University of Leeds

About: University of Leeds is a education organization based out in Leeds, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 43481 authors who have published 101856 publications receiving 3672065 citations. The organization is also known as: Leeds University.

The NICE cost-effectiveness threshold: what it is and what that means.

Abstract: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been using a cost-effectiveness threshold range between 20,000 pound sterling and 30,000 pound sterling for over 7 years. What the cost-effectiveness threshold represents, what the appropriate level is for NICE to use, and what the other factors are that NICE should consider have all been the subject of much discussion. In this article, we briefly review these questions, provide a critical assessment of NICE's utilization of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) threshold to inform its guidance, and suggest ways in which NICE's utilization of the ICER threshold could be developed to promote the efficient use of health service resources. We conclude that it is feasible and probably desirable to operate an explicit single threshold rather than the current range; the threshold should be seen as a threshold at which 'other' criteria beyond the ICER itself are taken into account; interventions with a large budgetary impact may need to be subject to a lower threshold as they are likely to displace more than the marginal activities; reimbursement at the threshold transfers the full value of an innovation to the manufacturer. Positive decisions above the threshold on the grounds of innovation reduce population health; the value of the threshold should be reconsidered regularly to ensure that it captures the impact of changes in efficiency and budget over time; the use of equity weights to sustain a positive recommendation when the ICER is above the threshold requires knowledge of the equity characteristics of those patients who bear the opportunity cost. Given the barriers to obtaining this knowledge and knowledge about the characteristics of typical beneficiaries of UK NHS care, caution is warranted before accepting claims from special pleaders; uncertainty in the evidence base should not be used to justify a positive recommendation when the ICER is above the threshold. The development of a programme of disinvestment guidance would enable NICE and the NHS to be more confident that the net health benefit of the Technology Appraisal Programme is positive.

Estimating animal density using camera traps without the need for individual recognition

Abstract: Summary 1Density estimation is of fundamental importance in wildlife management. The use of camera traps to estimate animal density has so far been restricted to capture–recapture analysis of species with individually identifiable markings. This study developed a method that eliminates the requirement for individual recognition of animals by modelling the underlying process of contact between animals and cameras. 2The model provides a factor that linearly scales trapping rate with density, depending on two key biological variables (average animal group size and day range) and two characteristics of the camera sensor (distance and angle within which it detects animals). 3We tested the approach in an enclosed animal park with known abundances of four species, obtaining accurate estimates in three out of four cases. Inaccuracy in the fourth species was because of biased placement of cameras with respect to the distribution of this species. 4Synthesis and applications. Subject to unbiased camera placement and accurate measurement of model parameters, this method opens the possibility of reduced labour costs for estimating wildlife density and may make estimation possible where it has not been previously. We provide guidelines on the trapping effort required to obtain reasonably precise estimates.

Optimization and gaits in the locomotion of vertebrates

Abstract: En s'appuyant sur differentes investigations, cette etude analyse et compare les strategies adaptees par les vertebres afin d'optimiser les depenses energetiques et eviter les mouvements inutiles lors de leur deplacement

Is increased time to diagnosis and treatment in symptomatic cancer associated with poorer outcomes? Systematic review

Abstract: It is unclear whether more timely cancer diagnosis brings favourable outcomes, with much of the previous evidence, in some cancers, being equivocal. We set out to determine whether there is an association between time to diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcomes, across all cancers for symptomatic presentations. Systematic review of the literature and narrative synthesis. We included 177 articles reporting 209 studies. These studies varied in study design, the time intervals assessed and the outcomes reported. Study quality was variable, with a small number of higher-quality studies. Heterogeneity precluded definitive findings. The cancers with more reports of an association between shorter times to diagnosis and more favourable outcomes were breast, colorectal, head and neck, testicular and melanoma. This is the first review encompassing many cancer types, and we have demonstrated those cancers in which more evidence of an association between shorter times to diagnosis and more favourable outcomes exists, and where it is lacking. We believe that it is reasonable to assume that efforts to expedite the diagnosis of symptomatic cancer are likely to have benefits for patients in terms of improved survival, earlier-stage diagnosis and improved quality of life, although these benefits vary between cancers.

Gender Mainstreaming: Productive Tensions in Theory and Practice

Abstract: The articles in this special issue of Social Politics take these debates forward in many significant ways. Most of the articles contributed to and drew from a series of seminars funded by the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council on gender mainstreaming. They address the meaning of gender equality as well as the project of gender mainstreaming (Verloo) engage with diverse inequalities and their intersectionality and their implications for theories of democracy (Squires) consider the implications of the wider economic and political context for the potential of gender mainstreaming to create change (Perrons) address the tension between the agenda-setting potential of the strategy and integration into the mainstream (Lombardo) and investigate the relationship between theory and practice in diverse European settings (Daly). (excerpt)