The cost-benefit analysis of a project or program uses the net social benefits (NSB) criterion for evaluation purposes, where NSB equals social benefits (B) less social costs (C). Efficient social choices involve the selection of those projects for which net social benefits are highest. The maximisation of net social benefits is the public sector equivalent to the maximisation of profits in the...

A genet of a clonal plant often has ramets persistently interconnected by living tissue capable of supporting the exchange of materials. This condition is known as physiological integration. A quantitative framework is developed for the study of the fitness benefits of physiological integration in clonal plants in spatially heterogeneous environments. We argue that the relative growth rate of t...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is some uncertainty about treating patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with 1 nongender-related (NGR) stroke risk factor (CHA2DS2-VASc [ie, congestive heart failure, hypertension, age (≥75 years; 2 points), diabetes, stroke/transient ischemic attack (2 points), vascular disease, age (65-74 years), sex (female)] score of 1 in males and 2 in females) with oral anti...

BACKGROUND Known risk factors for bleeding during anticoagulant treatment are largely the same as those predicting thromboembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Our objective was to investigate how to maximize the likelihood of avoiding both stroke and bleeding. METHODS AND RESULTS All 182 678 subjects with atrial fibrillation in the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register were...

Background—Known risk factors for bleeding during anticoagulant treatment are largely the same as those predicting thromboembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Our objective was to investigate how to maximize the likelihood of avoiding both stroke and bleeding. Methods and Results—All 182 678 subjects with atrial fibrillation in the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register were s...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the net benefit and cost-effectiveness of methotrexate use and Goeckerman therapy for psoriasis. DESIGN Net benefit and cost-effectiveness depend on the costs, efficacy, and utilities of therapy. Utilities are quantitative measures of patient preferences. We obtained costs by using resource-based accounting techniques. Efficacy was estimated from literature reports. We su...

We have read the article by Barrios et al on the use of anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation in an unselected population in primary care. We consider it a very important study because it highlights the great room for improvement in daily practice and that, regardless of the embolic risk scale chosen, about 45% of patients without an indication receive anticoagulation the...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the expected cost-effectiveness and net benefit of the recent implementation of newborn screening (NBS) for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in Washington State. STUDY DESIGN We constructed a decision analysis model to estimate the costs and benefits of NBS in an annual birth cohort of 86 600 infants based on projections of avoided infant deaths. Point estimates a...