This article examines whether within a decentralized system of health care spending, local government units in developing countries have any incentive to compete with one another. The existence of spatial competition, whether horizontal or vertical, is tested in the case of Philippines using local government health expenditures data. Results indicate that health spending is characterized by a strong positive interaction between municipalities, consistent with the existence of a horizontal fiscal interaction. However, the results provide less support for the existence of vertical externalities, with the interaction of municipalities with provinces being positive and marginally significant.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czu086 | DOI Listing |
N Am Spine Soc J
March 2025
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Background: Laminectomy and fusion (LF) and laminoplasty (LP) are common treatments for cervical spondylotic myelopathy and myeloradiculopathy. While both procedures show similar clinical improvement, LF requires bony fusion while LP offers motion preservation. Cervical sagittal alignment and horizontal gaze maintenance are key outcome measures, but their comparative effects between LF and LP remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Ital Chir
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University, 226001 Nantong, Jiangsu, China.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pterygium excision combined with autologous limbal stem cell transplantation on microvascular density, tear film stability, and corneal wound healing in the management of pterygium.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 317 patients with pterygium who underwent treatment between January 2021 and January 2024. Patients were divided into a control group (pterygium excision alone, n = 161) and a study group (pterygium excision combined with autologous limbal stem cell transplantation, n = 156) based on the surgical approach.
Teach Learn Med
January 2025
Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) identifying individuals experience worse health outcomes compared to non-SGM identifying counterparts. Representation of SGM individuals within medical schools may improve the delivery of more equitable healthcare through reducing biases and normalizing SGM presence within healthcare spaces. Our initial aim was to explore the extent to which role models may influence personal SGM identities within medical schools in the United Kingdom, using an interpretative phenomenological approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
Land use and land cover changes (LULCC) alter local surface attributes, thereby modifying energy balance and material exchanges, ultimately impacting meteorological parameters and air quality. The North China Plain (NCP) has undergone rapid urbanization in recent decades, leading to dramatic changes in land use and land cover. This study utilizes the 2020 land use and land cover data obtained from the MODIS satellite to replace the default 2001 data in the Weather Research and Forecasting-Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Surg
January 2025
Digestive Disease Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Background: The role of robot-assisted approach in hernia surgery remains controversial due to high procedural costs and the proposed equal outcomes compared with open surgery. In this study, we report the 30-day results of the introduction of robot-assisted approach in a specialized regional ventral hernia repair center.
Methods: This was a retrospective single-center cohort study including patients undergoing either robot-assisted or open ventral hernia repair from 2017 to 2022.
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