The dynamics of international health system reforms: Evidence of a new wave in response to the 2008 economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic?

Global economic and health shocks, such as the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic typically impact healthcare financing and delivery. Cutler found that profound societal changes in the 20th century induced three waves of healthcare reform across seven major OECD countries. Our study investigates whether major crises in the 21st century induced similar reform waves.

Preconditions for efficiency and affordability in mixed health systems: are they fulfilled in the Australian public-private mix?

The Australian health system is characterised by high quality care by international standards, produced by a mix of public and private provision and funding of healthcare services. Despite good overall results, three issues are of concern. The first issue relates to the public procurement of healthcare, whose flaws have impacted individuals' access to care, and the high out-of-pocket spending.

Clinical features and 28-day mortality predictors of vaccinated patients admitted to a COVID-19 ICU hub in Italy.

Background: COVID-19 vaccination has been proved to be effective in preventing hospitalization and illness progression, even though data on mortality of vaccinated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are conflicting. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of vaccinated patients admitted to ICU according to their immunization cycle and to outline the risk factors for 28-day mortality. This observational study included adult patients admitted to ICU for acute respiratory failure (ARF) due to SARS-CoV-2 and who had received at least one dose of vaccine.

Effect of Wastewater on the Composition of Bacterial Microbiota of Used in Constructed Wetlands for Phytodepuration.

Phytodepuration occurs in the plant-mediated remediation processes exploited to remove pollutants from wastewater, and is one of the most used plants. This goal is achieved using constructed wetlands (CW), which are engineered systems designed to mimic the natural processes of pollutants removal. The aim of this work was to characterize the bacterial communities associated to , soils, and permeates of the CW of Calice (Prato, Italy), to evaluate the possible effect of wastewaters on the CW bacterial communities, through a next-generation sequencing-based approach.

The History of Durable Left Ventricular Assist Devices and Comparison of Outcomes: HeartWare, HeartMate II, HeartMate 3, and the Future of Mechanical Circulatory Support.

The utilization of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) in end-stage heart failure has doubled in the past ten years and is bound to continue to increase. Since the first of these devices was approved in 1994, the technology has changed tremendously, and so has the medical and surgical management of these patients. In this review, we discuss the history of LVADs, evaluating survival and complications over time.

A vicious cycle of health (in)equity: Migrant inclusion in light of COVID-19.

Objectives: Whilst mass vaccination is suggested as an important means to contain COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination policies across many countries have systematically excluded some groups of population, especially migrants. This study aims to document the impact of diversified vaccination strategies as a preventative and control measure for the health and safety of the wider population within a country.

Methods: We selected five countries that have experienced the changes in migrant inflows to the most extreme among OECD countries in 2020: The United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea.

Association of soluble Flt-1 with heart failure and cardiac morphology: The MESA angiogenesis study.

Background: Soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) may inhibit angiogenesis. Higher levels of sFlt-1 are associated with worse prognosis in prevalent heart failure patients. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of sFlt-1 in heart failure pathogenesis by characterizing relationships between sFlt-1, cardiac morphology, and the composite outcome of incident heart failure or cardiovascular (CV) death in in a multiethnic cohort free of CV disease at baseline.

Barriers and facilitators to the integration of digital technologies in mental health systems: A protocol for a qualitative systematic review.

Introduction: Digital technology has the potential to improve health outcomes and health system performance in fragmented and under-funded mental health systems. Despite this potential, the integration of digital technology tools into mental health systems has been relatively poor. This is a protocol for a synthesis of qualitative evidence that will aim to determine the barriers and facilitators to integrating digital technologies in mental health systems and classify them in contextual domains at individual, organisational and system levels.

Noninvasive respiratory support for acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19.

Purpose Of Review: Noninvasive respiratory support has been widely applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide a narrative review on the benefits and possible harms of noninvasive respiratory support for COVID-19 respiratory failure.

Recent Findings: Maintenance of spontaneous breathing by means of noninvasive respiratory support in hypoxemic patients with vigorous spontaneous effort carries the risk of patient self-induced lung injury: the benefit of averting intubation in successful patients should be balanced with the harms of a worse outcome in patients who are intubated after failing a trial of noninvasive support.

Dyspnoea and clinical outcome in critically ill patients receiving noninvasive support for COVID-19 respiratory failure: analysis of a randomised clinical trial.

https://bit.ly/3Bp2G1b.

Implications of cancer prior to and after heart transplantation.

Cancer and cardiovascular disease share many risk factors. Due to improved survival of patients with cancer, the cohort of cancer survivors with heart failure referred for heart transplantation (HT) is growing. Specific considerations include time interval between cancer treatment and HT, risk for recurrence and risk for de novo malignancy (dnM).

Effect of Helmet Noninvasive Ventilation vs High-Flow Nasal Oxygen on Days Free of Respiratory Support in Patients With COVID-19 and Moderate to Severe Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: The HENIVOT Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: High-flow nasal oxygen is recommended as initial treatment for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and is widely applied in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To assess whether helmet noninvasive ventilation can increase the days free of respiratory support in patients with COVID-19 compared with high-flow nasal oxygen alone.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Multicenter randomized clinical trial in 4 intensive care units (ICUs) in Italy between October and December 2020, end of follow-up February 11, 2021, including 109 patients with COVID-19 and moderate to severe hypoxemic respiratory failure (ratio of partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen ≤200).

Probiotics in the add-on treatment of laryngotracheitis: a clinical experience.

Laryngotracheitis is a common disease, mainly characterized by dysphonia, cough, and sore throat. The diagnosis is usually based on the clinical ground, and antibiotic therapy is frequently used in clinical practice. However, antibiotics frequently induce intestinal dysbiosis associated with some clinical problems.

Probiotics in the add-on treatment of rhinosinusitis: a clinical experience.

Rhinosinusitis (RS) affects the nose and the paranasal sinus and is characterized by nasal and systemic symptoms. It may be classified as acute or chronic, based on duration. Rhinosinusitis may be clinically suspected, but the diagnosis is usually based on the endoscopy.

Probiotics in the add-on treatment of otitis media in clinical practice.

Otitis media (OM) affects the middle ear and is typically characterized by earache. OM may be classified as acute (AOM) or chronic (COM), based on symptom duration. OM may be clinically suspected, but the diagnosis is usually confirmed by the otoscopy.

Probiotics in the add-on treatment of pharyngotonsillitis: a clinical experience.

Pharyngotonsillitis is a common disease, mainly characterized by a sore throat. It may be classified as acute or chronic, based on duration. The diagnosis is usually performed on the clinical ground, and antibiotic therapy is frequently used in clinical practice.

A probiotic mixture in patients with upper respiratory diseases: the point of view of the otorhinolaringologist.

Upper respiratory infections are widespread in clinical practice. Antibiotics are frequently used in the management of patients with airways infection. However, antibiotics can induce intestinal and respiratory dysbiosis that, in turn, worsens respiratory symptoms.

Closing the loop in a constructed wetland for the improvement of metal removal: the use of Phragmites australis biomass harvested from the system as biosorbent.

Among the numerous clean-up techniques for water treatment, sorption methods are widely used for the removal of trace metals. Phragmites australis is a macrophyte commonly used in constructed wetlands for water purification, and in the last decades, its use as biosorbent has attracted increasing attention. In view of a circularly economy approach, this study investigated improvement of trace metal removal by recycling the biomass of P.

Association of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus infection with long-term outcomes post-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction in a disadvantaged urban community.

Background: HIV and HCV have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Their impact on long-term outcomes following ST-segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) has not been previously studied.

Methods: We leveraged data from a STEMI registry (n = 1208) at an inner-city health system to assess the influence of HIV and HCV on post-STEMI outcomes.

Angiotensin-Neprilysin Inhibition in Black Americans: Data From the PIONEER-HF Trial.

Objectives: This study compared the efficacy and safety of sacubitril/valsartan to enalapril in Black and non-Black Americans with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

Background: Black patients have a different response to treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors compared with other racial and ethnic groups. How Black patients with ADHF respond to sacubitril/valsartan, an angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor, is unclear.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: Policy and technology impact on health and non-health outcomes.

Background: Italy was the first Western country to experience a major coronavirus outbreak and consequently faced large-scale health and socio-economic challenges. The Italian government enforced a wide set of homogeneous interventions nationally, despite the differing incidences of the virus throughout the country.

Objective: The paper aims to analyse the policies implemented by the government and their impact on health and non-health outcomes considering both scaling-up and scaling-down interventions.

Improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants: Bio-removal of heavy-metals and pharmaceuticals by Azolla filiculoides and Lemna minuta.

In this study, we investigated the removal of Fe(III), Cr(VI), Al(III), diclofenac, and levofloxacin from treated wastewater in the presence of the free-floating plants Azolla filiculoides and Lemna minuta, to understand whether these species can be effectively used in a surface flow constructed wetland as wastewater refining treatment. Fe and Al were selected owing to their wide use as coagulant agents in wastewater treatment plants for promoting clariflocculation processes, whilst Cr was chosen due to its common use in industry. Diclofenac and levofloxacin, two molecules belonging to the most widely used pharmaceutical classes in the world, were studied as representative anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, respectively.

Recording Risk Factors of Physical Abuse in Children Younger Than 36 Months With Bone Fractures: A 12-Years Retrospective Study in an Italian General Hospital Emergency Room.

Skeletal fractures (SFs) are very common in pediatrics. In some cases, they are secondary to child abuse. Differentiation of accidental from non-accidental fractures (NAFs) is essential as in abused children risk of further injuries leading to severe clinical problems and death is significant.