The economic burden of depression among adults with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States

Aims: Depression is the most frequent comorbidity reported among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Comorbid depression negatively impacts RA patients’ health-related quality-of-life, physical function, mental function, mortality, and experience of pain and symptom severity. The objective of this study was to assess healthcare utilization, expenditures, and work productivity among patients with RA with or without depression.

Materials and methods: Data from adult patients who had at least two visits each related to RA and depression over a 1-year period were extracted from the Truven Health MarketScan research databases. Outcomes comprised healthcare resource utilization, work productivity loss, and direct healthcare costs comparing patients with RA with depression (n?=?3,478) vs patients with RA without depression (n?=?43,222).

Results: Patients with RA and depression had a significantly greater relative risk of hospitalization and number of all-cause and RA-related hospitalizations, utilization of emergency services, days spent in the hospital, physician visits, and RA-related surgeries compared with RA patients without depression. Patients with RA and depression had a higher risk of and experienced more events and days of short-term disability compared with patients without depression. The incremental adjusted annual all-cause and RA-related direct costs were $8,488 (95% CI = $6,793–$10,223) and $578 (95% CI = –$98–$1,243), respectively, when comparing patients with RA and depression vs RA only.

Limitations: The current analysis is subject to the known limitations of retrospective studies based on administrative claims data.

Conclusions: This study suggested increased healthcare utilization, work productivity loss, and economic burden among RA patients due to comorbid depression. These findings emphasize the importance of managing depression and including depression as a factor when devising treatment algorithms for patients with RA.     

刍议馆长的非权力影响力

馆长对图书馆的事业发展至关重要.探讨了图书馆馆长治理图书馆的非权力影响力,即指依靠馆长自身的素养,即德、才、仁、情等因素,使馆长更具向心力、凝聚力,从而推动图书馆工作的有效地运作,促进图书馆事业的蓬勃发展.     

Block-Rate versus Uniform Water Pricing in Agriculture: An Empirical Analysis

In this article we adapt Burtless and Hausman's (1978) methodology in order to estimate farmers' demand for irrigation water under increasing block-rate tariffs and empirically assess its effect on aggregate demand and inter-farm allocation efficiency. This methodology overcomes the technical challenges raised by increasing block-rate pricing and accounts for both observed and unobserved technological heterogeneity among farmers. Employing micro panel data documenting irrigation levels and prices in 185 Israeli agricultural communities in the period 1992–1997, we estimate water demand elasticity at −0.3 in the short run (the effect of a price change on demand within a year of implementation) and −0.46 in the long run. We also find that, in accordance with common belief, switching from a single to a block-price regime, yields a 7% reduction in average water use while maintaining the same average price. However, based on our simulations we estimate that the switch to block prices will result in a loss of approximately 1% of agricultural output due to inter-farm allocation inefficiencies.     

对我国上市银行非经常性损益披露的分析和建议

本文通过分析2001至2004年上市银行年报非经常性损益的披露状况,对照监管部门法规,发现存在披露不充分的现象,对非经常性损益的确认也有理解偏颇,由此造成很多重大的可疑事项未计入非经常性损益。本文认为这对银行利润的真实性产生一定的影响,故建议政策制定者制定更详细的法规来规范披露行为,并就一些特殊事项做出释疑。     

On estimating the mean of the selected normal population under the LINEX loss function

Following Parsian and Farsipour (1999), we consider the problem of estimating the mean of the selected normal population, from two normal populations with unknown means and common known variance, under the LINEX loss function. Some admissibility results for a subclass of equivariant estimators are derived and a sufficient condition for the inadmissibility of an arbitrary equivariant estimator is provided. As a consequence, several of the estimators proposed by Parsian and Farsipour (1999) are shown to be inadmissible and better estimators are obtained. Received January 2001/Revised May 2002     

中小私营企业融资中"逆向选择"失灵现象新探

对某些地域中小私营企业融资行为的实证分析表明与常规的设想相反,同国有企业极高的融资热情相比,一般被人们认为风险较大的私营中小企业在融资中存在“逆向选择”失灵的现象。本建立了一个模型对导致此现象的原因进行了探讨。     

农田水利设施建设制度的变迁与匹配性分析——以中国封建时期农田水利设施建设与治理为例

农田水利设施建设的成功取决于有效的制度保障,而有效的制度安排则取决于"基础设施属性—参与者特质—制度环境"三个要素之间的匹配,中国古代农田水利设施的发展历程便证明如此。对于中国新时期的农田水利设施建设,本文提出相应的制度安排,即大型灌区灌溉设施的集权型制度、小型灌溉设施的农民自治制度以及类经济自立型排灌区的混合型制度安排。     

中国封建社会农业基础设施建设与治理制度的变迁——以农田水利设施为例

中国封建时期农田水利设施建设绩效辉煌,其中制度起到非常重要的作用。历史上农田水利设施的发展经过了三个波动的阶段,产生了集权型、自治型和混合型三种制度安排与制度变迁,这些制度分别保证了与其相适应的设施建设绩效和灌溉绩效。中国封建时期农田水利设施建设与治理的制度变迁,为今天建立社会主义新农村和实现农业的可持续发展具有重要的启示意义。     

公共经济视角下的国有企业改革分析

国有企业的发展状况表明,单纯从产权方面进行国有企业改革的理论研究和实践是有很大缺陷的,需要从新的视角去探索国有企业的改革思路。之所以从公共经济学的角度去分析国有企业问题,是因为国有企业或多或少具有公共产品的性质,政府对国有企业改革的态度及其行为反映了市场配置资源的能力和国有企业改革所引起的福利改变。     

Using technology to improve the management of development impacts on biodiversity

The mitigation hierarchy (MH) is a prominent tool to help businesses achieve no net loss or net gain outcomes for biodiversity. Technological innovations offer benefits for business biodiversity management, yet the range and continued evolution of technologies creates a complex landscape that can be difficult to navigate. Using literature review, online surveys, and semi-structured interviews, we assess technologies that can improve application of the MH. We identify six categories (mobile survey, fixed survey, remote sensing, blockchain, data analysis, and enabling technologies) with high feasibility and/or relevance to (i) aid direct implementation of mitigation measures and (ii) enhance biodiversity surveys and monitoring, which feed into the design of interventions including avoidance and minimization measures. At the interface between development and biodiversity impacts, opportunities lie in businesses investing in technologies, capitalizing on synergies between technology groups, collaborating with conservation organizations to enhance institutional capacity, and developing practical solutions suited for widespread use.