An elementary step in drug policy analysis is comparing the cost of an intervention to its benefit in the form of the social cost averted because of reduced drug use and associated consequences. One would think that cost of illness (COI) studies would provide a solid foundation for quantifying the benefits of reduced drug use, but at present they do not. This paper suggests ways the COI studies...

We present a DNA barcoding study of Neotropical odonates from the Upper Plata basin, Brazil. A total of 38 species were collected in a transition region of "Cerrado" and Atlantic Forest, both regarded as biological hotspots, and 130 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes were generated for the collected specimens. The distinct gap between intraspecific (0-2%) and interspecific variation ...

Dasysyrphus Enderlein (Diptera: Syrphidae) has posed taxonomic challenges to researchers in the past, primarily due to their lack of interspecific diagnostic characters. In the present study, DNA data (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase sub-unit I—COI) were combined with morphology to help delimit species. This led to two species being resurrected from synonymy (D. laticaudus and D. pacificus) ...

The online discussion forum (ODF) is one of the most widely used e-learning tools in open distance learning (ODL) environments. A popular line of research focuses on producing instruments that can be used to assess the level and amount of learning that takes place via transcript analysis of ODF-discourse. Of current interest is the influential community of inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework, f...

background: cockroaches are of vital importance medically and hygienically as they can disperse human patho­genic agents and are especially responsible for food contamination and spreading of food borne pathogens. in this study, part of mtdna-coi gene of five common pest cockroaches was tested for diagnostic and phylogenetic pur­poses. methods: we have described barcode region of mtdna-coi gene...

background: linear dermatitis is endemic in iran where most cases occur in the caspian sea coast and fars prov­ince. the disease is caused by beetles of the genus paederus which are active from early spring to beginning of au­tumn although its incidence rises from may to august. the classic taxonomy of paederus spp. is based on the male genitalia that is very complex and needs expertise. in thi...

An elementary step in drug policy analysis is comparing the cost of an intervention to its benefit in the form of the social cost averted because of reduced drug use and associated consequences. One would think that cost of illness (COI) studies would provide a solid foundation for quantifying the benefits of reduced drug use, but at present they do not. This paper suggests ways the COI studies...

Introduction When a disease affects only a few individuals in each country (ultra-orphan disease), it can be very hard to establish the costs of illness (COI) and the cost-effectiveness (CE) of treatments (ultra-orphan drugs). Conventional methods for COI and CE of drugs for common conditions do not apply, and additional factors need to be considered. As expensive medications (biologicals) show...