Does voluntary health insurance improve health and longevity? Evidence from European OECD countries.

The financing structure of the healthcare system and, particularly, the voluntary health insurance (VHI) constituent, has been a vital pillar in improving the overall quality of life. Consequently, this study aims to shed light on the effect of VHI on the population's health and longevity in a sample of 26 European OECD countries. The methodology employed covers both hierarchical clustering and the novel dynamic panel threshold technique.

GFAP and antibodies against NMDA receptor subunit NR2 as biomarkers for acute cerebrovascular diseases.

We studied whether the serum levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and of antibodies against the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunit NR2 (NR2 RNMDA ) can discriminate between intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and ischaemic stroke (IS) in stroke patients. We prospectively recruited patients with suspected stroke (72 confirmed) and 52 healthy controls. The type of brain lesion (ICH or IS) was established using brain imaging.

Bibliometric approach of factors affecting scientific productivity in environmental sciences and ecology.

Different academic bibliometric studies have measured the influence of economic, political and linguistic factors in the academic output of countries. Separate analysis in different fields can reveal specific incentive factors. Our study proves that the Environmental Performance Index, computed by Yale University, is highly significant (p<0.