Moment-Based Multi-Resolution HWENO Scheme for Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

In this paper, a high-order moment-based multi-resolution Hermite weighted essentially non-oscillatory (HWENO) scheme is designed for hyperbolic conservation laws. The main idea of this scheme is derived from our previous work [J. Comput. Phys., 446 (2021) 110653], in which the integral averages of the function and its first order derivative are used to reconstruct both the function and its first order derivative values at the boundaries. However, in this paper, only the function values at the Gauss-Lobatto points in the one or two dimensional case need to be reconstructed by using the information of the zeroth and first order moments. In addition, an extra modification procedure is used to modify those first order moments in the troubled-cells, which leads to an improvement of stability and an enhancement of resolution near discontinuities. To obtain the same order of accuracy, the size of the stencil required by this moment-based multi-resolution HWENO scheme is still the same as the general HWENO scheme and is more compact than the general WENO scheme. Moreover, the linear weights are not unique and are independent of the node position, and the CFL number can still be 0.6 whether for the one or two dimensional case, which has to be 0.2 in the two dimensional case for other HWENO schemes. Extensive numerical examples are given to demonstrate the stability and resolution of such moment-based multi-resolution HWENO scheme.     

Adherence to and persistence with antidiabetic medications and associations with clinical and economic outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic literature review

We designed a systematic literature review to identify available evidence on adherence to and persistence with antidiabetic medication in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Electronic screening and congress searches identified real-world noninterventional studies (published between 2010 and October 2020) reporting estimates of adherence to and persistence with antidiabetic medication in adults with T2D, and associations with glycaemic control, microvascular and/or macrovascular complications, hospitalizations and healthcare costs. Ninety-two relevant studies were identified, the majority of which were retrospective and reported US data. The proportions of patients considered adherent (median [range] 51.2% [9.4%-84.3%]) or persistent (median [range] 47.7% [16.9%-94.0%]) varied widely across studies. Multiple studies reported an association between greater adherence/persistence and greater reductions in glycated haemoglobin levels. Better adherence/persistence was associated with fewer microvascular and/or macrovascular outcomes, although there was little consistency across studies in terms of which outcomes were improved. More adherent and more persistent patients were typically less likely to be hospitalized or to have emergency department visits/admissions and spent fewer days in hospital annually than less adherent/persistent patients. Greater adherence and persistence were generally associated with lower hospitalization costs, higher pharmacy costs and lower or budget-neutral total healthcare costs compared with lower adherence/persistence. In conclusion, better adherence and persistence in people with T2D is associated with lower rates of microvascular and/or macrovascular outcomes and inpatient hospitalization, and lower or budget-neutral total healthcare expenditure. Education and treatment strategies to address suboptimal adherence and persistence are needed to improve clinical and economic outcomes.     

Niven and Scott (2003): Sixteen years of hindsight

This paper revisits a 2003 publication in Nursing Philosophy: The need for accurate perception and informed judgement in determining the appropriate use of the nursing resource: hearing the patient's voice. The author suggests that the basic ideas and focus of this 16‐year‐old paper are still topical and relevant in considerations of nursing care. However, it is also suggested that greater attention to the importance of the nurse–patient relationship in considerations of resource allocation, and potential rationing of nursing care, would have strengthened the original paper.     

The clinical and cost impact of switching to fingolimod versus other first line injectable disease-modifying therapies in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis

Background: There is limited evidence on the effectiveness and healthcare costs of switching to fingolimod versus another first line injectable therapy (FLIT) in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) who have already been treated with FLIT.

Objective: The objectives of the study were to assess the annualized relapse rate (ARR), socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, persistence and adherence rates, healthcare resource utilization and cost among patients with RMS who either switch to fingolimod or another FLIT in routine clinical practice.

Methods: A multicenter, observational, retrospective chart review was conducted across eight clinics in Canada between 1 May 2011 and 30 June 2013. The data was collected from two cohorts: patients who switched to fingolimod and patients who switched to FLIT from a previous FLIT.

Results and conclusions: A total of 124 patients were included in the study: 82 and 42 switched to fingolimod and FLIT, respectively. There were no significant differences in the patient characteristics at the date of switch except for number of previous disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) which was higher in the fingolimod cohort (fingolimod: 1.52; FLIT: 1.10, p?<?.001). The ARR during the first year of switching was numerically higher in the FLIT cohort compared to the fingolimod cohort (FLIT: 0.9 [95% CI 0.3–1.6]; fingolimod: 0.3 [95% CI 0.1–0.5]). The negative binomial model adjusted for the number of previous DMTs confirmed a statistically significant difference in ARR between the fingolimod and FLIT cohorts at 12?months of follow-up (p?=?.012). In the fingolimod cohort, 20.7% of patients experienced at least one relapse compared to 38.1% in the FLIT cohort. In both groups, a high proportion of patients (>90%) showed good treatment adherence (≥80% of prescribed doses).     

北京市2017-2018年卫生资源公平性分析

基于对北京市居民对基本社会医疗保险制度的调查及《北京市统计年鉴》的数据,运用卫生资源分布图、集中指数和卡瓦尼指数等方法从资源总体配置公平性、卫生筹资公平性、卫生资源分布公平性3个方面分析北京市2017年、2018年卫生资源配置的情况。2017年、2018年的集中指数、基尼系数、卡瓦尼指数分别为-0.148、0.244、-0.392及-0.065、0.220、-0.285。并针对性提出统筹城乡基本医保,重视卫生资源的合理配置,保障低收入人群诊疗权益,满足不同人群对医保的需求,增加制度的灵活性,使医保向更公平的方向发展等可操作性政策建议。     

岗位价值评估在A医院人力资源管理过程的应用

探讨岗位价值评估方法在医院人力资源的管理过程中的应用和意义。采用国际岗位价值评估系统(IPE)对A医院现有140个岗位进行岗位价值评估,并利用岗位评分对人力资源管理问题进行剖析。A医院岗位评估分数的总趋势和总分布结果显示,岗位评估分值曲线现呈较平滑的递减趋势,这表明A医院职能处室内部各类岗位的岗位价值不存在明显差异。从各个职能处室内部来看,内部岗位评价结果分布比较均匀,说明部门内部分工相对合理。岗位价值评价有助于增强医院薪酬分配的公平性,提高薪酬的激励性,也有利于优化医院管理制度,推动医院可持续发展。     

傣族药产地生态适宜性分析与产业发展策略

适宜性产区能够保障傣族药的品质,然而有关植物类傣族药适宜生态因子及适宜产区的研究目前较为匮乏。本研究利用中药材产地适宜性分析地理信息系统(GMPGIS)对植物类傣族药进行全国产地生态适宜性分析,首次提出了植物类傣族药主要分布区域的生态因子范围和主要土壤类型,如年均温8. 6～23. 7℃,年均降水量1 212～1 881 mm,年均日照149. 7～157. 4 W·m-2,主要土壤类型为强淋溶土、冲积土、高活性强酸土等。以179个采样点为基础,通过生态相似性分析得到植物类傣族药在全球范围内的最大生态相似度区域,主要包括中国、巴西、美国、缅甸、老挝等国家。在中国主要集中在云南的西部和南部,包括西双版纳傣族自治州、德宏傣族景颇族自治州普洱市、保山市、临沧市具有较大的适宜栽培区域。除此之外,本文通过分析傣族药人才匮乏、傣族药资源日益减少、文化传承具有局限性、科学研究薄弱等问题,并提出了通过傣族医药高素质人才培养、傣族药资源调研和保护工作、推进傣族药资料古籍的搜集整理、加强傣族药基础研究和应用研究等策略促进傣族医药发展。本研究为指导植物类傣族药生产基地合理布局、引种繁育等提供依据,为高品质傣族药的科学规范化生产奠定基础。     

Our Next Pandemic Ethics Challenge? Allocating “Normal” Health Care Services

The pandemic creates unprecedented challenges to society and to health care systems around the world. Like all crises, these provide a unique opportunity to rethink the fundamental limiting assumptions and institutional inertia of our established systems. These inertial assumptions have obscured deeply rooted problems in health care and deflected attempts to address them. As hospitals begin to welcome all patients back, they should resist the temptation to go back to business as usual. Instead, they should retain the more deliberative, explicit, and transparent ways of thinking that have informed the development of crisis standards of care. The key lesson to be learned from those exercises in rational deliberation is that justice must be the ethical foundation of all standards of care. Justice demands that hospitals take a safety-net approach to providing services that prioritizes the most vulnerable segments of society, continue to expand telemedicine in ways that improve access without exacerbating disparities, invest in community-based care, and fully staff hospitals and clinics on nights and weekends.     

Development,implementation, and associated challenges of a new HDR brachytherapy program

Developing any new radiation oncology program requires planning and analysis of the current state of the facility and its capacity to take on another program. Staff must consider a large number of factors to establish a feasible, safe, and sustainable program. We present a simple and generic outline that lays out the process for developing and implementing a new HDR brachytherapy program in any setting, but with particular emphasis on challenges associated with starting the program in a limited resource setting. The sections include feasibility of a program, starting cases, machine and equipment selection, and quality and safety.