In a novel dual bed reactor Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was studied by using two diffrent cobalt catalysts. An alkali-promoted cobalt catalyst was used in the first bed of a fixed-bed reactor followed by a Rutenuim promoted cobalt catalyst in the second bed. The activity, product selectivity and accelerated deactivation of the system were assessed and compared with a conventional single bed r...

BACKGROUND The recent increase in the number of immigrants of Barcelona represents a challenge for the public healthcare system, the emergency department being the most used healthcare service by this group. However, utilisation rates in our environment have not yet been studied. We aimed to compare emergency department utilisation rates between Spanish-born and foreign-born residents in a publ...

OBJECTIVE To identify the characteristics of New Zealanders who utilised primary healthcare services prior to the implementation of the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Strategy (PHCS). METHODS This paper uses data from the 1996/97 and 2002/03 waves of the nationally representative New Zealand Health Survey to examine the relationship between individual, household and community characteristics ...

Mental health problems among adolescents have become a major public health issue, and it is therefore important to increase knowledge on the contextual determinants of adolescent mental health. One such determinant is the socioeconomic structure of the neighbourhood. The present study has two central objectives, (i) to examine if neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation is associated to individu...

OBJECTIVES There are few Australian data that examine the association between total knee joint replacement (TKR) utilisation and socioeconomic status (SES). This study examined TKR surgeries with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) performed for residents of Barwon Statistical Division (BSD) for 2006-2007. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING BSD, South-eastern Victoria, Australia PARTICIPANTS ...

BACKGROUND The utilisation of healthcare resources by prevalent haemodialysis patients has been robustly evaluated with regard to the provision of outpatient haemodialysis; however, the impact of hospitalisation among such patients is poorly defined. Minimal information is available in the UK to estimate the health and economic burden associated with the inpatient management of prevalent haemod...