Resilience effects for household food expenditure and dietary diversity in rural western China

A more resilient livelihood is increasingly recognized as an efficient way to improve vulnerable households’food security and optimize their dietary decisions.This study quantifies rural household resilience in western China,identifies the three pillars(absorptive capacity,adaptive capacity,and transformative capacity)contribution to resilience,and then establishes the estimated Resilience Capacity Index(RCI)linked with food security and dietary diversity supported by the multiple indicator multiple cause(MIMIC)model.Results show that,despite geographical heterogeneity,the RCI consistently increased from 2015 to 2021.Households with a higher RCI inheriting better capacity to deal with risk and shocks are significantly and positively correlated with increasing food expenditure and diversifying food choices.It can be because resilient households will allocate more money to food expenditure instead of saving for livelihood uncertainty.Thus,policymakers can provide more incentives for rural households to adopt more dynamic and effective risk management strategies.This,in turn,could yield positive spillover effects by preventing human capital loss associated with dietary-related chronic diseases and mortality.

Charting the course:India's health expenditure projections for 2035

Objectives Understanding past trends and forecasting future changes in health spending is vital for planning and reducing reliance on out-of-pocket(OOP)expenses.The current study analyzed health expenditure patterns in India and forecasted future trends and patterns until 2035.Methods Data on health expenditure in India from 2000 to 2019 was collected from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)iLibrary and National Health Accounts 2019 databases.Gross domestic product(GDP)data from the World Bank was also utilized.Descriptive statistics analyzed the composition and pattern,while the exponential smoothing model forecasted future health expenditures.Results The findings revealed that expenditure made by OOP is the primary health financing source,followed by government and pre-paid private spending.The percentage of GDP allocated to total health expenditure remains stable,while the per capita health expenditure fluctuates.Variations in expenditure among states are observed,with Karnataka relying heavily on pre-paid private coverage.Future projections suggest a decline in per capita and total health expenditure as a share of GDP,with a slight increase in the government’s share.Pre-paid private expenditure per capita and OOP health expenditure as a share of the total is projected to remain relatively constant but still high in absolute terms.Conclusion The study highlights variations in health spending in India,characterized by high OOP spending,limited public coverage,and a need for investments,and reforms to improve healthcare access and equity.

River width and depth as key factors of diurnal activity energy expenditure allocation for wintering Spot-billed Ducks in the Xin'an River Basin

Rivers are important habitats for wintering waterbirds.However,they are easily influenced by natural and human activities.An important approach for waterbirds to adapt to habitats is adjusting the activity time and energy expenditure allocation of diurnal behavior.The compensatory foraging hypothesis predicts that increased energy expenditure leads to longer foraging time,which in turn increases food intake and helps maintain a constant energy balance.However,it is unclear whether human-disturbed habitats result in increased energy expenditure related to safety or foraging.In this study,the scan sample method was used to observe the diurnal behavior of the wintering Spot-billed Duck(Anas poecilorhyncha) in two rivers in the Xin’an River Basin from October 2021 to March 2022.The allocation of time and energy expenditure for activity in both normal and disturbed environments was calculated.The results showed that foraging accounted for the highest percentage of time and energy expenditure.Additionally,foraging decreased in the disturbed environment than that in the normal environment.Resting behavior showed the opposite trend,while other behaviors were similar in both environments.The total diurnal energy expenditure of ducks in the disturbed environment was greater than that in the normal environment,with decreased foraging and resting time percentage and increased behaviors related to immediate safety(swimming and alert) and comfort.These results oppose the compensatory foraging hypothesis in favor of increased security.The optimal diurnal energy expenditure model included river width and water depth,which had a positive relationship;an increase in either of these two factors resulted in an increase in energy expenditure.This study provides a better understanding of energy allocation strategies underlying the superficial time allocation of wintering waterbirds according to environmental conditions.Exploring these changes can help understand the maximum fitness of wintering waterbirds in response to nature and human influences.

The Impact of Population Aging on the Expenditure of Medical Insurance Fund for Urban Workers in China

Objective To explore the impact of population aging on the expenditures of medical insurance funds against the background that great changes in population structure influences economic development.Methods Through analyzing the impact of the population aging,the income and accumulated balance of the medical insurance fund,and other related factors on the expenditure of the medical insurance fund,development status of the medical insurance fund for urban employees in China since 2003 was obtained.Stata 16.0 was used to perform multiple linear regression analysis on related factors to determine the correlation between population aging and the change in medical insurance expenditures.Results and Conclusion The factors that have a greater impact on the expenditure of the medical insurance fund are the amount of income from the medical insurance,followed by the number of people over the age of 65 in China and the urban retired employees participating in medical insurance.We should focus on the sustainable development of the urban employee medical insurance fund to deal with the threat of aging.

The Research of Change Trend of Our Government's Public Expenditure Scale

It is obvious that the change trend of our government expenditure scale declined constantly .The expenditure proportion of science, education, culture and hygiene increased fast, reflected the situation that the finance of our country was transformed into “public finance” from “building type finance” gradually.The expenditure proportion of the local is higher than central authorities. This is disadvantageous for our country’s economy development and society stability.

Expenditure of hospital care on cancer in China, from 2011 to 2015

Objective: A solid understanding of levels and trends of spending on cancer is important to evaluate whether our healthcare resources were wisely spent and to prioritize future resources for cancer treatment and prevention. However, studies on economic burden of cancers in China are scant and the results are inconsistent. Methods: The Chinese hospital information database and nearly 350 million inpatient medical record data were used. As the ratios of cancer inpatient payments to total inpatient payments were mainly influenced by the grades and sites of hospitals, the estimates of payments of cancer inpatients in this study were stratified by hospital grades and provinces. Only the payments of cancer inpatients happened in grade 2, grade 3 and specialized cancer hospitals were included in the analyses. The total medical payments of cancers in China were estimated based on the ratios of outpatient payments to inpatient payments in specialized cancer hospitals. Results: From 2011 to 2015, the payments of cancer inpatients in China have increased by 84.1% and the total inpatient payments reached 177.1 billion RMB in 2015, accounting for 4.3% of the total health expenditure in China. Based on the ratio of outpatient payments to inpatient payments, the total payments on cancer treatments in China were estimated to be 221.4 billion RMB in 2015. Among different cancer types, the highest payments were the treatment of trachea, bronchus and lung cancer. The major cancer inpatient payments (67.1% in 2015) spent in grade 3 general hospitals and this ratio increased continually from 2011 to 2015. The expenditure of cancer treatments also varies by region with the major expenditure in the eastern region of China. Conclusions: This study estimated the total payments of cancer treatments in China and analyzed how the money was spent on cancer treatments in the recent 5 years, which would provide information for decision makings on the allocation of resources to service provisioning, prevention strategies, research funding, and assessing whether the economic burden of cancer is affordable to the governments.

Expenditure and financial burden for the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer in China:a hospital.based,multicenter,cross-sectional survey

Background: The increasing prevalence of colorectal cancer(CRC) in China and the paucity of information about relevant expenditure highlight the necessity of better understanding the financial burden and effect of CRC diagnosis and treatment. We performed a survey to quantify the direct medical and non-medical expenditure as well as the resulting financial burden of CRC patients in China.Methods: We conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional survey in 37 tertiary hospitals in 13 provinces across China between 2012 and 2014. Each enrolled patient was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. All expenditure data were inflated to the 2014 Chinese Yuan(CNY; 1 CNY = 0.163 USD). We quantified the overall expenditure and financial burden and by subgroup(hospital type, age at diagnosis, sex, education, occupation, insurance type, household income, clinical stage, pathologic type, and therapeutic regimen). We then performed generalized linear modeling to determine the factors associated with overall expenditure.Results: A total of 2356 patients with a mean age of 57.4 years were included, 57.1 % of whom were men; 13.9% of patients had stage I cancer; and the average previous-year household income was 54,525 CNY.The overall average direct expenditure per patient was estimated to be 67,408 CNY, and the expenditures for stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ disease were 56,099 CNY, 59,952 CNY, 67,292 CNY, and 82,729 CNY, respectively. Non-medical expenditure accounted for 8.3%of the overall expenditure. The 1-year out-of-pocket expenditure of a newly diagnosed patient was 32,649 CNY, which accounted for 59.9% of their previous-year household income and caused 75.0% of families to suffer an unmanageable financial burden. Univariate analysis showed that financial burden and overall expenditure differed in almost all subgroups(P < 0.05), except for sex. Multivariate analysis showed that patients who were treated in specialized hospitals and those who were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma or diagnosed at a later stage were likely to spend more,whereas those with a lower household income and those who underwent surgery spent less(all P < 0.05).Conclusions: For patients in China, direct expenditure for the diagnosis and treatment of CRC seemed catastrophic,and non-medical expenditure was non-ignorable. The financial burden varied among subgroups, especially among patients with different clinical stages of disease, which suggests that, in China, CRC screening might be cost-effective.

Medical expenditure for esophageal cancer in China:a 10-year multicenter retrospective survey(2002-2011)

Background: Esophageal cancer is associated with substantial disease burden in China, and data on the economic burden are fundamental for setting priorities in cancer interventions. The medical expenditure for the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer in China has not been fully quantified. This study aimed to examine the medical expenditure of Chinese patients with esophageal cancer and the associated trends.Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a hospital-based multicenter retrospective survey was conducted in 37 hospitals in 13 provinces/municipalities across China as a part of the Cancer Screening Program of Urban China. For each esophageal cancer patient diagnosed between 2002 and 2011, clinical information and expense data were extracted by using structured questionnaires. All expense data were reported in Chinese Yuan(CNY; 1 CNY = 0.155 USD) based on the2011 value and inflated using the year-specific health care consumer price index for China.Results: A total of 14,967 esophageal cancer patients were included in the analysis. It was estimated that the overall average expenditure per patient was 38,666 CNY, and an average annual increase of 6.27% was observed from 2002(25,111 CNY) to 2011(46,124 CNY). The average expenditures were 34,460 CNY for stage Ⅰ,39,302 CNY for stage Ⅱ,40,353 CNY for stage Ⅲ, and 37,432 CNY for stage IV diseases(P < 0.01). The expenditure also differed by the therapy type, which was 38,492 CNY for surgery, 27,933 CNY for radiotherapy, and 27,805 CNY for chemotherapy(P < 0.05).Drugs contributed to 45.02% of the overall expenditure.Conclusions: These conservative estimates suggested that medical expenditures for esophageal cancer in China substantially increased in the last 10 years, treatment for early-stage esophageal cancer costs less than that for advanced cases, and spending on drugs continued to account for a considerable proportion of the overall expenditure.

Medical expenditures for colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment: A 10-year high-level-hospital-based multicenter retrospective survey in China, 2002-2011

Objective: Colorectal cancer(CRC) causes a substantial burden of disease in China and the evidence of economic burden triggered is fundamental for priority setting. The aim of this survey was to quantify medical expenditures and the time trends for CRC diagnosis and treatment in China.Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a hospital-based multicenter retrospective survey was conducted in 13 provinces across China. For each eligible CRC patient diagnosed from 2002 to 2011, clinical information and expenditure data were extracted using a uniform questionnaire. All expenditure data were reported in Chinese Yuan(CNY)using 2011 values.Results: Of the 14,536 CRC patients included, the average age at diagnosis was 58.2 years and 15.8% were stageI cases. The average medical expenditure per patient was estimated at 37,902 CNY [95 % confidence interval(95%CI): 37,282-38,522], and the annual average increase rate was 9.2% from 2002 to 2011(P for trend <0.001), with a cumulative increase of 2.4 times(from 23,275 CNY to 56,010 CNY). The expenditure per patient in stages Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were 31,698 CNY, 37,067 CNY, 38,918 CNY and 42,614 CNY, respectively(P<0.001). Expenditure significantly differed within various subgroups. Expenses for drugs contributed the largest proportion(52.6%).Conclusions: These conservative estimates illustrated that medical expenditures for CRC diagnosis and treatment in tertiary hospitals in China were substantial and increased rapidly over the 10 years, with drugs continually being the main expense by 2011. Relatively, medical expenditures are lower for CRC in the earlier stages. These findings will facilitate the economic evaluation of CRC prevention and control in China.

Resting Energy Expenditure and Its Relationship With Patterns of Obesity and Visceral Fat Area in Chinese Adults

Objective To investigate the relationship between resting energy expenditure (REE) and patterns of obesity/regional fat parameters in Chinese adults. Methods Body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM) were assessed in 109 Chinese adults (52 men and 57 women), and their abdominal visceral adipose tissue area (VA) and subcutaneous fat area (SA) were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements. REE was measured with indirect calorimetry and compared with normal and obese subjects. Multivariate analysis was used to study the factors related to REE. Results The resting energy expenditure per kilogram of body weight (REE/kg) was closely related with the area of abdominal visceral fat measured with MRI. REE/kg was significantly lower in overweight/obesity subjects than in normal-weighted subjects, and significantly lower in subjects with abdominal obesity (VA≥100 cm2) than in subjects with non-abdominal obesity (VA< 100 cm2, BMI≥25 kg/m2). In the stepwise regression analysis of REE/kg on regional fat parameters, VA in men and women and SA in women were independent factors reversely related to REE/kg. Conclusion REE/kg is associated with the visceral fat area and more prominent in men. REE/kg can be used as an index in the pathophysiology of intra-abdominal obesity.

Influencing factors of inpatient expenditure pattern for cancer in China, 2015

Objective： We analyzed the proportion of cancer-caused hospitalization expenses in total hospitalization expenses from national authoritative data and explored influencing factors of the proportion so as to provide effective data information for more rational utilization of health resources.Methods： Two-level lineal regression model was used to explore influencing factors of ratios of the cancer inpatient expenditure over the total inpatient expenditure of hospitals in China in 2015. A total of 40.76 million inpatient medical records were used to generate the outcome variables, while the explanatory variables were from hospital information database and China Health and Family Planning Statistical Yearbook and literatures.Results： Inpatient expenditure pattern for cancer（IEPC） varied largely across provinces, ranging from 3.03% to19.61%. The major sources of variability were from the differences of hospital level and number of beds. There was homogeneity within a province, while heterogeneity between the provinces. Rising one level of the hospital led to the increase of 0.475 natural logarithm units of IEPC averagely. The number of beds increasing 1,000 each made the natural logarithm of IEPC increase one unit averagely.Conclusions： Our study showed that a considerable proportion of IEPC variation could be explained by the differences of hospital level and number of beds. It implied that it is possible to estimate disease-specific ratio of inpatient expense taking into account key influencing factors in China. Furthermore, this study is an input to economic and financial analyses and provides evidence for future study on the national economic burden of cancer.

No expenditure difference among patients with liver cancer at stageⅠ-ⅣV:Findings from a multicenter cross-sectional study in China

Objective:The number of liver cancer patients in China accounts for more than half of the world.However,China currently lacks national,multicenter economic burden data,and meanwhile,measuring the differences among different subgroups will be informative to formulate corresponding policies in liver cancer control.Thus,the aim of the study was to measure the economic burden of liver cancer by various subgroups.Methods:A hospital-based,multicenter and cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2012・2014,covering 39 hospitals and 21 project sites in 13 provinces across China.The questionnaire covers clinical information,sociology,expenditure,and related variables.All expenditure data were reported in Chinese Yuan(CNY)using 2014 values.Results:A total of 2,223 liver cancer patients were enrolled,of whom 59.61%were late-stage cases(III-IV),and 53.8%were hepatocellular carcinoma.The average total expenditure per liver cancer patient was estimated as 53,220 CNY,including 48,612 CNY of medical expenditures(91.3%)and 4,608 CNY of non-medical expenditures(8.7%).The average total expenditures in stage I,H,m and stage IV were 52,817 CNY,50,877 CNY,50,678 CNY and 54,089 CNY(P>0.05),respectively.Non-medical expenditures including additional meals,additional nutrition care,transportation,accommodation and hired informal nursing were 1,453 CNY,839 CNY,946 CNY,679 CNY and 200 CNY,respectively.The one-year out-of-pocket expenditure of a newly diagnosed patient was 24,953 CNY,and 77.2%of the patients suffered an unmanageable financial burden.Multivariate analysis showed that overall expenditure differed in almost all subgroups(P<0.05),except for sex,clinical stage,and pathologic type.Conclusions:There was no difference in treatment expenditure for liver cancer patients at different clinical stages,which suggests that maintaining efforts on treatment efficacy improvement is important but not enough.To fiirtherly reduce the overall economic burden from liver cancer,more effort should be given to primary and secondary prevention strategies.

Energy Expenditure of Trotting Gait Under Different Gait Parameters

Robots driven by batteries are clean, quiet, and can work indoors or in space. However, the battery endurance is a great problem. A new gait parameter design energy saving strategy to extend the working hours of the quadruped robot is proposed. A dynamic model of the robot is established to estimate and analyze the energy expenditures during trotting. Given a trotting speed, opti- mal stride frequency and stride length can minimize the energy expenditure. However, the relationship between the speed and the optimal gait parameters is nonlinear, which is difficult for practical application. Therefore, a simplified gait parameter design method for energy saving is pro- posed. A critical trotting speed of the quadruped robot is found and can be used to decide the gait parameters. When the robot is travelling lower than this speed, it is better to keep a constant stride length and change the cycle period. When the robot is travelling higher than this speed, it is better to keep a constant cycle period and change the stride length. Simulations and experiments on the quadruped robot show that by using the proposed gait parameter design approach, the energy expenditure can be reduced by about 54% compared with the 100 mm stride length under 500 mm/s speed. In general, an energy expenditure model based on the gait parameter of the quadruped robot is built and the trotting gait parameters design approach for energy saving is proposed.

Effect of Physical Activity on Hospital Service Use and Expenditures of Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: Results from Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort Study in China

The intervention of behaviors, including physical activity (PA), has become a strategy for many hospitals dealing with patients with chronic diseases. Given the limited evidence available about PA and healthcare use with chronic diseases, this study explored the association between different levels of PA and annual hospital service use and expenditure for inpatients with coronary heart disease (CHD) in China. We analyzed PA information from the first follow-up survey (2013) of the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study of 1460 CHD inpatients. We examined factors such as PA exercise volume and years of PA and their associations with the number of inpatient visits, number of hospital days, and inpatient costs and total medical costs. We found that the number of hospital days and the number of inpatient visits were negatively associated with intensity of PA level. Similarly, total inpatient and outpatient costs declined when the PA exercise volume levels increased. Furthermore, there were also significant associations between the number of hospital days, inpatient costs or total medical costs and levels of PA years. This study provides the first empirical evidence about the effects of the intensity and years of PA on hospital service use and expenditure of CHD in China. It suggests that the patients' PA, especially the vigorous PA, should be promoted widely to the public and patients in order to relieve the financial burden of CHD.

Contemporary trends on expenditure of hospital care on total cancer and its subtypes in China during 2008-2017

Objective:To describe the contemporary trends in total,inpatient,and outpatient expenditure on major subtypes of cancer in different classifications of hospitals in China's Mainland.Methods:Home page of Inpatient Medical Records(HIMRs)and Hospital Annual Reports(HARs)were used to estimate hospital care expenditure on cancer.Inpatient payments and their share of cancer were calculated with the top-down method.Kriging spatial interpolation methods were used at the county level and summed at the province level.Outpatient expenditure was estimated with inpatient expenditure and the ratios of outpatient to inpatient payments in specialized cancer hospitals,stratified by province.Total expenditure on cancer was the sum of both payments.Log-linear regression was applied to estimate annual percentage change(APC)of expenditure.Results:Total expenses for cancer of Chinese residents reached up to 304.84 billion Chinese Yuan(CNY)in2017,accounting for 5.8%of the total health expenses(THE).After adjusting for consumer price index(CPI),medical expenses for cancer have increased from 63.30 billion CNY in 2008 to 249.56 billion CNY in 2017[APC:15.2%,95%confidence interval(95%CI):13.4%-17.0%].The APC was slightly higher than THE around 2013,while was lower after 2013.During 2008-2017,the ratio of inpatient to outpatient costs for cancer decreased from4.3:1 to 3.8:1.The inpatient payments for cancer mainly happened in grade 3 general hospitals,East China,and among lung,colorectal,and stomach cancer;while the fastest increase was found in West China,and among thyroid,prostate,and colorectal cancer.Conclusions:During 2008-2017,the rapid growth trend of medical expenses for cancer has been effectively controlled with the continuous deepening of medical reform and improvements of residents’health care.More attention should be paid to potential increases of medical costs caused by technological progress and demand release.Socialized and multi-channel insurance financing modes should be explored in the future.

The Impact of China's Fiscal Expenditure in Agriculture on Farmer's Income

Based on the account of the vital role which the national finance played in supporting agriculture,the thesis presents the current situation of financial support for agriculture in China,in terms of the limited scale and irrational structure of financial support expenditure in agriculture.On the basis of the brief introduction of the current level of Chinese farmers' income,the thesis discusses the effects of scale and irrational structure of financial support expenditure in agriculture on the farmers' income,according to the related data of financial support expenditure in agriculture and rural per capita net income.The results indicate that the calculating regression equation has a remarkable explanation power,reflecting the positive role of financial support expenditure in agriculture played by national finance in increasing the farmers' income.As regards the structure of financial support expenditure in agriculture at present,according to the proportion from high to low,the expenditure primarily consists of three parts from high to low in sequence as follows:productive expenditure and funds for public undertakings,capital construction expenditure,and rural relief expenditure plus science and technology funds.Such sequence deviates from the marginal production effects of financial support expenditure in agriculture and the correlation of farmers' income,which demonstrates the severe irrationality of the structure of financial support expenditure in agriculture.Corresponding countermeasures are put forward as follows:on one hand,we should continue intensifying the efforts to support agriculture financially in order to form a regular increase mechanism;on the other hand,we should adjust and optimize the structure of financial support expenditure in agriculture,and further crystallize the investment flows.

Total Energy Expenditure of 16 Chinese Young Men Measured by the Doubly Labeled Water Method

Objective Doubly labeled water （DLW） method is the gold standard for measuring total energy expenditure （TEE）. We used this method to measure TEE in Chinese young men. Methods Sixteen healthy young men age 23±1 recruited. TEE was measured by the DLW method, by indirect calorimetry. We also conducted 24-h estimate energy requirements of the subjects. years with body mass index 22.0±1.4 kg/m2 were and basal energy expenditure （BEE） was determined activity, energy balance and factorial approach to Results TEE of subjects by DLW method was 9.45±0.57 M J/day （2258±180 kcal/day）. The 24-h activity was 10.80±0.33 M J/day （2582±136 kcal/day）. The energy requirement, derived from energy balance observations, was 9.93±1.32 M J/day （2373±315 kcal/day）. The BEE of 6.65±0.28 M J/day （1589±67 kcal/day）, calculated by the adjusted Schofield equation, was significantly higher （P〈O.O01） than that measured by indirect calorimetry, 5.99-±0.66 M J/day （1433-±158 kcal/day）. The TEE derived from the factorial approach was 10.31-±0.43 M J/day （2463±104 kcal/day）. Conclusion The TEE of Chinese young men measured by the DLW method was about 10% lower than the current recommended nutrient intake （RNI）, suggesting that the RNI for Chinese men maybe overestimated. Further studies are warranted to determine the value of the estimated energy requirement.

Hypertension and medical expenditure in the Japanese population:Review of prospective studies

Hypertension is a major determinant of health and is likely to have an effect on medical economics.The economic burden due to hypertension may be attributable not only to antihypertensive medication but also to the very expensive procedures required for cases of cardiovascular disease that occur more frequently in hypertensive compared with normotensive individuals.The objective of this article was to review articles published on prospective cohort studies that measured medical expenditure attributable to hypertension in community-dwelling populations in Japan.Many medical services in these populations are provided under the medical insurance system that requires the enrolment of all Japanese residents.Personal medical expenditure attributable to hypertension increases with worsening severity of the condition.Medical expenditure was increased further in cases of hypertensive patients who have another concomitant cardiovascular risk factor.In particular,hypertension,especially moderate-to-severe untreated hypertension,increases the risk of long-term hospitalization resulting in considerably higher medical expenditure,compared with non-hospitalized cases.Therefore,assuming that the use of antihypertensive medication is essential for hypertensive patients to prevent serious vascular diseases,a cost-effective highrisk strategy needs to be considered to reduce both ill-health and the economic burden due to hypertension.However,from a population perspective,medical expenditure attributable to hypertension comes mainly from pre-to-mild hypertension.Therefore,there is also a need to consider a population strategy that aims to shift the entire population to lower levels of blood pressure.

Financial Sustainability of the Japanese Medical Payment System: Analysis of the Japanese Medical Expenditure for Educational Hospitalization of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Japanese medical expenditures have increased rapidly in recent years and are predicted to continue rising. Indeed, it remains uncertain whether the current Japanese medical system can be sustained. In this paper, we analyzed the medical expenditures for educational hospitalization of patients with type 2 diabetes. A dataset of 6173 patients from 36 hospitals was used in the analysis. The sample period was from July 2008 to March 2012. We analyzed the medical expenditures in two ways. First, we analyzed the length of hospital stay (LOS). Next, we analyzed the daily expenditure per patient. The Box-Cox transformation model was used in the first analysis and the ordinary least squares method in the second. Comorbidities and complications prolonged LOS and increased daily expenditures. The LOS was significantly different among hospitals. On the other hand, the differences in daily expenditures among hospitals were relatively small, such that LOS was the main determinant of medical expenditures. Previous studies suggested that LOS could be shortened without degradation of medical quality. Moreover, LOS could be controlled by introducing proper critical paths and improving and standardizing educational programs. Hence, it would be possible to control the medical expenditures for this disease.

Food intake regulation by leptin:Mechanisms mediating gluconeogenesis and energy expenditure

Regulation of blood glucose levels and body fat is critical for survival.Leptin circulates freely in blood and controls body weight and food intake mainly through hypothalamic receptors and regulates glucose metabolism in the liver both directly through leptin receptors and indirectly via the hypothalamic receptors of central nervous system.Leptin affects food intake regulation and eventually glucose metabolism, lipometabolism,endocrine and immune functions, reproductive function, adipose tissue metabolism and energy expenditure.Leptin also exerts peripheral effects directly on glucose metabolism and gluconeogenesis.Most of obese human subjects have elevated plasma levels of leptin associated to the size of their total adipose tissue mass.Hence gluconeogenic function may be an essential factor in the regulation of nutritional intake and weight gain.The aim of this review is therefore to identify and module the possible effects of leptin with special application in gluconeogenesis.In addition, this review includes the study of fat consumption and energy expenditure in the body.Specific modulation of leptin receptors and adipose tissues functioning could have important inference on therapeutic strategies.