Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability

Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy (CE) practices and prevailing business models. Recognize the same; this study examines the role of blockchain technology in circular CE practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 404 enterprises located in Chinese and Pakistani territories, involved in cross-border supply chain operations. Both countries' sample has great relevance due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which possesses several positive fallouts in terms of technology spillovers across firms. Using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) modeling framework, this study provides three key findings. First, BCT significantly improves the circular economy practices (circular procurement, circular design, recycling, and remanufacturing). Second, CE practices help improve firms' environmental performance and stimulate their financial performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study sets out the foundations for participating countries/firms that simultaneously achieve financial and sustainable goals by integrating blockchain technology in circular economy practices.     

Budget impact analysis for dapagliflozin in type 2 diabetes in Egypt

Abstract

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major health problem in Egypt with a high impact on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare resources. This study evaluated the budget impact and the long-term consequences of dapagliflozin versus other conventional medications, as monotherapy, from both the societal and health insurance perspectives in Egypt.

Methods: A static budget impact model was developed to estimate the financial consequences of adopting dapagliflozin on the healthcare payer budget. We measured the direct medical costs of dapagliflozin (new scenario) as monotherapy, compared to metformin, insulin, sulphonylurea, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, thiazolidinedione, and repaglinide (old scenarios) over a time horizon of 3 years. Myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic stroke, hospitalization for heart failure (HHF), and initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) rates were captured from DECLARE TIMI 58 trial. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted.

Results: The budget impact model estimated 2,053,908 patients eligible for treatment with dapagliflozin from a societal perspective and 1,207,698 patients from the health insurance (HI) perspective. The new scenario allows for an initial savings of EGP121 million in the first year, which increased to EGP243 and EGP365 million in the second and third years, respectively. The total cumulative savings from a societal perspective were estimated at EGP731 million. Dapagliflozin allows for savings of EGP71, EGP143, and EGP215 million in the first, second and third years respectively, from the HI perspective, with total cumulative savings of EGP430 million over the 3 years.

Conclusion: Treating T2DM patients using dapagliflozin instead of conventional medications, maximizes patients’ benefits and decreases total costs due to drug cost offsets from fewer cardiovascular and renal events. The adoption of dapagliflozin is a budget-saving treatment option, resulting in substantial population-level health gains due to reduced event rate and cost savings from the perspective of the national healthcare system.     

The pursuit of HR outsourcing in an emerging economy: The effects of HRM strategy on HR labour costs

The study examines the relationships among six types of HRM strategies with three categories of outsourcing HR activities to reduce HR labour costs. The data were gathered from a survey questionnaire of 232 manufacturing organizations of which 113 organizations engaged with HR outsourcing. We found that no organization outsourced transformational HR functions and that organizations that espouse cost efficiency, commitment, and conventional HRM strategies tend to outsource traditional HR functions, whereas quality conscious and commitment HRM strategies tend to outsource transactional HR functions. Transactional and traditional HR functions show a significant relationship with a reduction in HR labour costs. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single Object Auctions With Externalities: A Tractable Model

We consider the single object auction model with allocative externalities in a private valuation and quasi‐linear setting. We model externalities by assuming that every agent has a private valuation (for the object) and a strict ranking of other agents. The utility for an agent when another agent receives the object is the product of his own valuation and a real number that depends on the rank of this agent in his ranking. When the only private information is the valuation of the agents, we characterise the implementable allocation rules and use these to derive the optimal auction. The optimal auction collects payments from agents who do not receive the object.     

Real-world incidence and burden of adverse events among non-metastatic prostate cancer patients treated with secondary hormonal therapies following androgen deprivation therapy

Abstract

Aims: To describe the incidence and identify prognostic factors of central nervous system (CNS) adverse events (AEs) and any AEs (CNS, skin rash, or fracture) and evaluate the healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), direct medical costs, and therapy discontinuation associated with these AEs among non-metastatic prostate cancer (nmPC) patients who received secondary hormone therapies.

Methods and results: nmPC patients who had initiated secondary hormonal therapy with enzalutamide, bicalutamide, or abiraterone ≥1?year after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) were identified in the MarketScan database. Survival analyses were used to describe the incidence of CNS or any AEs. Annual HCRU and costs were compared across patient groups (CNS AE vs no CNS AE; any AE vs no AE) using propensity score weighted generalized linear models. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify AE predictors and compare risks of discontinuation.

Results: The analysis included 532 patients who initiated secondary hormonal therapies, among whom 201 (38%) and 244 (46%) experienced a CNS AE and any AE, respectively. Median times to CNS AE and any AE from therapy initiation were 17.90 and 11.00?months, respectively. Predictors of any AE were any AE in the baseline period (≤6?months before starting therapy), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score (1 vs 0), surgical castration, and older age. Predictors of CNS AEs were CNS AE in the baseline period and CCI score (1 vs 0). CNS and any AEs were associated with significantly higher HCRU. CNS AEs were associated with significantly higher incremental total medical costs ($18,522). CNS AEs and any AEs significantly increased therapy discontinuation risk by 48% and 38%, respectively.

Conclusions: AEs increase the economic burden and therapy discontinuation among nmPC patients receiving secondary hormonal therapies subsequent to ADTs. These patients should be carefully evaluated for AEs to reduce therapy discontinuation, HCRU, and direct medical costs.     

A risk assessment study on accidents at French level crossings using Bayesian belief networks

Level crossing (LX) safety continues to be one of the most critical issues for railways despite an ever increasing focus on improving design and practices. In the present paper, a framework of probabilistic risk assessment and improvement decision based on Bayesian belief networks (PRAID-BBN) is proposed. The developed framework aims to analyse various impacting factors which may cause LX accidents, and quantify the contribution of these factors so as to identify the crucial factors which contribute most to the LX accidents. A detailed statistical analysis is first carried out based on the accident/incident data. A BBN risk model is established according to the statistical results. Then, we apply the PRAID-BBN framework on the basis of the accident/incident data provided by SNCF, the French national railway operator. The main outputs of our study are conducive to efficiently focusing on the effort/budget to make LXs safer.     

A zonal level safety investigation of pedestrian crashes in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

In the recent decade, walking has been encouraged as an active mode of transportation, which could reduce congestion and air pollution and also improve community health. However, pedestrians are more vulnerable to traffic crashes compared with other road users, especially in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia. This paper examines the association among traffic volume, land-use, socio-demographic and roadway characteristics factors, and the frequency of pedestrian crashes based on macro-level safety analysis using data from Riyadh, the Capital of Saudi Arabia. Two Bayesian spatial Poisson-lognormal models for total and severe pedestrian crashes are developed in this study. The results show that the factors that affect total pedestrian crash occurrence are different from those affecting severe pedestrian crash. Several implications for pedestrian safety policies in Riyadh are suggested based on the results.     

Impact of corporate performance on stock price predictions in the UAE markets: Neuro-fuzzy model

Predicting stock price remains one of the challenges for investors' investment strategies. This study helps with accurate prediction and the main factors affecting variations in stock prices. It applies an adaptive neuro-fuzzy model on 58 listed firms from both the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market for the period 2014–2018 to estimate the predictive power of corporate performance measures and their significance. After examining four performance predictors—return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE), earning per share (EPS), and profit margin (PM)—the study finds that ROE is the most significant predictor and ROA is the least. EPS is the most influential profitability measure and PM the least.