Analysis of the frequency of interventional cardiology in various European countries

The contribution of interventional cardiology procedures to the population dose in Europe is poorly known. The estimation of the population dose from these procedures requires knowledge of both the typical dose received by patients and an estimate of the number of procedures undertaken annually. Data on the number of cardiology procedures in various European countries are available on the internet for a number of countries. However, this data set is incomplete or out of date. This paper describes the statistical analysis undertaken to estimate the number of interventional cardiology procedures in a number of European countries for 2007. Estimates of the number of procedures are given. On average, the number of cardiac catheterisations per million population is 5346, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is 1599 and 1214 stent procedures. In addition, there are an estimated 973 pacemaker insertions per million population.     

Road traffic accidents in rich developing countries: The case of Libya

Libya is a rich developing country which suffers the consequences of explosions in both human and vehicle population. This has been accompanied by a heavy toll of deaths, In 1977, road accidents were the cause of 10% of all deaths and 62% of male deaths in the age group 15–25. The rates-per hundred million veh km-of fatalities, injuries and accidents (1980) were 35.202 and 416 respectively. The pedestrian fatality and casualty rates (1977) were high (20,134/100,000 population) especially among the old males over 64 (89,384/100,000 population). In the age group 20–24, casualty rate of drivers was 1256/100,000 driver (1977). Accidents were severe as well. Between 1970–1980 accident severity index was increasing with time and almost doubled by the end of the period reaching 13. Road accidents in Libya do not only represent an important social problem but also an economic one. In 1978, accidents cost the country about $160 million. The factors which affect accident rates and severity are divided into behavioural and structural ones and investigated. There is room for improving traffic safety in Libya. A comprehensive traffic safety program is urgently needed.     

Projected mortality from injuries

Illustrative projections of mortality from injuries, all accidents and motor vehicle crashes were developed based on current mortality rates. If exposure to existing injury sources is unchanged and unless more effective injury prevention countermeasures are employed, 8 million injury deaths may be expected to occur among the resident population of the United States alive in 1980. These deaths include nearly 2 million motor vehicle fatalities and more than 5.6 million deaths from all accidents.     

A perspective on road fatalities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The aim of this paper is to study an epidemiological aspect of fatalities from motor vehicle accidents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All fatal accidents that occur in Jeddah between 1 January and 31 December 1987 are analyzed. The death rates per hundred million vehicle kilometers of travel, per 100,000 registered motor vehicles, and per 100,000 resident population in 1987 were about 1.87, 19.7, and 26.5, respectively. An attempt is made to use international death rates to compare Jeddah with other countries. The figures reveal higher death rates per vehicle travel and per resident population but lower rate per registered vehicle than in some industrialized countries. An additional attempt was made to estimate the cost of road traffic fatalities in Jeddah, which is an extremely difficult task due to lack of reliable data. This study shows that the cost of 1987 road fatalities in Jeddah is estimated to be 648.7 million Saudi Riyals (US$172.5 million).     

照相冲印业的发展趋势

本文对影像行业发展现状和发展趋势进行一个全面的综述和预测。近几年来，数码相机市场进一步蓬勃发展，2005年世界数码相机销售量约为7220万台，比上年递增20％。数码相机的迅速普及拉动了整个数码影像市场的惊人发展，照相手机、影像亭、冲印打印和数码耗材全面欣欣向荣。据统计，1．25亿人口的日本，2004年的照相手机的用量为5900万台，为数码相机的4倍，与之相适应的数码冲印业务已开始超过传统的冲印业务。在中国，现有冲印店超过3万家，其中15％已经数码化，有75％的传统冲印店有意向数码化转型。     

Free dialysis in Nepal: Logistical challenges explored

Nepal's Ministry of Health began offering free lifetime hemodialysis (HD) in 2016. There has been a large growth in renal replacement therapy (RRT) services offered in Nepal since 2010, when the last known data on the subject was published. In 2016, 42 HD centers existed (223% increase since 2010) serving 1975 end stage renal disease patients (303% increase since 2010); 36 nephrologists were registered (200% increase since 2010), 12 were trained in transplantation, and 790 transplants had been performed to date. We estimate the incidence of end stage renal disease to be 2900 patients (100 per million population). With an annual cost of approximately US$2300 per dialysis patient, offering free dialysis could potentially cost the government US$6.7 million per year, suggesting that 2.1% of the annual health budget would be allocated to 0.01% of the population. The geographic zone surrounding the capital city, Kathmandu, contains 50% of HD centers, but only 14.5% of Nepal's population. Forty‐eight percent of the population lives within zones without HD service, therefore infrastructure challenges exist in providing equitable access to RRT. The aim of this article is to summarize the current statistics of RRT in Nepal.     

Trends in deaths due to motorcycle crashes and risk factors in injury collisions

In the past 25 years, the numbers of registered motorcycles in the United States and California have increased about 1000 and 1100%, respectively. In the same period, the motorcycle collision death rate per million population more than doubled. The purposes of the study were to examine time trends in deaths due to motorcycle collisions, examine a methodologic problem in the study of motor vehicle collision death rates, and to determine driver and vehicle factors which may discriminate in the production of motorcycle crash related injurites.

With the exception of 1974, the increase in the ratio of registered motorcycles per 100,000 population in the United States corresponded to an increase in the crude death rate per million population. A similar pattern was also found in California.

Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine an optimum set of factors associated with motorcycle collision injuries. The analysis indicated that for male drivers age was the single factor most significantly related to motorcycle collision injuries. Other factors, in addition to age, which added to the power of the discrimination included number of prior motorcycle driving violations, frequency of motorcycle use, number of prior motorcycle crashes, motorcycle drivers' training, and height of the drivers.     

Reduction in household air pollution and associated health risk: a pilot study with an improved cookstove in rural households

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Almost half of the world’s population still practice biomass fuel burning for various domestic purposes. About 1.6 million deaths are attributed...     

A predictive decision-aid methodology for dynamic mitigation of influenza pandemics

In a recent report, the Institute of Medicine has stressed the need for dynamic mitigation strategies for pandemic influenza. In response to the need, we have developed a simulation-based optimization methodology for generating dynamic predictive mitigation strategies for pandemic outbreaks affecting several regions. Our methodology can accommodate varying virus and population dynamics. It progressively allocates a limited budget to procure vaccines and antivirals, capacities for their administration, and resources required to enforce social distancing. The methodology uses measures of morbidity, mortality, and social distancing, which are translated into the costs of lost productivity and medical services. The simulation model was calibrated using historic pandemic data. We illustrate the use of our methodology on a mock outbreak involving over four million people residing in four major population centers in Florida, USA. A sensitivity analysis is presented to estimate the impact of changes in the budget availability and variability of some of the critical parameters of mitigation strategies. The methodology is intended to assist public health policy makers.     

Disinfection byproducts in Canadian provinces: associated cancer risks and medical expenses

Chlorination for drinking water forms various disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Some DBPs are probably linked to human cancer (e.g., bladder, colorectal cancers) and other chronic and sub-chronic effects. This emphasizes the need to understand and characterize DBPs in drinking water and possible risks to human health. In this study, occurrences of DBPs throughout Canada were investigated. Trihalomethanes (THMs) were observed to be highest in Manitoba followed by Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, while haloacetic acids were highest in Nova Scotia followed by Newfoundland and Labrador. Based on the characterization of DBPs, risk of cancer from exposure to THMs was predicted using ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact pathways of exposure. In Canada, approximately 700 cancer cases may be caused by exposure to THMs in drinking water. Medical expenses associated with these cancer incidents are estimated at some $140 million/year. Expense may be highest in Ontario (～$47 million/year) followed by Quebec (～$25 million/year) due to a greater population base. This paper suggests improvements in water treatment, source protection and disinfection processes, and caution in the use of alternative disinfectants to reduce DBPs. Finally, elements are provided to mitigate risks and reduce cost estimates in future studies.     

Population effective collective dose from nuclear medicine examination in Cuba

In an attempt to estimate the effective collective dose imparted to the population of Camagüey-Ciego de Avila territory, Cuba, we have made use of the statistics from nuclear medicine examinations given to a population of 1.1 million inhabitants for the years 1995-1999. The average annual frequency of examinations was estimated to be 3.82 per 1000 population. The results show that nuclear medicine techniques of thyroid imaging with 43.73% and thyroid uptake with 43.36% are the main techniques implicated in the relative contribution to the total annual effective collective dose, which averaged 54.43 man Sv for the studied period. Radiation risks for the Camagüey-Ciego de Avila population caused by nuclear medicine examinations in the period studied were calculated: the total number of fatal and non-fatal cancers was 16.33 and the number of serious hereditary disturbance was 3.54 as a result of 21,073 nuclear medicine procedures, corresponding to a total detriment of one case per thousand examinations.     

Hyperendemicity associated with increased dengue burden

Over 105 million dengue infections are estimated to occur annually. Understanding the disease dynamics of dengue is often difficult due to multiple strains circulating within a population. Interactions between dengue serotype dynamics may result in complex cross-immunity dynamics at the population level and create difficulties in terms of formulating intervention strategies for the disease. In this study, a nationally representative 16-year time series with over 43 000 serotyped dengue infections was used to infer the long-run effects of between and within strain interactions and their impacts on past outbreaks. We used a novel identification strategy incorporating sign-identified Bayesian vector autoregressions, using structural impulse responses, historical decompositions and counterfactual analysis to conduct inference on dengue dynamics post-estimation. We found that on the population level: (i) across-serotype interactions on the population level were highly persistent, with a one time increase in any other serotype associated with long run decreases in the serotype of interest (range: 0.5–2.5 years) and (ii) over 38.7% of dengue cases of any serotype were associated with across-serotype interactions. The findings in this paper will substantially impact public health policy interventions with respect to dengue.     

The potential impact of gasoline additives on air quality in developing countries

The economic and environmental situations in many developing countries are troubling. For example, in Latin America and in the Caribbean, from an approximate population of 500 million, only 125 million have access to good drinking water, and about 200 million do not have adequate sanitary facilities. In many large populated centers, as well as in some small communities, the air quality is very poor and this becomes an additional factor to be added to the overall effects of poverty. In many cases, air pollution is not a high priority for governments that are intent on expanding economic development. A major issue, which is of great concern in the creation of air pollution, is the use of additives in automotive gasoline and/or to produce reformulated and oxygenated gasoline. In many Latin American and Asiatic countries, the use of reformulated gasoline (RFG) is being touted as a cure for the prevailing urban smog problems. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency, has reported that RFG represents “a significant” step toward clean air, with the introduction of RFG in 1995, combined with other industrial and transportation controls aimed at air pollution reduction. This information pertains to the USA and not to all countries in the world. All of these control measures together are responsible for the long-term downward trend in US air pollution. However, this “magic formula”, must be implemented only under certain conditions, many of which do not exist in Latin America, in order to produce the expected results. This paper investigates the transportation conditions that exist in most Latin American and Asiatic countries, using Mexico City as an example. It points out that the use of RFG can actually cause a degradation of air quality due to the age distribution of the automotive fleet, along with other technical issues associated with the type of cars currently in use. The reasons behind this degradation along with possible alternative transportation control measures are discussed with the goal of reducing the overall air pollution burden in these developing areas.     

Finland

Abstract

The 19th century was for Finland an eventful and complicated period of adjustment to the Russian Empire. As a consequence of the war of 1808-09 the country had been separated from Sweden and joined to Russia but, thanks to the benevolence of Czar Alexander I and to skilful diplomacy, the Grand Duchy of Finland achieved a considerable degree of autonomy. A legislature, a national army and a monetary unit of its own implied distance from the Russian administration, but though this favourable situation depended entirely on the emperor's goodwill, the privileges of Finland were not seriously infringed until the end of the century. On the whole, the 19th century was a time of peaceful recovery, economic development and the beginning of industrialization. The population grew from a little less than one million to about 2·7 million in 1900. In primary education remarkable progress was made. The importance of towns increased and Helsinki (Helsingfors), the capital, acquired the characteristics of a new metropolis.     

Renal replacement therapy in Nepal

Renal replacement therapy in Nepal fulfills only a small part of the current needs, with 97 hemodialysis machines available for the general population of 29 million. Transportation difficulties to dialysis centers preclude many of the patients from end-stage renal disease care, due to the rural nature of the population. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) organized into rural sub segments, considering the Mexican model of PD and government funding appear to offer some solution to provision of care for this mountainous rural country. We review the current statistics of dialysis patients, hemodialysis numbers, and renal transplantations within Nepal and offer suggestions regarding possibilities for increasing renal care within the country.     

The effect of population safety belt usage rates on motor vehicle-related fatalities.

The effectiveness of safety belt usage in reducing mortality and morbidity among traffic crash victims has been well established. Population safety belt usage rates have been increasing from 11% in 1980 to 68% in 1995, as measured by observational surveys sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Safety incentive grants from NHTSA to the States with higher than average usage rates are expected to total $500 million during 1999-2003. In this paper, longitudinal annual motor vehicle-related fatality levels are analyzed by state to estimate the effect of the population safety belt usage rate on traffic fatality rates in the presence of known confounders such as alcohol use and youthful drivers. Consideration of alternative models applied to 14 years of data shows that the population safety belt usage rate (at least, at the current rates) is associated with little or no effect on reducing fatality rates. On the other hand, higher safety belt usage rates arising from states with primary enforcement laws tend to suggest reductions in fatality rates. Such results call into question the NHTSA policy of basing incentive programs on overall safety belt usage rates.     

Outdoor background ELF magnetic fields in an urban environment

Classification of 'exposed/non-exposed' subjects in epidemiological studies concerning the possible cancer risk associated with ELF magnetic field exposure is based on the a priori assumption of magnetic field value cut-off points that, often, are defined equal to minimum exposure levels typical of a population residing near high voltage facilities (0.1-4.2 microT), but in some cases an environmental magnetic field level not associated with transmission lines can exist. The results of an ELF magnetic field survey in an Italian urban area (about 1 million inhabitants) are presented: average field levels are correlated with population density of different districts. Exposure indexes are obtained, which are compared with those evaluated in studies regarding domestic exposure: background average levels result in comparable to cut-off points in epidemiological studies, but in some districts with high population density, they are much higher. This shows that knowledge of background magnetic field level in urban areas can assume a significant role in exposure assessment.     

Some aspects on radiation protection in conventional and digital radiology in Romania

Since 1965, medical radiation exposure in the population of Romania has been evaluated by the Network of Radiation Hygiene Laboratories of the Ministry of Public Health, including 23 laboratories throughout the whole country; the network is co-ordinated by the Institute of Public Health Bucharest. In Romania, for a population of 22.5 million inhabitants, 465 X-ray examinations were reported during the last survey, the most frequent being chest examination. There was no specific reference to digital radiology. Digital radiology has been introduced only recently in Romania, and only some rough data on the situation can be presented. Siemens AG is now present in Romania with 23 installations, type SIEREGRAPH CF and AXIOM ICONOS. A digital image intensifier technique is used only for fluoroscopy, and radiography is performed using a conventional film/screen combination. The company Philips has nine installations for angiography, model INTEGRIS, and uses a computed radiography technique. Several direct digital radiography MULTISYSTEM SWISSRAY installations (about 40 units) are also available for adult and paediatric examinations. The Council Directive 97/43/EURATOM on health protection of individuals against dangers of ionising radiation in relation to medical exposure was fully transformed into Romanian legislation in 2002.     

Rural and urban traffic fatalities, vehicle miles, and population density

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of population density on the rates of motor vehicle mortality in rural and urban areas, while controlling for vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Rural and urban data for traffic mortality, VMT, and population were obtained for each state from the Federal Highway Administration for 1998–2000. Linear regression was used to estimate the effect of population density, VMT per capita, southern location, and presence of a trauma system on mortality. Variation in rural mortality rate (per 100,000 population) was proportional to rural VMT per capita, but population density and southern location were also independent predictors, together accounting for 91% of this variation. Variation in urban mortality rates was not affected by population density, but urban rates were also higher in the south. The exposure-based rural mortality rate (deaths per 100 million VMT) was inversely proportional to population density, which along with southern location explained 41% of the variation from state to state. The presence of a state trauma system did not measurably affect mortality. After controlling for VMT and southern location, state population density was a moderately strong predictor of rural but not urban traffic mortality rates.     

马达加斯加见闻

非洲是个五光十色的大陆,位于其东南海岸的马达加斯加岛面积58万多平方公里,人口一千七百万,是这个大陆最贫穷的国家之一,然而即使这样,你会发现在这个国度首先看到的是设计标识和广告。他们多数的广告活动方式来自于国外的产品推广模式。由于经济增长缓慢,马达加斯加人没有意识去进行大量的消费．广告,特别是食品和通讯广告,通常只是大众浏览的东西。