scholarly journals Economic assessment of urban watersheds: developing mechanisms for environmental protection of the Feijão river, São Carlos - SP, Brazil

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
FH Machado ◽  
LF Silva ◽  
FA Dupas ◽  
AP Mattedi ◽  
FE Vergara

In order to determine the willingness of the population of São Carlos (a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil) to pay for the environmental protection (WTP) of the Feijão River's watershed, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), as well as the bidding-games technique, were used. In October 2010, 280 questionnaires were applied to a probabilistic sample of the population. A multivariate logistic regression model was built, creating five scenarios adjusted to the age and probability to pay according to the significant variables found. Concerning the WTP, 56% of the interviewees showed willingness to pay a monthly amount using the water bill as a vehicle for this. The WTP average was 1.94 US Dollar (USD), with a standard deviation of 1.91 USD. The total annual amount for the scenario that considers the whole population over 18 years old was of USD 3,930,616.80. The main argument for the negative WTP was that the interviewees could not afford it (14%).

Author(s):  
Sahar J Ismail ◽  
Meet Patel ◽  
Ryan Gindi ◽  
Ahmad Salah ◽  
Ignatius Tang ◽  
...  

Introduction: Patients with end stage renal disease suffer from a high burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Renal transplant offers mortality and morbidity benefits. Hypothesis: We predict that patients with CVD are less likely to obtain a renal transplant after being listed and that CVD may be associated with post-transplant adverse events. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all adult patients listed for first time renal transplantation at the University Of Illinois Chicago from 2002 till 2006. We defined Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) as a history of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization. We defined reduced ejection fraction (rEF) as an EF less than or equal to 40%. CAD equivalents were defined as a history of diabetes, stroke or peripheral vascular disease. We assessed the outcome of achieving transplantation in a multivariate logistic regression model. We assessed post-transplant events of death or graft failure in a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: Of the 460 patients studied African-Americans accounted for 52% and men for 58%. CAD was present in 10.9% of patients and rEF was present in 9.6%. Pre-operative revascularization occurred in 8.9% of patients (74% percutaneous coronary intervention, 26% bypass surgery. Patients with CAD or a CAD equivalent were older (54.7 vs. 43.2 years old, p <0.01), had higher systolic blood pressure (147.2 vs. 140.6 mmHg, p<0.01) and lower diastolic blood pressure (79.3 vs. 83.6 mmHg, p<0.01). Beta-blocker (63% vs. 54%, p = 0.06) statin (45% vs. 11%, p<0.01) and aspirin (40% vs 12%, p<0.01) use was more common in those with CAD or equivalent. In a multivariate logistic regression model controlling for sex, medications, pre-operative revascularization, and comorbidities, age (OR 0.975, 95% CI 0.954 to 0.997, p = 0.03) and history of CAD (OR 0.385 95% CI 0.159 to 0.932, p= 0.03) were associated with lower odds of receiving transplant. In a Cox proportional hazards model controlling for age, sex, pre-operative revascularization, type of transplant, and comorbidities, CAD (HR 2.56 95% CI 1.08 - 6.10, p = 0.03) and rEF (HR 2.37 95% CI 1.06 - 5.35, p = 0.03) were associated with an increased hazard of graft failure or death. Of 337 patients that received transplant only 4 peri-operative myocardial infarcts and 1 stroke occurred. Conclusions: CVD is common in patients listed for renal transplant. CAD is independently associated with lower odds of receiving a transplant. CAD and rEF are independently associated with increased hazard of post-transplant death or graft failure. Future efforts should focus measures to optimize outcomes in patients with CVD awaiting transplant.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Author(s):  
Marie Alt ◽  
Carlos Stecca ◽  
Shaum Kabadi ◽  
Benga Kazeem ◽  
Srikala S. Sridhar

441 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have changed the landscape of mUC, yet outcomes are variable as some patients (pts) do not respond to treatment while others have a durable response. To optimally select pts who may derive benefit from ICIs, predictive factors are required. This retrospective, post-hoc analysis evaluated pt characteristics to determine differences between short and long-term survivors among pts with mUC who received D (anti–PD-L1) with or without T (anti–CTLA-4) in two clinical studies. Methods: Pts with platinum-refractory mUC who received D monotherapy in the phase I/II study 1108 (10 mg/kg Q2W, up to 12 mo) or D+T in the phase I study 10 (D at 20 mg/kg + T at 1 mg/kg Q4W for 4 mo, then D at 10 mg/kg Q2W for 12 mo) were included. Pt characteristics, tumor characteristics, radiological assessments, and biological assessments were collected. The primary outcome measure was long-term overall survival (OS). Pts were categorized as OS ≥2 yrs (from 1st dose of study drug) or OS <2 yrs. A univariate analysis was conducted on each baseline characteristic to assess independent associations with long-term OS; a multivariate logistic regression model was employed including each variable with a p-value ≤0.1 as factors or covariates. Results: A total of 367 pts with mUC were included in the analysis: 88 (24.0%) had OS ≥2 yrs (range: 2.09–4.99) and 279 (76.0%) had OS <2 yrs (range: 0.03–1.98). Pts with OS ≥2 yrs had a significantly higher objective response rates than those with OS <2 yrs (71.6% vs 5.7%; p<0.0001) and a significantly longer duration of response (median 2.3 yrs vs 0.39 yrs; p<0.0001). The characteristics included in the multivariate logistic regression model are listed in the Table. Long-term OS was significantly associated with ECOG PS, PD-L1 status, baseline hemoglobin level, and baseline absolute neutrophils count. Conclusions: Our analyses show that several characteristics, including tumor response to treatment, are associated with long-term OS for pts with mUC treated with D or D+T. Further investigation into these and other characteristics may provide additional insights into long-term survival outcomes with ICIs. [Table: see text]


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 194008291985719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojian Zhang ◽  
Pengli Li ◽  
Yan Xu ◽  
Xiaohang Yue

Ecocompensation projects (EPs) have two primary objectives: environmental protection and the livelihood maintenance of farmers. Farmers’ ecocompensation expectations (FEEs) are a key factor that affects whether the design of ecological policy is targeted at practical problems. This article divides FEEs into three dependent variables and uses logistic regression and multiple regression models to analyze the influencing factors of FEEs. The results of a questionnaire survey based on 259 farmers in the area of Returning Farmland to Forest Project, with tropical and subtropical regions of China included, show that, first, farmers’ willingness to participate in EPs is strong. Several indicators, such as policy cognition level, returned farmland area, and participation in other EPs, have been demonstrated to significantly affect farmers’ willingness to participate. Second, the result of the contingent valuation method shows that farmers’ expectations of compensation income are higher than the current standard. Farmers’ returned farmland area, participation in other EPs, and degree of satisfaction with the policy effect are primary influencing factors. Third, farmers’ expectations of compensation mode, such as employment opportunities, technical guidance, and ecological migration, are greatly improving. The choice of compensation mode is mainly affected by policy cognition level, current compensation mode for returning farmland, and degree of satisfaction with the policy effect. This study can provide a new perspective for the policy adjustment of eco-environmental protection and farmers’ livelihood choices in the tropical and subtropical regions of China.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e001314
Author(s):  
Chao Liu ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Kehan Song ◽  
Zhi-Ying Zhan ◽  
Yi Yao ◽  
...  

BackgroundIndividualized prediction of mortality risk can inform the treatment strategy for patients with COVID-19 and solid tumors and potentially improve patient outcomes. We aimed to develop a nomogram for predicting in-hospital mortality of patients with COVID-19 with solid tumors.MethodsWe enrolled patients with COVID-19 with solid tumors admitted to 32 hospitals in China between December 17, 2020, and March 18, 2020. A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed via stepwise regression analysis, and a nomogram was subsequently developed based on the fitted multivariate logistic regression model. Discrimination and calibration of the nomogram were evaluated by estimating the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) for the model and by bootstrap resampling, a Hosmer-Lemeshow test, and visual inspection of the calibration curve.ResultsThere were 216 patients with COVID-19 with solid tumors included in the present study, of whom 37 (17%) died and the other 179 all recovered from COVID-19 and were discharged. The median age of the enrolled patients was 63.0 years and 113 (52.3%) were men. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that increasing age (OR=1.08, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.16), receipt of antitumor treatment within 3 months before COVID-19 (OR=28.65, 95% CI 3.54 to 231.97), peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count ≥6.93 ×109/L (OR=14.52, 95% CI 2.45 to 86.14), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR; neutrophil count/(WBC count minus neutrophil count)) ≥4.19 (OR=18.99, 95% CI 3.58 to 100.65), and dyspnea on admission (OR=20.38, 95% CI 3.55 to 117.02) were associated with elevated mortality risk. The performance of the established nomogram was satisfactory, with an AUC of 0.953 (95% CI 0.908 to 0.997) for the model, non-significant findings on the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, and rough agreement between predicted and observed probabilities as suggested in calibration curves. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 86.4% and 92.5%.ConclusionIncreasing age, receipt of antitumor treatment within 3 months before COVID-19 diagnosis, elevated WBC count and dNLR, and having dyspnea on admission were independent risk factors for mortality among patients with COVID-19 and solid tumors. The nomogram based on these factors accurately predicted mortality risk for individual patients.


2020 ◽  
pp. emermed-2019-209239
Author(s):  
Min Sung Lee ◽  
Tae Gun Shin ◽  
Won Young Kim ◽  
You Hwan Jo ◽  
Yoon Jung Hwang ◽  
...  

ObjectivesHyperchloraemia is associated with poor clinical outcomes in sepsis patients; however, this association is not well studied for hypochloraemia. We investigated the prevalence of chloride imbalance and the association between hypochloraemia and 28-day mortality in ED patients with septic shock.MethodsA retrospective analysis of data from 11 multicentre EDs in the Republic of Korea prospectively collected from October 2015 to April 2018 was performed. Initial chloride levels were categorised as hypochloraemia, normochloraemia and hyperchloraemia, according to sodium chloride difference adjusted criteria. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. A multivariate logistic regression model adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, acid-base state, sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, lactate and albumin level was used to test the association between the three chloride categories and 28-day mortality.ResultsAmong 2037 enrolled patients, 394 (19.3%), 1582 (77.7%) and 61 (3.0%) patients had hypochloraemia, normochloraemia and hyperchloraemia, respectively. The unadjusted 28-day mortality rate in patients with hypochloraemia was 27.4% (95% CI, 23.1% to 32.1%), which was higher than in patients with normochloraemia (19.7%; 95% CI, 17.8% to 21.8%). Hypochloraemia was associated with an increase in the risk of 28-day mortality (adjusted OR (aOR), 1.36, 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.83) after adjusting for confounders. However, hyperchloraemia was not associated with 28-day mortality (aOR 1.35, 95% CI, 0.82 to 2.24).ConclusionHypochloraemia was more frequently observed than hyperchloraemia in ED patients with septic shock and it was associated with 28-day mortality.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1127-1127
Author(s):  
Chi Lin ◽  
Kyle A. Denniston ◽  
Mary E. Charlton

1127 Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of external beam radiation therapy (RT) on late cardiac death (CD) in patients with left breast cancer. Methods: A total of 529,246 patients who were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the breast between 1983 and 2004 and survived ≥ 5 years were identified from the SEER database. After excluding patients who were male, had right breast cancer, received brachytherapy or had missing data, 163,894 patients remained. Examined risk factors for CD include age (≤49/50-59/60-69/70-100), race (white/non-white), stage (In situ/local/regional/distant), breast subsite (nipple and areola/inner quadrant/outer quadrant), diagnosis year (1983-1993/1994-2004), surgery status (none/less than mastectomy/mastectomy) and RT. Time to CD was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to evaluate factors associated with the use of RT and the Cox Proportional Hazards model was used to evaluate risk factors for CD. Results: A multivariate logistic regression model revealed that patients who received RT tended to be younger, white, more recently diagnosed, have inner quadrant and more advanced disease and undergo less than mastectomy. Median overall survival for patients with RT was significantly longer than those without RT (263 vs. 226 months, Log-Rank p < .0001). RT group had a lower risk of CD than no-RT group (Log-Rank p < .0001). Median time to CD was not reached in either group. The probability of CD was increased with increasing age and stage, and decreased with more recent diagnosis year and after mastectomy. Cox model found RT to be associated with lower probability of CD (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.62-0.70), after adjusting for age, stage, surgery status and diagnosis year. Race and breast subsite were not associated with CD. Conclusions: Patients with left breast cancer who survived ≥ 5 years and received RT had a lower risk of cardiac death than those who did not. The cause of this difference is unclear but suggests influence from an uninvestigated factor, potentially the increased use of cardiotoxic chemotherapy or other cardiovascular comorbidity in those patients not receiving RT. Continued study, accounting for such factors, is warranted.


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