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Copyright of Transfusiology & Haematology Today / Transfuze a Hematologie Dnes is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The presence of а large number of insurance companies in the Ukrainian insurance market requires the use of quantitative methods to assess their competitiveness and attractiveness for consumers of insurance services. In order to ensure the level of competitiveness of an insurance company that would meet the needs of policyholders in comparison with other companies, it is necessary to orient the activity on the line «sustainable development». The use of quantitative methods in assessing the competitiveness of insurance companies is due to the fact that their application is based on well-defined hypotheses in the presence of specific quantitative indicators and oЬtaining results with а high degree of accuracy. The priority objective of an insurance company is to obtain the greatest number of competitive advantages that serve as the basis for ensuring а constant level of efficiency, profitability and profitability of their activities. Solving this problem is possible with the use of an economic and mathematical model aimed at the iterative formation of the structure of the insurance portfolio. There are different methods of optimizing the activities of companies that allow you to increase the amount of profit and increase profitability. One of the methods that an insurance company can use to improve its efficiency is optimization of the insurance portfolio, which includes determining the rational combination of the proportion of individual types of services in the portfolio, analysis of solvent demand for certain types of services, taking into account tl1e restrictions and needs of the market, the choice of rational combination prices and sales volumes, taking into account market demand. Ву developing а model f or quantifying the performance of an insurance company to determine its level of competitiveness, quantitative significance was oЬtained which allowed ranking the insurance companies according to this criterion. The oЬtained results allowed determining the competitive advantages of insurance companies and determining their competitiveness in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transfusiology & Haematology Today / Transfuze a Hematologie Dnes is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Influenza causes substantial morbidity and annual vaccination is the most important prevention strategy. Accurately measuring vaccine effectiveness (VE) is difficult. The clinical syndrome most closely associated with influenza virus infection, influenza-like illness (ILI), is not specific. In addition, laboratory confirmation is infrequently done, and available rapid diagnostic tests are imperfect. The objective of this study was to estimate the joint impact of rapid diagnostic test sensitivity and specificity on VE for three types of study designs: a cohort study, a traditional case-control study, and a case-control study that used as controls individuals with ILI who tested negative for influenza virus infection. Methods We developed a mathematical model with five input parameters: true VE, attack rates (ARs) of influenza-ILI and non-influenza-ILI and the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test. Results With imperfect specificity, estimates from all three designs tended to underestimate true VE, but were similar except if fairly extreme inputs were used. Only if test specificity was 95% or more or if influenza attack rates doubled that of background illness did the case-control method slightly overestimate VE. The case-control method usually produced the highest and most accurate estimates, followed by the test-negative design. The bias toward underestimating true VE introduced by low test specificity increased as the AR of influenza- relative to non-influenza-ILI decreases and, to a lesser degree, with lower test sensitivity. Conclusions Demonstration of a high influenza VE using tests with imperfect sensitivity and specificity should provide reassurance that the program has been effective in reducing influenza illnesses, assuming adequate control of confounding factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]