Comparing drug costs in rheumatic diseases

1975 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 59-60
Keyword(s):  
Drug Costs ◽  
Cost Comparison ◽  
Therapeutic Group ◽  
Retail Pharmacy ◽  
Family Doctors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Prescription Charge ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Term Maintenance

When there is little to choose between different drugs available for the same purpose, as in the case of the anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs discussed in the preceding article, it is reasonable to make the choice on grounds of cost. It can however be difficult to construct a meaningful cost comparison for the drugs in a particular therapeutic group. One obvious problem is that of dosage, for it is not clear which dose in a wide range should be chosen for the comparison. Perhaps the most appropriate dosage is that most commonly used (the modal dosage) in long-term maintenance therapy. The modal dose could be derived from an analysis of prescriptions, or estimated approximately from clinical trial reports, or from a consensus view of clinicians with experience of the drug. But provided the dose used in a comparison is clearly stated the result should not mislead anyone, even if the dose is chosen arbitrarily. A second problem is the difference in drug costs in hospitals and in retail pharmacy. Hospital prices are generally not published, and vary between different hospitals, whereas retail pharmacy prices are published and uniform. Some manufacturers have deliberately charged hospitals low prices for a drug and retail pharmacists high prices, presumably to increase use of the drug in hospitals which are more cost-conscious, and which also influence prescribing by family doctors in their catchment area. As long as such multiple pricing continues it seems more practical to base comparisons on retail costs. Thirdly, should non-drug costs be included, such as the pharmacist’s fee, on-cost allowance, and container allowance; and should the sum collected as prescription charge be deducted? Since on the whole these items are constant, they do not affect the essentials of comparisons and they may just as well be omitted.

European Experience with a System for Bifurcated Stent-Graft Insertion

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A.M. Chuter ◽  
George Wendt ◽  
Brian R. Hopkinson ◽  
R. Alan P. Scott ◽  
Bo Risberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Success Rate ◽  
Stent Migration ◽  
Graft Thrombosis ◽  
European Experience ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Procedural Success ◽  
Current Selection

Purpose: To test an endovascular aneurysm exclusion system in the presence of a wide range of challenging anatomic features. Methods: Bifurcated endovascular stent-grafts were inserted in 52 patients and followed with serial computed tomography for up to 3 years. The device underwent several modifications during this time, the most significant of which represent the difference between the homemade (n = 42) and industry-made (n = 10) versions. Results: The initial procedural success rate was 92% in the homemade group and 100% in the industry-made group. In the 3 years of follow-up, the long-term success rate was 64% in the homemade group and 90% in the industry-made group. The primary reasons for failure in the homemade group were graft thrombosis due to kinking early in the series and proximal stent migration later in our experience. All cases of migration occurred when the neck was < 15 mm in length, the neck was lined with thrombus, or the stent was implanted > 15 mm from the renal arteries. Kinking was subsequently overcome by implanting Wallstents throughout the graft limbs. The sole failure in the industry-made group was a case in which collateral perfusion reached the aneurysm through patent lumbar arteries. Conclusions: The fruits of this experience are a better technique, a better device, and, most importantly, a better understanding of the system's limits, as reflected in the current selection criteria.

Comparative Effects of High-Tech Visual Scene Displays and Low-Tech Isolated Picture Symbols on Engagement From Students With Multiple Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Holyfield ◽  
Sydney Brooks ◽  
Allison Schluterman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Multiple Disabilities ◽  
Visual Scene ◽  
Future Research ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference

Purpose Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an intervention approach that can promote communication and language in children with multiple disabilities who are beginning communicators. While a wide range of AAC technologies are available, little is known about the comparative effects of specific technology options. Given that engagement can be low for beginning communicators with multiple disabilities, the current study provides initial information about the comparative effects of 2 AAC technology options—high-tech visual scene displays (VSDs) and low-tech isolated picture symbols—on engagement. Method Three elementary-age beginning communicators with multiple disabilities participated. The study used a single-subject, alternating treatment design with each technology serving as a condition. Participants interacted with their school speech-language pathologists using each of the 2 technologies across 5 sessions in a block randomized order. Results According to visual analysis and nonoverlap of all pairs calculations, all 3 participants demonstrated more engagement with the high-tech VSDs than the low-tech isolated picture symbols as measured by their seconds of gaze toward each technology option. Despite the difference in engagement observed, there was no clear difference across the 2 conditions in engagement toward the communication partner or use of the AAC. Conclusions Clinicians can consider measuring engagement when evaluating AAC technology options for children with multiple disabilities and should consider evaluating high-tech VSDs as 1 technology option for them. Future research must explore the extent to which differences in engagement to particular AAC technologies result in differences in communication and language learning over time as might be expected.

Efficacious long-term maintenance therapy with pantoprazole (PAN) in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

2001 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. A613-A613
Author(s):  
P BORNMAN ◽  
K RADEBOLD ◽  
H DEBAERE ◽  
L VENTER ◽  
H HEINZE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Maintenance Therapy ◽  
Zollinger Ellison Syndrome ◽  
Term Maintenance

COMBINATORIAL POLYNOMIALLY COMPUTABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBSTITUTIONS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
VLADIMIR NIKONOV ◽  
◽  
ANTON ZOBOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Expectation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Computational Point ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bijective Function ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Element Base ◽  
Selection Of

The construction and selection of a suitable bijective function, that is, substitution, is now becoming an important applied task, particularly for building block encryption systems. Many articles have suggested using different approaches to determining the quality of substitution, but most of them are highly computationally complex. The solution of this problem will significantly expand the range of methods for constructing and analyzing scheme in information protection systems. The purpose of research is to find easily measurable characteristics of substitutions, allowing to evaluate their quality, and also measures of the proximity of a particular substitutions to a random one, or its distance from it. For this purpose, several characteristics were proposed in this work: difference and polynomial, and their mathematical expectation was found, as well as variance for the difference characteristic. This allows us to make a conclusion about its quality by comparing the result of calculating the characteristic for a particular substitution with the calculated mathematical expectation. From a computational point of view, the thesises of the article are of exceptional interest due to the simplicity of the algorithm for quantifying the quality of bijective function substitutions. By its nature, the operation of calculating the difference characteristic carries out a simple summation of integer terms in a fixed and small range. Such an operation, both in the modern and in the prospective element base, is embedded in the logic of a wide range of functional elements, especially when implementing computational actions in the optical range, or on other carriers related to the field of nanotechnology.

A Problem of Long - Term Digital Preservation: Difference in Humanities and Natural Sciences

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Elena Macevičiūtė
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Digital Preservation ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Time Line ◽  
Digital Documents ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Technological Science

The article deals with the requirements and needs for long-term digital preservation in different areas of scholarly work. The concept of long-term digital preservation is introduced by comparing it to digitization and archiving concepts and defined with the emphasis on dynamic activity within a certain time line. The structure of digital preservation is presented with regard to the elements of the activity as understood in Activity Theory. The life-cycle of digitization processes forms the basis of the main processing of preserved data in preservation archival system.The author draws on the differences between humanities and social sciences on one hand and natural and technological science on the other. The empirical data characterizing the needs for digital preservation within different areas of scholarship are presented and show the difference in approaches to long-term digital preservation, as well as differences in selecting the items and implementing the projects of digital preservation. Institutions and organizations can also develop different understanding of preservation requirements for digital documents and other objects.The final part of the paper is devoted to some general problems pertaining to the longterm digital preservation with the emphasis of the responsibility for the whole process of safe-guarding the cultural and scholarly heritage for the re-use of the posterior generations. It is suggested that the longevity of the libraries in comparison with much shorter life-span of private companies strengthens the claim of memory institutions to playing the central role in the long-term digital preservation.

Generalized Heterodyne Configurations for Photo-induced Force Microscopy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Wang ◽  
Devon Jakob ◽  
Haomin Wang ◽  
Alexis Apostolos ◽  
Marcos M. Pires ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Repetition Rate ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
High Harmonic ◽  
Chemical Imaging ◽  
Heterodyne Detection ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Afm Cantilever

<div>Infrared chemical microscopy through mechanical probing of light-matter interactions by atomic force microscopy (AFM) bypasses the diffraction limit. One increasingly popular technique is photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM), which utilizes the mechanical heterodyne signal detection between cantilever mechanical resonant oscillations and the photo induced force from light-matter interaction. So far, photo induced force microscopy has been operated in only one heterodyne configuration. In this article, we generalize heterodyne configurations of photoinduced force microscopy by introducing two new schemes: harmonic heterodyne detection and sequential heterodyne detection. In harmonic heterodyne detection, the laser repetition rate matches integer fractions of the difference between the two mechanical resonant modes of the AFM cantilever. The high harmonic of the beating from the photothermal expansion mixes with the AFM cantilever oscillation to provide PiFM signal. In sequential heterodyne detection, the combination of the repetition rate of laser pulses and polarization modulation frequency matches the difference between two AFM mechanical modes, leading to detectable PiFM signals. These two generalized heterodyne configurations for photo induced force microscopy deliver new avenues for chemical imaging and broadband spectroscopy at ~10 nm spatial resolution. They are suitable for a wide range of heterogeneous materials across various disciplines: from structured polymer film, polaritonic boron nitride materials, to isolated bacterial peptidoglycan cell walls. The generalized heterodyne configurations introduce flexibility for the implementation of PiFM and related tapping mode AFM-IR, and provide possibilities for additional modulation channel in PiFM for targeted signal extraction with nanoscale spatial resolution.</div>

Modern prevention and active longevity programs on the basis of disruptive domestic technologies: positive experience and prospects for application

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
A. Simonova ◽  
S. Chudakov ◽  
R. Gorenkov ◽  
V. Egorov ◽  
A. Gostry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Laboratory Diagnostics ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Integrated Program ◽  
Long Term Experience ◽  
Early Detection And Prevention

The article summarizes the long-term experience of practical application of domestic breakthrough technologies of preventive personalized medicine for laboratory diagnostics of a wide range of socially significant non-infectious diseases. Conceptual approaches to the formation of an integrated program for early detection and prevention of civilization diseases based on these technologies are given. A vision of the prospects for the development of this area in domestic and foreign medicine has been formed.

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