Determinants of Inclusive Growth in the Context of the Theory of Sustainable Finance in the European Union Countries

The aim of the article is to identify a degree of inclusive growth and to examine the influence of determinants of inclusive growth in the European Union (EU-27) countries, with particular emphasis on factors related to the influence of governments and central banks. The study took advantage of the weight correlation method, which was used to build an inclusive growth measure for the EU-27 for the years 2000, 2008, and 2020. For the construction of the inclusive growth rate, 42 factors were selected that affect inclusive growth in the economic, financial, and non-wage area. These determinants are found in the area of the influence of economic authorities, and mainly in the area of authorities responsible for conducting monetary and fiscal policy and general governance. On the basis of the built-up indicator of inclusive growth, it was noticed that among the 27 EU countries in the studied three years, only four countries distinguished themselves with the highest inclusive growth over the last 21 years, these are: Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Finland. On the other hand, invariably, three countries recorded the lowest inclusive growth, i.e., Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania. The added value of the structure of the inclusive growth indicator was a possibility to observe which of the three areas: economic, financial, or non-wage, had a significant impact on the position of a given country in the compiled inclusive growth ranking.

Andy’s Facial Growth Indicator

Facial growth indicator line was originally developed by Dr John RC Mew. Dr Mew discloses a facial growth indicator in his textbook, Bioblock Therapy published in Great Britain by Dr Mew. The indicator line—this is defined as the distance from the tip of the nose to the incisal edge of the lowest upper central incisor. Andy’s facial growth indicator is a modification of facial growth indicator, which was originally developed by Dr Mew.

Comparison of Line Probe Assay (LPA) and Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tubes (MGIT) Assay for Second-line TB Drug Susceptibility Testing

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) infection is one of the most prominent health issues in the world, including in Indonesia. TB is evolving into multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and requiring second-line TB drugs. Mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT) is the gold standard for susceptibility testing of second-line TB drugs. Alternatively, line probe assay (LPA), which detects genes resistant to second-line TB drugs, takes a shorter time to run. This study aims to compare MGIT and LPA's ability to detect TB resistance to second-line TB drugs and observe mutation patterns of genes encoding second-line TB drugs.METHODS: This was an observational analytic study, using cross-sectional method. The data were acquired from the MDR-TB clinic’s medical records at the Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital from September to December 2019. LPA and MGIT test were conducted at the Health Laboratory Hall of West Java Province, then tested using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and chi-square statistic.RESULTS: From 121 subjects, 113 people were not resistant to the second-line TB drugs, which was examined using both LPA and MGIT (93.4%), p=0.991. Mutations were found in gyrA and rrs gene. There was no significant difference between the proportion of subjects resistant to the second-line of TB drugs tested using LPA and MGIT.CONCLUSION: LPA is an alternative method to MGIT because it requires a shorter time and reduces the risk of exposure that will improve MDR-TB patients management.KEYWORDS: line probe assay (LPA), multidrug-resistant TB, mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT), second-line TB drugs

Effect of Feed Containing Hermetia illucens Larvae Immunized by Lactobacillus plantarum Injection on the Growth and Immunity of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

We investigated the effects of a feed containing Hermetia illucens larvae injected with bacteria on the growth and immunity of Oncorhynchus mykiss. The feed was prepared by replacing fishmeal in feed with 25 and 50% nonimmunized (HIL25, HIL50) or immunized HIL (ImHIL25, ImHIL50), and its protein:fat:carbohydrate ratio was 45:15:18. ImHIL extracts showed inhibitory activity against fish pathogenic bacteria. Both red blood cell count and insulin-like growth factor-1 as the growth indicator were the highest among the groups at week 6 after feeding in the ImHIL50 group. As immune indicators, blood aspartate aminotransferase levels were lower in the ImHIL25 and ImHIL50 groups than in that of other groups at week 6 after feeding, and lysozyme content was significantly higher in ImHIL25 and ImHIL50. The above results demonstrate that ImHIL has a beneficial effect on the improvement of growth and immunity. Accordingly, we suggest that ImHIL has the potential to be a good feed source in aquaculture.

Evaluation and Research on the Level of Inclusive Green Growth in Asia-Pacific Region

Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region and the concept of inclusive green growth, this paper designs a four-dimensional analysis framework of economic prosperity, social inclusion, resource utilization, and environmental sustainability. It constructs a scientific and reasonable inclusive green growth indicator system for the Asia-Pacific region. In order to make the research results more robust, the research method mainly uses factor analysis, supplemented by clustering method and entropy method to evaluate and cross-validate the inclusive green growth level of 37 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region. The study finds that the level of inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region is highly affected by the country’s economic development level. The latent heterogeneity in the distinct development stages of various countries explains why the in-region countries differ vastly regarding their inclusive green development levels. The inclusive green growth indicator system integrates the availability, accuracy, and standardization of data in selecting indicators, making the measurement results more referentially valuable. It helps grasp the actual state of inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper summarizes the policy suggestions to promote inclusive green growth in the Asia-Pacific region, involving accelerating economic development and institutional improvement, and reinforcing regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific area for elevating the overall regional inclusive green transformation.

Study on safety performance factors and sustainability in pipeline sleeper construction

Construction industry is an important growth indicator because it generates investment opportunities across multiple related sectors. The construction task or work environment is very risky and hazardous and its susceptibility to accident. The major cause of the accident is the employees' poor safety performance in construction sites. These root causes of accidents and factors influencing them need to be studied in order to improve safety results. In pipeline sleeper construction, safety is a dynamic decision issue close to normal construction cases. The study identifies the critical risk factors affecting the safety performance and ways to achieve sustainability in pipeline sleeper construction to counteract the risk of accident occurrence. Based on the evaluation of the questionnaire survey, the study explains twelve most important factors and sub factors, which were rated to have more than a moderate effect on safety performance. The six keys to sustainable success for integrating worker protection in the assessment of sustainable construction is also discussed. Keywords-Hazards, pipeline sleeper, safety performance, risk

Tale of compounding oddities

We present a case of a 59-year-old man, who on being evaluated for abdominal pain and headache, was found to have a pancreatic head mass and inflammatory hypophysitis. Xpert MTB/Rif of the pancreatic mass biopsy showed the presence of tuberculosis (TB) with a very low load, and rifampicin resistance was detected with absence of probes A and B. Pyrosequencing (a novel genotypic test for TB) of the Xpert MTB/Rif isolate detected a single, rare, high-confidence mutation (S512T) in the rpoB region (rifampicin resistance determining region in the MTB genome). The TB mycobacteria growth indicator tube (TBMGIT) phenotypic drug susceptibility test (DST), however, showed rifampicin susceptibility. Incidentally, he was unable to tolerate rifampicin and responded well to a non-rifampicin-based regimen. We discuss a possible hypothesis of the Xpert-DST discordance in accordance with a recent literature review on phenotypic DST methods. We also discuss the utility of pyrosequencing in clinical practice for the diagnosis of TB and its resistance patterns.

The Impact of Health Expenditure on Economic Growth in Algeria

The present study aims to investigate the impact of health expenditure on economic growth in Algeria for the period 1960-2016. Using data from the World Bank database, the Autoregressive Vector model and Granger causality, findings show that health expenditure positively affects economic growth in the short term; which means that the study’s hypothesis is proved. The results therefore reveal the increasing importance of investment in the health sector in order to improve economic growth indicator in Algeria.

Unrecognized tuberculosis in a patient with COVID-19

Introduction. COVID-19 is responsible for the current global pandemic. Globally, over 15 million people are currently infected, and just over 600,000 have died due to being infected. It is known that people with chronic illnesses and compromised immune systems can develop more severe clinical presentation. Tuberculosis is still one of the biggest epidemiological problems worldwide. Both of these diseases can be misdiagnosed and can manifest in a similar way. We will present a case study of a patient who was initially treated as a COVID-19 infection, with Tuberculosis being diagnosed later on. The recovery began only after being treated for both diseases simultaneously. Case report. The patient is a 27-year-old male, non-smoker, with no history of any significant diseases. He presented with fever, fatigue and hemoptysis. Computed tomography pulmoangiography had shown massive consolidations and excavations, which could be caused by COVID-19. Despite being treated for COVID-19, there was no clinical improvement. On the follow-up chest X-radiograohy, beside signs of COVID-19, there were also changes that could indicate Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was detected in sputum, using PCR and Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube, and only after being treated for both diseases did his condition improve. Conclusion. There are a few reported cases of COVID-19 and Tuberculosis coinfections, and we believe that there are many more patients with this coinfection being unrecognized.