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- Andersson, F, et al.
(author)
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Adding formoterol to budesonide in moderate asthma--health economic results from the FACET study
- 2001
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In: Respiratory Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-3064 .- 0954-6111. ; 95:6, s. 505-512
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The FACET (Formoterol and Corticosteroid Establishing Therapy) study established that there is a clear clinical benefit in adding formoterol to budesonide therapy in patients who have persistent symptoms of asthma despite treatment with low to moderate doses of an inhaled corticosteroid. We combined the clinical results from the FACET study with an expert survey on average resource use in connection with mild and severe asthma exacerbations in the U.K., Sweden and Spain. The primary objective of this study was to assess the health economics of adding the inhaled long-acting beta2-agonist formoterol to the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide in the treatment of asthma. The extra costs of adding the inhaled beta2-agonist formoterol to the corticosteroid budesonide in asthmatic patients in Sweden were offset by savings from reduced use of resources for exacerbations. For Spain the picture was mixed. Adding formoterol to low dose budesonide generated savings, whereas for moderate doses of budesonide about 75% of the extra formoterol costs could be recouped. In the U.K., other savings offset about half of the extra cost of formoterol. All cost-effectiveness ratios are within accepted cost-effectiveness ranges reported from previous studies. If productivity losses were included, there were net savings in all three countries, ranging from Euro 267-1183 per patient per year. In conclusion, adding the inhaled, long-acting beta2-agonist formoterol to low-moderate doses of the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide generated significant gains in all outcome measures with partial or complete offset of costs. Adding formoterol to budesonide can thus be considered to be cost-effective.
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| 3. |
- Asnafi, Nader, 1960-, et al.
(author)
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Laser surface-hardening of dies for cutting, blanking or trimming of uncoated DP600
- 2004
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In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Recent Advances in Manufacture and Use of Tools and Dies and Stamping of Steel Sheets. - Olofström : Vovo Cars. ; , s. 193-214
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, the methods used to harden trim dies were at the focus. Laser surface-hardening was compared to induction- and through-hardening for small and medium-size series production. The sheet materials used were 1.2 mm thick uncoated Docol 600DP and 1.95 mm thick uncoated Docol 600DL The die materials tested were Fermo, Canmo and Sleipner. This investigation showed that the optimum laser-hardening parameters must be established for each trim die material. The trim die in laser-hardened Sleipner exhibits the smallest wear, whilst the trim die in induction-hardened Fermo displays the largest wear in the semi-industrial phase of this study. The magnitude of this largest wear is, however, very small. The trim die in induction-hardened Fermo managed 100 000 strokes without any problem. The dimensional changes after laser hardening are very small. The burr height is very small, regardless of how the trim die is hardened. In this study, two sets of production trim dies were manufactured and set up. This production trim dies are used in the manufacture of V70 B-pillar Left and Right Laser hardening resulted in a lead time reduction by 5 labour days. However, the Tool & Die unit estimates that the lead time reduction obtained with laser hardening should be around 10 days under normal conditions. The cost analysis conducted by the Tool & Die unit shows that the manufacturing costs are reduced by 6%, if laser-hardening is selected. These production trim dies are and will be monitored continuously. As this paper is being written, these dies have been subject to 50 000 strokes.
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