Danube University Krems

About: Danube University Krems is a education organization based out in Krems, Niederösterreich, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Stroke & Population. The organization has 498 authors who have published 1572 publications receiving 68797 citations.

The global burden of neurological disorders: translating evidence into policy.

Abstract: Neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide. In the past 30 years, the absolute numbers of deaths and people with disabilities owing to neurological diseases have risen substantially, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, and further increases are expected globally as a result of population growth and ageing. This rise in absolute numbers of people affected suggests that advances in prevention and management of major neurological disorders are not sufficiently effective to counter global demographic changes. Urgent measures to reduce this burden are therefore needed. Because resources for health care and research are already overstretched, priorities need to be set to guide policy makers, governments, and funding organisations to develop and implement action plans for prevention, health care, and research to tackle the growing challenge of neurological disorders.

Socioeconomic inequalities in non-communicable diseases and their risk factors: an overview of systematic reviews.

Abstract: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the largest cause of premature death worldwide. Socioeconomic inequalities contribute to a disparity in the burden of NCDs among disadvantaged and advantaged populations in low (LIC), middle (MIC), and high income countries (HIC). We conducted an overview of systematic reviews to systematically and objectively assess the available evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in relation to morbidity and mortality of NCDs and their risk factors. We searched PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Global Health, and Business Source Complete for relevant systematic reviews published between 2003 and December 2013. Two authors independently screened abstracts and full-text publications and determined the risk of bias of the included systematic reviews. We screened 3302 abstracts, 173 full-text publications and ultimately included 22 systematic reviews. Most reviews had major methodological shortcomings; however, our synthesis showed that having low socioeconomic status (SES) and/or living in low and middle income countries (LMIC) increased the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), lung and gastric cancer, type 2 diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Furthermore, low SES increased the risk of mortality from lung cancer, COPD, and reduced breast cancer survival in HIC. Reviews included here indicated that lower SES is a risk factor for obesity in HIC, but this association varied by SES measure. Early case fatalities of stroke were lower and survival of retinoblastoma was higher in MIC compared to LIC. The current evidence supports an association between socioeconomic inequalities and NCDs and risk factors for NCDs. However, this evidence is incomplete and limited by the fairly low methodological quality of the systematic reviews, including shortcomings in the study selection and quality assessment process.

World Stroke Organization (WSO): Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2019.

Abstract: Stroke is the second major cause of death and disability worldwide with over 13 million new cases annually. Globally, the overall incidence rates of stroke decreased from 1990 to 2016, largely due to prevention and better control of risk factors such as tobacco use and blood pressure control. Among this decline, the one group that did see an increase is the younger age groups (younger than 50 years) and prevalence rates also increased exponentially since 2005 for this group. However, the absolute number of people who had a stroke, died or remained disabled from stroke has increased from 1990 to 2016 by almost two-fold. The World Stroke Organization (WSO) lead many advocacy efforts through their membership, targeted efforts in lowand middle-income countries, and through the strong voice of Stroke Support Organizations (SSOs). Governments, system leaders, healthcare providers, and the general population need to increase efforts for raising awareness, educating individuals and populations of their risk factors, implementing effective and widely available stroke risk prevention strategies (for example, free Stroke Riskometer app supported by the WSO and already translated into 12 languages) and ensuring timely acute treatments to reduce the long-term burden of stroke. Advocacy efforts require reliable and consistent stroke data to build awareness of the scale of the disease and support for calls for urgent action at global, regional, and national levels. This WSO Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2019 provides information that can be used to inform communication with all internal and external stakeholders; all statistics have been reviewed and approved for use by the WSO Executive Committee as well as leaders from the Global Burden of Disease research group. The facts endorsed by the WSO will be updated every one to two years as new data emerges.

The real type and ideal type of transdisciplinary processes: part I—theoretical foundations

Abstract: Transdisciplinarity integrates or relates different epistemics from science and practice (Mode 2 transdisciplinarity) or from branches of disciplines if interdisciplinary integration is impossible (Mode 1 transdisciplinarity). The paper explains, based on an analysis of the historical development of the Mode 2 transdisciplinarity concept, how transdisciplinary processes link interdisciplinary applied research and multi-stakeholder discourses by facilitating methods. We elaborate on what type of problems may be managed using what knowledge, how this might be accomplished, what types of objectives are desired, and by what organizational means. Thus the paper presents ontology, epistemology, methodology, functionality, and organization of an ideal type of transdisciplinary process. Socially robust orientations are the expected outcomes of this process. These orientations provide science-based, state-of-the-art, socially accepted options of solutions which acknowledge uncertainties and the incompleteness of different forms of epistemics (i.e., of knowing or thought), in particular within the sustainable transitioning of complex real-world problems.