The impact of donor type on resource utilisation and costs in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the Netherlands.

Background: Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is increasingly used, but this treatment is complex and costly. As clinical outcomes of HSCT with matched unrelated donor (MUD) and haploidentical donors are similar, costs could influence donor choice.

Method: We retrospectively compared resource utilisation and costs of HSCT using the three different donor types (matched related donor (MRD) (n = 32), haploidentical related (n = 30) and MUD (n = 60)) within the first year after transplantation.

A General Approach to Achieving Stability and Safe Behavior in Distributed Robotic Architectures.

This paper proposes a unified energy-based modeling and energy-aware control paradigm for robotic systems. The paradigm is inspired by the layered and distributed control system of organisms, and uses the fundamental notion of energy in a system and the energy exchange between systems during interaction. A universal framework that models actuated and interacting robotic systems is proposed, which is used as the basis for energy-based and energy-limited control.

Metabolite fingerprinting of Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) polyphenols by means of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry detection.

The present study was aimed at the development of a new analytical method for the comprehensive multi-component analysis of polyphenols in Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) juice and peel. While pomegranate juice was directly analysed after simple centrifugation, different extraction techniques, including maceration, heat reflux extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction and microwave-assisted extraction, were compared in order to obtain a high yield of the target analytes from pomegranate peel.

Discrete-choice experiments versus rating scale exercises to evaluate the importance of attributes.

Aim: To examine the difference between discrete-choice experiments (DCE) and rating scale exercises (RSE) in determining the most important attributes using a case study.

Methods: Undergraduate health sciences students were asked to complete a DCE and a RSE. Six potentially important attributes were identified in focus groups.