Effect of Hemi-Castration on the Productivity, Histological Characteristics, and Economic Efficacy of Korean Beef Cattle

We evaluated the growth performance, serum testosterone, carcass traits, histological characteristics, and economic efficacy of castrated and hemi-castrated Korean beef cattle. Thirty-two Hanwoo calves (Initial body weight: 148.4 ± 19.8 kg) were randomly assigned into the castrated Hanwoo (CH) and hemi-castrated Hanwoo (HH) group. The experiment lasted 18 months; the animals were all slaughtered on the same day. Final body weight and average daily gain (ADG) tended to increase in the HH group compared to the CH group. Testosterone concentration was higher in HH group (5.27–14.27 ng/dL) than in the CH group (0.47–0.70 ng/dL) during the whole experimental period after castration (p < 0.05). Rib eye area was 17.08 cm2 wider in HH group than in CH group, but marbling score was improved by 3.33 in CH group compared to HH group (p < 0.01). Deposition area of adipocytes in Longissimus dorsi were higher in CH group than in HH group (p < 0.001). Net income per head was 1760 US dollar higher in the CH group than in the HH group (p < 0.04). Thus, our findings suggest that hemi-castration had positive effects on the increase in ADG and meat yield traits, with negative effects on marbling and profitability.

Biological and economic efficacy of cowpea-radish association fertilized with organic manure in diverse planting arrangements

Green manuring and the spatial arrangement of planting intercropped crops are manageable factors to increase the bioeconomic effectiveness of intercropped systems. Therefore, the object of this study was to work out the bio-economic efficacy in cowpea-radish association under diverse Calotropis procera biomass amounts and planting arrangements in two cultivation seasons through biological and economic indices. The research was conducted in a design of randomized complete blocks with four repetitions. The treatments were made of combination of four C. procera biomass amounts placed into the soil (20, 35, 50 and 65 t ha-1) with three cowpea-radish planting arrangements (2:2, 3:3 and 4:4). The biological indices, land equivalent ratio (LER), area-time equivalency ratio (ATER), actual yield loss (AYL), and system productivity index (SPI) and the economic indicators gross revenue (GR), net revenue (NR), rate of return (RR) and profit margin (PM) were evaluated to express the bio-economic efficacy of the cowpea-radish association. The greatest biological efficiencies of the cowpea-radish association were attained with LER and ATER of 1.75 and 1.25; AYL and SPI of 1.48 and 13.15 t ha-1, respectively, in the amount of 62 t ha-1 of C. procera biomass in the planting arrangements 2: 2 and 3: 3. The largest net economic revenue (NR) of 16,382.85 R$ ha-1 was attained in the amount of 52 t ha-1 of C. procera in the planting arrangement 3: 3.

Clinical and economic analysis of using the thrombodynamics test in patients undergoing treatment with assisted reproductive technologies in the Russian Federation

Objective: early assessming the clinical and economic efficacy of the thrombodynamics test in infertile patients undergoing treatment with assisted reproductive technologies (ART), as well as the impact of this test on the health care budget of the Russian Federation.Material and methods. The study was carried out on the basis of statistical data on the number of ART cycles, the proportion of patients with hypercoagulation and normocoagulation of blood, data on the clinical effectiveness of ART programs in Russia, including the dependency on the status of blood coagulation, as well as cost data. The analysis was carried out according to three scenarios: 1) thrombodynamics test with subsequent correction of the revealed hypercoagulability status before in vitro fertilization (IVF); 2) thrombodynamics test with the subsequent refusal to perform IVF in patients with hypercoagulability; 3) thrombodynamics test with subsequent correction of the revealed hypercoagulability status before the start of the frozen-thawed embryo transfer. The criteria for clinical effectiveness were the following indicators: the number of children born and the number of potentially saved life years. Clinical and economic efficacy criteria included: total direct medical costs; incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER); changes in the amount of total direct medical costs; resizing effectively and ineffectively spent funds.Results. The use of the thrombodynamics test will potentially increase the number of children born by 21–33 children and the number of years of life saved, with discounting considered, within the range of 923–1448 years per 1000 ART cycles, depending on the study scenario. The smallest ICER values were observed in Scenario 2, and amounted to 112,120 rubles for 1 child born and 2519 rubles for 1 saved year of life. The highest ICER values were obtained in Scenario 1: 275,576 rubles for 1 child born and 6191 rubles for 1 saved year of life. The use of the thrombodynamics test in women with infertility before ART in Russia will require an increase in direct medical costs from 174 to 425 million rubles (by 1–5% of the initial level of costs) in absolute terms, depending on the chosen scenario with a time horizon of 1 year.Conclusion. Due to the expected significant improvement in treatment outcomes and the small amount of additional costs, the introduction of the thrombodynamics test into the routine practice of assessing blood clotting in infertile patients before the start of the ART cycle is potentially cost-effective, but further clinical studies are required for a more accurate economic assessment.

Clinical and economic aspects of enhanced treatment efficacy of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis

The objective of the study: To evaluate the clinical and economic efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR).Subjects and methods. The number and structure of MDR tuberculosis patients living on the territory of the Republic of Karelia from 2008 to 2017 were studied. The clinical and economic efficacy of treatment of MDR tuberculosis patients was assessed.Results. In 2011-2017, decrease in the number of MDR patients in the Republic of Karelia was mainly due to enhanced treatment efficacy of new MDR tuberculosis cases. The introduction of social support methods (food parsels) and express drug sensitivity testing to rifampicin using the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF was associated with higher treatment efficacy – from 37.2% (2013) to 58% (2014), the lower rate of treatment defaults, and significant decrease in mortality, as well as reduction of costs for curing of one MDR tuberculosis patient from1.68 million rubles in 2012 up to 0.77 million rubles in 2014.

Reduction of Health Care-Associated Infections (HAIs) with Antimicrobial Inorganic Nanoparticles Incorporated in Medical Textiles: An Economic Assessment

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) affect millions of patients annually with up to 80,000 affected in Europe on any given day. This represents a significant societal and economic burden. Staff training, hand hygiene, patient identification and isolation and controlled antibiotic use are some of the standard ways to reduce HAI incidence but this is time consuming and subject and subject to rigorous implementation. In addition, the lack of antimicrobial activity of some disinfectants against healthcare-associated pathogens may also affect the efficacy of disinfection practices. Textiles are an attractive substrate for pathogens because of contact with the human body with the attendant warmth and moisture. Textiles and surfaces coated with engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have shown considerable promise in reducing the microbial burden on those surfaces. Studies have also shown that this antimicrobial affect can reduce the incidence of HAIs. For all of the promising research, there has been an absence of study on the economic effectiveness of ENM coated materials in a healthcare setting. This article examines the relative economic efficacy of ENM coated materials against an antiseptic approach. The goal is to establish the economic efficacy of the widespread usage of ENM coated materials in a healthcare setting. In the absence of detailed and segregated costs, benefits and control variables over at least cross sectional data or time series, an aggregated approach is warranted. This approach, while relying on some supposition allows for a comparison with similar data regarding standard treatment to reduce HAIs and provides a reasonable economic comparison. We find that while, relative to antiseptics, ENM coated textiles represent a significant clinical advantage, they can also offer considerable cost savings.