bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Heck Reactions of α‐ or β‐Substituted Enol Ethers with Aryl Bromides Catalysed by a Tetraphosphane/Palladium Complex – Direct Access to Acetophenone or 1‐Arylpropanone Derivatives
Authors: Battace Ahmed , Feuerstein Marie , Lemhadri Mhamed , Zair Touriya , Doucet Henri , Santelli Maurice 
Published: May 2007

Abstractcis,cis,cis‐1,2,3,4‐Tetrakis(diphenylphosphanylmethyl)cyclopentane/[PdCl(C3H5)]2 efficiently catalyses the Heck reaction of α‐ and β‐substituted enol ethers with aryl bromides. The arylation of 1‐phenyl‐1‐(trimethylsilyloxy)ethylene led directly to the 2‐aryl‐1‐phenylethanones. Similar reaction rates were observed with electron‐rich, electron‐deficient or sterically congested aryl bromides. Heck reaction with benzyl isopropenyl ether gave a mixture of isomers. However, this mixture gave selectively the 1‐arylpropanones after hydrolysis. Employing β‐methoxystyrene, 3‐ethoxyacrylonitrile or methyl 3‐methoxyacrylate, the regioselective α‐arylation of these enol ethers was observed in all cases, but mixtures of (Z) and (E) isomers were generally obtained, which in many cases yielded a single ketone product after acid treatment. The stereoselectivity of this reaction depends on steric and electronic factors, and better stereoselectivities in favour of (Z) isomers were observed with electron‐rich or sterically congested aryl bromides. Higher yields were obtained for this reaction with electron‐rich or sterically congested aryl bromides than with electron‐poor aryl bromides. These observations suggest that the rate‐limiting step of the catalytic cycle is not the oxidative addition of the aryl bromide to the palladium complex with these substituted enol ethers.(© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)
Assessment of probability of collapse and design for collapse safety
Authors: Zareian Farzin , Krawinkler Helmut 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper illustrates a probabilistic‐based methodology for quantifying the collapse potential of structural systems, which can provide us with more accurate estimates of losses induced by earthquakes. Applications of this methodology for assessment of collapse potential of existing buildings and design for collapse safety are demonstrated by equations and example. The collapse potential is represented by the probability of collapse at discrete hazard levels and on an annualized basis (mean annual frequency). The basic ingredient of the proposed methodology is a ‘collapse fragility curve’ which expresses the probability of collapse as a function of the selected ground motion intensity measure. The process for estimating the collapse fragility using scalar and vector‐valued ground motion intensity measure is demonstrated. The proposed assessment and design processes do incorporate the effect of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. It was shown by example that the uncertainties, both aleatory and epistemic, have a significant effect on the outcome of the conceptual design for collapse safety. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimum alcohol taxation: Balancing consumption and external costs
Authors: Richardson Jeffrey , Crowley Steven 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper considers alternative approaches to the evaluation of the total cost of alcohol consumption in Australia. It calculates the impact of alternative tax rates on beer, wine and spirits separately and the ‘consumption cost’ of these taxes in terms of the distortion caused to consumption patterns. Two separate analyses are carried out. First optimal taxation is calculated which minimises the total loss from the ‘consumption cost’ of taxation plus the external cost of alcohol consumption. Secondly, the benefits of life are separated from other benefits and the impact of tax expressed in terms of the cost per life year gained. Conceptualised in this way, the results of this ‘tax’ program may be expressed in the same way as other health programs, namely as a net cost per life year gained. Alcohol taxation may then be compared with other life saving interventions.The chief conclusion reached is that in Australia there is a very compelling case for a new tax base and for a very significant increase in the rate of alcohol taxation.
The determinants of hospital utilisation: Implications for resource allocation in England
Authors: Benzeval Michaela , Judge Ken 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSince 1976 various attempts have been made to ensure that NHS resources available for hospital and related services in England are allocated in proportion to the health care needs of different areas. The current method is based on analyses of the links between observed patterns of in‐patient utilization and the characteristics of the populations of small areas. There are a number of practical difficulties with this approach, however, and so the search continues for new analytical techniques.The purpose of this paper is to explore how household survey data about 12,729 English adults could be used to inform resource allocation decisions. Health care need indicators can be developed based on Census information and odds ratios derived from logistic regression analyses of the relationships between hospital utilization, health status, socio‐demographic characteristics and area indicators of supply.The results suggest that health status is the most important determinant of hospital utilization, although demographic and socio‐economic factors also have some influence. In addition to the personal characteristics of individual respondents, area correlates of health care supply are also positively associated with reported utilization.The final part of the paper illustrates how weighted population estimates might be calculated on the basis of empirically‐derived indicators of health care need.
A cost utility analysis of treatment options for gallstone disease: Methodological issues and results
Authors: Cook Johanna , Richardson Jeff , Street Andrew 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe techniques of cost utility analysis (CUA) were used to evaluate the treatment of gallstone disease by open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy and by extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). The application of the techniques in this context raised three methodological questions which are not satisfactorily resolved in the literature.The first is whether an ex ante or ex post perspective is best adopted for the measurement of quality of life (QoL). The second is the method for converting a short term deterioration in QoL followed by full health into QALYs and the reliability of the methods available. The third is the issue of indirect costs which, in the context of a temporary disease state, cannot be easily avoided.The economic evaluation found laparoscopic cholecystectomy to be generally superior than the competitor technologies (entailing lower costs and better outcomes). However, the results were sensitive to assumptions about the perspective for measuring benefits and the inclusion of indirect costs.
Life quality assessment of breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant therapy using incomplete data
Authors: Busch Petra , Schwendener Peter , Leu Robert E. , Von Dach Brigitte , Castiglione Monica 
Published: May 2007

AbstractPrevious research on the effects of adjuvant treatment for women with operable breast cancer focused exclusively on disease‐free and overall survival. In this study we evaluate life quality of premenopausal node‐positive breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for at least three months. For the first time, a modified latent variable model is used to assess treatment outcome in a prospective clinical trial. This poses a number of econometric problems which did not occur in the preceding studies. One of them is how to deal with patients whose records are incomplete. The data are provided by the International Breast Cancer Study Group (study VI).The results indicate that the lowest dose treatment improves life quality faster than the remaining three alternatives. At the end of the 24 months observation period no significant differences between the four treatment options remain. Although the lowest dose treatment is also the least costly no definite conclusion regarding cost‐effectiveness can be drawn at this stage since survival data is not yet available.
Willingness to pay for diagnostic services. A new approach to modelling patient benefits in health care
Authors: Ried Walter 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe paper investigates the benefit the patient derives from medical diagnosis. By considering explicitly the prospects with respect to both health and monetary consequences resulting from a decision taken by the physician, a fairly general approach to discuss diagnostic services is developed. The willingness to pay of the patient is taken to be measured by his compensating option price, evaluated with respect to the reference state without further diagnostic information. Of particular interest are conditions governing positivity of the patient benefit. Imposing additional restrictions upon individual preferences considerably simplifies the analysis by relying on a loss function. The final section discusses the role of the patient benefit as regards cost‐benefit analysis of diagnostic services. If health insurance is available providing at least partial coverage, a positive willingness to pay of the patient net of diagnostic cost can be shown to give no clue as to whether utilization of a diagnostic service is beneficial to society in the sense of cost‐benefit analysis.
Measuring inequalities in health in the presence of multiple‐category morbidity indicators
Authors: Wagstaff Adam , Van Doorslaer Eddy 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper considers the problems which arise in seeking to measure socioeconomic inequalities in health when the health indicator is a categorical variable, such as self‐assessed health. It shows that the standard approach—which involves dichotomizing the categorical variable—is unreliable. The degree of measured inequality is found to depend on the cut‐off point chosen and the choice of cut‐off point to affect the conclusions one can reach about trends in or differences in health inequality. The paper goes on to propose an alternative approach which involves constructing a latent health variable and then measuring inequalities in this latent variable by means of a variant of the health concentration curve.
Costs, effects and C/E‐ratios alongside a clinical trial
Authors: Van Hout Ben A. , Al Maiwenn J. , Gordon Gilad S. , Rutten Frans F. H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA general approach is discussed to assess the uncertainty surrounding the cost effectiveness ratio (C/E‐ratio) estimated on the basis of data from a randomised clinical trial. The approach includes the calculation of a 95% probability ellipse and introduces the concept of a so called C/E‐acceptability curve. This last curve defines for each predefined C/E‐ratio the probability that the C/E‐ratio found in the study is acceptable. The approach is illustrated by estimates of costs per life saved and costs per patient discharged alive on the basis of data from a phase II trial addressing the value of anakinra in treating sepsis syndrome.
The cost of rationing medical care by insurance coverage and by waiting
Authors: Feldman Roger 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper raises the question of the least‐cost institutional mechanism to secure the value of certainty by reducing risk over the purchase of medical care. Two methods of reducing risk are evaluated: financing medical care with ‘complete insurance’, that is, ready access to medical care that is free at the point of purchase; and rationing by waiting time in a national health service that supplies a limited volume of medical care. The first system corresponds to the type of insurance held by most people in the United States, while the latter represents a stylized model of a national health service. The cost of over‐utilization of services by insured consumers in the U.S. is substantial ‐ larger on a per‐family basis, and far larger for the nation, than the cost of under‐utilization by those who lack insurance. The cost of rationing by waiting is estimated to be between $541 and $828 per family (in 1984 dollars). Thus, both systems involve costly mis‐allocation of resources.
The impact of indirect costs on outcomes of health care programs
Authors: Koopmanschap Marc A. , Rutten Frans F. H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe impact of including indirect costs of disease (as a result of absence from work, disability and mortality) on outcomes of economic evaluations of specific health care programs is analyzed. For eight health care programs, changes in indirect costs are estimated using the friction cost method, that seeks to estimate the economic losses due to disease or the economic gains of health care programs. The impact of indirect costs on outcomes varies considerably across programs. Indirect costs tend to play an important role if health care programs produce health effects in the short run, if (short term) absence from work is affected considerably and if a significant proportion of the target population is employed at the moment they benefit from the program. The possible induction of treatment related absence from work and disability may also be relevant.
Cost‐effectiveness analysis of day care for patients with dementia disorders
Authors: Wimo Anders , Mattsson Bengt , Krakau Ingvar , Eriksson Tua , Nelvig Anders 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn a cost‐effectiveness analysis, the costs of 55 demented patients in day care (DC) and 45 patients on a waiting list were related to the effects on indices measuring quality of life. Based on one year's study, the costs per patient per day, was USD 55 for the DC‐group and USD 63 for the controls (p > 0.05). Both groups deteriorated in the indices during the study year. The trend was that DC was both cheaper and better in the indices, and some of the underlying variables for the used indices also showed significantly better results in favour of DC. However, since the changes between the groups were not significant regarding the basic question at issue, it cannot be stated that DC is more cost‐effective than a care organisation without DC. Different interpretations of the results are presented.
Infant mortality time series are random walks with drift: Are they cointegrated with socioeconomic variables?
Authors: Bishai David M. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractPrevious time series analyses of infant mortality have failed to provide evidence to support their implicit assumption that infant mortality data used behaved as a stationary time series. The present study applies the augmented Dickey Fuller Test to infant mortality time series for Sweden (1800‐1989), United Kingdom (1839‐1989) and United States (1915‐1989). The null hypothesis that each of these series is non‐stationary is accepted at standard levels of significance. A conceptual framework of infant mortality which uses a combination of physical and social overhead capital as factors in a production function is developed to explain the finding of non‐stationarity as derivative from the non‐stationarity of a stock of health‐enhancing capital. Estimation of econometric models of the socioeconomic determinants of infant mortality using differenced data with ARIMA estimation is inconclusive. Estimation of a bivariate cointegration model supports the hypothesis that infant survival and GNP/Capita are cointegrated for 19th century Sweden but not for 19th century UK. Bivariate analysis of 20th century Sweden, UK, and US data demonstrated no cointegration. This may be due to the onset of disequilibrium in the economic determination of infant mortality in the present era as technological advances and demographic shifts began to play a larger role. Supplementing the bivariate analysis with measures of unemployment, and crude birth rate in the 20th century permitted the detection of cointegration in US and UK. The multivariate results may suggest that improvements in 20th century UK GNP/capita have had greater impact on infant survival relative to US GNP/capita.
Determinants of expenditure variation in health care and care of the elderly among finnish municipalities
Authors: Häkkinen Unto , Kaleviluoma  
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn Finland, municipal health care expenditure varies from FIM 3 800 per capita to FIM 7 800 per capita. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of different economic, structural and demographic factors on the per capita costs of health services and care of the elderly. Using regression analysis we attempted to explain observed differences in expenditure by determining separately the effects of allocative and productive inefficiency and the effects of factors influencing the demand for services. We found income level of local population, generosity of central government matching grant, allocative efficiency (the mix of care between institutional and non‐institutional care), productive efficiency of service providers, and factors associated with the need of services (age structure, morbidity) to be the most important determinants of health care expenditure. Our results reveal that municipalities have the means at their disposal (by shifting resources to outpatient care and increasing productivity) to significantly reduce expenditure on health services and care of the elderly.
Patient charges and the utilisation of nhs prescription medicines: Some estimates using a cointegration procedure
Authors: Hughes David , McGuire Alistair 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSince the inception of the NHS, user charges have been present for prescription medication. However since 1968 there has been a steady increase in this charge, particularly notable during the 1980s. The main justification for user charges is their revenue raising potential, and a recent government report has backed the use of user charges for prescription drugs. Whilst there is extensive evidence of the impact of user charges on utilisation of health care in the US, few studies exist in the UK. An accurate estimation of the price elasticity of utilisation is necessary if the full consequences of user charges are to be examined. This paper uses a cointegration estimation technique to estimate the price elasticity for prescription drug utilisation in the UK.
Subjective health measures and state dependent reporting errors
Authors: Kerkhofs Marcel , Lindeboom Maarten 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe use of subjective health measures in empirical models of labour supply and retirement decisions has frequently been criticized. Responses to questions concerning health may be biased due to financial incentives and the willingness to conform to social rules. The eligibility conditions for some social security allowances, notably Disability Insurance benefits, are contingent upon bad health. Even if the decision to apply for a disability allowance is to some extent motivated by financial considerations or a relatively strong preference for leisure, respondents will be inclined to play down these motives and emphasize the importance of their health condition. As a consequence, reporting errors may depend on the labour market status of the respondent and self‐reported health variables will be endogenous in labour supply and retirement models. The objective of this paper is to assess the importance of state dependent reporting errors in survey responses and to propose and estimate a model that can be used to account for this kind of systematic mis‐reporting. The estimation results indicate that among respondents receiving Disability Allowance, reporting errors are large and systematic. Using such subjective health measures in retirement models may therefore seriously bias the parameter estimates and the conclusions drawn from these.
A grouped data regression approach to estimating economic and social influences on individual drinking behaviour
Authors: Sutton Matthew , Godfrey Christine 
Published: May 2007

AbstractGeneral Household Survey (GHS) data sets, covering the period 1978‐1990, are pooled to investigate the relationship between the riskiness of individuals' self‐reported drinking behaviour and a wide range of personal characteristics and economic factors. A grouped data regression approach is used to reduce problems with the inaccuracy of self‐reports of alcohol consumption and clustering of observations in the consumption data. Results for males aged 18 to 24 years are presented, and possible methods for interpreting the results of grouped data regression are illustrated. Controlling for other factors, current smokers are estimated to be at a 75% higher risk of drinking over recommended levels than non‐smokers. Particular attention is paid to the interactions between the price of alcohol, income and heavy drinking. At average levels of income, a 5% increase in the real price of alcohol is predicted to reduce the probability of 'at‐risk' drinking by 1.5%. At lower initial levels of income, drinking patterns are found to be more responsive to both price and income changes. Grouped data regression is proposed as a way of focusing policy analysis on individual risks of alcohol‐related health and social problems.
A field investigation of manual forces associated with trigger and push to start electric screwdrivers
Authors: Lowe Brian D. , Kong Yong‐Ku , Krieg Edward , Wurzelbacher Steven , Lee Soo‐Jin 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study investigated manual forces associated with trigger start (TS) and push to start (PTS) activation in‐line electric screwdriver designs. The vertically directed axial screwdriver force transmitted with the driver to the fastener and the grip/finger forces on the driver handle were measured from 13 employees in an electronics assembly manufacturing facility. The PTS driver was associated with significantly ( p < .01) higher axial force than the TS driver at two of the four workstations, where the difference was as high as a 184% increase (36.5 vs. 103.8 N). Total finger force on the screwdriver handle was also higher for the PTS screwdriver ( p < .01). The PTS screwdriver may reduce instances of fastener head damage (“cam out”) by requiring a minimum level of axial force to ensure better contact between the screwdriver bit and the fastener. However, this appears to come at the expense of greater manual forces exerted by the operator. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 367–382, 2007.
Does standardization have a negative impact on working conditions?
Authors: Poksinska Bozena 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe aim of this article was to contribute to the discussion about whether standardization has a positive or negative impact on working conditions. The case studies of organizations certified to the quality management standard ISO 9000 served as the empirical base. The article shows that there is no clear and obvious answer about the impact of standardization on working conditions. The consequences for working conditions depend on many variables and may differ considerably from organization to organization. Three primary variables influencing the outcomes for working conditions were identified and discussed: (1) content of the standard, (2) the standardization process, and (3) the degree of standardization. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 383–394, 2007.