants were clinically free of infection and had been stable for a median implantation period of 12 months. During the explantation procedure, the fixtures were recovered together with the attached soft tissue and bone. The specimens were examined by light microscopy or scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Sectioning for light microscopy was performed with a diamond-coated saw microtome. Histopathologic examination of the surrounding skin and subcutaneous soft tissue showed slight inflammation in one case only. The bone was regularly vital, presenting no signs of inflammation. The threads of the fixtures were filled with bone, with particularly strong attachment to the flank of traction. The SEM investigation exposed the ultrastructural interaction of bone with the implant surface. Filiform- and podocyte-like processes of osteocytes attach to the implant; lost implants did not reflect these features. Implant integration involves both osseointegration as well as soft tissue integration. Titanium oxide as the active implant surface promotes this integration even in unstable implants. The morphologic analysis exposed structural areas of the implant with weak bone-to-metal contact. Optimized implant design with modified surface and threads may additionally improve osseointegration of hearing aid bone anchors.

Certifying Functional Literacy: Competency Testing and Implications for Due Process and Equal Educational Opportunity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Donald Marion

1979-01-01

Demonstrates the role the guarantee of due process can play in ensuring that vital interests in public education not be lost through erroneous assessments of a student's proficiency in basic skills, and describes the limits constitutional and statutory guarantees of equal educational opportunity place on the use of competency testing. (Author/IRT)

Behavioral and Environmental Analysis of Self-Reported Dysphonic and Non-Dysphonic High School Music Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Emily Pence

2016-01-01

Vocal fatigue and dysphonia are considered to be common hazards associated with occupational voice users. Teachers, due to the consistent communication demands of the profession, represent the highest percentage of clinical voice disorder patients (Verdolini & Ramig, 2001). Voice related injuries in teachers could result in lost wages due to…

BRAT Diet: Recovering from an Upset Stomach

MedlinePlus

... A special diet known as the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast) is an effective way ... and has lost due to vomiting and diarrhea. Bananas, for example, are high in the vitamin potassium. ...

Eyewitness Identification Reform: Data, Theory, and Due Process.

PubMed

Clark, Steven E

2012-05-01

Some commentators view my analyses (Clark, 2012, this issue) as an important step forward in assessing the costs and benefits of eyewitness identification reform. Others suggest that the trade-off between correct identifications lost and false identifications avoided is well-known; that the expected utility model is misspecified; and that the loss of correct identifications due to the use of reformed eyewitness identification procedures is irrelevant to policy decisions, as those correct identifications are the illegitimate product of suggestion and lucky guesses. Contrary to these criticisms, the loss of correct identifications has not been adequately considered in theoretical or policy matters, criticisms regarding the various utilities do not substantively change the nature of the trade-off, and the dismissal of lost correct identifications is based not on data but on an outdated theory of recognition memory. © The Author(s) 2012.

The cost of lost productivity due to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder-related premature mortality.

PubMed

Easton, Brian; Burd, Larry; Sarnocinska-Hart, Anna; Rehm, Jürgem; Popova, Svetlana

2015-01-01

Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have increased mortality as compared to the general population. To estimate the productivity losses due to premature mortality of individuals with FASD in Canada in 2011. A demographic approach with a counterfactual scenario in which nobody in Canada is born with FASD was used. Population estimates were calculated using data on the labour force, unemployment rate, and average weekly wage obtained from Statistics Canada. The number of FASD-related deaths, coded in the International Classification of Diseases, version 10, was estimated based on data from Statistics Canada and pooled prevalence estimates of the major disease conditions associated with FASD were obtained from a meta-analysis. The estimates of FASD-related mortality rates served as a basis for the length of working life span estimation. Once the number of working years lost to premature deaths was derived, productivity losses were computed. It was estimated that in total 327 individuals with FASD aged 20 to 69 (almost twice as many men as women) died in Canada in 2011. As a result, there were 2,877 years of potential employment lost, which translated to a loss ranging from $88 million to $126 million. This amount represents the increase in national income, had there been no premature mortality from FASD and the workers with FASD had been typical members of the labour force (without compromised productivity due to FASD). The estimates of productivity losses further reinforce the value of FASD prevention as a primary strategy.

Capture of exocomets and the erosion of the Oort cloud due to stellar encounters in the Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanse, J.; Jílková, L.; Portegies Zwart, S. F.; Pelupessy, F. I.

2018-02-01

The Oort cloud (OC) probably formed more than 4 Gyr ago and has been moving with the Sun in the Galaxy since, exposed to external influences, most prominently to the Galactic tide and passing field stars. Theories suggest that other stars might possess exocomets distributed similarly to our OC. We study the erosion of the OC and the possibility for capturing exocomets during the encounters with such field stars. We carry out simulations of flybys, where both stars are surrounded by a cloud of comets. We measure how many exocomets are transferred to the OC, how many OC's comets are lost, and how this depends on the other star's mass, velocity and impact parameter. Exocomets are transferred to the OC only during relatively slow (≲0.5 km s-1) and close (≲105 au) flybys and these are expected to be extremely rare. Assuming that all passing stars are surrounded by a cloud of exocomets, we derive that the fraction of exocomets in the OC has been about 10-5-10-4. Finally, we simulate the OC for the whole lifetime of the Sun, taking into account the encounters and the tidal effects. The OC has lost 25-65 per cent of its mass, mainly due to stellar encounters, and at most 10 per cent (and usually much less) of its mass can be captured. However, exocomets are often lost shortly after the encounter that delivers them, due to the Galactic tide and consecutive encounters.

Reducing Cancelations on the Day of Scheduled Surgery at a Children's Hospital.

PubMed

Pratap, Jayant Nick; Varughese, Anna M; Mercurio, Patti; Lynch, Terri; Lonnemann, Teresa; Ellis, Andrea; Rugg, John; Stone, W Ray; Bedinghaus, Cindi

2015-05-01

Cancelation on the day of surgery (DoSC) represents a costly wastage of operating room (OR) time and causes inconvenience, emotional distress, and financial cost to families. A quality improvement project sought to reduce lost OR time due to cancelation. Key drivers of the process included effective 2-way communication with families, compliance with fasting rules, and decision-making on patient illness before the day of surgery. A multidisciplinary team conducted serial tests of change addressing the various key drivers. Interventions were simplified, colorful, personalized preoperative instruction sheets and text-message reminders to caregivers' cellphones, as well as a defined institutional decision-making pathway to permit rescheduling before the day of surgery in case of patient illness concerns. After initial smaller-scale testing, the interventions were implemented across all patients and sites. Data were collected from the hospital information technology system and analyzed by using control charts and statistical process control methods. Mean OR time lost due to DoSC was decreased from a baseline of 5.7 to 3.6 hours/day in testing with a subset of surgical services at the hospital's base campus, and then from 6.6 hours to 5.5 hours/day when implemented across all services at both surgical sites. By applying quality improvement methods, significant reductions were made in time lost due to DoSC. The impact can be significant by improving institutional resource utilization. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Effects of fire frequency on litter decomposition as mediated by changes to litter chemistry and soil environmental conditions.

PubMed

Ficken, Cari D; Wright, Justin P

2017-01-01

Litter quality and soil environmental conditions are well-studied drivers influencing decomposition rates, but the role played by disturbance legacy, such as fire history, in mediating these drivers is not well understood. Fire history may impact decomposition directly, through changes in soil conditions that impact microbial function, or indirectly, through shifts in plant community composition and litter chemistry. Here, we compared early-stage decomposition rates across longleaf pine forest blocks managed with varying fire frequencies (annual burns, triennial burns, fire-suppression). Using a reciprocal transplant design, we examined how litter chemistry and soil characteristics independently and jointly influenced litter decomposition. We found that both litter chemistry and soil environmental conditions influenced decomposition rates, but only the former was affected by historical fire frequency. Litter from annually burned sites had higher nitrogen content than litter from triennially burned and fire suppression sites, but this was correlated with only a modest increase in decomposition rates. Soil environmental conditions had a larger impact on decomposition than litter chemistry. Across the landscape, decomposition differed more along soil moisture gradients than across fire management regimes. These findings suggest that fire frequency has a limited effect on litter decomposition in this ecosystem, and encourage extending current decomposition frameworks into disturbed systems. However, litter from different species lost different masses due to fire, suggesting that fire may impact decomposition through the preferential combustion of some litter types. Overall, our findings also emphasize the important role of spatial variability in soil environmental conditions, which may be tied to fire frequency across large spatial scales, in driving decomposition rates in this system.

Effects of fire frequency on litter decomposition as mediated by changes to litter chemistry and soil environmental conditions

PubMed Central

Wright, Justin P.

2017-01-01

Litter quality and soil environmental conditions are well-studied drivers influencing decomposition rates, but the role played by disturbance legacy, such as fire history, in mediating these drivers is not well understood. Fire history may impact decomposition directly, through changes in soil conditions that impact microbial function, or indirectly, through shifts in plant community composition and litter chemistry. Here, we compared early-stage decomposition rates across longleaf pine forest blocks managed with varying fire frequencies (annual burns, triennial burns, fire-suppression). Using a reciprocal transplant design, we examined how litter chemistry and soil characteristics independently and jointly influenced litter decomposition. We found that both litter chemistry and soil environmental conditions influenced decomposition rates, but only the former was affected by historical fire frequency. Litter from annually burned sites had higher nitrogen content than litter from triennially burned and fire suppression sites, but this was correlated with only a modest increase in decomposition rates. Soil environmental conditions had a larger impact on decomposition than litter chemistry. Across the landscape, decomposition differed more along soil moisture gradients than across fire management regimes. These findings suggest that fire frequency has a limited effect on litter decomposition in this ecosystem, and encourage extending current decomposition frameworks into disturbed systems. However, litter from different species lost different masses due to fire, suggesting that fire may impact decomposition through the preferential combustion of some litter types. Overall, our findings also emphasize the important role of spatial variability in soil environmental conditions, which may be tied to fire frequency across large spatial scales, in driving decomposition rates in this system. PMID:29023560

Public health and chronic low chlordecone exposures in Guadeloupe; Part 2: Health impacts, and benefits of prevention.

PubMed

Nedellec, Vincent; Rabl, Ari; Dab, William

2016-07-19

Inhabitants of Guadeloupe are chronically exposed to low doses of chlordecone via local food due to its past use in banana plantations. The corresponding health impacts have not been quantified. We develop a quantitative method and present the results in two articles: 1. Hazard identification, exposure-response functions, and exposure, 2. Health impacts, and benefits of a program to reduce the exposure of the population. Here is the second article. The exposure-response functions derived in Part 1 (for liver and prostate cancer, renal dysfunction and cognitive development) are combined with the exposure data to calculate the impacts. The corresponding costs are calculated via DALY's and VOLY. A no-effect threshold is included via the marginal fraction of the collective exposure above the reference dose. The health benefits are the impacts in 2002 (before the exposure reduction program) minus the impacts in 2006 (since the program). They are compared to the costs, namely the public annual expenditures for reducing the population exposure. Without threshold, estimated annual cases of liver cancer, prostate cancer and renal dysfunction are respectively 5.4, 2.8, 0.10 in 2002; and 2.0, 1.0, 0.04 in 2006. Annual IQ points lost (cognitive development) are respectively: 1 173 and 1 003. The annual cost of total impacts is 38.3 Million Euros (M€) in 2002 and 23.7 M€ in 2006. Comparing the benefit of 14.6 M€ with the 3.25 M€ spent for prevention, the program appears well justified. With threshold, the costs of the impacts are lower, respectively: 26.5 M€ in 2002 and 12.8 M€ in 2006, but the benefit is not very different: 13.7 M€. This is the first study that quantified chronic non genotoxic effects of chlordecone exposures in Guadeloupe. According to our results, preventive actions should be focused on pregnant women because of the high social cost of development impairment and also because their exposures decreased less rapidly than others. Prevention effort should be sustained as long as chlordecone remains in soils. Additional toxicological and epidemiological research would also be required for health endpoints that could not be taken into account (neurotoxicity of adults, autoimmune diseases and other developmental effects).

A predictive scoring instrument for tuberculosis lost to follow-up outcome

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment is troublesome, due to long therapy duration, quick therapeutic response which allows the patient to disregard about the rest of their treatment and the lack of motivation on behalf of the patient for improved. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a scoring system to predict the probability of lost to follow-up outcome in TB patients as a way to identify patients suitable for directly observed treatments (DOT) and other interventions to improve adherence. Methods Two prospective cohorts, were used to develop and validate a logistic regression model. A scoring system was constructed, based on the coefficients of factors associated with a lost to follow-up outcome. The probability of lost to follow-up outcome associated with each score was calculated. Predictions in both cohorts were tested using receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC). Results The best model to predict lost to follow-up outcome included the following characteristics: immigration (1 point value), living alone (1 point) or in an institution (2 points), previous anti-TB treatment (2 points), poor patient understanding (2 points), intravenous drugs use (IDU) (4 points) or unknown IDU status (1 point). Scores of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 points were associated with a lost to follow-up probability of 2,2% 5,4% 9,9%, 16,4%, 15%, and 28%, respectively. The ROC curve for the validation group demonstrated a good fit (AUC: 0,67 [95% CI; 0,65-0,70]). Conclusion This model has a good capacity to predict a lost to follow-up outcome. Its use could help TB Programs to determine which patients are good candidates for DOT and other strategies to improve TB treatment adherence. PMID:22938040

The quality-of-life burden of knee osteoarthritis in New Zealand adults: A model-based evaluation.

PubMed

Abbott, J Haxby; Usiskin, Ilana M; Wilson, Ross; Hansen, Paul; Losina, Elena

2017-01-01

Knee osteoarthritis is a leading global cause of health-related quality of life loss. The aim of this project was to quantify health losses arising from knee osteoarthritis in New Zealand (NZ) in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost. The Osteoarthritis Policy Model (OAPol), a validated Monte Carlo computer simulation model, was used to estimate QALYs lost due to knee osteoarthritis in the NZ adult population aged 40-84 over their lifetimes from the base year of 2006 until death. Data were from the NZ Health Survey, NZ Burden of Diseases, NZ Census, and relevant literature. QALYs were derived from NZ EQ-5D value set 2. Sensitivity to health state valuation, disease and pain prevalence were assessed in secondary analyses. Based on NZ EQ-5D health state valuations, mean health losses due to knee osteoarthritis over people's lifetimes in NZ are 3.44 QALYs per person, corresponding to 467,240 QALYs across the adult population. Average estimated per person QALY losses are higher for non-Māori females (3.55) than Māori females (3.38), and higher for non-Māori males (3.34) than Māori males (2.60). The proportion of QALYs lost out of the total quality-adjusted life expectancy for those without knee osteoarthritis is similar across all subgroups, ranging from 20 to 23 percent. At both the individual and population levels, knee osteoarthritis is responsible for large lifetime QALY losses. QALY losses are higher for females than males due to greater prevalence of knee osteoarthritis and higher life expectancy, and lower for Māori than non-Māori due to lower life expectancy. Large health gains are potentially realisable from public health and policy measures aimed at decreasing incidence, progression, pain, and disability of osteoarthritis.

[Colorectal cancer in Spain: Temporary disability and preventive occupational strategies].

PubMed

Vicente-Herrero, M T; Terradillos-García, M J; Ramírez-Iñiguez-de la Torre, M V; Capdevila-García, L M; López-González, A A

2013-01-01

Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in both sexes and the most frequent in the developed countries, if men and women are considered together as a group. It has an important associated morbidity and mortality in all countries and constitutes a public health problem with a high direct and indirect economic cost. The number of workdays lost due to temporary disability (TD) is one of the quantifiable references of these indirect costs. To determine the indirect cost associated with TD due to colorectal cancer in Spain during the year 2011, a cost that aids in the prevention cost/benefit estimation. The number of TD processes, the number of workdays lost due to TD, and the mean duration of those processes, based on the CIE 9-MC codes related to this pathology, as well as the calculated cost, using the Spanish minimum wage as a reference, during the period of January to December 2011, were all reviewed. Colorectal cancer in Spain during 2011 represented 1,046 TD processes, 202,784 workdays lost, and a mean process duration of 194 days/year. The resulting cost of the pathology due to TD was 4,335,521.92 euros. These results are beneficial for evaluating the usefulness of implementing public health support strategies for a greater reduction in colorectal cancer prevalence and mortality, and an improvement in quality of life of the affected individuals and their families, together with an economic savings resulting from a reduction in TD as a consequence of this disease. Copyright © 2012 Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

The burden of premature mortality in Spain using standard expected years of life lost: a population-based study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Measures of premature mortality have been used to guide debates on future health priorities and to monitor the population health status. Standard expected years of life lost (SEYLL) is one of the methods used to assess the time lost due to premature death. This article affords an overview of premature mortality in Spain for the year 2008. Methods A population-based study was conducted estimating SEYLL by sex and age groups. SEYLL, a key component of the disability-adjusted life years measure of disease burden, was calculated using Princeton West standard life tables with life expectancy at birth fixed at 80 years for males and 82.5 years for females. Population data and specific death records were obtained from the official registers of the National Institute of Statistics. All data were analysed and prepared in GesMor and Epidat software packages. Results The burden of premature mortality was estimated at 2.1 million SEYLL when age at death is taken into account. Males lost 60.9% and females lost 39.1% of total SEYLL. Malignant tumors (34.5%) and cardiovascular diseases (24.0%) were the leading categories in terms of SEYLL. Ischaemic heart disease (8.5%) and lung cancers (8.0%) were the most common specific causes of SEYLL followed by cerebrovascular diseases (5.9%), colorectal cancer (4.1%), road traffic accidents (3.5%), Alzheimer and other dementias (2.9%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2.8%), breast cancer (2.8%) and suicides (2.6%). Conclusions In Spain, premature mortality was essentially due to chronic non-communicable diseases. Data provided in this study are relevant for a more balanced health agenda aimed at reducing the burden of premature mortality. This study also represents a first step in estimating the overall burden of disease in terms of premature death and disability. PMID:21989453

Waterborne outbreak of gastroenteritis: effects on sick leaves and cost of lost workdays.

PubMed

Halonen, Jaana I; Kivimäki, Mika; Oksanen, Tuula; Virtanen, Pekka; Virtanen, Mikko J; Pentti, Jaana; Vahtera, Jussi

2012-01-01

In 2007, part of a drinking water distribution system was accidentally contaminated with waste water effluent causing a gastroenteritis outbreak in a Finnish town. We examined the acute and cumulative effects of this incidence on sick leaves among public sector employees residing in the clean and contaminated areas, and the additional costs of lost workdays due to the incidence. Daily information on sick leaves of 1789 Finnish Public Sector Study participants was obtained from employers' registers. Global Positioning System-coordinates were used for linking participants to the clean and contaminated areas. Prevalence ratios (PR) for weekly sickness absences were calculated using binomial regression analysis. Calculations for the costs were based on prior studies. Among those living in the contaminated areas, the prevalence of participants on sick leave was 3.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.97-4.22) times higher on the week following the incidence compared to the reference period. Those living and working in the clean area were basically not affected, the corresponding PR for sick leaves was 1.12, 95% CI 0.73-1.73. No cumulative effects on sick leaves were observed among the exposed. The estimated additional costs of lost workdays due to the incidence were 1.8-2.1 million euros. The prevalence of sickness absences among public sector employees residing in affected areas increased shortly after drinking water distribution system was contaminated, but no long-term effects were observed. The estimated costs of lost workdays were remarkable, thus, the cost-benefits of better monitoring systems for the water distribution systems should be evaluated.

The Air Quality and Economic Impact of Atmospheric Lead from General Aviation Aircraft in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfe, P. J.; Selin, N. E.; Barrett, S. R. H.

2015-12-01

While leaded fuels for automobiles were phased-out of use in the United States by 1996, lead (Pb) continues to be used as an anti-knock additive for piston-driven aircraft. We model the annual concentration of atmospheric lead attributable to piston driven aircraft emissions in the continental United States using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Using aircraft emissions inventories for 2008, we then calculate annual economic damages from lead as lifetime employment losses for a one-year cohort exposed to elevated atmospheric lead concentrations using a range of concentration response functions from literature. Mean and median estimates of annual damages attributable to lifetime lost earnings are 1.06 and 0.60 billion respectively. Economy-wide impacts of IQ-deficits on productivity and labor increase expected damages by 54%. Damages are sensitive to background lead concentrations; as emissions decrease from other sources, the damages attributable to aviation are expected to increase holding aviation emissions constant. The monetary impact of General Aviation lead emissions on the environment is the same order of magnitude as noise, climate change, and air quality degradation from all commercial operations.

Changes in seasonal climate patterns from 34-4 ka in a Soreq Cave (Israel) speleothem: Sub-annual resolution by ion microprobe and CLFM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orland, I. J.; Bar-Matthews, M.; Kita, N.; Ayalon, A.; Valley, J. W.

2009-12-01

Speleothems provide an important proxy-record of paleoclimate. Isotopic data from calcite-dominated cave formations have been used to identify changes in annual rainfall, monsoon strength, telecommunication of Northern Hemisphere climate aberrations, changes in vegetation cover, and other region-specific paleoclimate time-series over annual to millennial timescales. As more research is devoted to understanding abrupt climate change events, there is a need to develop high-temporal-resolution records from continental regions. However, in most isotopic studies, seasonality information is lost due to technical limitations. This study focuses on a speleothem from the semi-arid Eastern Mediterranean region (Soreq Cave, Israel) where prior research shows that conventional drill-sampling methods permit a temporal resolution of ~10-50 years in speleothem paleoclimate records. The WiscSIMS lab has developed analytical protocols for ion microprobe analysis that yield a precision of ~0.3‰ (2 s.d.) in δ18O from 10 μm-diameter spots, which permit multiple analyses/year in many speleothems. Orland et al. (2009, Quat. Res.) establish the methodology for the current study by identifying seasonal variability using a combination of confocal laser fluorescent microscopy (CLFM) and ion microprobe analysis in a younger (~2-1 ka) Soreq speleothem that has a consistent bright-grading-to-dark fluorescence pattern within each annual band. Further, Orland et al. define a quantitative measure of seasonality, Δ18O, that measures the difference in δ18O between bright and dark fluorescent portions of individual annual growth bands [Δ18O = δ18Odark - δ18Obright]. Smaller values of Δ18O are interpreted to be caused by dry years. The current study employs the aforementioned methods to examine seasonality trends in a sample that covers a much longer time period. We report δ18O from >1000 spots across a radial traverse of Soreq Cave sample 2N matched to imaging of annual growth bands by CLFM. This record, which extends from 34-4 ka, based on 27 new U-Th dates from the Geological Survey of Israel, preserves a time-series of δ18O across multiple significant climate changes including the last glacial termination, the onset/termination of the YD, and multiple abrupt regional events. As in the younger sample from Soreq, CLFM of the Holocene portion of sample 2N reveals concentric, annual growth bands in bright-grading-to-dark fluorescent couplets. In the pre-Holocene portion of 2N, however, the pattern of fluorescence banding is consistently reversed (i.e. dark-grading-to-bright). Furthermore, the magnitude of Δ18O changes through time. The prominent change in the CLFM and Δ18O record for sample 2N suggests a shift in seasonality in the Eastern Mediterranean before the termination of the YD; variation in seasonal rainfall and/or surface vegetation may have contributed to the observed change.

Use of PET/CT instead of CT-only when planning for radiation therapy does not notably increase life years lost in children being treated for cancer.

PubMed

Kornerup, Josefine S; Brodin, Patrik; Birk Christensen, Charlotte; Björk-Eriksson, Thomas; Kiil-Berthelsen, Anne; Borgwardt, Lise; Munck Af Rosenschöld, Per

2015-04-01

PET/CT may be more helpful than CT alone for radiation therapy planning, but the added risk due to higher doses of ionizing radiation is unknown. To estimate the risk of cancer induction and mortality attributable to the [F-18]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET and CT scans used for radiation therapy planning in children with cancer, and compare to the risks attributable to the cancer treatment. Organ doses and effective doses were estimated for 40 children (2-18 years old) who had been scanned using PET/CT as part of radiation therapy planning. The risk of inducing secondary cancer was estimated using the models in BEIR VII. The prognosis of an induced cancer was taken into account and the reduction in life expectancy, in terms of life years lost, was estimated for the diagnostics and compared to the life years lost attributable to the therapy. Multivariate linear regression was performed to find predictors for a high contribution to life years lost from the radiation therapy planning diagnostics. The mean contribution from PET to the effective dose from one PET/CT scan was 24% (range: 7-64%). The average proportion of life years lost attributable to the nuclear medicine dose component from one PET/CT scan was 15% (range: 3-41%). The ratio of life years lost from the radiation therapy planning PET/CT scans and that of the cancer treatment was on average 0.02 (range: 0.01-0.09). Female gender was associated with increased life years lost from the scans (P < 0.001). Using FDG-PET/CT instead of CT only when defining the target volumes for radiation therapy of children with cancer does not notably increase the number of life years lost attributable to diagnostic examinations.

77 FR 73469 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-10

... Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Background and Brief Description One... costs of $134.9 billion in lost productivity due to illness and premature death. In 1992, Congress...

78 FR 1276 - FY 2012 Annual Compliance Report

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-08

... POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. ACR2012; Order No. 1609] FY 2012 Annual Compliance Report... Compliance Report on the costs, revenues, rates, and quality of service associated with its products in... Compliance Report. DATES: Comments are due: February 1, 2013. Reply Comments are due: February 15, 2013...

2017 A Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-26

NASA officials, family members and other invited guests listen to remarks during Kennedy Space Center's Day of Remembrance ceremony. From left to right are Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana; contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath; Apollo launch team member John Tribe; Sheryl Chaffee, daughter of Apollo 1 astronaut Roger Chaffee; astronaut Michael Collins; NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot; and astronaut Charlie Duke. Held this year in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the annual event honors the contributions of all astronauts who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.

77 FR 63809 - Combined Notice of Filings #2

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-17

... p.m. ET 10/31/12. Docket Numbers: ER13-58-000. Applicants: Rail Splitter Wind Farm, LLC. Description.... Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/31/12. Docket Numbers: ER13-59-000. Applicants: Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm I, LLC...-5066. Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 10/31/12. .Docket Numbers: ER13-60-000. Applicants: Lost Lakes Wind Farm...

Suspended Education in Massachusetts: Using Days of Lost Instruction Due to Suspension to Evaluate Our Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losen, Daniel J.; Sun, Wei-Ling; Keith, Michael A., II

2017-01-01

Missed instruction can have a devastating impact on educational outcomes. Some reasons for missed instruction are beyond the control of schools and districts: some students miss school due to mental or physical illness or injury, and transportation problems sometimes are to blame. One major reason for missed instruction that schools can directly…

RM Methods for Multiple Fare Structure Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

110 9 LIST OF FIGURES 1 INTRODUCTION Figure 1-1: Revenue Losses due to Overprotection and Dilution... overprotection or dilution. If an airline’s objective is to focus on high-yield business travelers and charge only a single high fare for the...Lost Revenue from Customer Surplus Captured Revenue Rejected Passengers Overprotection Dilution Figure 1-1: Revenue Losses due to Overprotection

Quantum state estimation when qubits are lost: a no-data-left-behind approach

DOE PAGES

Williams, Brian P.; Lougovski, Pavel

2017-04-06

We present an approach to Bayesian mean estimation of quantum states using hyperspherical parametrization and an experiment-specific likelihood which allows utilization of all available data, even when qubits are lost. With this method, we report the first closed-form Bayesian mean and maximum likelihood estimates for the ideal single qubit. Due to computational constraints, we utilize numerical sampling to determine the Bayesian mean estimate for a photonic two-qubit experiment in which our novel analysis reduces burdens associated with experimental asymmetries and inefficiencies. This method can be applied to quantum states of any dimension and experimental complexity.

The potential impact of the next influenza pandemic on a national primary care medical workforce.

PubMed

Wilson, Nick; Baker, Michael; Crampton, Peter; Mansoor, Osman

2005-08-11

Another influenza pandemic is all but inevitable. We estimated its potential impact on the primary care medical workforce in New Zealand, so that planning could mitigate the disruption from the pandemic and similar challenges. The model in the "FluAid" software (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Atlanta) was applied to the New Zealand primary care medical workforce (i.e., general practitioners). At its peak (week 4) the pandemic would lead to 1.2% to 2.7% loss of medical work time, using conservative baseline assumptions. Most workdays (88%) would be lost due to illness, followed by hospitalisation (8%), and then premature death (4%). Inputs for a "more severe" scenario included greater health effects and time spent caring for sick relatives. For this scenario, 9% of medical workdays would be lost in the peak week, and 3% over a more compressed six-week period of the first pandemic wave. As with the base case, most (64%) of lost workdays would be due to illness, followed by caring for others (31%), hospitalisation (4%), and then premature death (1%). Preparedness planning for future influenza pandemics must consider the impact on this medical workforce and incorporate strategies to minimise this impact, including infection control measures, well-designed protocols, and improved health sector surge capacity.

Fall from equipment injuries in U.S. mining: identification of specific research areas for future investigation.

PubMed

Moore, Susan M; Porter, William L; Dempsey, Patrick G

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the circumstances leading to fall from equipment injuries in the mining industry. The 2006 and 2007 Mine Safety and Health Administration annual injury databases were utilized for this study whereby the injury narrative, nature of injury, body part injured, mine type, age at injury, and days lost were evaluated for each injury. The majority of injuries occurred at surface mining facilities (approximately 60%) with fractures and sprains/strains being the most common injuries occurring to the major joints of the body. Nearly 50% of injuries occurred during ingress/egress, predominantely during egress, and approximately 25% of injuries occurred during maintenance tasks. The majority of injuries occurred in relation to large trucks, wheel loaders, dozers, and conveyors/belts. The severity of injury was independent of age and the median days lost was seven days; however, there was a large range in severity. From the data obtained in this study, several different research areas have been identified for future work, which include balance and stability control when descending ladders and equipment design for maintenance tasks.

Epic Flooding in Georgia, 2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gotvald, Anthony J.; McCallum, Brian E.

2010-01-01

Metropolitan Atlanta-September 2009 Floods The epic floods experienced in the Atlanta area in September 2009 were extremely rare. Eighteen streamgages in the Metropolitan Atlanta area had flood magnitudes much greater than the estimated 0.2-percent (500-year) annual exceedance probability. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that 23 counties in Georgia were declared disaster areas due to this flood and that 16,981 homes and 3,482 businesses were affected by floodwaters. Ten lives were lost in the flood. The total estimated damages exceed $193 million (H.E. Longenecker, Federal Emergency Management Agency, written commun., November 2009). On Sweetwater Creek near Austell, Ga., just north of Interstate 20, the peak stage was more than 6 feet higher than the estimated peak stage of the 0.2-percent (500-year) flood. Flood magnitudes in Cobb County on Sweetwater, Butler, and Powder Springs Creeks greatly exceeded the estimated 0.2-percent (500-year) floods for these streams. In Douglas County, the Dog River at Ga. Highway 5 near Fairplay had a peak stage nearly 20 feet higher than the estimated peak stage of the 0.2-percent (500-year) flood. On the Chattahoochee River, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gage at Vinings reached the highest level recorded in the past 81 years. Gwinnett, De Kalb, Fulton, and Rockdale Counties also had record flooding.South Georgia March and April 2009 FloodsThe March and April 2009 floods in South Georgia were smaller in magnitude than the September floods but still caused significant damage. No lives were lost in this flood. Approximately $60 million in public infrastructure damage occurred to roads, culverts, bridges and a water treatment facility (Joseph T. McKinney, Federal Emergency Management Agency, written commun., July 2009). Flow at the Satilla River near Waycross, exceeded the 0.5-percent (200-year) flood. Flows at seven other stations in South Georgia exceeded the 1-percent (100-year) flood.

Home energy efficiency and radon related risk of lung cancer: modelling study

PubMed Central

Milner, James; Shrubsole, Clive; Das, Payel; Jones, Benjamin; Ridley, Ian; Chalabi, Zaid; Hamilton, Ian; Armstrong, Ben; Davies, Michael

2014-01-01

Objective To investigate the effect of reducing home ventilation as part of household energy efficiency measures on deaths from radon related lung cancer. Design Modelling study. Setting England. Intervention Home energy efficiency interventions, motivated in part by targets for reducing greenhouse gases, which entail reduction in uncontrolled ventilation in keeping with good practice guidance. Main outcome measures Modelled current and future distributions of indoor radon levels for the English housing stock and associated changes in life years due to lung cancer mortality, estimated using life tables. Results Increasing the air tightness of dwellings (without compensatory purpose-provided ventilation) increased mean indoor radon concentrations by an estimated 56.6%, from 21.2 becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m3) to 33.2 Bq/m3. After the lag in lung cancer onset, this would result in an additional annual burden of 4700 life years lost and (at peak) 278 deaths. The increases in radon levels for the millions of homes that would contribute most of the additional burden are below the threshold at which radon remediation measures are cost effective. Fitting extraction fans and trickle ventilators to restore ventilation will help offset the additional burden but only if the ventilation related energy efficiency gains are lost. Mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery may lower radon levels and the risk of cancer while maintaining the advantage of energy efficiency for the most airtight dwellings but there is potential for a major adverse impact on health if such systems fail. Conclusion Unless specific remediation is used, reducing the ventilation of dwellings will improve energy efficiency only at the expense of population wide adverse impact on indoor exposure to radon and risk of lung cancer. The implications of this and other consequences of changes to ventilation need to be carefully evaluated to ensure that the desirable health and environmental benefits of home energy efficiency are not compromised by avoidable negative impacts on indoor air quality. PMID:24415631

Clinical and economic impact of mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics for the treatment of overactive bladder in Canada.

PubMed

Hakimi, Zalmai; Nazir, Jameel; McCrea, Charles; Berling, Malin; Fatoye, Francis; Ramos, Barbara; Wagg, Adrian

2017-06-01

The β 3 -adrenoceptor agonist, mirabegron, and antimuscarinic agents provide similar efficacy for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), but mirabegron appears to be associated with better persistence, perhaps due to an absence of anticholinergic side-effects. This study estimated the expected costs associated with the management of OAB in Canada from a societal perspective by utilizing real-world evidence. An economic model with monthly cycles and a 1-year time horizon was developed to depict a treatment pathway for a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients with OAB. At model entry, patients receive mirabegron or an antimuscarinic. Patients who do not persist may switch treatment, undergo a minimally invasive procedure, or remain symptomatic (uncontrolled). The model includes direct costs (e.g. physician visits) and indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity). A one-way univariate sensitivity analysis assessed a ±20% variation in each of the key model inputs. At 1 year, a greater proportion of patients persisted on treatment with mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics (33% vs 15-23%), and a smaller proportion switched treatment (17% vs 20-22%). The number of healthcare visits (292 vs 299-304), pads used (74,098 vs 77,878-81,669), and work hours lost (4,497 vs 5,372-6,249) were all lower for mirabegron vs antimuscarinics. The estimated total annual cost of treatment per patient with mirabegron was $2,127.46 Canadian dollars (CAD) ($5.82 CAD/day) compared with $2,150.20-$2,496.69 CAD ($5.89-$6.84 CAD/day) for antimuscarinics. The one-way sensitivity analysis indicated the results are robust. Improved persistence observed in routine clinical practice with mirabegron appears to translate into benefits of reduced healthcare resource use, and lower direct and indirect costs of treatment compared with antimuscarinics. Overall, these data suggest that mirabegron may offer clinical and economic benefits for the management of patients with OAB in Canada.

Projected Temperature-Related Years of Life Lost From Stroke Due To Global Warming in a Temperate Climate City, Asia: Disease Burden Caused by Future Climate Change.

PubMed

Li, Guoxing; Guo, Qun; Liu, Yang; Li, Yixue; Pan, Xiaochuan

2018-04-01

Global warming has attracted worldwide attention. Numerous studies have indicated that stroke is associated with temperature; however, few studies are available on the projections of the burden of stroke attributable to future climate change. We aimed to investigate the future trends of stroke years of life lost (YLL) associated with global warming. We collected death records to examine YLL in Tianjin, China, from 2006 to 2011. We fitted a standard time-series Poisson regression model after controlling for trends, day of the week, relative humidity, and air pollution. We estimated temperature-YLL associations with a distributed lag nonlinear model. These models were then applied to the local climate projections to estimate temperature-related YLL in the 2050s and 2070s. We projected temperature-related YLL from stroke in Tianjin under 19 global-scale climate models and 3 different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The results showed a slight decrease in YLL with percent decreases of 0.85%, 0.97%, and 1.02% in the 2050s and 0.94%, 1.02%, and 0.91% in the 2070s for the 3 scenarios, respectively. The increases in heat-related annual YLL and the decreases in cold-related YLL under the high emission scenario were the strongest. The monthly analysis showed that the most significant increase occurred in the summer months, particularly in August, with percent changes >150% in the 2050s and up to 300% in the 2070s. Future changes in climate are likely to lead to an increase in heat-related YLL, and this increase will not be offset by adaptation under both medium emission and high emission scenarios. Health protections from hot weather will become increasingly necessary, and measures to reduce cold effects will also remain important. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Traffic fatalities and economic growth

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-04-01

As countries develop death rates usually fall, especially for diseases that affect the young and result in substantial life-years lost. Deaths due to traffic accidents are a notable exception: the growth in motor vehicles that accompanies economic gr...

Advances in road weather research

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-01-01

Nearly a billion hours and seven thousand lives are lost each year due to the effects of adverse weather on the nations highways. To address this national challenge, the transportation and weather communities have joined forces to define needs and...

Archives and records

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

This study examines data regularly maintained by the AATA for evidence of AOS impact. These data include on-time performance, bus trips broken because of maintenance or other incidents, time lost due to broken trips, on-road incidents and passenger c...

Injuries and their burden in insured construction workers in Iran, 2012.

PubMed

Hatami, Seyed Esmaeil; Khanjani, Narges; Alavinia, Seyed Mohammad; Ravandi, Mohammad Reza Ghotbi

2017-03-01

The present study used disability adjusted life years (DALY) to estimate the burden of external cause of injuries in construction workers insured in Iran in 2012. The Global Burden of Disease method (2010) was used to estimate the years of life lost due to death (YLL) and years of life lost due to disability (YLD). DALY was calculated as the sum of YLL and YLD. There were 5352 injured construction workers in Iran (11.25 individuals per 1000). Falling was the most common incidence and included 2490 individuals (46.53%). Totally, DALY was estimated 18,557 years for all age groups and both genders including 17,821 YLD (96%) and 736 YLL (4%). The DALY related to construction work is high in Iran and it has notably affected the young. Hence more preventive methods should be applied to reduce the overall burden of specific external cause of injuries especially in young and inexperienced workers.

Cost-effectiveness of screening for asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic disease.

PubMed

Derdeyn, C P; Powers, W J

1996-11-01

The value of screening for asymptomatic carotid stenosis has become an important issue with the recently reported beneficial effect of endarterectomy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using Doppler ultrasound as a screening tool to select subjects for arteriography and subsequent surgery. A computer model was developed to simulate the cost-effectiveness of screening a cohort of 1000 men during a 20-year period. The primary outcome measure was incremental present-value dollar expenditures for screening and treatment per incremental present-value quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) saved. Estimates of disease prevalence and arteriographic and surgical complication rates were obtained from the literature. Probabilities of stroke and death with surgical and medical treatment were obtained from published clinical trials. Doppler ultrasound sensitivity and specificity were obtained through review of local experience. Estimates of costs were obtained from local Medicare reimbursement data. A one-time screening program of a population with a high prevalence (20%) of > or = 60% stenosis cost $35130 per incremental QALY gained. Decreased surgical benefit or increased annual discount rate was detrimental, resulting in lost QALYs. Annual screening cost $457773 per incremental QALY gained. In a low-prevalence (4%) population, one-time screening cost $52588 per QALY gained, while annual screening was detrimental. The cost-effectiveness of a one-time screening program for an asymptomatic population with a high prevalence of carotid stenosis may be cost-effective. Annual screening is detrimental. The most sensitive variables in this simulation model were long-term stroke risk reduction after surgery and annual discount rate for accumulated costs and QALYs.

Economic Burden of Bladder Cancer Across the European Union.

PubMed

Leal, Jose; Luengo-Fernandez, Ramon; Sullivan, Richard; Witjes, J Alfred

2016-03-01

More than 120,000 people are diagnosed annually with bladder cancer in the 28 countries of the European Union (EU). With >40,000 people dying of it each year, it is the sixth leading cause of cancer. However, to date, no systematic cost-of-illness study has assessed the economic impact of bladder cancer in the EU. To estimate the annual economic costs of bladder cancer in the EU for 2012. Country-specific cancer cost data were estimated using aggregate data on morbidity, mortality, and health care resource use, obtained from numerous international and national sources. Health care costs were estimated from expenditures on primary, outpatient, emergency, and inpatient care, as well as medications. Costs of unpaid care and lost earnings due to morbidity and early death were estimated. Bladder cancer cost the EU €4.9 billion in 2012, with health care accounting for €2.9 billion (59%) and representing 5% of total health care cancer costs. Bladder cancer accounted for 3% of all cancer costs in the EU (€143 billion) in 2012 and represented an annual health care cost of €57 per 10 EU citizens, with costs varying >10 times between the country with the lowest cost, Bulgaria (€8 for every 10 citizens), and highest cost, Luxembourg (€93). Productivity losses and informal care represented 23% and 18% of bladder cancer costs, respectively. The quality and availability of comparable cancer-related data across the EU need further improvement. Our results add to essential public health and policy intelligence for delivering affordable bladder cancer care systems and prioritising the allocation of public research funds. We looked at the economic costs of bladder cancer across the European Union (EU). We found bladder cancer to cost €4.9 billion in 2012, with health care accounting for €2.9 billion. Our study provides data that can be used to inform affordable cancer care in the EU. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of China's National Forest Protection Program and nature reserves.

PubMed

Ren, Guopeng; Young, Stephen S; Wang, Lin; Wang, Wei; Long, Yongcheng; Wu, Ruidong; Li, Junsheng; Zhu, Jianguo; Yu, Douglas W

2015-10-01

There is profound interest in knowing the degree to which China's institutions are capable of protecting its natural forests and biodiversity in the face of economic and political change. China's 2 most important forest-protection policies are its National Forest Protection Program (NFPP) and its national-level nature reserves (NNRs). The NFPP was implemented in 2000 in response to deforestation-caused flooding. We undertook the first national, quantitative assessment of the NFPP and NNRs to examine whether the NFPP achieved its deforestation-reduction target and whether the NNRs deter deforestation altogether. We used MODIS data to estimate forest cover and loss across mainland China (2000-2010). We also assembled the first-ever polygon dataset for China's forested NNRs (n = 237, 74,030 km(2) in 2000) and used both conventional and covariate-matching approaches to compare deforestation rates inside and outside NNRs (2000-2010). In 2000, 1.765 million km(2) or 18.7% of mainland China was forested (12.3% with canopy cover of ≥70%)) or woodland (6.4% with canopy cover <70% and tree plus shrub cover ≥40%). By 2010, 480,203 km(2) of forest and woodland had been lost, an annual deforestation rate of 2.7%. Forest-only loss was 127,473 km(2) (1.05% annually). In the NFPP provinces, the forest-only loss rate was 0.62%, which was 3.3 times lower than in the non-NFPP provinces. Moreover, the Landsat data suggest that these loss rates are overestimates due to large MODIS pixel size. Thus, China appears to have achieved, and even exceeded, its target of reducing deforestation to 1.1% annually in the NFPP provinces. About two-thirds of China's NNRs were effective in protecting forest cover (prevented loss 4073 km(2) unmatched approach; 3148 km(2) matched approach), and within-NNR deforestation rates were higher in provinces with higher overall deforestation. Our results indicate that China's existing institutions can protect domestic forest cover. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

Kootenai River Floodplain Ecosystem Operational Loss Assessment, Protection, Mitigation and Rehabilitation, 2007-2008 Annual Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Merz, Norm

2009-02-18

The overarching goals of the 'Kootenai River Floodplain Ecosystem Operational Loss Assessment, Protection, Mitigation and Rehabilitation' Project (BPA Project No.2002-011-00) are to: (1) assess abiotic and biotic factors (i.e., geomorphologic, hydrological, aquatic and riparian/floodplain communities) in determining a definitive composition of ecological integrity, (2) develop strategies to assess and mitigate losses of ecosystem functions, and (3) produce a regional operational loss assessment framework. To produce a scientifically defensible, repeatable, and complete assessment tool, KTOI assembled a team of top scientists in the fields of hydrology, hydraulics, ornithology, entomology, statistics, and river ecology, among other expertise. This advisory team is knownmore » as the Research Design and Review Team (RDRT). The RDRT scientists drive the review, selection, and adaptive management of the research designs to evaluate the ecologic functions lost due to the operation of federal hydropower facilities. The unique nature of this project (scientific team, newest/best science, adaptive management, assessment of ecological functions, etc.) has been to work in a dynamic RDRT process. In addition to being multidisciplinary, this model KTOI project provides a stark contrast to the sometimes inflexible process (review, re-review, budgets, etc.) of the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The project RDRT is assembled annually, with subgroups meeting as needed throughout the year to address project issues, analyses, review, and interpretation. Activities of RDRT coordinated and directed the selection of research and assessment methodologies appropriate for the Kootenai River Watershed and potential for regional application in the Columbia River Basin. The entire RDRT continues to meet annually to update and discuss project progress. RDRT Subcontractors work in smaller groups throughout the year to meet project objectives. Determining the extent to which ecological systems are experiencing anthropogenic disturbance and change in structure and function is critical for long term conservation of biotic diversity in the face of changing landscapes and land use. KTOI and the RDRT propose a concept based on incorporating hydrologic, aquatic, and terrestrial components into an operations-based assessment framework to assess ecological losses as shown in Figure E-1.« less

Seasonal and circadian biases in bird tracking with solar GPS-tags.

PubMed

Silva, Rafa; Afán, Isabel; Gil, Juan A; Bustamante, Javier

2017-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) tags are nowadays widely used in wildlife tracking. This geolocation technique can suffer from fix loss biases due to poor satellite GPS geometry, that result in tracking data gaps leading to wrong research conclusions. In addition, new solar-powered GPS tags deployed on birds can suffer from a new "battery drain bias" currently ignored in movement ecology analyses. We use a GPS tracking dataset of bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus), tracked for several years with solar GPS tags, to evaluate the causes and triggers of fix and data retrieval loss biases. We compare two models of solar GPS tags using different data retrieval systems (Argos vs GSM-GPRS), and programmed with different duty cycles. Neither of the models was able to accomplish the duty cycle programed initially. Fix and data retrieval loss rates were always greater than expected, and showed non-random gaps in GPS locations. Number of fixes per month of tracking was a bad criterion to identify tags with smaller biases. Fix-loss rates were four times higher due to battery drain than due to poor GPS satellite geometry. Both tag models were biased due to the uneven solar energy available for the recharge of the tag throughout the annual cycle, resulting in greater fix-loss rates in winter compared to summer. In addition, we suggest that the bias found along the diurnal cycle is linked to a complex three-factor interaction of bird flight behavior, topography and fix interval. More fixes were lost when vultures were perching compared to flying, in rugged versus flat topography. But long fix-intervals caused greater loss of fixes in dynamic (flying) versus static situations (perching). To conclude, we emphasize the importance of evaluating fix-loss bias in current tracking projects, and deploying GPS tags that allow remote duty cycle updates so that the most appropriate fix and data retrieval intervals can be selected.

Seasonal and circadian biases in bird tracking with solar GPS-tags

PubMed Central

Afán, Isabel; Gil, Juan A.; Bustamante, Javier

2017-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) tags are nowadays widely used in wildlife tracking. This geolocation technique can suffer from fix loss biases due to poor satellite GPS geometry, that result in tracking data gaps leading to wrong research conclusions. In addition, new solar-powered GPS tags deployed on birds can suffer from a new “battery drain bias” currently ignored in movement ecology analyses. We use a GPS tracking dataset of bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus), tracked for several years with solar GPS tags, to evaluate the causes and triggers of fix and data retrieval loss biases. We compare two models of solar GPS tags using different data retrieval systems (Argos vs GSM-GPRS), and programmed with different duty cycles. Neither of the models was able to accomplish the duty cycle programed initially. Fix and data retrieval loss rates were always greater than expected, and showed non-random gaps in GPS locations. Number of fixes per month of tracking was a bad criterion to identify tags with smaller biases. Fix-loss rates were four times higher due to battery drain than due to poor GPS satellite geometry. Both tag models were biased due to the uneven solar energy available for the recharge of the tag throughout the annual cycle, resulting in greater fix-loss rates in winter compared to summer. In addition, we suggest that the bias found along the diurnal cycle is linked to a complex three-factor interaction of bird flight behavior, topography and fix interval. More fixes were lost when vultures were perching compared to flying, in rugged versus flat topography. But long fix-intervals caused greater loss of fixes in dynamic (flying) versus static situations (perching). To conclude, we emphasize the importance of evaluating fix-loss bias in current tracking projects, and deploying GPS tags that allow remote duty cycle updates so that the most appropriate fix and data retrieval intervals can be selected. PMID:29020062

Economic impact of providing workplace influenza vaccination. A model and case study application at a Brazilian pharma-chemical company.

PubMed

Burckel, E; Ashraf, T; de Sousa Filho, J P; Forleo Neto, E; Guarino, H; Yauti, C; Barreto F de, B; Champion, L

1999-11-01

To develop and apply a model to assess the economic value of a workplace influenza programme from the perspective of the employer. The model calculated the avoided costs of influenza, including treatment costs, lost productivity, lost worker added value and the cost of replacing workers. Subtracted from this benefit were the costs associated with a vaccination programme, including administrative costs, the time to give the vaccine, and lost productivity due to adverse reactions. The framework of the model can be applied to any company to estimate the cost-benefit of an influenza immunisation programme. The model developed was applied to 4030 workers in the core divisions of a Brazilian pharma-chemical company. The model determined a net benefit of $US121,441 [129,335 Brazilian reals ($Brz)], or $US35.45 ($Brz37.75) per vaccinated employee (1997 values). The cost-benefit ratio was 1:2.47. The calculations were subjected to a battery of 1-way and 2-way sensitivity analyses that determined that net benefit would be retained as long as the vaccine cost remained below $US45.40 ($Brz48.40) or the vaccine was at least 32.5% effective. Other alterations would retain a net benefit as well, including several combinations of incidence rate and vaccine effectiveness. The analysis suggests that providing an influenza vaccination programme can incur a substantial net benefit for an employer, although the size of the benefit will depend upon who normally absorbs the costs of treating influenza and compensating workers for lost work time due to illness, as well as the type of company in which the immunisation programme is applied.

Tooth loss due to periodontal abscess: a retrospective study.

PubMed

McLeod, D E; Lainson, P A; Spivey, J D

1997-10-01

This retrospective study focused on the frequency of tooth loss due to periodontal abscess among 42 patients who were treated by a single clinician over a 5- to 29-year period. A total of 114 patients were selected from the active periodontal recall schedule of a single periodontist at The University of Iowa College of Dentistry. The criteria for inclusion in the study included having a history of moderate to advanced periodontitis, being on 3 to 6 month recall periodontal maintenance care, and completion of active periodontal therapy prior to October 1987. Other parameters evaluated were age; gender; number of teeth present and missing at the initial, reevaluation, and last periodontal recall visit; initial periodontal prognosis; furcation involvement; non-surgical and surgical periodontal therapy; and reasons for tooth loss. Patients were grouped according to the number of teeth lost following active periodontal treatment into well-maintained (0 to 3), downhill (4 to 9), and extreme downhill (10 to 23) groups. Forty-two of the 114 patients were identified as having one or more periodontal abscesses. A total of 109 teeth were affected by periodontal abscess of which 49 (45%) teeth were lost and 60 (55%) were successfully maintained over an average of 12.5 years (5 to 29 years). More furcated teeth were lost than nonfurcated teeth and teeth given a hopeless prognosis were lost more consistently than those given a questionable prognosis in all groups. The frequency of periodontal abscess and tooth loss per patient was greater in the downhill and extreme downhill response groups than the well-maintained group. This suggests that teeth with a history of periodontal abscess can be treated and maintained for several years.

Annual direct health care expenditures and employee absenteeism costs in high-risk, low-income mothers with major depression.

PubMed

Ammerman, Robert T; Chen, Jie; Mallow, Peter J; Rizzo, John A; Folger, Alonzo T; Van Ginkel, Judith B

2016-01-15

To determine the health care and labor productivity costs associated with major depressive disorder in high-risk, low-income mothers. This study was conducted using the 1996-2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The MEPS is a nationally-representative database that includes information on health care utilization and expenditures for the civilian, non-institutionalized population in the United States. High-risk mothers were between the ages of 18-35 years, and either unmarried, receiving Medicaid, or with incomes less than 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Mothers were categorized as being depressed if they had an ICD-9 diagnosis code of 296 or 311 (N=2310) or not depressed (N=18,221). Insurer expenditures, out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses, and lost wage earnings were calculated. After controlling for comorbidities, demographics, region, and year, high-risk depressed mothers were more likely to incur insurer (0.84 vs. 0.79) and OOP expenses (0.84 vs. 0.81) and to have higher insurer ($4448 vs. $3072) and OOP expenses ($794 vs. $523). Depression significantly increased the likelihood of missing work days (OR=1.40; p<0.01). Depression increased overall direct health care expenditures by $1.89 billion (range=$1.28-$2.60 billion) and indirect costs by $523 million annually, with a range of $353-$719 million. In this high-risk population, the direct and indirect aggregate costs of depression-related to health care expenditures and lost work productivity were substantial. These findings establish a quantifiable cost for policy makers and highlight the need to target this population for prevention and treatment efforts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Burden of illness of multiple sclerosis: Part I: Cost of illness. The Canadian Burden of Illness Study Group.

PubMed

1998-02-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common neurologic disease in young and middle-aged adults affecting approximately 35,000 Canadians. The objectives of this study were to estimate the annual and lifetime costs of MS from the Canadian societal perspective. Patients were consecutively recruited by neurologists in 14 MS outpatient clinics across Canada. They were classified according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) into three groups: mild (EDSS < or = 2.5), moderate (EDSS = 3.0-6.0) and severe (EDSS > or = 6.5). Sociodemographic, clinical and resource utilization data were collected retrospectively for the three months prior to patient inclusion. Costing of resources was performed from Ministry of Health, private third party payers, patient and societal perspectives. Average Canadian costs ($CDN 1995) were valued from available provincial data. A total of 198 patients were included in the analysis (mild: n = 62, moderate: n = 68 and severe: n = 68). Costs increased with increasing EDSS scores, from all perspectives. The annualized societal costs per patient were $CDN14,523, $CDN21,698 and $CDN37,024 for the mild, moderate and severe groups, respectively. In all severity groups, most of the financial burden is borne by patients, from 74% to 88%. Indirect costs, namely lost daily activity/leisure time and lost productivity, were the major societal cost drivers. The lifetime cost of MS, including patient institutionalization, was estimated to be $CDN1,608,000 per patient. In Canada, MS is associated with enormous direct and indirect costs. Patients carry most of the economic burden of this disease. The results of this burden of illness study provide a basis for cost-effectiveness analyses of new therapeutic interventions for MS.

Carbon fluxes resulting from land-use changes in the Tamaulipan thornscrub of northeastern Mexico

PubMed Central

Návar-Chaidez, Jose de Jesus

2008-01-01

Information on carbon stock and flux resulting from land-use changes in subtropical, semi-arid ecosystems are important to understand global carbon flux, yet little data is available. In the Tamaulipan thornscrub forests of northeastern Mexico, biomass components of standing vegetation were estimated from 56 quadrats (200 m2 each). Regional land-use changes and present forest cover, as well as estimates of soil organic carbon from chronosequences, were used to predict carbon stocks and fluxes in this ecosystem. For the period of 1980–1996, the Tamaulipan thornscrub is presenting an annual deforestation rate of 2.27% indicating that approximately 600 km2 of this plant community are lost every year and that 60% of the original Mexican Tamaulipan thornscrub vegetation has been lost since the 1950's. On the other hand, intensive agriculture, including introduced grasslands increased (4,000 km2) from 32 to 42% of the total studied area, largely at the expense of the Tamaulipan thornscrub forests. Land-use changes from Tamaulipan thornscrub forest to agriculture contribute 2.2 Tg to current annual carbon emissions and standing biomass averages 0.24 ± 0.06 Tg, root biomass averages 0.17 ± 0.03 Tg, and soil organic carbon averages 1.80 ± 0.27 Tg. Land-use changes from 1950 to 2000 accounted for Carbon emissions of the order of 180.1 Tg. Projected land-use changes will likely contribute to an additional carbon flux of 98.0 Tg by the year 2100. Practices to conserve sequester, and transfer carbon stocks in semi-arid ecosystems are discussed as a means to reduce carbon flux from deforestation practices. PMID:18826617

Burden among partner caregivers of patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer within 1 year after diagnosis: an economic perspective.

PubMed

Li, Chunyu; Zeliadt, Steven B; Hall, Ingrid J; Smith, Judith Lee; Ekwueme, Donatus U; Moinpour, Carol M; Penson, David F; Thompson, Ian M; Keane, Thomas E; Ramsey, Scott D

2013-12-01

Informal care plays an important role in the overall care for people with cancer. This study estimates lost productivity and informal caregiving and associated costs among partner caregivers of localized prostate cancer patients within 1 year after diagnosis. We applied data from the Family and Cancer Therapy Selection study, a three-wave self-administered survey among patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and their partner caregivers in multiple clinics in the USA. Time spent was measured by the sum of working hours lost, informal caregiving hours performed, and hours spent on household chores. The national median income for women 55 years or older was used to calculate costs associated with the time spent using the opportunity cost method. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted. The average working hours decreased from 14.0 h/week (SD = 17.6) to 10.9 h/week (SD = 15.9), without a significant change in responsibility/intensity at work. The mean annual time spent on informal caregiving and household chores was 65.9 h/year (SD = 172.4) and 76.2 h/year (SD = 193.3), respectively. The mean annual economic burden among partner caregivers was US$6,063 (range US$571-US$47,105) in 2009 dollars accounted for by a mean of 276.2 h (range 26-2,146) in the study sample. The time spent on informal caregiving and household chores varied by patient and caregiver characteristics. Pilot estimates on non-medical economic burden among partner caregivers (spouses) during the initial phase of the treatment provide important information for comprehensive estimation of disease burden and can be used in cost-effectiveness analyses of prostate cancer interventions.

The effect of churn on "community viral load" in a well-defined regional population.

PubMed

Krentz, Hartmut B; Gill, M John

2013-10-01

The concept of community viral load (CVL) was introduced to quantify the pool of transmissible HIV within a community and to monitor the potential impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on reducing new infections. The implications of churn (patient movement in/out of care in a community) on CVL have not been studied. The annual CVL was determined in the entire geographic HIV population receiving care in southern Alberta from 2001 to 2010; the CVL for specific subpopulations was analyzed for 2009. CVL was determined for patients under continuous care, newly diagnosed, new to the region, moved away, returned, and lost to follow-up (LTFU). Viral loads (VLs) <50 or <200 copies per milliliter were deemed undetectable and suppressed, respectively. The mean VL per patient and total VL were used to determine CVL. From 2001 to 2010, the HAART uptake for all patients increased from 62% to 81%, undetectability from 32% to 66%, and suppression from 49% to 72%. The annual total CVL however did not vary significantly after 2003. Incidence rates for new locally diagnosed infections increased from 4.4 to 5.8/100,000 per year. In 2009, newly diagnosed HIV patients (6.6%) contributed 37.5% to the CVL, whereas patients transferring in/out of the region or lost to follow-up contributed 33% to the CVL. Patients in continuous care (79% of all patients) contributed 29.5% to the total CVL. Increasing HAART coverage did not reduce the CVL or reduce new HIV diagnoses in our population. The effect of churn significantly limited CVL use as a measure for evaluating the impact of HAART in reducing HIV transmissions in our population.

Understanding the economic burden of nonsevere nocturnal hypoglycemic events: impact on work productivity, disease management, and resource utilization.

PubMed

Brod, Meryl; Wolden, Michael; Christensen, Torsten; Bushnell, Donald M

2013-12-01

Nonsevere hypoglycemic events are common and may occur in one-third of persons with diabetes as often as several times a week. This study's objective was to examine the economic burden of nonsevere nocturnal hypoglycemic events (NSNHEs). A 20-minute Web-based survey, with items derived from the literature, expert input, and patient interviews, assessing the impact of NSNHEs was administered in nine countries to 18 years and older patients with self-reported diabetes having an NSNHE in the past month. A total of 20,212 persons were screened, with 2,108 respondents meeting criteria and included in the analysis sample. The cost of lost work productivity per NSNHE was estimated to be between $10.21 (Germany) and $28.13 (the United Kingdom), representing 3.3 to 7.5 hours of lost work time per event. A reduction in work productivity (presenteeism) was also reported. Compared with respondents' usual blood sugar monitoring practice, on average, 3.6 ± 6.6 extra tests were conducted in the week following the event at a cost of approximately $87.1 per year. Additional costs were also incurred for doctor visits as well as medical care required because of falls or injuries incurred during the NSNHE for an annual cost of $2,111.3 per person per year. When taking into consideration the multiple impacts of NSNHEs for the total sample and the frequency that these events occur, the resulting total annual economic burden was $288,000 or $127 per person per event. NSNHEs have serious consequences for patients. Greater attention to treatments that reduce NSNHEs can have a major impact on reducing the economic burden of diabetes. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hibernating bears as a model for preventing disuse osteoporosis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Donahue, S.W.; McGee, M.E.; Harvey, K.B.; Vaughan, M.R.; Robbins, C.T.

2006-01-01

The hibernating bear is an excellent model for disuse osteoporosis in humans because it is a naturally occurring large animal model. Furthermore, bears and humans have similar lower limb skeletal morphology, and bears walk plantigrade like humans. Black bears (Ursus americanus) may not develop disuse osteoporosis during long periods of disuse (i.e. hibernation) because they maintain osteoblastic bone formation during hibernation. As a consequence, bone volume, mineral content, porosity, and strength are not adversely affected by annual periods of disuse. In fact, cortical bone bending strength has been shown to increase with age in hibernating black bears without a significant change in porosity. Other animals require remobilization periods 2-3 times longer than the immobilization period to recover the bone lost during disuse. Our findings support the hypothesis that black bears, which hibernate for as long as 5-7 months annually, have evolved biological mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effects of disuse on bone porosity and strength. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corticosteroid Treatments in Males With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Treatment Duration and Time to Loss of Ambulation.

PubMed

Kim, Sunkyung; Campbell, Kimberly A; Fox, Deborah J; Matthews, Dennis J; Valdez, Rodolfo

2015-09-01

This population-based study examines the association between corticosteroid treatment and time to loss of ambulation, stratifying by treatment duration (short: 0.25-3 years, long: >3 years), among 477 Duchenne muscular dystrophy cases identified by the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance Tracking and Research Network (MDSTARnet). Those cases who received short-term corticosteroid treatment had a time to loss of ambulation that was 0.8 years shorter (t test) and an annual risk of losing ambulation 77% higher than the untreated (Cox regression). Conversely, cases who received long-term corticosteroid treatment had a time to loss of ambulation that was 2 years longer and an annual risk of losing ambulation 82% lower than the untreated, up to age 11 years; after which the risks were not statistically different. The relationship of corticosteroids and time to loss of ambulation is more complex than depicted by previous studies limited to treatment responders or subjects who lost ambulation during study follow-up. © The Author(s) 2014.

International trade causes large net economic losses in tropical countries via the destruction of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Chang, Junning; Symes, William S; Lim, Felix; Carrasco, L Roman

2016-05-01

Despite the large implications of the use of tropical land for exports ("land absorption") on ecosystem services (ES) and global biodiversity conservation, the magnitude of these externalities is not known. We quantify the net value of ES lost in tropical countries as a result of cropland, forestland and pastureland absorption for exports after deducting ES gains through imports ("land displacement"). We find that net ES gains occur only in 7 out of the 41 countries and regions considered. We estimate global annual net losses of over 1.7 x 10(12) international dollars (I$) (I$1.1 x 10(12) if carbon-related services are not considered). After deducting the benefits from agricultural, forest and livestock rents in land replacing tropical forests, the net annual losses are I$1.3 and I$0.7 x 10(12), respectively. The results highlight the large magnitude of tropical ES losses through international trade that are not compensated by the rents of land uses in absorbed land.

Estimated cost of overactive bladder in Thailand.

PubMed

Prasopsanti, Kriangsak; Santi-Ngamkun, Apirak; Pornprasit, Kanokwan

2007-11-01

To estimate the annual direct and indirect costs of overactive bladder (OAB) in indigenous Thai people aged 18 years and over in the year 2005. Economically based models using diagnostic and treatment algorithms from clinical practice guidelines and current disease prevalence data were used to estimate direct and indirect costs of OAB. Prevalence and event probability estimates were obtained from the literature, national data sets, and expert opinion. Costs were estimated from a small survey using a cost questionnaire and from unit costs of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. The annual cost of OAB in Thailand is estimated as 1.9 billion USD. It is estimated to consume 1.14% of national GDP The cost includes 0.33 billion USD for direct medical costs, 1.3 billion USD for direct, nonmedical costs and 0.29 billion USD for indirect costs of lost productivity. The largest costs category was direct treatment costs of comorbidities associated with OAB. Costs of OAB medication accountedfor 14% of the total costs ofOAB.

An evidence-based approach to the evaluation and treatment of low back pain in the emergency department.

PubMed

Borczuk, Pierre

2013-07-01

Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint that results in a visit to the emergency department, and it is 1 of the top 5 most common complaints in emergency medicine. Estimates of annual healthcare expenditures for low back pain in the United States exceed $90 billion annually, not even taking lost productivity and business costs into account. This review explores an evidence-based rationale for the evaluation of the patient with low back pain, and it provides guidance on risk stratification pertaining to laboratory assessment and radiologic imaging in the emergency department. Published guidelines from the American College of Physicians and American Pain Society are reviewed, with emphasis on best evidence for pharmacologic treatments, self-care interventions, and more invasive procedures and surgery in management of low back pain. Utilizing effective and proven strategies will avoid medical errors, provide better care for patients, and help manage healthcare resources and costs.

Leaving Sweden behind: Gains in life expectancy in Canada.

PubMed

Auger, Nathalie; Le Serbon, Emilie; Rostila, Mikael

2015-06-01

Sweden and Canada are known for quality of living and exceedingly high life expectancy, but recent data on how these countries compare are lacking. We measured life expectancy in Canada and Sweden during the past decade, and identified factors responsible for changes over time. We calculated life expectancy at birth for Canada and Sweden annually from 2000 to 2010, and determined the ages and causes of death responsible for the gap between the two countries using Arriaga's method. We determined how population growth, ageing, and mortality influenced the number of deaths over time. During 2000-2010, life expectancy in Canada caught up with Sweden for men, and surpassed Sweden by 0.4 years for women. Sweden lost ground owing to a slower reduction in circulatory and tumour mortality after age 65 years compared with Canada. Nonetheless, population ageing increased the number of deaths in Canada, especially for mental and nervous system disorders. In Sweden, the number of deaths decreased. In only one decade, life expectancy in Canada caught up and surpassed Sweden due to rapid improvements in circulatory and tumour mortality. Population ageing increased the number of deaths in Canada, potentially stressing the health care system more than in Sweden. © 2015 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Investigating Respondents and Nonrespondents of a Postal Breast Cancer Questionnaire Survey Regarding Differences in Age, Medical Conditions, and Therapy.

PubMed

Frobeen, Anna L; Kowalski, Christoph; Weiß, Verena; Pfaff, Holger

2016-04-01

Collecting patient-reported data via postal questionnaires is a common and frequently used technique. Selection bias may occur through lost data from nonrespondents. This study investigated differences in characteristics between respondents and nonrespondents of a postal breast cancer survey. The investigation was based on a cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey for the mandatory annual routine (re-)certification of accredited breast centers in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2010. Out of 4,444 patients meeting the inclusion criteria who gave their consent to participate, 3,856 respondents sent back a questionnaire and 588 nonrespondents did not. Using logistic regression, differences between respondents and nonrespondents regarding information gathered through hospital staff concerning age, affected breast, UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) staging and grading, ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) classification, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and type of surgery were assessed. Very young and very old patients sent back their questionnaire significantly less frequently, as did patients who showed a later cancer stage and poorer general health and those who underwent mastectomy. Differences exist between respondents and nonrespondents with regard to age, disease, and therapy characteristics that need to be considered for the interpretation and generalizability of survey results due to selection bias.

Regional variation in coronary heart disease mortality trends in Portugal, 1981-2012.

PubMed

Araújo, Carla; Pereira, Marta; Viana, Marta; Rocha, Olga Laszczyńska; Bennett, Kathleen; Lunet, Nuno; Azevedo, Ana

2016-12-01

Information is scarce about the geographic variation in time trends of mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD). We aimed to describe trends in death rates, absolute number of deaths and years of life lost (YLL) due to CHD among men and women in Portugal, by region, from 1981 to 2012. The age-standardized mortality rates from CHD were estimated by sex and region. We used joinpoint regression analysis to calculate the annual percent change (APC) in mortality and to identify points of significant change in the trend. The YLL due to premature mortality for CHD were computed using the Global Burden of Disease method. The age-adjusted mortality from CHD decreased between 1981 and 2012, both in men and women, but with significantly different APC by region. Smaller declines in rates were observed in Alentejo (men: APC 1993-2012: -2.4%; women: APC 1991-2012: -2.4%). The greatest decline was observed in Madeira between 2003 and 2012, in men (APC: -7.6%) and women (APC: -9.7%). The decline in rates in Algarve started only after 2003, whereas it was consistent from 1981 in the North and started in the 1990s in most other regions. A decrease in the number of deaths was only observed after 2000. The YLL from CHD decreased from 1981 to 2012, mainly after 2000. In Portugal, between 1981 and 2012, relative declines of CHD mortality indicators were different by geographic region. Consistent decreases in mortality rates were only observed in the Centre, Lisbon and North, the most populated and urbanized regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Productivity losses associated with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in New Zealand.

PubMed

Easton, Brian; Burd, Larry; Rehm, Jürgen; Popova, Svetlana

2016-08-19

To estimate the productivity losses due to morbidity and premature mortality of individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in New Zealand (NZ). A demographic approach with a counterfactual scenario in which nobody in NZ is born with FASD was used. Estimates were calculated using (Census Year) 2013 data for the NZ population, the labour force, unemployment rate and average weekly wage, all of which were obtained from Statistics NZ. In order to estimate the number of FASD cases in 2013 and the related morbidity, the prevalence of FASD, obtained from the available epidemiological literature, was applied to the general population of NZ. Assumptions made on the level of impairment that would affect the ability of individuals with FASD to participate in the workforce or would reduce their productivity were based on data obtained from the current epidemiological literature. In 2013, approximately 0.03% of the NZ workforce experienced a loss of productivity due to FASD-attributable morbidity and premature mortality, which translated to aggregate losses ranging from $NZ49 million to $NZ200 million - that is, 0.03% to 0.09% of the annual gross domestic product in NZ. These costs represent estimates for lost productivity attributable to FASD and do not include additional costs incurred by governmental and private entities including social costs, such as both higher costs and or less effective spending by the education, health and justice systems. The estimated productivity losses associated with FASD further reinforces that effective FASD prevention as a primary public health strategy may be of significant value.

African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control 1995–2015: Model-Estimated Health Impact and Cost

PubMed Central

Coffeng, Luc E.; Stolk, Wilma A.; Zouré, Honorat G. M.; Veerman, J. Lennert; Agblewonu, Koffi B.; Murdoch, Michele E.; Noma, Mounkaila; Fobi, Grace; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Bundy, Donald A. P.; Habbema, Dik; de Vlas, Sake J.; Amazigo, Uche V.

2013-01-01

Background Onchocerciasis causes a considerable disease burden in Africa, mainly through skin and eye disease. Since 1995, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) has coordinated annual mass treatment with ivermectin in 16 countries. In this study, we estimate the health impact of APOC and the associated costs from a program perspective up to 2010 and provide expected trends up to 2015. Methods and Findings With data on pre-control prevalence of infection and population coverage of mass treatment, we simulated trends in infection, blindness, visual impairment, and severe itch using the micro-simulation model ONCHOSIM, and estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to onchocerciasis. We assessed financial costs for APOC, beneficiary governments, and non-governmental development organizations, excluding cost of donated drugs. We estimated that between 1995 and 2010, mass treatment with ivermectin averted 8.2 million DALYs due to onchocerciasis in APOC areas, at a nominal cost of about US$257 million. We expect that APOC will avert another 9.2 million DALYs between 2011 and 2015, at a nominal cost of US$221 million. Conclusions Our simulations suggest that APOC has had a remarkable impact on population health in Africa between 1995 and 2010. This health impact is predicted to double during the subsequent five years of the program, through to 2015. APOC is a highly cost-effective public health program. Given the anticipated elimination of onchocerciasis from some APOC areas, we expect even more health gains and a more favorable cost-effectiveness of mass treatment with ivermectin in the near future. PMID:23383355

African Programme For Onchocerciasis Control 1995-2015: model-estimated health impact and cost.

PubMed

Coffeng, Luc E; Stolk, Wilma A; Zouré, Honorat G M; Veerman, J Lennert; Agblewonu, Koffi B; Murdoch, Michele E; Noma, Mounkaila; Fobi, Grace; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Bundy, Donald A P; Habbema, Dik; de Vlas, Sake J; Amazigo, Uche V

2013-01-01

Onchocerciasis causes a considerable disease burden in Africa, mainly through skin and eye disease. Since 1995, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) has coordinated annual mass treatment with ivermectin in 16 countries. In this study, we estimate the health impact of APOC and the associated costs from a program perspective up to 2010 and provide expected trends up to 2015. With data on pre-control prevalence of infection and population coverage of mass treatment, we simulated trends in infection, blindness, visual impairment, and severe itch using the micro-simulation model ONCHOSIM, and estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to onchocerciasis. We assessed financial costs for APOC, beneficiary governments, and non-governmental development organizations, excluding cost of donated drugs. We estimated that between 1995 and 2010, mass treatment with ivermectin averted 8.2 million DALYs due to onchocerciasis in APOC areas, at a nominal cost of about US$257 million. We expect that APOC will avert another 9.2 million DALYs between 2011 and 2015, at a nominal cost of US$221 million. Our simulations suggest that APOC has had a remarkable impact on population health in Africa between 1995 and 2010. This health impact is predicted to double during the subsequent five years of the program, through to 2015. APOC is a highly cost-effective public health program. Given the anticipated elimination of onchocerciasis from some APOC areas, we expect even more health gains and a more favorable cost-effectiveness of mass treatment with ivermectin in the near future.

Free Trade: A Misnomer?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMillan, Robert R.

1983-01-01

Billions of dollars are lost each year in our balance of payments because U.S. multinationals have not entered foreign markets due to trade restrictions and restrictions on the remittance of profits and royalties. Formal and informal government obstructions to free trade are examined. (RM)

The solution of large multi-dimensional Poisson problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, H. S.

1974-01-01

The Buneman algorithm for solving Poisson problems can be adapted to solve large Poisson problems on computers with a rotating drum memory so that the computation is done with very little time lost due to rotational latency of the drum.

45 CFR 265.10 - When is the annual report due?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 2 2013-10-01 2012-10-01 true When is the annual report due? 265.10 Section 265.10 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare OFFICE OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE (ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS), ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS § 265.10 When is...

Cardiovascular disease mortality and years of life lost attributable to non-optimal systolic blood pressure and hypertension in northeastern Iran.

PubMed

Sepanlou, Sadaf G; Newson, Roger B; Poustchi, Hossein; Malekzadeh, Masoud M; Rezanejad Asl, Parisa; Etemadi, Arash; Khademi, Hooman; Islami, Farhad; Pourshams, Akram; Pharoah, Paul D; Abnet, Christian C; Brennan, Paul; Bofetta, Paolo; Dawsey, Sanford M; Kamangar, Farin; Malekzadeh, Reza

2015-03-01

High blood pressure is the second most important risk factor of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Iran. It is imperative to estimate the burden of CVDs that can be averted if high blood pressure is controlled at the population level. The aim of the current study was to estimate the avertable CVD mortality in the setting of Golestan Cohort Study (GCS). Over 50,000 participants were recruited and followed for a median of 7 years. The exposures of interest in this study were non-optimal systolic blood pressure (SBP) and hypertension measured at baseline. Deaths by cause have been precisely recorded. The Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) of deaths and Years of Life Lost (YLLs) due to CVDs attributable to exposures of interest were calculated. Overall, 223 deaths due to ischemic heart disease (IHD), 207 deaths due to cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), and 460 deaths due to all CVDs could be averted if the SBP of all subjects in the study were optimal. Similarly, 5,560 YLLs due to IHD, 4,771 YLLs due to CVA, and 11,135 YLLs due to CVDs could be prevented if SBP were optimal. In all age groups, the avertable deaths and YLLs were higher due to IHD compared with CVA. Deaths and YLLs attributable to non-optimal SBP in women were less than men. A very large proportion of CVD deaths can be averted if blood pressure is controlled in Iran. Effective interventions in primary and secondary health care setting are mandatory to be implemented as early as possible.

Exploring the formation of an employee injury team.

PubMed

Klingel, P

1997-01-01

In May 1994, it was noted that lost work days due to employee injuries were out of control at MedCenter Hospital in Marion, OH. An employee injury team was commissioned by the continuous quality improvement steering committee to investigate and make recommendations to reduce lost workdays. An analysis of the situation required a data search that revealed several patterns and trends. This information was then examined and a decision was made to institute a "Back Care: Train the Trainer" program to reduce the major cause of employee injuries--back sprains and strains. The concept of teamwork is defined and the developmental process of a team is explored.

Do enteric neurons make hypocretin?

PubMed

Baumann, Christian R; Clark, Erika L; Pedersen, Nigel P; Hecht, Jonathan L; Scammell, Thomas E

2008-04-10

Hypocretins (orexins) are wake-promoting neuropeptides produced by hypothalamic neurons. These hypocretin-producing cells are lost in people with narcolepsy, possibly due to an autoimmune attack. Prior studies described hypocretin neurons in the enteric nervous system, and these cells could be an additional target of an autoimmune process. We sought to determine whether enteric hypocretin neurons are lost in narcoleptic subjects. Even though we tried several methods (including whole mounts, sectioned tissue, pre-treatment of mice with colchicine, and the use of various primary antisera), we could not identify hypocretin-producing cells in enteric nervous tissue collected from mice or normal human subjects. These results raise doubts about whether enteric neurons produce hypocretin.

Measuring urban tree loss dynamics across residential landscapes.

PubMed

Ossola, Alessandro; Hopton, Matthew E

2018-01-15

The spatial arrangement of urban vegetation depends on urban morphology and socio-economic settings. Urban vegetation changes over time because of human management. Urban trees are removed due to hazard prevention or aesthetic preferences. Previous research attributed tree loss to decreases in canopy cover. However, this provides little information about location and structural characteristics of trees lost, as well as environmental and social factors affecting tree loss dynamics. This is particularly relevant in residential landscapes where access to residential parcels for field surveys is limited. We tested whether multi-temporal airborne LiDAR and multi-spectral imagery collected at a 5-year interval can be used to investigate urban tree loss dynamics across residential landscapes in Denver, CO and Milwaukee, WI, covering 400,705 residential parcels in 444 census tracts. Position and stem height of trees lost were extracted from canopy height models calculated as the difference between final (year 5) and initial (year 0) vegetation height derived from LiDAR. Multivariate regression models were used to predict number and height of tree stems lost in residential parcels in each census tract based on urban morphological and socio-economic variables. A total of 28,427 stems were lost from residential parcels in Denver and Milwaukee over 5years. Overall, 7% of residential parcels lost one stem, averaging 90.87 stems per km 2 . Average stem height was 10.16m, though trees lost in Denver were taller compared to Milwaukee. The number of stems lost was higher in neighborhoods with higher canopy cover and developed before the 1970s. However, socio-economic characteristics had little effect on tree loss dynamics. The study provides a simple method for measuring urban tree loss dynamics within and across entire cities, and represents a further step toward high resolution assessments of the three-dimensional change of urban vegetation at large spatial scales. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Years of disability-adjusted life gained as a result of thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke.

PubMed

Hong, Keun-Sik; Saver, Jeffrey L

2010-03-01

Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metric reflects years of healthy life lost because of living with disability and years of life lost because of premature mortality. Widely used in epidemiological analyses, DALY has not been applied to acute stroke trials. From previous studies, we derived, for each modified Rankin Scale level, disability weights, disability-linked mortality hazard ratios, and age-specific life expectancies. We then analyzed patient level data from the 2 publicly available National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator trials. For each subject, we abstracted age, treatment assignment, and 3-month modified Rankin Scale outcome and calculated the DALYs lost resulting from the qualifying stroke. The disability-linked hazard ratios for premature annual mortality for a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 5 were 1.53, 1.52, 2.17, 3.18, 4.55, and 6.55, respectively. In the NINDS recombinant tissue plasminogen activator trials, DALYs (mean+/-SE) lost as a result of the qualifying stroke were substantially less with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator than with placebo (4.64+/-0.17 versus 5.91+/-0.21; P<0.0001), a finding that remained robust after adjustment for baseline prognostic factors. When DALYs gained were apportioned to the 29% of patients experiencing any benefit from lytic therapy, each patient gained an average of 4.4 DALYs. DALY analysis showed greater power than dichotomized modified Rankin Scale analysis in discriminating treatment effects overall and in patients >or=70 years of age. For patients who benefit from treatment, <3-hour thrombolytic therapy adds the equivalent of 4.4 years of healthy life, free of disability. The DALY metric provides a continuous scale that increases statistical power, is intuitively understandable, and is applicable to a wide range of conditions and treatments.

Microbial sulfate reduction and the sulfur budget for a complete section of altered oceanic basalts, IODP Hole 1256D (eastern Pacific)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Alt, Jeffrey C.; Shanks, Wayne C.

2011-01-01

Sulfide mineralogy and the contents and isotope compositions of sulfur were analyzed in a complete oceanic volcanic section from IODP Hole 1256D in the eastern Pacific, in order to investigate the role of microbes and their effect on the sulfur budget in altered upper oceanic crust. Basalts in the 800m thick volcanic section are affected by a pervasive low-temperature background alteration and have mean sulfur contents of 530ppm, reflecting loss of sulfur relative to fresh glass through degassing during eruption and alteration by seawater. Alteration halos along fractures average 155ppm sulfur and are more oxidized, have high SO4/ΣS ratios (0.43), and lost sulfur through oxidation by seawater compared to host rocks. Although sulfur was lost locally, sulfur was subsequently gained through fixation of seawater-derived sulfur in secondary pyrite and marcasite in veins and in concentrations at the boundary between alteration halos and host rocks. Negative δ34Ssulfide-S values (down to -30 °) and low temperatures of alteration (down to ~40 °C) point to microbial reduction of seawater sulfate as the process resulting in local additions of sulfide-S. Mass balance calculations indicate that 15-20% of the sulfur in the volcanic section is microbially derived, with the bulk altered volcanic section containing 940ppm S, and with δ34S shifted to -6.0‰) from the mantle value (0 ‰). The bulk volcanic section may have gained or lost sulfur overall. The annual flux of microbial sulfur into oceanic basement based on Hole 1256D is 3-4 X1010molSyr-1, within an order of magnitude of the riverine sulfate source and the sedimentary pyrite sink. Results indicate a flux of bacterially derived sulfur that is fixed in upper ocean basement of 7-8 X 10-8molcm-2yr-1 over 15m.y. This is comparable to that in open ocean sediment sites, but is one to two orders of magnitude less than for ocean margin sediments. The global annual subduction of sulfur in altered oceanic basalt lavas based on Hole 1256D is 1.5-2.0 X 1011moly-1, comparable to the subduction of sulfide in sediments, and could contribute to sediment-like sulfur isotope heterogeneities in the mantle.

Leading medical causes of mortality among male prisoners in Texas, 1992--2003.

PubMed

Harzke, Amy J; Baillargeon, Jacques G; Kelley, Michael F; Pruitt, Sandi L; Pulvino, John S; Paar, David P

2011-07-01

Data from the Texas prison system and the Texas Vital Statistics Bureau were used to identify and assess the leading medical causes of death from 1992 to 2003 among male prisoners in Texas (N = 4,026). The leading medical causes of death were infection, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), liver disease, and respiratory disease. Of these, only cancer showed a significant average annual increase in crude death rates (2.5% [0.2% to 4.9%]). Among prisoners aged 55 to 84 years, crude average annual death rates due to cancer and CVD were high and substantially exceeded death rates due to other causes. Among prisoners aged 25 to 44 years, crude average annual death rates due to infection exceeded death rates due to other causes. Continued improvements in the prevention, screening, and treatment of these conditions are warranted in correctional health care settings.

Using Field Measurements to Assess Aging of Self-Cleaning High-Reflectance Paint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takebayashi, Hideki; Tanabe, Junichiro; Aoyama, Taizo; Sonoda, Takeshi; Nakanishi, Yasushi

2017-08-01

Continuous field measurements were used to evaluate the aging of solar reflectance on self-cleaning coatings for roofs in comparison with conventional coatings that have no self-cleaning function. Solar reflectance on self-cleaning coatings decreases by about 6 % per year with annual variations, due to the adhesion of dirt. On the other hand, solar reflectance on conventional coatings greatly decreases, by approximately 18 % within four months of the coating's application, due to the adhesion of dirt. Then, it gradually recovers at a rate of about 4 % per year, with annual variations, due to degradation of the coating. It is due to degradation of the conventional coating that the difference of solar reflectance between the self-cleaning coating and the conventional coating becomes almost zero in two years. Both the adhesion of dirt and coating degradation by chalking affect the temporal change of solar reflectance with annual variation.

Years of life lost due to encounters with law enforcement in the USA, 2015-2016.

PubMed

Bui, Anthony L; Coates, Matthew M; Matthay, Ellicott C

2018-05-07

To inform discussions on rates, burden and priority-setting in relation to police violence, we quantified the number and rate of years of life lost (YLLs) due to police violence by race/ethnicity and age in the USA, 2015-2016. We used data on the number of deaths due to police violence from 'The Counted', a media-based source compiled by The Guardian . YLLs are the difference between an individual's age at death and their corresponding standard life expectancy at age of death. There were 57 375 and 54 754 YLLs due to police violence in 2015 and 2016, respectively. People of colour comprised 38.5% of the population, but 51.5% of YLLs. YLLs were greatest among those aged 25-34 years, and the number of YLLs at younger ages was greater among people of colour than whites. The number of YLLs due to police violence is substantial. YLLs highlight that police violence disproportionately impacts young people, and the young people affected are disproportionately people of colour. Framing police violence as an important cause of deaths among young adults provides another valuable lens to motivate prevention efforts. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

20 CFR 725.608 - Interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... simple annual interest, computed from the date on which the benefits were due. The interest shall be... payment of retroactive benefits, the beneficiary shall also be entitled to simple annual interest on such... entitled to simple annual interest computed from the date upon which the beneficiary's right to additional...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mack, R.N.

Artemisia tridentata on the A. tridentata-Agropyron spicatum habitat type (h.t.) annually sheds approximately 117 kg/ha of leaf and inflorescence litter as determined by collecting litter of shrubs enclosed in nylon net cages. Total available amounts of cations (kg/ha) to a depth of 1 m on this h.t. are Ca, 21,936; Mg, 4450; P, 127.2; and K, 3588. On the adjacent A. tridentata-Poa secunda h.t., approximately /sup 1///sub 2/ of the leaf litter is lost in the 1st year on the soil surface with an element mobility series of K > Mg > P = Ca. Inflorescence litter apparently decays completelymore » within 6 months after abscission.« less

Major mishaps among mobile offshore drilling units, 1955-1981: time trends and fatalities.

PubMed

Clemmer, D I; Diem, J E

1985-03-01

Major mishaps among mobile offshore drilling units worldwide from 1955-1981 were identified from industry and government sources. Based on annual numbers of rigs in service and typical staffing patterns, annual mishap rates and fatality rates for rig types and mishap categories were computed. While the frequency of major mishaps has increased in recent years, the mishap rate per 100 rig-years of service has remained stable. The overall stability obscures the fact that jack-up rigs have had an increasing mishap rate while the rate for other rig types combined has gradually declined. Although the fatal mishap rate has also remained constant, the annual fatality rate per 100 000 full time equivalent (FTE) workers has risen sharply. This can be attributed to increasing numbers of lives lost in environmental mishaps while deaths from operational mishaps have declined. There were 344 fatalities during the 27-year period. Although an average of some 13 deaths per year worldwide appears minimal, the relatively small size of the workforce gives this number significance particularly when it is noted that 'occupational' fatalities, those occurring in the course of routine operations, are not included. The overall fatality rate secondary to major mishaps was 84.3 per 100 000 FTE worker-years.

Remote Sensing of Forest Loss and Human Land Use to Predict Biodiversity Impacts in Myanmar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connette, G.; Huang, Q.; Leimgruber, P.; Songer, M.

2017-12-01

Myanmar's ongoing transition from military rule towards a democratic government has largely ended decades of economic isolation. The resulting expansion of foreign investment, infrastructure development, and natural resource extraction has led to high rates of deforestation and the concurrent loss of critical wildlife habitat. To identify and mitigate the impacts of rapid land use change on Myanmar's globally-unique biodiversity, researchers at Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute have used moderate-resolution satellite imagery to map forest cover change at the national scale, while performing regional- or local-scale analyses to identify ecologically-distinct forest types. At the national scale, forest was lost at a rate of 0.55% annually from 2002-2014. Deforestation was more pronounced in Myanmar's closed-canopy forests (>80% cover), which experienced an annual rate of forest loss of 0.95%. Studies at regional and local scales show that ecologically-distinct forest types vary considerably in both geographic extent and risk of conversion to human land use. For instance, local deforestation rates around a proposed national park in Myanmar's Tanintharyi Region were 7.83% annually and have been accelerating. Recent integration of such results into wildlife habitat mapping and national conservation planning can play an important role in ensuring that future development in Myanmar is both informed and sustainable.

Years of Life Lost (YLL) in Colombia 1998-2011: Overall and Avoidable Causes of Death Analysis

PubMed Central

Castillo-Rodríguez, Liliana; Díaz-Jiménez, Diana; Castañeda-Orjuela, Carlos; De la Hoz-Restrepo, Fernando

2015-01-01

Objective Estimate the Years of Life Lost (YLL) for overall and avoidable causes of death (CoD) in Colombia for the period 1998-2011. Methods From the reported deaths to the Colombian mortality database during 1998-2011, we classified deaths from avoidable causes. With the reference life table of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 study, we estimated the overall YLL and YLL due to avoidable causes. Calculations were performed with the difference between life expectancy and the age of death. Results are reported by group of cause of death, events, sex, year and department. Comparative analysis between number of deaths and YLL was carried out. Results A total of 83,856,080 YLL were calculated in Colombia during period 1998-2011, 75.9% of them due to avoidable CoD. The year 2000 reported the highest number of missed YLL by both overall and avoidable CoD. The departments with the highest YLL rates were Caquetá, Guaviare, Arauca, Meta, and Risaralda. In men, intentional injuries and cardiovascular and circulatory diseases had the higher losses, while in women YLL were mainly due to cardiovascular and circulatory diseases. Conclusions The public health priorities should focus on preventing the loss of YLL due to premature death and differentiated interventions by sex. PMID:25942009

Parental mortality rates in a western country after the death of a child: assessment of the role of the child's sex.

PubMed

Werthmann, Jessica; Smits, Luc J M; Li, Jiong

2010-02-01

Loss of a child has been associated with elevated mortality rates in parents. Studies that focus on the influence of the child's sex on parental mortality are sparse. The main objective of the present study was to reevaluate the combined impact of the parents' and child's sex within a larger sample and focus on adverse health effects as an objective measure of possible long-term effects of maladaptive grief reactions. For the time period between 1980 and 1996, all children in Denmark who died before 18 years of age were identified. Parents who had lost a child were identified as the bereaved (exposed) group. Mortality rates of parents within the same-sex parent-child dyad were compared with mortality rates of parents within the opposite-sex parent-child dyad. Separate analyses were performed for bereaved fathers and for bereaved mothers, and additional analyses were conducted to examine the sole effect of the child's sex, irrespective of parental gender. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs. The study population consisted of 21,062 parents (mean age at entry, 32 years; 11,221 mothers, 9841 fathers). Bereaved parents who had lost a child of the same sex had similar overall mortality as bereaved parents who had lost a child of the opposite sex (HR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.85-1.22). Similar findings were observed for mortality due to natural death (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.78-1.18) or mortality due to unnatural death (HR = 1.22; 95% CI, 0.84-1.77). Bereaved fathers who had lost a son had similar mortality as those bereaved by the death of a daughter (HR = 1.10; 95% CI, 0.86-1.40). Bereaved mothers who had lost a daughter had similar mortality as those bereaved by the death of a son (HR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.70-1.22). Bereaved parents who had lost a son had mortality rates similar to those who had lost a daughter (HR = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.91-1.31). The interactions between grouping variable and sex of parents were not significant, indicating that the differential effect of losing a child based on sex of the child was not greater for fathers than for mothers. The results of this study revealed no significant effect of sex of the deceased child on mortality in these bereaved parents. The results might differ if this study was replicated in a population with a different grief culture and, more importantly, different gender schemas. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons and other trace gases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James; Lacis, Andrew; Prather, Michael

1989-01-01

A comparison is made of the radiative (greenhouse) forcing of the climate system due to changes of atmospheric chlorofluorocarbons and other trace gases. It is found that CFCs, defined to include chlorofluorocarbons, chlorocarbons, and fluorocarbons, now provide about one-quater of current annual increases in anthropogenic greenhouse climate forcing. If the growth rates of CFC production in the early 1970s had continued to the present, current annual growth of climate forcing due to CFCs would exceed that due to CO2.

TH-36 full closure construction evaluation of traffic operations alternatives.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-01-01

According to the 2007 Urban Mobility Report, $78 billion was lost due to congestion on urban roadways. Many : urban corridors around the country experience demand that is close to or greater than the available capacity. : Although most agree that the...

Economics and Migration: NAFTA’s Impact on Mexico

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-28

immigrants to the U.S. 1 No nation was ever ruined by trade, even seemingly the most disadvantageous . -Benjamin...NAFTA forced rural farmers to cultivate marginal land due to lost income caused by falling commodity prices, leading to extensive deforestation in

Education Industry, Spring 2008

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

lost over $2 billion dollars in business revenue due to cultural misunderstandings and over 30% of the firms stated that a monolingual workforce...1 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language – Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company (2000): 569. 2 Ibid., 895. 3 The New

12 CFR 18.4 - Contents of annual disclosure statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... the preceding year. The annual disclosure statement may, at the option of bank management, consist of... schedules. (1) For national banks: (i) Schedule RC (Balance Sheet); (ii) Schedule RC-N (Past Due and... narrative. Bank management may, at its option, provide a narrative discussion to supplement the annual...

Lost productivity due to premature mortality in developed and emerging countries: an application to smoking cessation.

PubMed

Menzin, Joseph; Marton, Jeno P; Menzin, Jordan A; Willke, Richard J; Woodward, Rebecca M; Federico, Victoria

2012-06-25

Researchers and policy makers have determined that accounting for productivity costs, or "indirect costs," may be as important as including direct medical expenditures when evaluating the societal value of health interventions. These costs are also important when estimating the global burden of disease. The estimation of indirect costs is commonly done on a country-specific basis. However, there are few studies that evaluate indirect costs across countries using a consistent methodology. Using the human capital approach, we developed a model that estimates productivity costs as the present value of lifetime earnings (PVLE) lost due to premature mortality. Applying this methodology, the model estimates productivity costs for 29 selected countries, both developed and emerging. We also provide an illustration of how the inclusion of productivity costs contributes to an analysis of the societal burden of smoking. A sensitivity analysis is undertaken to assess productivity costs on the basis of the friction cost approach. PVLE estimates were higher for certain subpopulations, such as men, younger people, and people in developed countries. In the case study, productivity cost estimates from our model showed that productivity loss was a substantial share of the total cost burden of premature mortality due to smoking, accounting for over 75 % of total lifetime costs in the United States and 67 % of total lifetime costs in Brazil. Productivity costs were much lower using the friction cost approach among those of working age. Our PVLE model is a novel tool allowing researchers to incorporate the value of lost productivity due to premature mortality into economic analyses of treatments for diseases or health interventions. We provide PVLE estimates for a number of emerging and developed countries. Including productivity costs in a health economics study allows for a more comprehensive analysis, and, as demonstrated by our illustration, can have important effects on the results and conclusions.

The quality-of-life burden of knee osteoarthritis in New Zealand adults: A model-based evaluation

PubMed Central

Wilson, Ross; Hansen, Paul; Losina, Elena

2017-01-01

Background Knee osteoarthritis is a leading global cause of health-related quality of life loss. The aim of this project was to quantify health losses arising from knee osteoarthritis in New Zealand (NZ) in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost. Methods The Osteoarthritis Policy Model (OAPol), a validated Monte Carlo computer simulation model, was used to estimate QALYs lost due to knee osteoarthritis in the NZ adult population aged 40–84 over their lifetimes from the base year of 2006 until death. Data were from the NZ Health Survey, NZ Burden of Diseases, NZ Census, and relevant literature. QALYs were derived from NZ EQ-5D value set 2. Sensitivity to health state valuation, disease and pain prevalence were assessed in secondary analyses. Results Based on NZ EQ-5D health state valuations, mean health losses due to knee osteoarthritis over people’s lifetimes in NZ are 3.44 QALYs per person, corresponding to 467,240 QALYs across the adult population. Average estimated per person QALY losses are higher for non-Māori females (3.55) than Māori females (3.38), and higher for non-Māori males (3.34) than Māori males (2.60). The proportion of QALYs lost out of the total quality-adjusted life expectancy for those without knee osteoarthritis is similar across all subgroups, ranging from 20 to 23 percent. Conclusions At both the individual and population levels, knee osteoarthritis is responsible for large lifetime QALY losses. QALY losses are higher for females than males due to greater prevalence of knee osteoarthritis and higher life expectancy, and lower for Māori than non-Māori due to lower life expectancy. Large health gains are potentially realisable from public health and policy measures aimed at decreasing incidence, progression, pain, and disability of osteoarthritis. PMID:29065119

Lost productivity due to premature mortality in developed and emerging countries: an application to smoking cessation

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Researchers and policy makers have determined that accounting for productivity costs, or “indirect costs,” may be as important as including direct medical expenditures when evaluating the societal value of health interventions. These costs are also important when estimating the global burden of disease. The estimation of indirect costs is commonly done on a country-specific basis. However, there are few studies that evaluate indirect costs across countries using a consistent methodology. Methods Using the human capital approach, we developed a model that estimates productivity costs as the present value of lifetime earnings (PVLE) lost due to premature mortality. Applying this methodology, the model estimates productivity costs for 29 selected countries, both developed and emerging. We also provide an illustration of how the inclusion of productivity costs contributes to an analysis of the societal burden of smoking. A sensitivity analysis is undertaken to assess productivity costs on the basis of the friction cost approach. Results PVLE estimates were higher for certain subpopulations, such as men, younger people, and people in developed countries. In the case study, productivity cost estimates from our model showed that productivity loss was a substantial share of the total cost burden of premature mortality due to smoking, accounting for over 75 % of total lifetime costs in the United States and 67 % of total lifetime costs in Brazil. Productivity costs were much lower using the friction cost approach among those of working age. Conclusions Our PVLE model is a novel tool allowing researchers to incorporate the value of lost productivity due to premature mortality into economic analyses of treatments for diseases or health interventions. We provide PVLE estimates for a number of emerging and developed countries. Including productivity costs in a health economics study allows for a more comprehensive analysis, and, as demonstrated by our illustration, can have important effects on the results and conclusions. PMID:22731620

The burden of disease attributable to cannabis use in Canada in 2012.

PubMed

Imtiaz, Sameer; Shield, Kevin D; Roerecke, Michael; Cheng, Joyce; Popova, Svetlana; Kurdyak, Paul; Fischer, Benedikt; Rehm, Jürgen

2016-04-01

Cannabis use is associated with several adverse health effects. However, little is known about the cannabis-attributable burden of disease. This study quantified the age-, sex- and adverse health effect-specific cannabis-attributable (1) mortality, (2) years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs), (3) years of life lost due to disability (YLDs) and (4) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Canada in 2012. Epidemiological modeling. Canada. Canadians aged ≥ 15 years in 2012. Using comparative risk assessment methodology, cannabis-attributable fractions were computed using Canadian exposure data and risk relations from large studies or meta-analyses. Outcome data were obtained from Canadian databases and the World Health Organization. The 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using Monte Carlo methodology. Cannabis use was estimated to have caused 287 deaths (95% CI = 108, 609), 10,533 YLLs (95% CI = 4760, 20,833), 55,813 YLDs (95% CI = 38,175, 74,094) and 66,346 DALYs (95% CI = 47,785, 87,207), based on causal impacts on cannabis use disorders, schizophrenia, lung cancer and road traffic injuries. Cannabis-attributable burden of disease was highest among young people, and males accounted for twice the burden than females. Cannabis use disorders were the most important single cause of the cannabis-attributable burden of disease. The cannabis-attributable burden of disease in Canada in 2012 included 55,813 years of life lost due to disability, caused mainly by cannabis use disorders. Although the cannabis-attributable burden of disease was substantial, it was much lower compared with other commonly used legal and illegal substances. Moreover, the evidence base for cannabis-attributable harms was smaller. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Incidence and Costs of Clostridium difficile Infections in Canada.

PubMed

Levy, Adrian R; Szabo, Shelagh M; Lozano-Ortega, Greta; Lloyd-Smith, Elisa; Leung, Victor; Lawrence, Robin; Romney, Marc G

2015-09-01

Background.  Limited data are available on direct medical costs and lost productivity due to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Canada. Methods.  We developed an economic model to estimate the costs of managing hospitalized and community-dwelling patients with CDI in Canada. The number of episodes was projected based on publicly available national rates of hospital-associated CDI and the estimate that 64% of all CDI is hospital-associated. Clostridium difficile infection recurrences were classified as relapses or reinfections. Resource utilization data came from published literature, clinician interviews, and Canadian CDI surveillance programs, and this included the following: hospital length of stay, contact with healthcare providers, pharmacotherapy, laboratory testing, and in-hospital procedures. Lost productivity was considered for those under 65 years of age, and the economic impact was quantified using publicly available labor statistics. Unit costs were obtained from published sources and presented in 2012 Canadian dollars. Results.  There were an estimated 37 900 CDI episodes in Canada in 2012; 7980 (21%) of these were relapses, out of a total of 10 900 (27%) episodes of recurrence. The total cost to society of CDI was estimated at $281 million; 92% ($260 million) was in-hospital costs, 4% ($12 million) was direct medical costs in the community, and 4% ($10 million) was due to lost productivity. Management of CDI relapses alone accounted for $65.1 million (23%). Conclusions.  The largest proportion of costs due to CDI in Canada arise from extra days of hospitalization. Interventions reducing the severity of infection and/or relapses leading to rehospitalizations are likely to have the largest absolute effect on direct medical costs.

Incidence and Costs of Clostridium difficile Infections in Canada

PubMed Central

Levy, Adrian R.; Szabo, Shelagh M.; Lozano-Ortega, Greta; Lloyd-Smith, Elisa; Leung, Victor; Lawrence, Robin; Romney, Marc G.

2015-01-01

Background. Limited data are available on direct medical costs and lost productivity due to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Canada. Methods. We developed an economic model to estimate the costs of managing hospitalized and community-dwelling patients with CDI in Canada. The number of episodes was projected based on publicly available national rates of hospital-associated CDI and the estimate that 64% of all CDI is hospital-associated. Clostridium difficile infection recurrences were classified as relapses or reinfections. Resource utilization data came from published literature, clinician interviews, and Canadian CDI surveillance programs, and this included the following: hospital length of stay, contact with healthcare providers, pharmacotherapy, laboratory testing, and in-hospital procedures. Lost productivity was considered for those under 65 years of age, and the economic impact was quantified using publicly available labor statistics. Unit costs were obtained from published sources and presented in 2012 Canadian dollars. Results. There were an estimated 37 900 CDI episodes in Canada in 2012; 7980 (21%) of these were relapses, out of a total of 10 900 (27%) episodes of recurrence. The total cost to society of CDI was estimated at $281 million; 92% ($260 million) was in-hospital costs, 4% ($12 million) was direct medical costs in the community, and 4% ($10 million) was due to lost productivity. Management of CDI relapses alone accounted for $65.1 million (23%). Conclusions. The largest proportion of costs due to CDI in Canada arise from extra days of hospitalization. Interventions reducing the severity of infection and/or relapses leading to rehospitalizations are likely to have the largest absolute effect on direct medical costs. PMID:26191534

Technologies for the marking of fishing gear to identify gear components entangled on marine animals and to reduce abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear.

PubMed

He, Pingguo; Suuronen, Petri

2018-04-01

Fishing gears are marked to establish and inform origin, ownership and position. More recently, fishing gears are marked to aid in capacity control, reduce marine litter due to abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) and assist in its recovery, and to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Traditionally, physical marking, inscription, writing, color, shape, and tags have been used for ownership and capacity purposes. Buoys, lights, flags, and radar reflectors are used for marking of position. More recently, electronic devices have been installed on marker buoys to enable easier relocation of the gear by owner vessels. This paper reviews gear marking technologies with focus on coded wire tags, radio frequency identification tags, Automatic Identification Systems, advanced electronic buoys for pelagic longlines and fish aggregating devices, and re-location technology if the gear becomes lost. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Disability due to mental illness: social security benefits in Brazil 2008-2011].

PubMed

Silva Junior, João Silvestre da; Fischer, Frida Marina

2014-02-01

This communication aimed to analyze the profile variation of disability benefits due to mental disorders. Secondary data published by Brazilian Social Security between 2008 and 2011 were evaluated. Mean annual variation rates over the period were calculated for the economically active population, as were the number insured, paid out overall sickness benefits and for mental and behavioral disorders. Mental disorders are the third most common reason for disability benefits. There was an average annual increase of 0.3% in new benefit claims, with a 2.5% fall in mean annual incidence. Work-related disease was identified in 6.2% of cases, most of it due to mood disorders. The government should use the data from the Social Security Institute to support a debate of public policies regarding mental health.

Citrus cyopreservation: viability of diverse taxa and histological observations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Diverse citrus cultivars maintained clonally within gene banks serve as valuable resources for research and breeding programs worldwide. These critical collections are kept as trees within field, screenhouse, or greenhouse collections. These ex situ collections are at risk of being lost due to unfor...

Constrained ripple optimization of Tokamak bundle divertors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hively, L.M.; Rome, J.A.; Lynch, V.E.

1983-02-01

Magnetic field ripple from a tokamak bundle divertor is localized to a small toroidal sector and must be treated differently from the usual (distributed) toroidal field (TF) coil ripple. Generally, in a tokamak with an unoptimized divertor design, all of the banana-trapped fast ions are quickly lost due to banana drift diffusion or to trapping between the 1/R variation in absolute value vector B ..xi.. B and local field maxima due to the divertor. A computer code has been written to optimize automatically on-axis ripple subject to these constraints, while varying up to nine design parameters. Optimum configurations have lowmore » on-axis ripple (<0.2%) so that, now, most banana-trapped fast ions are confined. Only those ions with banana tips near the outside region (absolute value theta < or equal to 45/sup 0/) are lost. However, because finite-sized TF coils have not been used in this study, the flux bundle is not expanded.« less

Star tracker operation in a high density proton field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miklus, Kenneth J.; Kissh, Frank; Flynn, David J.

1993-01-01

Algorithms that reject transient signals due to proton effects on charge coupled device (CCD) sensors have been implemented in the HDOS ASTRA-l Star Trackers to be flown on the TOPEX mission scheduled for launch in July 1992. A unique technique for simulating a proton-rich environment to test trackers is described, as well as the test results obtained. Solar flares or an orbit that passes through the South Atlantic Anomaly can subject the vehicle to very high proton flux levels. There are three ways in which spurious proton generated signals can impact tracker performance: the many false signals can prevent or extend the time to acquire a star; a proton-generated signal can compromise the accuracy of the star's reported magnitude and position; and the tracked star can be lost, requiring reacquisition. Tests simulating a proton-rich environment were performed on two ASTRA-1 Star Trackers utilizing these new algorithms. There were no false acquisitions, no lost stars, and a significant reduction in reported position errors due to these improvements.

Uncertainties in the measurements of water-soluble organic nitrogen in the aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Kiyoshi; Yamato, Koki

2016-11-01

In order to evaluate the positive and negative artifacts in the measurements of the water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) in the aerosols by filter sampling, comparative experiments between the filter sampling and denuder-filter sampling were conducted during both the warm and cold seasons. The results suggest that the traditional filter sampling underestimates the concentrations of the particulate WSON due to its volatilization loss, but this effect on the ratio of the WSON to the water-soluble total nitrogen (WSTN) was small probably because inorganic nitrogen species were also lost during the filter sampling. Approximately 32.5% of the WSON in the PM2.5 was estimated to be lost during the filter sampling. The denuder-filter sampling also demonstrated the existence of the WSON in the gas phase with approximately quarter concentrations of the WSON in the PM2.5. On the other hand, the filter sampling would overestimate the gaseous WSON concentration due to the loss of the WSON from the aerosol collection filter.

Early loss of Crebbp confers malignant stem cell properties on lymphoid progenitors.

PubMed

Horton, Sarah J; Giotopoulos, George; Yun, Haiyang; Vohra, Shabana; Sheppard, Olivia; Bashford-Rogers, Rachael; Rashid, Mamunur; Clipson, Alexandra; Chan, Wai-In; Sasca, Daniel; Yiangou, Loukia; Osaki, Hikari; Basheer, Faisal; Gallipoli, Paolo; Burrows, Natalie; Erdem, Ayşegül; Sybirna, Anastasiya; Foerster, Sarah; Zhao, Wanfeng; Sustic, Tonci; Petrunkina Harrison, Anna; Laurenti, Elisa; Okosun, Jessica; Hodson, Daniel; Wright, Penny; Smith, Ken G; Maxwell, Patrick; Fitzgibbon, Jude; Du, Ming Q; Adams, David J; Huntly, Brian J P

2017-09-01

Loss-of-function mutations of cyclic-AMP response element binding protein, binding protein (CREBBP) are prevalent in lymphoid malignancies. However, the tumour suppressor functions of CREBBP remain unclear. We demonstrate that loss of Crebbp in murine haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) leads to increased development of B-cell lymphomas. This is preceded by accumulation of hyperproliferative lymphoid progenitors with a defective DNA damage response (DDR) due to a failure to acetylate p53. We identify a premalignant lymphoma stem cell population with decreased H3K27ac, which undergoes transcriptional and genetic evolution due to the altered DDR, resulting in lymphomagenesis. Importantly, when Crebbp is lost later in lymphopoiesis, cellular abnormalities are lost and tumour generation is attenuated. We also document that CREBBP mutations may occur in HSPCs from patients with CREBBP-mutated lymphoma. These data suggest that earlier loss of Crebbp is advantageous for lymphoid transformation and inform the cellular origins and subsequent evolution of lymphoid malignancies.

An ensemble survival model for estimating relative residual longevity following stroke: Application to mortality data in the chronic dialysis population

PubMed Central

Phadnis, Milind A; Wetmore, James B; Shireman, Theresa I; Ellerbeck, Edward F; Mahnken, Jonathan D

2016-01-01

Time-dependent covariates can be modeled within the Cox regression framework and can allow both proportional and nonproportional hazards for the risk factor of research interest. However, in many areas of health services research, interest centers on being able to estimate residual longevity after the occurrence of a particular event such as stroke. The survival trajectory of patients experiencing a stroke can be potentially influenced by stroke type (hemorrhagic or ischemic), time of the stroke (relative to time zero), time since the stroke occurred, or a combination of these factors. In such situations, researchers are more interested in estimating lifetime lost due to stroke rather than merely estimating the relative hazard due to stroke. To achieve this, we propose an ensemble approach using the generalized gamma distribution by means of a semi-Markov type model with an additive hazards extension. Our modeling framework allows stroke as a time-dependent covariate to affect all three parameters (location, scale, and shape) of the generalized gamma distribution. Using the concept of relative times, we answer the research question by estimating residual life lost due to ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in the chronic dialysis population. PMID:26403934

An ensemble survival model for estimating relative residual longevity following stroke: Application to mortality data in the chronic dialysis population.

PubMed

Phadnis, Milind A; Wetmore, James B; Shireman, Theresa I; Ellerbeck, Edward F; Mahnken, Jonathan D

2017-12-01

Time-dependent covariates can be modeled within the Cox regression framework and can allow both proportional and nonproportional hazards for the risk factor of research interest. However, in many areas of health services research, interest centers on being able to estimate residual longevity after the occurrence of a particular event such as stroke. The survival trajectory of patients experiencing a stroke can be potentially influenced by stroke type (hemorrhagic or ischemic), time of the stroke (relative to time zero), time since the stroke occurred, or a combination of these factors. In such situations, researchers are more interested in estimating lifetime lost due to stroke rather than merely estimating the relative hazard due to stroke. To achieve this, we propose an ensemble approach using the generalized gamma distribution by means of a semi-Markov type model with an additive hazards extension. Our modeling framework allows stroke as a time-dependent covariate to affect all three parameters (location, scale, and shape) of the generalized gamma distribution. Using the concept of relative times, we answer the research question by estimating residual life lost due to ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in the chronic dialysis population.

The impact of biotic/abiotic interfaces in mineral nutrient cycling: A study of soils of the Santa Cruz chronosequence, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

White, A.F.; Schulz, M.S.; Vivit, D.V.; Bullen, T.D.; Fitzpatrick, J.

2012-01-01

Biotic/abiotic interactions between soil mineral nutrients and annual grassland vegetation are characterized for five soils in a marine terrace chronosequence near Santa Cruz, California. A Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and dry summers, controls the annual cycle of plant growth and litter decomposition, resulting in net above-ground productivities of 280-600gm -2yr -1. The biotic/abiotic (A/B) interface separates seasonally reversible nutrient gradients, reflecting biological cycling in the shallower soils, from downward chemical weathering gradients in the deeper soils. The A/B interface is pedologically defined by argillic clay horizons centered at soil depths of about one meter which intensify with soil age. Below these horizons, elevated solute Na/Ca, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios reflect plagioclase and smectite weathering along pore water flow paths. Above the A/B interface, lower cation ratios denote temporal variability due to seasonal plant nutrient uptake and litter leaching. Potassium and Ca exhibit no seasonal variability beneath the A/B interface, indicating closed nutrient cycling within the root zone, whereas Mg variability below the A/B interface denotes downward leakage resulting from higher inputs of marine aerosols and lower plant nutrient requirements.The fraction of a mineral nutrient annually cycled through the plants, compared to that lost from pore water discharge, is defined their respective fluxes F j,plants=q j,plants/(q j,plants+q j,discharge) with average values for K and Ca (F K,plants=0.99; F Ca,plants=0.93) much higher than for Mg and Na (F Mg,plants 0.64; F Na,plants=0.28). The discrimination against Rb and Sr by plants is described by fractionation factors (K Sr/Ca=0.86; K Rb/K=0.83) which are used in Rayleigh fractionation-mixing calculations to fit seasonal patterns in solute K and Ca cycling. K Rb/K and K24Mg/22Mg values (derived from isotope data in the literature) fall within fractionation envelopes bounded by inputs from rainfall and mineral weathering. K Sr/Ca and K44Ca/40Ca fractionation factors fall outside these envelopes indicating that Ca nutrient cycling is closed to these external inputs. Small net positive K and Ca fluxes (6-14molm -2yr -1), based on annual mass balances, indicate that the soils are accumulating mineral nutrients, probably as a result of long-term environmental disequilibrium. ?? 2011.

Economic costs of nonmedical use of prescription opioids.

PubMed

Hansen, Ryan N; Oster, Gerry; Edelsberg, John; Woody, George E; Sullivan, Sean D

2011-01-01

Although the economic costs of substance misuse have been extensively examined in the published literature, information on the costs of nonmedical use of prescription opioids is much more limited, despite being a significant and rapidly growing problem in the United States. We estimated the current economic burden of nonmedical use of prescription opioids in the United States in terms of direct substance abuse treatment, medical complications, productivity loss, and criminal justice. We distributed our broad cost estimates among the various drugs of misuse, including prescription opioids, down to the individual drug level. In 2006, the estimated total cost in the United States of nonmedical use of prescription opioids was $53.4 billion, of which $42 billion (79%) was attributable to lost productivity, $8.2 billion (15%) to criminal justice costs, $2.2 billion (4%) to drug abuse treatment, and $944 million to medical complications (2%). Five drugs--OxyContin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, propoxyphene, and methadone--accounted for two-thirds of the total economic burden. The economic cost of nonmedical use of prescription opioids in the United States totals more than $50 billion annually; lost productivity and crime account for the vast majority (94%) of these costs.

Temporal and spatial distribution of endangered juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers in relation to environmental variables in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: 2009 annual data summary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bottcher, Jared L.; Burdick, Summer M.

2010-01-01

Lost River sucker (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris) were listed as endangered in 1988 for a variety of reasons including apparent recruitment failure. Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and its tributaries are considered the most critical remaining habitat for these two species. Age-0 suckers are often abundant in Upper Klamath Lake throughout the summer months, but catches decline dramatically between late August and early September each year. Similar declines of age-1 suckers between spring and late summer also occur annually. These rapid declines in catch rates and a lack of substantial recruitment into adult sucker populations in recent years suggests sucker populations experience high mortality between their first summer and first spawn. Summer age-0 sucker habitat use and distribution have been studied extensively, but many uncertainties remain about age-1 and older juvenile habitat use, distribution, and movement patterns within Upper Klamath Lake. This study was designed to examine seasonal changes in distribution of age-1 suckers in Upper Klamath Lake as they relate to depth and water quality. The results of our third annual spring and summer sampling effort are presented in this report. Catch data collected in 2009 indicate seasonal changes in age-1 and older juvenile sucker habitat use coincident with changes in water quality. Although age-1 sucker catch rates were again concentrated along the western shore in June and early July, as they were in 2007 and 2008, very few age-1 suckers were captured in Eagle Ridge Trench in 2009 - a deepwater area along the western shore extending from Howard Bay to Eagle Ridge Point. Instead, suckers in 2009 were concentrated in the relatively shallow bays along the western shore. Nevertheless, as dissolved-oxygen concentrations decreased in mid-July below sublethal thresholds around the Eagle Ridge Trench, age-1 suckers apparently moved away from the western shore, and subsequently were captured in main lake areas and the eastern shore. Age-1 suckers were noticeably absent from the tributaries of Upper Klamath Lake during periods of chronically low dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the lake, refuting a previously untested hypothesis that tributaries were important age-1 sucker refuge habitats. In addition, declines in overall catch rates for age-1 suckers in August and September, despite intensive sampling, indicates that the apparent declines in abundance may be due to increased mortality and not due to sampling the wrong environments or poor detection probability. The remote detection of an age-1 juvenile sucker tagged in Short Creek and subsequently recaptured in the Link River array, more than 30 kilometers away, indicates the capacity of juvenile suckers to migrate relatively long distances. This knowledge, coupled with other remotely detected suckers in the Williamson River, indicates that juvenile sucker movement in Upper Klamath Lake may be common. In order to better quantify movement and potentially survival, future research should focus on tagging more juvenile suckers and taking advantage of the significant passive integrated transponder tag infrastructure throughout Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries. In this data summary, we also describe the distribution of age-0 suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries. These data corroborate findings from 2007 and 2008, which describe age-0 sucker habitat as shallow relative to depths available in Upper Klamath Lake. Similar to age-1 suckers, age-0 sucker abundances also appeared to decline in late summer, despite continued sampling throughout Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries. In addition to low dissolved-oxygen concentrations, increased opercle deformity and anchor worm (Lernaea spp.) infection rates, as well as increased abundances of fathead minnows and other piscivorous non-native fish, may provide potential insight into the causes of juvenile sucker rarity. Opercle deformity r

Development of environmental friendly lost circulation material from banana peel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sauki, Arina; Hasan, Nur â.€˜Izzati; Naimi, Fardelen Binti Md; Othman, Nur Hidayati

2017-12-01

Loss of expensive mud could lead to major financial problem in executing a drilling project and is one of the biggest problems that need to be tackled during drilling. Synthetic Based Mud (SBM) is the most stable state of the art drilling mud used in current drilling technologies. However, the problem with lost circulation is still inevitable. The focus of this project is to develop a new potential waste material from banana peel in order to combat lost circulation in SBM. Standard industrial Lost Circulation Material (LCM) is used to compare the performance of banana peel as LCM in SBM. The effects of different sizing of banana peels (600 micron, 300 micron and 100 micron) were studied on the rheological and filtration properties of SBM and the bridging performance of banana peel as LCM additive. The tests were conducted using viscometer, HTHP filter press and sand bed tester. Thermal analysis of banana peel was also studied using TGA. According to the results obtained, 300 and 100 micron size of banana peel LCM exhibited an improved bridging performance by 65% as compared to industrial LCM. However, banana peel LCM with the size of 600 micron failed to act as LCM due to the total invasion of mud into the sand bed.

Dying for work: The magnitude of US mortality from selected causes of death associated with occupation.

PubMed

Steenland, Kyle; Burnett, Carol; Lalich, Nina; Ward, Elizabeth; Hurrell, Joseph

2003-05-01

Deaths due to occupational disease and injury place a heavy burden on society in terms of economic costs and human suffering. We estimate the annual deaths due to selected diseases for which an occupational association is reasonably well established and quantifiable, by calculation of attributable fractions (AFs), with full documentation; the deaths due to occupational injury are then added to derive an estimated number of annual deaths due to occupation. Using 1997 US mortality data, the estimated annual burden of occupational disease mortality resulting from selected respiratory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and hepatitis is 49,000, with a range from 26,000 to 72,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are about 6,200 work-related injury deaths annually. Adding disease and injury data, we estimate that there are a total of 55,200 US deaths annually resulting from occupational disease or injury (range 32,200-78,200). Our estimate is in the range reported by previous investigators, although we have restricted ourselves more than others to only those diseases with well-established occupational etiology, biasing our estimates conservatively. The underlying assumptions and data used to generate the estimates are well documented, so our estimates may be updated as new data emerges on occupational risks and exposed populations, providing an advantage over previous studies. We estimate that occupational deaths are the 8th leading cause of death in the US, after diabetes (64,751) but ahead of suicide (30,575), and greater than the annual number of motor vehicle deaths per year (43,501). Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Environmental setting, water budget, and stream assessment for the Broad Run watershed, Chester County, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cinotto, Peter J.; Reif, Andrew G.; Olson, Leif E.

2005-01-01

The Broad Run watershed lies almost entirely in West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pa., and drains 7.08 square miles to the West Branch Brandywine Creek. Because of the potential effect of encroaching development and other stresses on the Broad Run watershed, West Bradford Township, the Chester County Water Resources Authority, and the Chester County Health Department entered into a cooperative study with the U.S. Geological Survey to complete an annual water budget and stream assessment of overall conditions. The annual water budget quantified the basic parameters of the hydrologic cycle for the climatic conditions present from April 1, 2003, to March 31, 2004. These water-budget data identified immediate needs and (or) deficits that were present within the hydrologic cycle during that period, if present; however, an annual water budget encompassing a single year does not identify long-term trends. The stream assessment was conducted in two parts and assessed the overall condition of the watershed, an overall assessment of the fluvial-geomorphic conditions within the watershed and an overall assessment of the stream-quality conditions. The data collected will document present (2004) conditions and identify potential vulnerabilities to future disturbances. For the annual period from April 1, 2003, to March 31, 2004, determination of an annual water budget indicated that of the 67.8 inches of precipitation that fell on the Broad Run watershed, 38.8 inches drained by way of streamflow to the West Branch Brandywine Creek. Of this 38.8 inches of streamflow, local-minimum hydrograph separation techniques determined that 7.30 inches originated from direct runoff and 31.5 inches originated from base flow. The remaining precipitation went into ground-water storage (1.71 inches) and was lost to evapotranspiration (27.3 inches). Ground-water recharge for this period-35.2 inches-was based on these values and an estimated ground-water evapotranspiration rate of 2 inches. Assessment of fluvial-geomorphic conditions included large-scale mapping of stream classes within the Broad Run watershed and in-depth study of three representative stream reaches also within the Broad Run watershed. Based on the total distance of all stream reaches classified within the Broad Run watershed, 61 percent were classified as C-class, 14 percent as E-class, 13 percent as B-class, 5 percent as F-class, 4 percent as undifferentiated B- and F-class, 2 percent as G-class, and less than 1 percent as A-class. The map of stream classes indicates that the Broad Run watershed currently has no large-scale areas of stream impairment and that, generally, the stream is not entrenched and the main branch of the Broad Run has an available, functioning flood plain. Smaller tributary streams, however, showed signs of localized entrenchment due to site-specific influences such as natural stream-channel evolution, localized channelization, localized contraction due to road and driveway crossings, and (or) increased localized runoff. For example, one small reach along a tributary channel was observed to become entrenched due to runoff originating from a new housing development. Entrenched stream reaches are merely located by large-scale mapping and require individual assessment to determine potential causes of entrenchment and (or) future restorative actions. Three in-depth geomorphic study sites showed that the Broad Run can currently be considered graded or in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The sites did, however, identify certain vulnerabilities to future changes within the watershed. These vulnerabilities included disruption of the present sediment supply, including both increases and (or) reductions in the current sediment loads within the Broad Run; increases in both magnitude and duration of storm-water runoff; encroachment of development onto present flood-plain areas, and (or) alterations to riparian zones. Assessment of stream-quality conditions includ

Effect of inter- and intra-annual thermohaline variability on acoustic propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Peter C.; McDonald, Colleen M.; Kucukosmanoglu, Murat; Judono, Albert; Margolina, Tetyana; Fan, Chenwu

2017-05-01

This paper is to answer the question "How can inter- and intra-annual variability in the ocean be leveraged by the submarine Force?" through quantifying inter- and intra-annual variability in (T, S) fields and in turn underwater acoustic characteristics such as transmission loss, signal excess, and range of detection. The Navy's Generalized Digital Environmental Model (GDEM) is the climatological monthly mean data and represents mean annual variability. An optimal spectral decomposition method is used to produce a synoptic monthly gridded (SMG) (T, S) dataset for the world oceans with 1° ×1° horizontal resolution, 28 vertical levels (surface to 3,000 m depth), monthly time increment from January 1945 to December 2014 now available at the NOAA/NCEI website: http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgibin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0140938. The sound velocity decreases from 1945 to 1975 and increases afterwards due to global climate change. Effect of the inter- and intra-annual (T, S) variability on acoustic propagation in the Yellow Sea is investigated using a well-developed acoustic model (Bellhop) in frequencies from 3.5 kHz to 5 kHz with sound velocity profile (SVP) calculated from GDEM and SMG datasets, various bottom types (silty clay, fine sand, gravelly mud, sandy mud, and cobble or gravel) from the NAVOCEANO`s High Frequency Environmental Algorithms (HFEVA), source and receiver depths. Acoustic propagation ranges are extended drastically due to the inter-annual variability in comparison with the climatological SVP (from GDEM). Submarines' vulnerability of detection as its depth varies and avoidance of short acoustic range due to inter-annual variability are also discussed.

Dynamical diagnostics of the SST annual cycle in the eastern equatorial Pacific: Part II analysis of CMIP5 simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ying-Ying; Jin, Fei-Fei

2017-12-01

In this study, a simple coupled framework established in Part I is utilized to investigate inter-model diversity in simulating the equatorial Pacific SST annual cycle (SSTAC). It demonstrates that the simulated amplitude and phase characteristics of SSTAC in models are controlled by two internal dynamical factors (the damping rate and phase speed) and two external forcing factors (the strength of the annual and semi-annual harmonic forcing). These four diagnostic factors are further condensed into a dynamical response factor and a forcing factor to derive theoretical solutions of amplitude and phase of SSTAC. The theoretical solutions are in remarkable agreement with observations and CMIP5 simulations. The great diversity in the simulated SSTACs is related to the spreads in these dynamic and forcing factors. Most models tend to simulate a weak SSTAC, due to their weak damping rate and annual harmonic forcing. The latter is due to bias in the meridional asymmetry of the annual mean state of the tropical Pacific, represented by the weak cross-equatorial winds in the cold tongue region.

Ozone response to emission reductions in the southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanchard, Charles L.; Hidy, George M.

2018-06-01

Ozone (O3) formation in the southeastern US is studied in relation to nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions using long-term (1990s-2015) surface measurements of the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization (SEARCH) network, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) O3 measurements, and EPA Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) nitrate deposition data. Annual fourth-highest daily peak 8 h O3 mixing ratios at EPA monitoring sites in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi exhibit statistically significant (p < 0.0001) linear correlations with annual NOx emissions in those states between 1996 and 2015. The annual fourth-highest daily peak 8 h O3 mixing ratios declined toward values of ˜ 45-50 ppbv and monthly O3 maxima decreased at rates averaging ˜ 1-1.5 ppbv yr-1. Mean annual total oxidized nitrogen (NOy) mixing ratios at SEARCH sites declined in proportion to NOx emission reductions. CASTNET data show declining wet and dry nitrate deposition since the late 1990s, with total (wet plus dry) nitrate deposition fluxes decreasing linearly in proportion to reductions of NOx emissions by ˜ 60 % in Alabama and Georgia. Annual nitrate deposition rates at Georgia and Alabama CASTNET sites correspond to 30 % of Georgia emission rates and 36 % of Alabama emission rates, respectively. The fraction of NOx emissions lost to deposition has not changed. SEARCH and CASTNET sites exhibit downward trends in mean annual nitric acid (HNO3) concentrations. Observed relationships of O3 to NOz (NOy-NOx) support past model predictions of increases in cycling of NO and increasing responsiveness of O3 to NOx. The study data provide a long-term record that can be used to examine the accuracy of process relationships embedded in modeling efforts. Quantifying observed O3 trends and relating them to reductions in ambient NOy species concentrations offers key insights into processes of general relevance to air quality management and provides important information supporting strategies for reducing O3 mixing ratios.

Water resources in the Big Lost River Basin, south-central Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crosthwaite, E.G.; Thomas, C.A.; Dyer, K.L.

1970-01-01

The Big Lost River basin occupies about 1,400 square miles in south-central Idaho and drains to the Snake River Plain. The economy in the area is based on irrigation agriculture and stockraising. The basin is underlain by a diverse-assemblage of rocks which range, in age from Precambrian to Holocene. The assemblage is divided into five groups on the basis of their hydrologic characteristics. Carbonate rocks, noncarbonate rocks, cemented alluvial deposits, unconsolidated alluvial deposits, and basalt. The principal aquifer is unconsolidated alluvial fill that is several thousand feet thick in the main valley. The carbonate rocks are the major bedrock aquifer. They absorb a significant amount of precipitation and, in places, are very permeable as evidenced by large springs discharging from or near exposures of carbonate rocks. Only the alluvium, carbonate rock and locally the basalt yield significant amounts of water. A total of about 67,000 acres is irrigated with water diverted from the Big Lost River. The annual flow of the river is highly variable and water-supply deficiencies are common. About 1 out of every 2 years is considered a drought year. In the period 1955-68, about 175 irrigation wells were drilled to provide a supplemental water supply to land irrigated from the canal system and to irrigate an additional 8,500 acres of new land. Average. annual precipitation ranged from 8 inches on the valley floor to about 50 inches at some higher elevations during the base period 1944-68. The estimated water yield of the Big Lost River basin averaged 650 cfs (cubic feet per second) for the base period. Of this amount, 150 cfs was transpired by crops, 75 cfs left the basin as streamflow, and 425 cfs left as ground-water flow. A map of precipitation and estimated values of evapotranspiration were used to construct a water-yield map. A distinctive feature of the Big Lost River basin, is the large interchange of water from surface streams into the ground and from the ground into the surface streams. Large quantities of water disappear in the Chilly, Darlington, and other sinks and reappear above Mackay Narrows, above Moore Canal heading, and in other reaches. A cumulative summary of water yield upstream from selected points in the basin is as follows : Above Howell Ranch: water yield: 345 cfs; surface water: 310 cfs; ground water: 35 cfs Above. Mackay Narrows water yield: 450 cfs; surface water: 325 cfs; ground water: 75 cfs; crop evapotranspiration: 50 cfs Above Arco: water yield: 650 cfs; surface water: 75 cfs; ground water: 425 cfs; crop evapotranspiration: 150 cfs Ground-water pumping affects streamflow in reaches , where the stream and water table are continuous, but the effects of pumping were not measured except locally. Pumping depletes the total water supply by the. amount of the pumped water that is evapotranspired by crops. The part of the pumped water that is not consumed percolates into the ground or runs off over the land surface to the stream. The estimated 425 cfs that leaves the basin as ground-water flow is more than adequate for present and foreseeable needs. However because much of the outflow occurs at considerable depth, the quantity that is salvageable is unknown. Both the surface and ground waters are of good quality and are suitable for most uses. Although these waters are low in total dissolved solids, they tend to be hard or very hard.

Near-shore and off-shore habitat use by endangered juvenile Lost River and Shortnose Suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: 2006 data summary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burdick, Summer M.; Wilkens, Alexander X.; VanderKooi, Scott P.

2008-01-01

We continued sampling juvenile suckers in 2006 as part of an effort to develop bioenergetics models for juvenile Lost River and shortnose suckers. This study required us to collect fish to determine growth rates and energy content of juvenile suckers. We followed the sampling protocols and methods described by Hendrixson et al. (2007b) to maintain continuity and facilitate comparisons with data collected in recent years, but sampled at a reduced level of effort compared to previous years (approximately one-third) due to limited funding. Here we present a summary of catch data collected in 2006. Bioenergetics models will be reported separately

Do enteric neurons make hypocretin? ☆

PubMed Central

Baumann, Christian R.; Clark, Erika L.; Pedersen, Nigel P.; Hecht, Jonathan L.; Scammell, Thomas E.

2008-01-01

Hypocretins (orexins) are wake-promoting neuropeptides produced by hypothalamic neurons. These hypocretin-producing cells are lost in people with narcolepsy, possibly due to an autoimmune attack. Prior studies described hypocretin neurons in the enteric nervous system, and these cells could be an additional target of an autoimmune process. We sought to determine whether enteric hypocretin neurons are lost in narcoleptic subjects. Even though we tried several methods (including whole mounts, sectioned tissue, pre-treatment of mice with colchicine, and the use of various primary antisera), we could not identify hypocretin-producing cells in enteric nervous tissue collected from mice or normal human subjects. These results raise doubts about whether enteric neurons produce hypocretin. PMID:18191238

38 CFR 17.158 - Limitations on assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... be entitled to adaptive equipment for more than two automobiles or other conveyances at any one time... the automobiles or conveyances for which adaptive equipment was provided during the applicable four... the eligible person are those where the vehicle was lost due to fire, theft, accident, court action...

38 CFR 17.158 - Limitations on assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... be entitled to adaptive equipment for more than two automobiles or other conveyances at any one time... the automobiles or conveyances for which adaptive equipment was provided during the applicable four... the eligible person are those where the vehicle was lost due to fire, theft, accident, court action...

38 CFR 17.158 - Limitations on assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... be entitled to adaptive equipment for more than two automobiles or other conveyances at any one time... the automobiles or conveyances for which adaptive equipment was provided during the applicable four... the eligible person are those where the vehicle was lost due to fire, theft, accident, court action...

38 CFR 17.158 - Limitations on assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... be entitled to adaptive equipment for more than two automobiles or other conveyances at any one time... the automobiles or conveyances for which adaptive equipment was provided during the applicable four... the eligible person are those where the vehicle was lost due to fire, theft, accident, court action...

38 CFR 17.158 - Limitations on assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... be entitled to adaptive equipment for more than two automobiles or other conveyances at any one time... the automobiles or conveyances for which adaptive equipment was provided during the applicable four... the eligible person are those where the vehicle was lost due to fire, theft, accident, court action...

The ALARM Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerhardt, Ira

2015-01-01

An experiment was conducted over three recent semesters of an introductory calculus course to test whether it was possible to quantify the effect that difficulty with basic algebraic and arithmetic computation had on individual performance. Points lost during the term were classified as being due to either algebraic and arithmetic mistakes…

Mental Disorders and Suicidal Intention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Litman, Robert E.

1987-01-01

Explores use of psychological autopsies to clarify intention in suicide. Compares clinical experience with courtroom experience. Discusses the "decriminalization" of suicide and insurance concerns, mental disorders, and intention to commit suicide. Notes that capacity to have the intent to commit suicide is lost due to mental disorders only under…

Days lost due to disability of diclofenac-induced adverse drug reactions.

PubMed

Thomas, Dixon; Mathew, Molly; Raghavan, C Vijaya; Mohanta, Guru P; Reddy, Y Padmanabha

2012-01-01

Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) is a widely used measure to quantify the burden of diseases or illness. DALYs for a disease is calculated as the sum of the Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality in the population and the equivalent healthy Years Lost due to Disability (YLD). The only difference from the YLD and Days Lost due to Disability (DLD) calculation is that instead of considering the duration of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) in years, it is calculated in days. DLD was measured for diclofenac tablets to prepare the ADR profile. The study was done on the patients (18-65 years old) attending the community pharmacy at Kasaragod district, South India, with prescription of diclofenac tablets. Patients reported ADRs on their next visit to the pharmacy or they had called to the provided phone number and reported it. Disability Weight (DW) was calculated in an analogue scale from 0-1. Zero represent complete health and 1 represent death or equivalent condition. DW was multiplied with occurrence and duration of ADRs in days. About 943 patients received diclofenac tablets in 1000 prescriptions were successfully followed up for possible, probable and definite ADRs. A total of 561 reactions reported in 2010 for diclofenac tablet in the study population. There were 34 different types of ADRs under 12 physiological systems/organs. Most common reactions were on gastrointestinal (GI) system (48%), followed by skin (14%), Central Nervous System (10%), renal (7%), and cardiovascular (7%). Abdominal pain, cramps or flatulence was the highest occurring GI ADR (107), followed by 43 rashes, 42 nausea/vomiting, 37 indigestion, 34 peptic ulcers, 31 edema etc. DLD for peptic ulcer was considerably high (0.078) per 1000 of the study population on diclofenac. The most damaging ADR were peptic ulcer with or without perforation, followed by rash 0.036 DLD and edema 0.027 DLD. There was considerable DLD by acute renal failure (0.012) Steven-Johnson syndrome (0.013) even though few cases were reported. Diclofenac has a complex adverse drug profile. Around 34 types of reactions were reported. Diclofenac was widely prescribed because of the experiential belief of comparative safety with other NSAIDs. The study shows the importance of pharmacovigilance even on the most prescribed medicine. Most disabling ADR for the study population was peptic ulcer with or without perforation. YLD or DLD are useful measures of calculating disability caused by ADRs. Future studies could focus on improving the usefulness & precision of DLD.

Management of Egypt's Surface and Groundwater Resources: Present and Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sultan, M.; Ahmed, M.; Yan, E.; Milewski, A.; Mohamed, L.; Farag, A. Z. A.

2014-12-01

The River Nile is the main source of fresh water in Egypt. Most of Egypt's River Nile water (>85%) originates as precipitation over the Ethiopian highlands and is channeled by the Blue Nile. The construction (years: 2011 to 2017) of the Renaissance Dam (reservoir capacity: 70 x 109m3) on the Blue Nile poses an extreme threat to Egypt's population. If the reservoir was to be filled in 7 years, Egypt will lose (during each of 7 years following dam completion) a minimum of 15 x 109m3 of its annual allocation (55 x 109m3) to reservoir filling (10 x 109m3), evaporation (3.5 x 109m3), and infiltration (1.5 x 109m3). Three solutions are proposed: Solution I takes advantage of the cyclicity of Nile floods and is based on findings from a calibrated (against temporal head data) unconfined 2-dimensional transient groundwater flow model for Lake Nasser and surroundings and a calibrated (against lake levels) surface water model. Models show with time: (1) losses to infiltration will decrease (1975-193: 58.4 109m3; 1993-2001: 43.6 x 109m3) due to silting of Lake bottom and encroachment of excess Lake Nasser water will increase (e.g., 1975-1993: none; 1993-2001: 17 x 109m3). We propose to develop sustainable agricultural in the Western Desert: (1) In high flood years, excess Lake Nasser water (e.g., 1993-2001: 17 x 109m3) is channeled across the plateau bounding (from west) the River Nile valley to artificially recharge the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) that crops out west of the plateau and, (2) in low flood years, we extract the recharged groundwater. Solution II calls on mining the NSAS at reasonable rates. Using temporal (January 2003 - September 2012) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data we estimate the annual depletion rates at 2 x 109m3 due to artificial extraction (1.5 x 109m3) and natural discharge (0.5 x 109m3). Assuming current GRACE depletion rates, the recoverable groundwater (5,180 x 109m3) will last for 2500 years; if we were to quadruple the artificial extraction rates (6 x 109m3), the reservoir will last for some 800 years. Solution III calls on the sustainable utilization of the NSAS groundwater in Sinai that receives an estimated minimum annual modern recharge of 13 x 106m3. Currently, these waters are lost as discharge in water bodies and/or diverted across political boundaries by major NE trending fault systems.

75 FR 76499 - Approval of Investment Adviser Registration Depository Filing Fees

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-08

... annual fees.\\6\\ In 2006, 2008, and 2009 FINRA wrote to the staff again, recommending a two-year, a nine... under $100 million.\\12\\ The recommended annual filing fees due beginning January 1, 2011 are $40 for... Registration Depository annual and initial filing fees that will be charged beginning January 1, 2011. Hearing...

Rainfall interception by annual grass and chaparral . . . losses compared

Treesearch

Edward S. Corbett; Robert P. Crouse

1968-01-01

Loss of precipitation due to interception by annual grass and grass litter was measured during three rainy seasons on the San Dimas Experimental Forest, in southern California. Interception loss from annual grass averaged 7.9 percent; that from mature chaparral cover, 12.8 percent. If chaparral stands were converted to grass, an estimated 1.3 inches of gross...

AN ESTIMATION OF THE EXPOSURE OF THE POPULATION OF ISRAEL TO NATURAL SOURCES OF IONIZING RADIATION.

PubMed

Epstein, L; Koch, J; Riemer, T; Haquin, G; Orion, I

2017-11-01

The radiation dose to the population of Israel due to exposure to natural sources of ionizing radiation was assessed. The main contributor to the dose is radon that accounts for 60% of the exposure to natural sources. The dose due to radon inhalation was assessed by combining the results of a radon survey in single-family houses with the results of a survey in apartments in multi-storey buildings. The average annual dose due to radon inhalation was found to be 1.2 mSv. The dose rate due to exposure to cosmic radiation was assessed using a code that calculates the dose rate at different heights above sea level, taking into account the solar cycle. The annual dose was calculated based on the fraction of time spent indoors and the attenuation provided by buildings and was found to be 0.2 mSv. The annual dose due to external exposure to the terrestrial radionuclides was similarly assessed. The indoor dose rate was calculated using a model that takes into account the concentrations of the natural radionuclides in building materials, the density and the thickness of the walls. The dose rate outdoors was calculated based on the concentrations of the natural radionuclides in different geological units in Israel as measured in an aerial survey and measurements above ground. The annual dose was found to be 0.2 mSv. Doses due to internal exposure other than exposure to radon were also calculated and were found to be 0.4 mSv. The overall annual exposure of the population of Israel to natural sources of ionizing radiation is therefore 2 mSv and ranges between 1.7 and 2.7 mSv. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Burden of disease in the aged, Mexico, 1994].

PubMed

Lozano-Ascencio, R; Frenk-Mora, J; González-Block, M A

1996-01-01

To estimate the disability adjusted life years lost (DALYs) in population over 60 years of age in Mexico during 1994. Years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD) were estimated for 108 diseases, both sexes, and 32 states of the Mexican Republic divided in rural and urban areas in the population over 60 years of age, using the methodology originally proposed by Murray and López adapted to specific local characteristics. The inputs used were: mortality statistics for 1994 (after corrections of under-registration and misclassification), statistics on incidence and prevalence from local epidemiological studies, national health surveys and estimates by the authors. During 1994 the Mexican population over 60 years of age lost 1.8 million DALYs, 59% of which were YLL while 41% were YLD. Most of the burden of disease is due to noncommunicable diseases. The principal health needs of the elderly in Mexico can be divided in two groups: a) those that traditionally are frequent in this age group, such as ischaemic heart disease, diabetes, stroke and b) disabling diseases such as dementia, falls and arthritis as the most important. The use of composite indicators such as DALYs to assess health needs in older adult can help decision-makers and planners to incorporate disabling and lethal diseases within the list of priority needs, thereby achieving greater equity in the assignment of resources to different health care, prevention and rehabilitation programs.

Burden of epilepsy in rural Kenya measured in disability-adjusted life years

PubMed Central

Ibinda, Fredrick; Wagner, Ryan G; Bertram, Melanie Y; Ngugi, Anthony K; Bauni, Evasius; Vos, Theo; Sander, Josemir W; Newton, Charles R

2014-01-01

Objectives The burden of epilepsy, in terms of both morbidity and mortality, is likely to vary depending on the etiology (primary [genetic/unknown] vs. secondary [structural/metabolic]) and with the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). We estimated the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and modeled the remission rates of active convulsive epilepsy (ACE) using epidemiologic data collected over the last decade in rural Kilifi, Kenya. Methods We used measures of prevalence, incidence, and mortality to model the remission of epilepsy using disease-modeling software (DisMod II). DALYs were calculated as the sum of Years Lost to Disability (YLD) and Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature death using the prevalence approach, with disability weights (DWs) from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. DALYs were calculated with R statistical software with the associated uncertainty intervals (UIs) computed by bootstrapping. Results A total of 1,005 (95% UI 797–1,213) DALYs were lost to ACE, which is 433 (95% UI 393–469) DALYs lost per 100,000 people. Twenty-six percent (113/100,000/year, 95% UI 106–117) of the DALYs were due to YLD and 74% (320/100,000/year, 95% UI 248–416) to YLL. Primary epilepsy accounted for fewer DALYs than secondary epilepsy (98 vs. 334 DALYs per 100,000 people). Those taking AEDs contributed fewer DALYs than those not taking AEDs (167 vs. 266 DALYs per 100,000 people). The proportion of people with ACE in remission per year was estimated at 11.0% in males and 12.0% in females, with highest rates in the 0–5 year age group. Significance The DALYs for ACE are high in rural Kenya, but less than the estimates of 2010 GBD study. Three-fourths of DALYs resulted from secondary epilepsy. Use of AEDs was associated with 40% reduction of DALYs. Improving adherence to AEDs may reduce the burden of epilepsy in this area. PMID:25131901

Are H and O Being Lost From the Mars Atmosphere in the H2O Stoichiometric Ratio of 2:1?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakosky, B. M.; Chaffin, M.; Deighan, J.; Brain, D.; Halekas, J. S.

2017-12-01

Loss of gas from the Mars upper atmosphere to space has been a significant process in the evolution of the Mars atmosphere through time. H is derived from photodissociation of H2O, and is lost by Jeans (thermal) escape. O comes from photodissociation of either H2O or CO2, and is lost by non-thermal processes including dissociative recombination, ion pickup, or sputtering by pick-up ions impacting the atmosphere (in order of importance today). McElroy (1972) proposed that H and O are lost in the ratio of 2:1 that comes from photodissociation of H2O; any imbalance would result in build-up of the lesser-escaping atom that increases its loss rate until the rates were in balance. For the Mars year observed by MAVEN, the large seasonal variation in H loss rate makes this hypothesis difficult to evaluate; however, current best estimates of loss rates suggest that they could be in balance, given the observational uncertainties and seasonal variations (both of which are significant). Even if they are in balance over longer timescales, they still might not be during the "MAVEN" year due to: (i) complications resulting from the interplay between multiple loss processes for O beyond only photochemical loss as considered by McElroy, (ii) interannual and longer-term variations in the lower-atmosphere dust and water cycles that can change the escape rate, (iii) the variation in loss rate expected throughout the 11-year solar cycle, (iv) changes in lower-atmosphere forcing due to the changing orbital elements, or (v) loss of C, H, or O to the crust via reaction with surface minerals. The higher (and unequal) loss rates for all species early in history are likely to have kept H and O from being in balance over the 4-billion-year timescale.

Technology for the Sound of Music

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

In the early 1960s during an industry recession, Kaman Aircraft lost several defense contracts. Forced to diversify, the helicopter manufacturer began to manufacture acoustic guitars. Kaman's engineers used special vibration analysis equipment based on aerospace technology. While a helicopter's rotor system is highly susceptible to vibration, which must be reduced or "dampened," vibration enhances a guitar's sound. After two years of vibration analysis Kaman produced an instrument, which is very successful. The Ovation guitar is made of fiberglass. It is stronger than the traditional rosewood and manufactured with adapted aircraft techniques such as jigs and fixtures, reducing labor and assuring quality and cost control. Kaman Music Corporation now has annual sales of $100 million.

2008 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures.

PubMed

2008-03-01

Alzheimer's disease is the seventh leading cause of all deaths in the United States and the fifth leading cause of death in Americans older than the age of 65 years. More than 5 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer's disease. Every 71 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer's disease; by 2050 it is expected to occur every 33 seconds. During the coming decades, baby boomers are projected to add 10 million people to these numbers. By 2050, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is expected to approach nearly a million people per year, with a total estimated prevalence of 11 to 16 million persons. Significant cost implications related to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias include an estimated $148 billion annually in direct (Medicare/Medicaid) and indirect (eg, caregiver lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses, decreased business productivity) costs. Not included in these figures are the estimated 10 million caregivers who annually provide $89 billion in unpaid services to individuals with Alzheimer's disease. This report provides information to increase understanding of the public health impact of Alzheimer's disease, including incidence and prevalence, mortality, lifetime risks, costs, and impact on family caregivers.

State-Level Estimates of Cancer-Related Absenteeism Costs

PubMed Central

Tangka, Florence K.; Trogdon, Justin G.; Nwaise, Isaac; Ekwueme, Donatus U.; Guy, Gery P.; Orenstein, Diane

2016-01-01

Background Cancer is one of the top five most costly diseases in the United States and leads to substantial work loss. Nevertheless, limited state-level estimates of cancer absenteeism costs have been published. Methods In analyses of data from the 2004–2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008, and the 2009 Current Population Survey, we used regression modeling to estimate annual state-level absenteeism costs attributable to cancer from 2004 to 2008. Results We estimated that the state-level median number of days of absenteeism per year among employed cancer patients was 6.1 days and that annual state-level cancer absenteeism costs ranged from $14.9 million to $915.9 million (median = $115.9 million) across states in 2010 dollars. Absenteeism costs are approximately 6.5% of the costs of premature cancer mortality. Conclusions The results from this study suggest that lost productivity attributable to cancer is a substantial cost to employees and employers and contributes to estimates of the overall impact of cancer in a state population. PMID:23969498

State-level estimates of cancer-related absenteeism costs.

PubMed

Tangka, Florence K; Trogdon, Justin G; Nwaise, Isaac; Ekwueme, Donatus U; Guy, Gery P; Orenstein, Diane

2013-09-01

Cancer is one of the top five most costly diseases in the United States and leads to substantial work loss. Nevertheless, limited state-level estimates of cancer absenteeism costs have been published. In analyses of data from the 2004-2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008, and the 2009 Current Population Survey, we used regression modeling to estimate annual state-level absenteeism costs attributable to cancer from 2004 to 2008. We estimated that the state-level median number of days of absenteeism per year among employed cancer patients was 6.1 days and that annual state-level cancer absenteeism costs ranged from $14.9 million to $915.9 million (median = $115.9 million) across states in 2010 dollars. Absenteeism costs are approximately 6.5% of the costs of premature cancer mortality. The results from this study suggest that lost productivity attributable to cancer is a substantial cost to employees and employers and contributes to estimates of the overall impact of cancer in a state population.

Patterning between urban soil color and carbon stocks

EPA Science Inventory

Urban soils are less complex in contrast to non-urban soils due to land management, e.g., fill, demolition, etc. For example, urban soils have fewer horizons than non-urban soils, and are also more likely to have lost the “B” horizon [1]. Along similar lines, we hypothesize that ...

Genetic diversity of papaya ring spot virus in Puerto Rico

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 20-40% of crop yield is lost due to pests and diseases. Viruses are agents that cause diseases which contribute greatly to the global yield loss. Because of this, food production is negatively affected, especially in the tropics. Carica papaya, co...

27 CFR 25.292 - Daily records of operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., or destroyed. (15) Beer received from other breweries or received from pilot brewing plants. (16) Beer and cereal beverage lost due to breakage, theft, casualty, or other unusual cause. (17) Brewing materials sold or transferred to pilot brewing plants (including the name and address of the person to whom...

27 CFR 25.292 - Daily records of operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., or destroyed. (15) Beer received from other breweries or received from pilot brewing plants. (16) Beer and cereal beverage lost due to breakage, theft, casualty, or other unusual cause. (17) Brewing materials sold or transferred to pilot brewing plants (including the name and address of the person to whom...

24 CFR 570.208 - Criteria for national objectives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... an activity that retains jobs, the recipient must document that the jobs would actually be lost... due to the insufficiency of the amount of the available funds, restrictions on the use of such funds...- and moderate-income persons to be considered is the creation or retention of jobs, except as provided...

24 CFR 570.208 - Criteria for national objectives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... an activity that retains jobs, the recipient must document that the jobs would actually be lost... due to the insufficiency of the amount of the available funds, restrictions on the use of such funds...- and moderate-income persons to be considered is the creation or retention of jobs, except as provided...

24 CFR 570.208 - Criteria for national objectives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... an activity that retains jobs, the recipient must document that the jobs would actually be lost... due to the insufficiency of the amount of the available funds, restrictions on the use of such funds...- and moderate-income persons to be considered is the creation or retention of jobs, except as provided...

24 CFR 570.208 - Criteria for national objectives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... an activity that retains jobs, the recipient must document that the jobs would actually be lost... due to the insufficiency of the amount of the available funds, restrictions on the use of such funds...- and moderate-income persons to be considered is the creation or retention of jobs, except as provided...

Beyond Passwords: Usage and Policy Transformation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

case scenario for lost productivity due to users leaving their CAC at work, in their computer, is costing 261 work years per year with an estimated ...one for your CAC) are you currently using? ..................................................................................................... 43...PASSWORDS: USAGE AND POLICY TRANSFORMATION I. Introduction Background Currently , the primary method for network authentication on the

Development of a River and Stream Water Quality Module

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

suspended or actively swimming in the water column are referred to as phytoplankton . The term " periphyton " is sometimes used to refer to benthic algae...benthos, and periphyton . ERDC/EL TR-09-4 21 Phytoplankton The phytoplankton biomass increases due to photosynthesis and is lost via respiration...19 Phytoplankton

Changes in Soil Carbon Turnover after Five Years of Bioenergy Cropping Systems from a Long-Term Incubation Experiment and Radiocarbon Measurements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymanski, L. M.; Sanford, G. R.; Heckman, K. A.; Jackson, R. D.; Marin-Spiotta, E.

2016-12-01

In the face of climate change, the global production of bioenergy crops has increased in response to policies calling for non-fossil energy sources as a means to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon (C) concentrations. To provide overall C sequestration benefits, identifying biomass crops that can maintain or enhance soil resources is desirable for sustainable bioenergy production. The objective of our study was to compare the effects of four bioenergy cropping systems on SOM dynamics in two agricultural soils: Mollisols at the University of Wisconsin Agricultural Research Station in Arlington, Wisconsin and Alfisols at Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan, USA. We used fresh soils collected in 2013 and archived soils collected in 2008 to measure differences among biofuel crops after 5 years of management. Using a 365-day laboratory soil incubation and radiocarbon measurements of bulk soil and respired C, we separated soils into three SOM pools and determined their corresponding turnover times. Total soil C respired from surface soils increased in the order: mixed species perennials > monoculture perennials > monoculture annuals. More C was associated with the active fraction in the sandy loam Alfisol and with the slow-cycling fraction in the silt loam Mollisol. Radiocarbon content of respired CO2 did not differ between corn and switchgrass, but did differ between 2008 and 2013. The respiration of more radiocarbon-depleted C after 5 years of cultivation may be due to an initial flux of young C following tillage in 2008 or to depletion of labile plant inputs with continued harvest. All bioenergy cropping systems lost soil C after 5 years. Monoculture perennial switchgrass systems did not provide significant C sequestration benefits, as expected, compared to monoculture annual corn systems. Bioenergy crop land-use change affects soil C dynamics, with implications for assessing C costs associated with biofuel production.

Skeletal records of community-level bleaching in Porites corals from Palau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkley, Hannah C.; Cohen, Anne L.

2016-12-01

Tropical Pacific sea surface temperature is projected to rise an additional 2-3 °C by the end of this century, driving an increase in the frequency and intensity of coral bleaching. With significant global coral reef cover already lost due to bleaching-induced mortality, efforts are underway to identify thermally tolerant coral communities that might survive projected warming. Massive, long-lived corals accrete skeletal bands of anomalously high density in response to episodes of thermal stress. These "stress bands" are potentially valuable proxies for thermal tolerance, but to date their application to questions of community bleaching history has been limited. Ecological surveys recorded bleaching of coral communities across the Palau archipelago during the 1998 and 2010 warm events. Between 2011 and 2015, we extracted skeletal cores from living Porites colonies at 10 sites spanning barrier reef and lagoon environments and quantified the proportion of stress bands present in each population during bleaching years. Across Palau, the prevalence of stress bands tracked the severity of thermal stress, with more stress bands occurring in 1998 (degree heating weeks = 13.57 °C-week) than during the less severe 2010 event (degree heating weeks = 4.86 °C-week). Stress band prevalence also varied by reef type, as more corals on the exposed barrier reef formed stress bands than did corals from sheltered lagoon environments. Comparison of Porites stress band prevalence with bleaching survey data revealed a strong correlation between percent community bleaching and the proportion of colonies with stress bands in each year. Conversely, annual calcification rates did not decline consistently during bleaching years nor did annually resolved calcification histories always track interannual variability in temperature. Our data suggest that stress bands in massive corals contain valuable information about spatial and temporal trends in coral reef bleaching and can aid in conservation efforts to identify temperature-tolerant coral reef communities.

Understanding the hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin using multisource climate and remote sensing data sets

USGS Publications Warehouse

Senay, Gabriel; Velpuri, Naga Manohar; Bohms, Stefanie; Demissie, Yonas; Gebremichael, Mekonnen

2014-01-01

In this study, we integrated satellite-drived precipitation and modeled evapotranspiration data (2000–2012) to describe spatial variability of hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin. Over 2000–2012 period, 4 out of 11 countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) in the Nile Basin showed a positive water balance while three downstream countries (South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt) showed a negative balance. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mass deviation in storage data analysis showed that at annual timescales, the Nile Basin storage change is substantial while over longer time periods, it is minimal (<1% of basin precipitation). We also used long-term gridded runoff and river discharge data (1869–1984) to understand the discrepancy in the observed and expected flow along the Nile River. The top three countries that contribute most to the flow are Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. The study revealed that ∼85% of the runoff generated in the equatorial region is lost in an interstation basin that includes the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan; this proportion is higher than the literature reported loss of 50% at the Sudd wetlands alone. The loss in runoff and flow volume at different sections of the river tend to be more than what can be explained by evaporation losses, suggesting a potential recharge to deeper aquifers that are not connected to the Nile channel systems. On the other hand, we also found that the expected average annual Nile flow at Aswan is greater (97 km3) than the reported amount (84 km3). Due to the large variations of the reported Nile flow at different locations and time periods, the study results indicate the need for increased hydrometeorological instrumentation of the basin. The study also helped improve our understanding of the spatial dynamics of water sources and sinks in the Nile Basin and identified emerging hydrologic questions that require further attention.

Soil organic carbon stock in grasslands: Effects of inorganic fertilizers, liming and grazing in different climate settings.

PubMed

Eze, Samuel; Palmer, Sheila M; Chapman, Pippa J

2018-06-12

Grasslands store about 34% of the global terrestrial carbon (C) and are vital for the provision of various ecosystem services such as forage and climate regulation. About 89% of this grassland C is stored in the soil and is affected by management activities but the effects of these management activities on C storage under different climate settings are not known. In this study, we synthesized the effects of fertilizer (nitrogen and phosphorus) application, liming and grazing regime on the stock of SOC in global grasslands, under different site specific climatic settings using a meta-analysis of 341 datasets. We found an overall significant reduction (-8.5%) in the stock of SOC in global managed grasslands, mainly attributable to grazing (-15.0%), and only partially attenuated by fertilizer addition (+6.7%) and liming (+5.8%), indicating that management to improve biomass production does not contribute sufficient organic matter to replace that lost by direct removal by animals. Management activities had the greatest effect in the tropics (-22.4%) due primarily to heavy grazing, and the least effect in the temperate zone (-4.5%). The negative management effect reduced significantly with increasing mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation in the temperate zone, suggesting that temperate grassland soils are potential C sinks in the face of climate change. For a sustainable management of grasslands that will provide adequate forage for livestock and mitigate climate change through C sequestration, we recommend that future tropical grassland management policies should focus on reducing the intensity of grazing. Also, to verify our findings for temperate grasslands and to better inform land management policy, future research should focus on the impacts of the projected climate change on net greenhouse gas exchange and potential climate feedbacks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

National surveillance and control costs for highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry: A benefit-cost assessment for a developing economy, Nigeria.

PubMed

Fasanmi, Olubunmi G; Kehinde, Olugbenga O; Laleye, Agnes T; Ekong, Bassey; Ahmed, Syed S U; Fasina, Folorunso O

2018-06-13

We conducted benefit-cost analysis of outbreak and surveillance costs for HPAI H5N1in poultry in Nigeria. Poultry's death directly cost US$ 939,734.0 due to outbreaks. The integrated disease surveillance and response originally created for comprehensive surveillance and laboratory investigation of human diseases was adapted for HPAI H5N1 in poultry. Input data were obtained from the field, government documents and repositories and peer-reviewed publications. Actual/forecasted bird numbers lost were integrated into a financial model and estimates of losses were calculated. Costs of surveillance as alternative intervention were determined based on previous outbreak control costs and outputs were generated in SurvCost® with sensitivity analyses for different scenarios. Uncontrolled outbreaks will lead to loss of over US$ 2.2 billion annually in Nigeria with 47.8% of the losses coming from eggs. The annual cost of all animal related health activities was

Impact of etanercept on work and activity impairment in employed moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis patients in the United States.

PubMed

Hone, Devon; Cheng, Annie; Watson, Crystal; Huang, Baisong; Bitman, Bojena; Huang, Xing-Yue; Gandra, Shravanthi R

2013-10-01

To quantify the impact of etanercept on work and activity impairment in employed US patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This prospective, observational, longitudinal study recruited RA patients initiating etanercept (50 mg/week) between January 2009 and March 2010. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI) and domestic productivity questionnaire were administered by telephone interviews at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months after etanercept initiation. The human capital approach was used to estimate the costs of work impairment. Changes in WPAI measures were analyzed using Wilcoxon's signed rank test. RA patients (n = 204) initiating etanercept were a mean ± SD age of 46.6 ± 10.9 years and 72% were women. After 6 months, 153 patients continued treatment (continuers) and showed significant decreases in overall work impairment (41.9% at baseline versus 25.2% at 6 months; P < 0.0001), absenteeism (8.4% versus 2.3%; P = 0.0001), presenteeism (38.9% versus 24.3%; P < 0.0001), and activity impairment (55.7% versus 30.9%; P < 0.0001) and a 76.4% reduction in work hours lost weekly due to RA (3.2 versus 0.8; P = 0.0001). The projected 12-month gain in work productivity for continuers was 284.5 hours per patient, equating to $3,233-22,533 depending on annual income level, which partially or completely offset the annual cost of etanercept ($20,190). Domestic productivity improved from 41.5% at baseline to 69.6% at 6 months (P < 0.0001). In US employed moderate to severe RA patients, etanercept led to significant reductions in overall work and activity impairment; the value of increased work productivity partially or completely offset the cost of treatment. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology.

Cost of severe hypoglycaemia in nine European countries.

PubMed

Jakubczyk, Michał; Lipka, Izabela; Pawęska, Justyna; Niewada, Maciej; Rdzanek, Elżbieta; Zaletel, Jelka; Ramírez de Arellano, Antonio; Doležal, Tomáš; Chekorova Mitreva, Biljana; Nagy, Bence; Petrova, Guenka; Šarić, Tereza; Yfantopoulos, John; Czech, Marcin

2016-10-01

Complications contribute largely to the economic gravity of diabetes mellitus (DM). How they arise and are treated differs substantially between countries. This paper assesses the total annual, direct, and indirect cost of severe hypoglycemia events (SHEs) in nine European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia/the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MK), Poland, Slovenia, and Spain. Data was collected on epidemiology, treatment structure, SHE-driven resource consumption, and unit costs. Two systematic reviews-on the SHE rates and the resources used for treatment-and data on the days-of-work lost due to SHE along with salaries and employment rates were used. The total SHE cost in each country was calculated and how the differences are driven by individual parameters was analysed. The annual costs of SHEs varied in absolute terms from €379,951.25 in MK up to €58,429,684.40 in Spain, or-when expressed per one drug-treated DM patient-from €5.47 in Bulgaria up to €17.74 in Spain. Indirect cost constituted between 6.01% (MK) and 26.49% (Hungary) of the total cost. The differences between countries are driven mostly by the cost of treating a single event, and this is related to general differences in prices. The main limitation is the lack of good quality data in some parts, and the necessity to use mean-value imputations, experts' opinions, etc. Additionally, we only considered DM treatment as the SHE driver, while other elements, e.g. style of living, may contribute substantially. A common framework can be applied to estimate the economic burden of SHE in various countries, allowing one to identify the drivers of differences in cost. Treating DM is complex, and so no resolute conclusions ought to be drawn as to whether SHE management is better in one country than another.

Burden of Podoconiosis in Poor Rural Communities in Gulliso woreda, West Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Alemu, Getahun; Tekola Ayele, Fasil; Daniel, Takele; Ahrens, Christel; Davey, Gail

2011-01-01

Background Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulliso woreda (district), west Ethiopia. A household survey in the 26 rural kebeles (villages) of this district was conducted to identify podoconiosis patients and to measure disease prevalence. A more detailed study was done in six randomly selected kebeles to describe clinical features of the disease, patients' experiences of foot hygiene, and shoe wearing practice. 1,935 cases of podoconiosis were registered, giving a prevalence of 2.8%. The prevalence was higher in those aged 15–64 years (5.2%) and in females than males (prevalence ratio 2.6∶1). 90.3% of patients were in the 15–64 year age group. In the detailed study, 335 cases were interviewed and their feet assessed. The majority of patients were farmers, uneducated, and poor. Two-third of patients developed the disease before the age of thirty. Almost all patients (97.0%) had experienced adenolymphangitis (ALA - red, hot legs, swollen and painful groin) at least once during the previous year. Patients experienced an average of 5.5 ALA episodes annually, each of average 4.4 days, thus 24 working days were lost annually. The incidence of ALA in podoconiosis patients was higher than that reported for filariasis in other countries. Shoe wearing was limited mainly due to financial problems. Conclusions We have documented high podoconiosis prevalence, frequent adenolymphangitis and high disease-related morbidity in west Ethiopia. Interventions must be developed to prevent, treat and control podoconiosis, one of the core neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia. PMID:21666795

Understanding the hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin using multisource climate and remote sensing data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senay, Gabriel B.; Velpuri, Naga Manohar; Bohms, Stefanie; Demissie, Yonas; Gebremichael, Mekonnen

2014-11-01

In this study, we integrated satellite-drived precipitation and modeled evapotranspiration data (2000-2012) to describe spatial variability of hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin. Over 2000-2012 period, 4 out of 11 countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) in the Nile Basin showed a positive water balance while three downstream countries (South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt) showed a negative balance. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mass deviation in storage data analysis showed that at annual timescales, the Nile Basin storage change is substantial while over longer time periods, it is minimal (<1% of basin precipitation). We also used long-term gridded runoff and river discharge data (1869-1984) to understand the discrepancy in the observed and expected flow along the Nile River. The top three countries that contribute most to the flow are Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. The study revealed that ˜85% of the runoff generated in the equatorial region is lost in an interstation basin that includes the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan; this proportion is higher than the literature reported loss of 50% at the Sudd wetlands alone. The loss in runoff and flow volume at different sections of the river tend to be more than what can be explained by evaporation losses, suggesting a potential recharge to deeper aquifers that are not connected to the Nile channel systems. On the other hand, we also found that the expected average annual Nile flow at Aswan is greater (97 km3) than the reported amount (84 km3). Due to the large variations of the reported Nile flow at different locations and time periods, the study results indicate the need for increased hydrometeorological instrumentation of the basin. The study also helped improve our understanding of the spatial dynamics of water sources and sinks in the Nile Basin and identified emerging hydrologic questions that require further attention.

Influence of particulates on phosphorus loading exported from farm drainage during a storm event in the Everglades Agricultural Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhadha, J. H.; Lang, T. A.; Daroub, S. H.

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of particulates on P loading captured during a single storm event. The Everglades Agricultural Area of Florida comprises 280,000 hectares of organic soil farmland artificially drained by ditches, canals and pumps. Phosphorus (P)-enriched suspended particulates in canals are susceptible to transport and can contribute significantly to the overall P loads in drainage water. A settling tank experiment was conducted to capture particulates during tropical storm Isaac in 2012 from three farms approximately 2.4 to 3.6 km2 in size. Farm canal discharge water was collected in a series of two 200 liter settling tanks over a seven-day drainage period, during tropical storm Isaac. Water from the settling tanks was siphoned through Imhoff settling cones, where the particulates were allowed to settle and collected for P-fractionation analyses, and compared to intact sediment cores collected from the bottom of the canals. The discharged particulates contained higher organic matter content (OM), total P, and labile P fractions compared to the canal bottom sediments. Based on the equilibrium P concentrations, surface sediments behave as a source of P to the water column. A seven-day continuous drainage event exported 4.7 to 11.1 metric tons of suspended solids per farm, corresponding to 32 to 63 kg of particulate P being lost to downstream ecosystems. Drainage associated to a single seven-day storm event exported up to 61% of the total annual farm P load. It is evident from this study that short-term, high-intensity storm events can skew annual P loads due to the export of significantly higher particulate matter from farm canals. Exported particulates rich in P can provide a supplemental source of nutrients if captured and replenished back into the farmlands, as a sustainable farming practice.

The economic burden of maternal mortality on households: evidence from three sub-counties in rural western Kenya.

PubMed

Kes, Aslihan; Ogwang, Sheila; Pande, Rohini; Douglas, Zayid; Karuga, Robinson; Odhiambo, Frank O; Laserson, Kayla; Schaffer, Kathleen

2015-05-06

This study explores the consequences of a maternal death to households in rural Western Kenya focusing particularly on the immediate financial and economic impacts. Between September 2011 and March 2013 all households in the study area with a maternal death were surveyed. Data were collected on the demographic characteristics of the deceased woman; household socio-economic status; a history of the pregnancy and health care access and utilization; and disruption to household functioning due to the maternal death. These data were supplemented by in-depth and focus group discussions. The health service utilization costs associated with maternal deaths were significantly higher, due to more frequent service utilization as well as due to the higher cost of each visit suggesting more involved treatments and interventions were sought with these women. The already high costs incurred by cases during pregnancy were further increased during delivery and postpartum mainly a result of higher facility-based fees and expenses. Households who experienced a maternal death spent about one-third of their annual per capita consumption expenditure on healthcare access and use as opposed to at most 12% among households who had a health pregnancy and delivery. Funeral costs were often higher than the healthcare costs and altogether forced households to dis-save, liquidate assets and borrow money. What is more, the surviving members of the households had significant redistribution of labor and responsibilities to make up for the lost contributions of the deceased women. Kenya is in the process of instituting free maternity services in all public facilities. Effectively implemented, this policy can lift a major economic burden experienced by a very large number of household who seek maternal health services which can be catastrophic in complicated cases that result in maternal death. There needs to be further emphasis on insurance schemes that can support households through catastrophic health spending.

The economic burden of maternal mortality on households: evidence from three sub-counties in rural western Kenya

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background This study explores the consequences of a maternal death to households in rural Western Kenya focusing particularly on the immediate financial and economic impacts. Methods Between September 2011 and March 2013 all households in the study area with a maternal death were surveyed. Data were collected on the demographic characteristics of the deceased woman; household socio-economic status; a history of the pregnancy and health care access and utilization; and disruption to household functioning due to the maternal death. These data were supplemented by in-depth and focus group discussions. Results The health service utilization costs associated with maternal deaths were significantly higher, due to more frequent service utilization as well as due to the higher cost of each visit suggesting more involved treatments and interventions were sought with these women. The already high costs incurred by cases during pregnancy were further increased during delivery and postpartum mainly a result of higher facility-based fees and expenses. Households who experienced a maternal death spent about one-third of their annual per capita consumption expenditure on healthcare access and use as opposed to at most 12% among households who had a health pregnancy and delivery. Funeral costs were often higher than the healthcare costs and altogether forced households to dis-save, liquidate assets and borrow money. What is more, the surviving members of the households had significant redistribution of labor and responsibilities to make up for the lost contributions of the deceased women. Conclusion Kenya is in the process of instituting free maternity services in all public facilities. Effectively implemented, this policy can lift a major economic burden experienced by a very large number of household who seek maternal health services which can be catastrophic in complicated cases that result in maternal death. There needs to be further emphasis on insurance schemes that can support households through catastrophic health spending. PMID:26000953

A comparison of annual vertical crustal displacements from GPS and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) over Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Dam, T.; Wahr, J.; LavalléE, David

2007-03-01

We compare approximately 3 years of GPS height residuals (with respect to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame) with predictions of vertical surface displacements derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity fields for stations in Europe. An annual signal fit to the residual monthly heights, corrected for atmospheric pressure and barotropic ocean loading effects, should primarily represent surface displacements due to long-wavelength variations in water storage. A comparison of the annual height signal from GPS and GRACE over Europe indicates that at most sites, the annual signals do not agree in amplitude or phase. We find that unlike the annual signal predicted from GRACE, the annual signal in the GPS heights is not coherent over the region, displaying significant variability from site to site. Confidence in the GRACE data and the unlikely possibility of large-amplitude small-scale features in the load field not captured by the GRACE data leads us to conclude that some of the discrepancy between the GPS and GRACE observations is due to technique errors in the GPS data processing. This is evidenced by the fact that the disagreement between GPS and GRACE is largest at coastal sites, where mismodeling of the semidiurnal ocean tidal loading signal can result in spurious annual signals.

Coral reefs: threats and conservation in an era of global change.

PubMed

Riegl, Bernhard; Bruckner, Andy; Coles, Steve L; Renaud, Philip; Dodge, Richard E

2009-04-01

Coral reefs are iconic, threatened ecosystems that have been in existence for approximately 500 million years, yet their continued ecological persistence seems doubtful at present. Anthropogenic modification of chemical and physical atmospheric dynamics that cause coral death by bleaching and newly emergent diseases due to increased heat and irradiation, as well as decline in calcification caused by ocean acidification due to increased CO(2), are the most important large-scale threats. On more local scales, overfishing and destructive fisheries, coastal construction, nutrient enrichment, increased runoff and sedimentation, and the introduction of nonindigenous invasive species have caused phase shifts away from corals. Already approximately 20% of the world's reefs are lost and approximately 26% are under imminent threat. Conservation science of coral reefs is well advanced, but its practical application has often been lagging. Societal priorites, economic pressures, and legal/administrative systems of many countries are more prone to destroy rather than conserve coral-reef ecosystems. Nevertheless, many examples of successful conservation exist from the national level to community-enforced local action. When effectively managed, protected areas have contributed to regeneration of coral reefs and stocks of associated marine resources. Local communities often support coral-reef conservation in order to raise income potential associated with tourism and/or improved resource levels. Coral reefs create an annual income in S-Florida alone of over $4 billion. Thus, no conflict between development, societal welfare, and coral-reef conservation needs to exist. Despite growing threats, it is not too late for decisive action to protect and save these economically and ecologically high-value ecosystems. Conservation science plays a critical role in designing effective strategies.

Integrated ecosystem services assessment: Valuation of changes due to sea level rise in Galveston Bay, Texas, USA.

PubMed

Yoskowitz, David; Carollo, Cristina; Pollack, Jennifer Beseres; Santos, Carlota; Welder, Kathleen

2017-03-01

The goal of the present study was to identify the potential changes in ecosystem service values provided by wetlands in Galveston Bay, Texas, USA, under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B max (0.69 m) sea level rise scenario. Built exclusively upon the output produced during the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model 6 (SLAMM 6) exercise for the Galveston Bay region, this study showed that fresh marsh and salt marsh present a steady decline from 2009 (initial condition) to 2100. Fresh marsh was projected to undergo the biggest changes, with the loss of approximately 21% of its extent between 2009 and 2100 under the A1B max scenario. The percentages of change for salt marsh were less prominent at approximately 12%. This trend was also shown in the values of selected ecosystem services (disturbance regulation, waste regulation, recreation, and aesthetics) provided by these habitats. An ordinary least squares regression was used to calculate the monetary value of the selected ecosystem services provided by salt marsh and fresh marsh in 2009, and in 2050 and 2100 under the A1B max scenario. The value of the selected services showed potential monetary losses in excess of US$40 million annually in 2100, compared to 2009 for fresh marsh and more than $11 million for salt marsh. The estimates provided here are only small portions of what can be lost due to the decrease in habitat extent, and they highlight the need for protecting not only built infrastructure but also natural resources from sea level rise. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:431-443. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

High-dose inactivated influenza vaccine is associated with cost savings and better outcomes compared to standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in Canadian seniors.

PubMed

Becker, Debbie L; Chit, Ayman; DiazGranados, Carlos A; Maschio, Michael; Yau, Eddy; Drummond, Michael

2016-12-01

Seasonal influenza infects approximately 10-20% of Canadians each year, causing an estimated 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths annually, mostly occurring in adults ≥65 years old (seniors). A 32,000-participant, randomized controlled clinical trial (FIM12; Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01427309) showed that high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV-HD) is superior to standard-dose vaccine (SD) in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza illness in seniors. In this study, we performed a cost-utility analysis (CUA) of IIV-HD versus SD in FIM12 participants from a Canadian perspective. Healthcare resource utilization data collected in FIM12 included: medications, non-routine/urgent care and emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Unit costs were applied using standard Canadian cost sources to estimate the mean direct medical and societal costs associated with each vaccine (2014 CAD). Clinical illness data from the trial were mapped to quality-of-life data from the literature to estimate differences in effectiveness between vaccines. Time horizon was one influenza season, however, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) lost due to death during the study were captured over a lifetime. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) was also performed. Average per-participant medical costs were $47 lower and societal costs $60 lower in the IIV-HD arm. Hospitalizations contributed 91% of the total cost and were less frequent in the IIV-HD arm. IIV-HD provided a gain in QALYs and, due to cost savings, dominated SD in the CUA. The PSA indicated that IIV-HD is 89% likely to be cost saving. In Canada, IIV-HD is expected to be a less costly and more effective alternative to SD, driven by a reduction in hospitalizations.

New insights into hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin: A multi-source satellite data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senay, G. B.; Velpuri, N. M.; Bohms, S.; Demissie, Y.; Gebremichael, M.

2014-12-01

The Nile River is the longest in the world with a length of 6,800 km. However, the contrast between the length of the river or the size of the basin and the comparatively small volume of basin runoff generated is a unique feature of the Nile Basin. Due to non-availability of in-situ hydrologic data, we do not clearly understand the spatial distribution of hydrologic sources and sinks and how much they control input-output dynamics? In this study, we integrated satellite-derived precipitation, and modeled evapotranspiration data (2000-2012) to describe spatial variability of hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin. We also used long-term gridded runoff and river discharge data (1869-1984) to understand the discrepancy in the observed and expected flow along the Nile River. Results indicate that over 2000-2012 period, 4 out of 11 countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) in the Nile basin showed a positive water balance while three downstream countries (South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt) showed a negative balance. The top three countries that contribute most to the flow are Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. The study revealed that ~85% of the runoff generated in the Equatorial region is lost in an inter-station basin that includes the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan; this proportion is higher than the reported loss of 50% at the Sudd wetlands alone. The loss in runoff and flow volume at different sections of the river tend to be more than what can be explained by evaporation losses, suggesting a potential recharge to deeper aquifers that are not connected to the Nile channel systems. On the other hand, we also found that the expected average annual Nile flow at Aswan is larger (97 km3) than the reported amount (84 km3). Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mass deviation in storage data analysis showed that at annual time-scales, the Nile Basin shows storage change is substantial while over longer-time periods, it is minimal (<1% of basin precipitation). Due to the large variations of the reported Nile flow at different locations and time periods, the study recommends increased hydro-meteorological instrumentation of the basin. This study improves our understanding of the spatial dynamics of water sources and sinks in the Nile basin and identified emerging hydrologic questions that require further attention.

The potential of Indonesian mangrove forests for global climate change mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdiyarso, Daniel; Purbopuspito, Joko; Kauffman, J. Boone; Warren, Matthew W.; Sasmito, Sigit D.; Donato, Daniel C.; Manuri, Solichin; Krisnawati, Haruni; Taberima, Sartji; Kurnianto, Sofyan

2015-12-01

Mangroves provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, soil formation, wood production, fish spawning grounds, ecotourism and carbon (C) storage. High rates of tree and plant growth, coupled with anaerobic, water-logged soils that slow decomposition, result in large long-term C storage. Given their global significance as large sinks of C, preventing mangrove loss would be an effective climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. It has been reported that C stocks in the Indo-Pacific region contain on average 1,023 MgC ha-1 (ref. ). Here, we estimate that Indonesian mangrove C stocks are 1,083 +/- 378 MgC ha-1. Scaled up to the country-level mangrove extent of 2.9 Mha (ref. ), Indonesia’s mangroves contained on average 3.14 PgC. In three decades Indonesia has lost 40% of its mangroves, mainly as a result of aquaculture development. This has resulted in annual emissions of 0.07-0.21 Pg CO2e. Annual mangrove deforestation in Indonesia is only 6% of its total forest loss; however, if this were halted, total emissions would be reduced by an amount equal to 10-31% of estimated annual emissions from land-use sectors at present. Conservation of carbon-rich mangroves in the Indonesian archipelago should be a high-priority component of strategies to mitigate climate change.

The cost of lost productivity due to premature cancer-related mortality: an economic measure of the cancer burden.

PubMed

Hanly, Paul A; Sharp, Linda

2014-03-26

Most measures of the cancer burden take a public health perspective. Cancer also has a significant economic impact on society. To assess this economic burden, we estimated years of potential productive life lost (YPPLL) and costs of lost productivity due to premature cancer-related mortality in Ireland. All cancers combined and the 10 sites accounting for most deaths in men and in women were considered. To compute YPPLL, deaths in 5-year age-bands between 15 and 64 years were multiplied by average working-life expectancy. Valuation of costs, using the human capital approach, involved multiplying YPPLL by age-and-gender specific gross wages, and adjusting for unemployment and workforce participation. Sensitivity analyses were conducted around retirement age and wage growth, labour force participation, employment and discount rates, and to explore the impact of including household production and caring costs. Costs were expressed in €2009. Total YPPLL was lower in men than women (men = 10,873; women = 12,119). Premature cancer-related mortality costs were higher in men (men: total cost = €332 million, cost/death = €290,172, cost/YPPLL = €30,558; women: total cost = €177 million, cost/death = €159,959, cost/YPPLL = €14,628). Lung cancer had the highest premature mortality cost (€84.0 million; 16.5% of total costs), followed by cancers of the colorectum (€49.6 million; 9.7%), breast (€49.4 million; 9.7%) and brain & CNS (€42.4 million: 8.3%). The total economic cost of premature cancer-related mortality in Ireland amounted to €509.5 million or 0.3% of gross domestic product. An increase of one year in the retirement age increased the total all-cancer premature mortality cost by 9.9% for men and 5.9% for women. The inclusion of household production and caring costs increased the total cost to €945.7 million. Lost productivity costs due to cancer-related premature mortality are significant. The higher premature mortality cost in males than females reflects higher wages and rates of workforce participation. Productivity costs provide an alternative perspective on the cancer burden on society and may inform cancer control policy decisions.

Case Series Report of 66 Refractory Maintenance Patients Evaluating the Effectiveness of Topical Oxidizing Agents.

PubMed

Cochrane, R Bruce; Sindelar, Betty

2015-01-01

To evaluate the clinical effects of a prescription tray application of hydrogen peroxide gel as an adjunct to frequent maintenance appointments for refractory periodontal patients. Case series data were analyzed from 66 failing periodontal maintenance patients who had exhausted treatment options before using prescription trays with a 1.7% hydrogen peroxide gel once or twice daily for two-and-a-half to five years. Data included pocket probing depths (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP), smoking status, and compliance with tray usage. Data were collected prior to tray usage and after tray delivery at six months, one year, and annual intervals. A clinical and statistical reduction in BOP was maintained over the length of the study (p ≤ 0.01). No differences were seen in patients who used trays two times or one time a day or in patients who smoked or did not smoke. The 1.7% peroxide delivered via a prescription tray was most effective in shallow pockets. Aggregate PPD distribution did not change significantly. Of clinical relevance, only one tooth out of 1,745 teeth studied was lost due to periodontal disease during the study period. Prescription tray application of peroxide gel, as an adjunct to frequent periodontal maintenance appointments for refractory patients, demonstrated significant reductions in BOP'for smokers and non-smokers who used tray delivery once or twice a day.

The association of the original OSHA chemical hazard communication standard with reductions in acute work injuries/illnesses in private industry and the industrial releases of chemical carcinogens.

PubMed

Oleinick, Arthur

2014-02-01

OSHA predicted the original chemical Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) would cumulatively reduce the lost workday acute injury/illness rate for exposure events by 20% over 20 years and reduce exposure to chemical carcinogens. JoinPoint trend software identified changes in the rate of change of BLS rates for days away from work for acute injuries/illnesses during 1992-2009 for manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries for both chemical, noxious or allergenic injury exposure events and All other exposure events. The annual percent change in the rates was used to adjust observed numbers of cases to estimate their association with the standard. A case-control study of EPA's Toxic Release Inventory 1988-2009 data compared carcinogen and non-carcinogens' releases. The study estimates that the HCS was associated with a reduction in the number of acute injuries/illnesses due to chemical injury exposure events over the background rate in the range 107,569-459,395 (Hudson method/modified BIC model) depending on whether the HCS is treated as a marginal or sole factor in the decrease. Carcinogen releases have declined at a substantially faster rate than control non-carcinogens. The previous HCS standard was associated with significant reductions in chemical event acute injuries/illnesses and chemical carcinogen exposures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Major challenges loom for natural gas industry, study says

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Driscoll, M.

The 1994 edition of Natural Gas Trends, the annual joint study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates and Arthur Anderson Co., says that new oil-to-gas competition, price risks and the prospect of unbundling for local distribution companies loom as major challenges for the natural gas industry. With a tighter supply-demand balance in the past two years compounded by the fall in oil prices, gas is in head-to-head competition with oil for marginal markets, the report states. And with higher gas prices in 1993, industrial demand growth slowed while utility demand for gas fell. Some of this was related to fuel switching,more » particularly in the electric utility sector. Total electric power demand for gas has risen slightly due to the growth in industrial power generation, but there has yet to be a pronounced surge in gas use during the 1990s - a decade in which many had expected gas to make major inroads into the electric power sector, the report states. And while utilities still have plans to add between 40,000 and 45,000 megawatts of gas-fired generating capacity, gas actually has lost ground in the utility market to coal and nuclear power: In 1993, electricity output from coal and nuclear rose, while gas-fired generation fell to an estimated 250 billion kilowatt-hours - the lowest level since 1986, when gas generated 246 billion kwh.« less

Animal diversity in Baltic rocky shore macroalgae: can Cladophora glomerata compensate for lost Fucus vesiculosus?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraufvelin, Patrik; Salovius, Sonja

2004-10-01

The substitution of canopy-forming perennial algae by annual filamentous algae is a common phenomenon on eutrophicated rocky shores with potential consequences for marine biodiversity. In the upper littoral of the northern Baltic Sea, this process is exemplified by decreased occurrence of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus and increased amounts of filamentous algae (e.g. Cladophora glomerata and Pilayella littoralis). In this study, macrofauna communities of F. vesiculosus and C. glomerata during summer have been compared and the effects on littoral macroinvertebrates of a total or partial replacement of F. vesiculosus by C. glomerata have been estimated. The animal abundance and biomass were higher in C. glomerata than in corresponding amounts of F. vesiculosus (g dwt). Similar results were also obtained when animal abundance and biomass were extrapolated to algal cover per m 2 rocky substrate in the study area. Margalef's species richness was, on the other hand, higher in F. vesiculosus, whereas the Shannon-Wiener diversity was the same. The results indicate that C. glomerata maintains a high diversity of macroinvertebrates in the upper littoral zone of the northern Baltic Sea during summer. A possible substitution of F. vesiculosus by C. glomerata does not immediately affect macroinvertebrate diversity negatively in the littoral zone, although, it is difficult to assess the full consequences due to lack of comparable algal data at wider temporal and spatial scales.

Dense Granular Avalanches: Mathematical Description and Experimental Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tai, Y.-C.; Hutter, K.; Gray, J. M. N. T.

Snow avalanches, landslides, rock falls and debris flows are extremely dangerous and destructive natural phenomena. The frequency of occurrence and amplitudes of these disastrous events appear to have increased in recent years perhaps due to recent climate warming. The events endanger the personal property and infra-structure in mountainous regions. For example, from the winters 1940/41 to 1987/88 more than 7000 snow avalanches occurred in Switzerland with damaged property leading to a total of 1269 deaths. In February 1999, 36 people were buried by a single avalanche in Galtür, Austria. In August 1996, a very large debris flow in middle Taiwan resulted in 51 deaths, 22 lost and an approximate property damage of more than 19 billion NT dollars (ca. 600 million US dollars) [18]. In Europe, a suddenly released debris flow in North Italy in August 1998 buried 5 German tourists on the Superhighway "Brenner-Autobahn". The topic has gained so much significance that in 1990 the United Nations declared the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR); Germany has its own Deutsches IDNDR-Komitee für Katastrophenvorbeugung e.V. Special conferences are devoted to the theme, e.g., the CALAR conference on Avalanches, Landslides, Rock Falls and Debris Flows (Vienna, January 2000), INTERPRAEVENT, annual conferences on the protection of habitants from floods, debris flows and avalanches, special conferences on debris flow hazard mi tigation and those exclusively on Avalanches.

UV disinfection for reuse applications in North America.

PubMed

Sakamoto, G; Schwartzel, D; Tomowich, D

2001-01-01

In an effort to conserve and protect limited water resources, the States of Florida and California have actively promoted wastewater reclamation and have implemented comprehensive regulations covering a range of reuse applications. Florida has a semi-tropical climate with heavy summer rains that are lost due to run off and evaporation. Much of California is arid and suffers periodic droughts, low annual rainfall and depleted ground water supplies. The high population density combined with heavy irrigation demands has depleted ground water supplies resulting in salt-water intrusion. During the past decade, Florida reuse sites have increased dramatically from 118 to 444 plants representing a total flow capacity of 826 MGD. California presently has over 250 plants producing 1 BGD with a projected increase of 160 sites over the next 20 years. To prevent the transmission of waterborne diseases, disinfection of reclaimed water is controlled by stringent regulations. Many states regulate wastewater treatment processes, nutrient removal, final effluent quality and disinfection criteria based upon the specific reuse application. As a rule, the resulting effluents have low turbidity and suspended solids. For such effluents, UV technology can economically achieve the most stringent disinfection targets that are required by the States of California and Florida for restricted and unrestricted reuse. This paper compares UV disinfection for wastewater reuse sites in California and Florida and discusses the effect of effluent quality on UV disinfection.

Record of archaeal activity at the serpentinite-hosted Lost City Hydrothermal Field.

PubMed

Méhay, S; Früh-Green, G L; Lang, S Q; Bernasconi, S M; Brazelton, W J; Schrenk, M O; Schaeffer, P; Adam, P

2013-11-01

Samples of young, outer surfaces of brucite-carbonate deposits from the ultramafic-hosted Lost City hydrothermal field were analyzed for DNA and lipid biomarker distributions and for carbon and hydrogen stable isotope compositions of the lipids. Methane-cycling archaeal communities, notably the Lost City Methanosarcinales (LCMS) phylotype, are specifically addressed. Lost City is unlike all other hydrothermal systems known to date and is characterized by metal- and CO2 -poor, high pH fluids with high H2 and CH4 contents resulting from serpentinization processes at depth. The archaeal fraction of the microbial community varies widely within the Lost City chimneys, from 1-81% and covaries with concentrations of hydrogen within the fluids. Archaeal lipids include isoprenoid glycerol di- and tetraethers and C25 and C30 isoprenoid hydrocarbons (pentamethylicosane derivatives - PMIs - and squalenoids). In particular, unsaturated PMIs and squalenoids, attributed to the LCMS archaea, were identified for the first time in the carbonate deposits at Lost City and probably record processes exclusively occurring at the surface of the chimneys. The carbon isotope compositions of PMIs and squalenoids are remarkably heterogeneous across samples and show highly (13) C-enriched signatures reaching δ(13) C values of up to +24.6‰. Unlike other environments in which similar structural and isotopic lipid heterogeneity has been observed and attributed to diversity in the archaeal assemblage, the lipids here appear to be synthesized solely by the LCMS. Some of the variations in lipid isotope signatures may, in part, be due to unusual isotopic fractionation during biosynthesis under extreme conditions. However, we argue that the diversity in archaeal abundances, lipid structure and carbon isotope composition rather reflects the ability of the LCMS archaeal biofilms to adapt to chemical gradients in the hydrothermal chimneys and possibly to perform either methanotrophy or methanogenesis using dissolved inorganic carbon, methane or formate as a function of the prevailing environmental conditions. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

77 FR 73041 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Border Community Capital Initiative

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-07

... applicants for funding. Semi-annual reporting is required to monitor grant management. DATES: Comments Due.... Semi-annual reporting is required to monitor grant management. Agency form numbers, if applicable: SF...

Global fund financing to the 34 malaria-eliminating countries under the new funding model 2014-2017: an analysis of national allocations and regional grants.

PubMed

Zelman, Brittany; Melgar, Melissa; Larson, Erika; Phillips, Allison; Shretta, Rima

2016-02-25

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM) has been the largest financial supporter of malaria since 2002. In 2011, the GFATM transitioned to a new funding model (NFM), which prioritizes grants to high burden, lower income countries. This shift raises concerns that some low endemic countries, dependent on GFATM financing to achieve their malaria elimination goals, would receive less funding under the NFM. This study aims to understand the projected increase or decrease in national and regional funding from the GFATM's NFM to the 34 malaria-eliminating countries. Average annual disbursements under the old funding model were compared to average annual national allocations for all eligible 34 malaria-eliminating countries for the period of 2014-2017. Regional grant funding to countries that are due to receive additional support was then included in the comparison and analysed. Estimated funding ranges for the countries under the NFM were calculated using the proposed national allocation plus the possible adjustments and additional funding. Finally, the minimum and maximum funding estimates were compared to average annual disbursements under the old funding model. A cumulative 31 % decrease in national financing from the GFATM is expected for the countries included in this analysis. Regional grants augment funding for almost half of the eliminating countries, and increase the cumulative percent change in GTFAM funding to 32 %, though proposed activities may not be funded directly through national malaria programmes. However, if countries receive the maximum possible funding, 46 % of the countries included in this analysis would receive less than they received under the previous funding model. Many malaria-eliminating countries have projected national declines in funding from the GFATM under the NFM. While regional grants enhance funding for eliminating countries, they may not be able to fill country-level funding gaps for local commodities and implementation. If the GFATM is able to nuance its allocation methodology to mitigate drastic funding declines for malaria investments in low transmission countries, the GFATM can ensure previous investments are not lost. By aligning with WHO's Global Technical Strategy for Malaria and investing in both high- and low-endemic countries, the Global Fund can tip the scale on a global health threat and contribute toward the goal of eventual malaria eradication.

Life Expectancy and Lifetime Health Care Expenditures for Type 1 Diabetes: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort of Incident Cases Followed for 14 Years.

PubMed

Ou, Huang-Tz; Yang, Chen-Yi; Wang, Jung-Der; Hwang, Jing-Shiang; Wu, Jin-Shang

2016-12-01

To assess additional life expectancy (LE), expected years of life lost , and lifetime health care expenditures after type 1 diabetes diagnosis, stratified by sex and age of first diagnosis (early: 0-12 years; late: 13-40 years). A longitudinal cohort of patients with diabetes was constructed from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database of 1999 to 2012. The survival functions for diabetic patients and age- and sex-matched general population were estimated by using a semiparametric extrapolation method with annual life tables. The average monthly health care expenditures were multiplied by the corresponding monthly survival rates and summed to calculate the lifetime health care expenditures. Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to corroborate the effects of sex and age, after being adjusted for comorbidities, complications, and calendar years. A total of 2386 cases (45% early diagnosis, 49% males) were identified. An additional LE after diabetes diagnosis was 45.12 years, with an estimated 17.63 years of life lost. The predicted total and diabetes-related lifetime costs were $56,939 and $102,140, respectively. Early diagnosed patients had a longer LE and lower health care spending compared with those of late-diagnosed patients. Male patients had a shorter LE and a higher expected years of life lost than the female patients, which corresponded to lower lifetime costs for the former. The Cox model results for overall mortality corroborated these trends. Early detection of type 1 diabetes and sex-specific strategies would probably improve long-term health outcomes and save on the cost of diabetes care. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture.

PubMed Central

Leigh, J. P.; McCurdy, S. A.; Schenker, M. B.

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to estimate the costs of job-related injuries in agriculture in the United States for 1992. METHODS: The authors reviewed data from national surveys to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries. Numerical adjustments were made for weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, the authors used the human capital method that allocates costs to direct categories such as medical expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data were drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. RESULTS: Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated $4.57 billion (range $3.14 billion to $13.99 billion) in 1992. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30% more than the national average to occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be $1.66 billion and indirect costs, $2.93 billion. CONCLUSIONS: The costs of farm injuries are on a par with the costs of hepatitis C. This high cost is in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and economic resources devoted to prevention and amelioration of farm injuries. Agricultural occupational injuries are an underappreciated contributor to the overall national burden of health and medical costs. PMID:12034913

Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture.

PubMed

Leigh, J P; McCurdy, S A; Schenker, M B

2001-01-01

This study was conducted to estimate the costs of job-related injuries in agriculture in the United States for 1992. The authors reviewed data from national surveys to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries. Numerical adjustments were made for weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, the authors used the human capital method that allocates costs to direct categories such as medical expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data were drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated $4.57 billion (range $3.14 billion to $13.99 billion) in 1992. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30% more than the national average to occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be $1.66 billion and indirect costs, $2.93 billion. The costs of farm injuries are on a par with the costs of hepatitis C. This high cost is in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and economic resources devoted to prevention and amelioration of farm injuries. Agricultural occupational injuries are an underappreciated contributor to the overall national burden of health and medical costs.

Unmeasured costs of a child's death: perceived financial burden, work disruptions, and economic coping strategies used by American and Australian families who lost children to cancer.

PubMed

Dussel, Veronica; Bona, Kira; Heath, John A; Hilden, Joanne M; Weeks, Jane C; Wolfe, Joanne

2011-03-10

Financial concerns represent a major stressor for families of children with cancer but remain poorly understood among those with terminally ill children. We describe the financial hardship, work disruptions, income loss, and coping strategies of families who lost children to cancer. Retrospective cross-sectional survey of 141 American and 89 Australian bereaved parents whose children died between 1990 and 1999 and 1996 to 2004, respectively, at three tertiary-care pediatric hospitals (two American, one Australian). Response rate: 63%. Thirty-four (24%) of 141 families from US centers and 34 (39%) of 88 families from the Australian center reported a great deal of financial hardship resulting from their children's illness. Work disruptions were substantial (84% in the United States, 88% in Australia). Australian families were more likely to report quitting a job (49% in Australia v 35% in the United States; P = .037). Sixty percent of families lost more than 10% of their annual income as a result of work disruptions. Australians were more likely to lose more than 40% of their income (34% in Australia v 19% in the United States; P = .035). Poor families experienced the greatest income loss. After accounting for income loss, 16% of American and 22% of Australian families dropped below the poverty line. Financial hardship was associated with poverty and income loss in all centers. Fundraising was the most common financial coping strategy (52% in the United States v 33% in Australia), followed by reduced spending. In these US and Australian centers, significant household-level financial effects of a child's death as a result of cancer were observed, especially for poor families. Interventions aimed at reducing the effects of income loss may ease financial distress.

Respiratory diseases and the impact of cough in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Lin, Horng-Chyuan; Cho, Sang-Heon; Ghoshal, Aloke Gopal; Muttalif, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul; Thanaviratananich, Sanguansak; Bagga, Shalini; Faruqi, Rab; Sajjan, Shiva; Cahill, Camilla L; Hamrosi, Kim K; Wang, De Yun

2016-01-01

Abstract Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and rhinosinusitis are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study was a cross-sectional, observational study which examined the disease and economic burden of AR, asthma, COPD, and rhinosinusitis across Asia-Pacific using 1 standard protocol. Here we report symptoms, healthcare resource use (HCRU), work impairment, and associated cost in Taiwan. Consecutive participants aged ≥ 18 years presenting to a physician with symptoms meeting the diagnostic criteria for a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed surveys detailing respiratory symptoms, HCRU, work productivity, and activity impairment. Costs including direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with lost work productivity were calculated. The study enrolled 1001 patients. AR was the most frequent primary diagnosis (31.2%). A quarter of patients presented with a combination of respiratory diseases, with AR and asthma being the most frequent combination (14.1%). Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit for patients with asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the primary reasons for AR and rhinosinusitis. Specialists were the most frequently used healthcare resource by patients with AR (26.1%), asthma (26.4%), COPD (26.6%), and rhinosinusitis (47.3%). The mean annual cost per patient with a respiratory disease was US$4511 (SD 5395). The cost was almost double for employed patients (US$8047, SD 6175), with the majority attributable to lost productivity. Respiratory diseases have a significant impact on disease burden in Taiwan. Treatment strategies that prevent lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of these diseases. PMID:27399064

Use of fully biodegradable panels to reduce derelict pot threats to marine fauna.

PubMed

Bilkovic, D M; Havens, K J; Stanhope, D M; Angstadt, K T

2012-12-01

Fishing pots (i.e., traps) are designed to catch fish or crustaceans and are used globally. Lost pots are a concern for a variety of fisheries, and there are reports that 10-70% of deployed pots are lost annually. Derelict fishing pots can be a source of mortality for target and bycatch species for several years. Because continual removal of derelict gear can be impractical over large spatial extents, modifications are needed to disarm gear once it is lost. We tested a fully biodegradable panel with a cull or escape ring designed for placement on the sides of a crab pot that completely degrades into environmentally neutral constituents after approximately 1 year. This panel is relatively inexpensive, easy to install, and can be used in multiple fisheries. We used the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery as a test case because it is a large pot fishery and blue crab pots are similar to traps used in other pot fisheries. We had commercial fishers deploy pots with panels alongside standard pots in Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to assess potential effects of our experimental pots on blue crab catch. We compared the number, biomass, and size of crabs captured between standard and experimental pots and evaluated differences in catch over a crabbing season (March-November) at five locations. There was no evidence that biodegradable panels adversely affected catch. In all locations and time periods, legal catches were comparable in abundance, biomass, and size between experimental and standard pots. Properly designed biodegradable panels appear to be a viable solution to mitigate adverse effects of derelict pots. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

Reliability of reporting nosocomial infections in the discharge abstract and implications for receipt of revenues under prospective reimbursement.

PubMed Central

Massanari, R M; Wilkerson, K; Streed, S A; Hierholzer, W J

1987-01-01

Proper reporting of discharge diagnoses, including complications of medical care, is essential for maximum recovery of revenues under the prospective reimbursement system. To evaluate the effectiveness of abstracting techniques in identifying nosocomial infections at discharge, discharge abstracts of patients with nosocomial infections were reviewed during September through November of 1984. Patients with nosocomial infections were identified using modified Centers for Disease Control (CDC) definitions and trained surveillance technicians. Records which did not include the diagnosis of nosocomial infections in the discharge abstract were identified, and potential lost revenues were estimated. We identified 631 infections in 498 patients. On average, only 57 per cent of the infections were properly recorded and coded in the discharge abstract. Of the additional monies which might be anticipated by the health care institution to assist in the cost of care of adverse events, approximately one-third would have been lost due to errors in coding in the discharge abstract. Although these lost revenues are substantial, they constitute but a small proportion of the potential costs to the institution when patients acquire nosocomial infections. PMID:3105338

Work productivity loss from depression: evidence from an employer survey.

PubMed

Rost, Kathryn M; Meng, Hongdao; Xu, Stanley

2014-12-18

National working groups identify the need for return on investment research conducted from the purchaser perspective; however, the field has not developed standardized methods for measuring the basic components of return on investment, including costing out the value of work productivity loss due to illness. Recent literature is divided on whether the most commonly used method underestimates or overestimates this loss. The goal of this manuscript is to characterize between and within variation in the cost of work productivity loss from illness estimated by the most commonly used method and its two refinements. One senior health benefit specialist from each of 325 companies employing 100+ workers completed a cross-sectional survey describing their company size, industry and policies/practices regarding work loss which allowed the research team to derive the variables needed to estimate work productivity loss from illness using three methods. Compensation estimates were derived by multiplying lost work hours from presenteeism and absenteeism by wage/fringe. Disruption correction adjusted this estimate to account for co-worker disruption, while friction correction accounted for labor substitution. The analysis compared bootstrapped means and medians between and within these three methods. The average company realized an annual $617 (SD = $75) per capita loss from depression by compensation methods and a $649 (SD = $78) loss by disruption correction, compared to a $316 (SD = $58) loss by friction correction (p < .0001). Agreement across estimates was 0.92 (95% CI 0.90, 0.93). Although the methods identify similar companies with high costs from lost productivity, friction correction reduces the size of compensation estimates of productivity loss by one half. In analyzing the potential consequences of method selection for the dissemination of interventions to employers, intervention developers are encouraged to include friction methods in their estimate of the economic value of interventions designed to improve absenteeism and presenteeism. Business leaders in industries where labor substitution is common are encouraged to seek friction corrected estimates of return on investment. Health policy analysts are encouraged to target the dissemination of productivity enhancing interventions to employers with high losses rather than all employers. NCT01013220.

[Has application of the decree banning the use of cement with a high chromium VI content led to a reduction in occupational cement dermatitis in salaried workers in the construction industries?].

PubMed

Halioua, Bruno; Bensefa-Colas, Lynda; Crepy, Marie-Noëlle; Bouquiaux, Barbara; Assier, Haudrey; Billon, Stéphane; Chosidow, Olivier

2013-03-01

Active employees in the construction industry are particularly exposed to occupational cement eczema (OCE) which affects the hands in 80 to 90% of cases. The importance of OCE in France and the impact of the application of decree n(o). 2005-577 on 26 May 2005 were estimated from data collected by the Occupational risks division of the French national health insurance fund for salaried workers (CNAMTS). This decree prohibits the placing on the market and use of cement (and preparations containing it) with a chromium VI content above 0.0002% in order to reduce its hazardousness. All cases of OCE reported to and recognized by the CNAMTS between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008 among construction workers were selected. The following parameters were noted in each case: age, gender, industrial sector concerned, local French National health insurance agency, causal agent and the number of working days lost. The incidence per 100,000 salaried workers could be determined from the total number of salaried workers followed up by occupational medicine as well as those working in the construction industry. For the five years studied, 3698 cases of occupational eczema (OE) were reported in construction workers and this was 17.1% of the total number of cases of OE for all salaried employees (n=12.689). Cement was the causal agent most frequently involved in the construction sector (57.8%, 2139/3698). The annual incidence of OCE decreased from 37.8 to 21.1 new cases per 100,000 employees in the construction industry per year between 2004 and 2008. The total number of days lost from work due to OCE decreased by 39% during the study period. This descriptive study highlights the importance and socio-economic impact of OCE in the construction industry. Application of decree n(o). 2005-577 on 26 May 2005 may explain a reduction in OCE. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.