The high-quality development of the healthcare industry is of great significance for improving people\'s health and promoting the construction of a harmonious society. This paper focuses on the relationship between the development of China\'s digital economy and the high-quality development of the healthcare industry. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper empirically studies whether the development of the digital economy promotes the high-quality development of the healthcare industry. This study finds that the development of digital economy has significantly promoted the high-quality development of the medical and health industry. The results of this study are still valid after a series of robustness tests including variable substitution, sample adjustment, and endogenous problem mitigation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of this policy is more significant in the eastern region and southern areas. The results of spatial econometric analysis show that the development of digital economy has obvious spatial spillover effect. The research in this paper can provide reference for developing countries to enhance the development level of digital health industry and improve people\'s lives.

Macroeconomics data was collected through the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Central Java Province for the thirty-five regencies and municipalities in Central Java Province from 2017 to 2021. The Fundamental index of fiscal decentralisation (FFDI) and Enhanced index of fiscal decentralisation (EFDI) were adapted from [1] and corresponding datasets matched to fiscal data from the Central Java province government. The data sources and indices\' calculation methodologies were described in detail. The resulting indices, together with labour participation rate, as well as foreign and domestic investment data were analysed in a panel data analysis model with Gross Regional Domestic Product as the outcome variable. The collected data enables researchers and policy-makers to update observations on the impact of Indonesia\'s \'Big Bang\' fiscal decentralisation on economic growth in a province with above-average growth rate but which had experienced significant challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. This is in light of previous research findings which found that the Indonesian decentralisation has had mixed outcomes due to institutional and fiscal capability limitations within the local governments. The detailed sources and steps to obtain the required data and calculate the FFDI and EFDI enables researchers to apply the indices in providing updated observations on the impact of fiscal decentralisation on various socioeconomic phenomenon.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is a growing public health concern in China, and depicting it from different perspectives would provide a comprehensive understanding of its epidemiological characteristics.
METHODS: Data from the National Mortality Surveillance System (NMSS) in China was used to estimate the number of deaths, years of life lost (YLL), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized YLL rate in China, its provinces and urban-rural areas from 2005 to 2020. Joinpoint regression analysis was employed to explore the temporal trends of ASMR and age-standardized YLL rate. Decomposition analysis was conducted to assess the contribution of population growth, population aging and cause-specific mortality rate to the increment of pancreatic cancer deaths.
RESULTS: A total of 100,427 pancreatic cancer deaths and 2,166,355 pancreatic cancer related YLL were estimated in China in 2020. The overall ASMR significantly increased from 6.6/100 000 in 2005 to 7.4/100 000 in 2020, and was higher in men than that in women. Age-standardized YLL rate showed a similar trend. The mortality rates of pancreatic cancer were generally higher in northeast China than in southwest China. The highest ASMRs were found in Jilin, Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia and Anhui, and the lowest ones in Guangxi, Yunnan, Tibet, and Hainan. The disease burden due to pancreatic cancer presented a significant upward trend in rural areas and a downward trend in urban areas.
CONCLUSIONS: The burden associated with pancreatic cancer had been increasing in China from 2005 to 2020. The escalating disease burden of pancreatic cancer in rural areas necessitates the implementation of effective control and prevention measures. Relevant provinces should pay greater attention to the prevailing of pancreatic cancer, particularly those exhibiting higher mortality rates.

The Brazilian continental margin (BCM) extends from the Tropical to the Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, with much of its seafloor within deep waters, supporting rich geomorphological features and under wide productivity gradients. Deep-sea biogeographic boundaries on the BCM have been limited to studies that used water mass and salinity properties of deep-water masses, partly as a result of historical under sampling and a lack of consolidation of available biological and ecological datasets. The aim of this study was to consolidate benthic assemblage datasets and test current oceanographic biogeographical deep-sea boundaries (200-5,000 m) using available faunal distributions. We retrieved over 4,000 benthic data records from open-access databases and used cluster analysis to examine assemblage distributions against the deep-sea biogeographical classification scheme from Watling et al. (2013). Starting from the assumption that vertical and horizontal distribution patterns can vary regionally, we test other schemes incorporating latitudinal and water masses stratification within the Brazilian margin. As expected, the classification scheme based on benthic biodiversity is in overall agreement with the general boundaries proposed by Watling et al. (2013). However, our analysis allowed much refinement in the former boundaries, and here we propose the use of two biogeographic realms, two provinces and seven bathyal ecoregions (200-3,500 m), and three abyssal provinces (>3,500 m) along the BCM. The main driver for these units seems to be latitudinal gradients as well as water mass characteristics such as temperature. Our study provides a significant improvement of benthic biogeographic ranges along the Brazilian continental margin allowing a more detailed recognition of its biodiversity and ecological value, and also supports the needed spatial management for industrial activities occurring in its deep waters.

The aim of this study was to determine incidence of COVID-19 in relationship to geographical distribution among Spain.
Cluster analysis taking into consideration the incidence of COVID-19 in the provinces and autonomous cities of Spain in each of the first six waves of the pandemic.
All the provinces of the Canary Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia form independent clusters. In Comunidad Valenciana, Galicia, País Vasco and Aragón two out of three provinces (three out of four in Galicia) were in the same cluster, with no other provinces.
The incidence of COVID-19 in Spain in the first six waves forms clusters that reproduce the territorial division of Spain into autonomous communities. Although this could be explained by greater mobility within a community, it cannot be ruled out that this distribution is due to differences in screening, diagnosis, registration or reporting of COVID-19 cases.

UNASSIGNED: Uveal melanoma is the most common type of non-cutaneous melanoma and the most common ocular malignancy in the adult population, especially affecting Caucasians (98% of cases). Despite its low incidence rate, we have noted increasing incidence trends in recent years.
UNASSIGNED: We analyzed uveal melanoma incidence data using the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) for 2011-2017 years. The data was examined using the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition, codes for all uveal melanoma subtypes. The data for 2011-2017 was then compared to previously published work by our research group for uveal melanoma incidence in Canada between 1992 and 2010 using the same methodology.
UNASSIGNED: Between 2011 and 2017, 1,215 patients were diagnosed with uveal melanoma, 49% of whom were females. The percentage distribution of uveal melanoma between the sexes was similar between 1992-2010 and 2011-2017, whereby of the 2,215 diagnoses of uveal melanoma in 1992-2010, 47.9% were females. The change in the incidence rate for this cancer has doubled between 1992-2010 and 2011-2017, from 0.074 to 0.15 cases per million individuals per year. Our study documents that the Canadian 2011-2017 age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) for uveal melanoma against the World Health Organization (WHO) 2000-2025 world population standard was 5.09 cases per million individuals per year (95% confidence interval, 4.73-5.44), as compared with the 1992-2010 rate of 3.34 cases per million individuals per year (95% confidence interval, CI 3.20 to 3.47).
UNASSIGNED: This work demonstrates an ongoing, steady increase in uveal melanoma incidence in Canada in recent years.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most common chronic respiratory disease in the world, especially in China. Few studies have explored the trend of COPD in China and its provinces. This study aimed to demonstrate and predict the trend of COPD DALY in China and its provinces based on the global burden of disease (GBD) data.
The data on COPD disability-adjusted life year (DALY) were collected from GBD 2017, GBD 2019, and the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The age-standardized rate (ASR) was used to evaluate the trend of COPD DALY by gender, age, and risk factors in China and its provinces. In addition, the trend of COPD considering the aging population in the next 10 years was also predicted.
In China, the COPD DALY was 20.4 million in 2017, which decreased to 24.16% from 1990 to 2017. Most provinces showed a downward trend, with the exception of Taiwan which increased by 127.78%. The ASR of DALY was 1445.53 per 100,000 people in 2017 and demonstrated a significant decrease. Among all provinces, only Taiwan (97.78%) and Hubei (2.21%) demonstrated an increased trend of ASR. In addition, Tibet ranked third with a decline of 56.95%, although its ASR was the highest in 1990. Smoking and air pollution were the main risk factors for COPD and varied with regions, gender, and age. The proportion of COPD DALY attributable to smoking was higher in the middle-aged and elderly male population and did not decrease in China. Moreover, the ASR attributable to air pollution of the elderly decreased significantly in China. Socio-demographic index (SDI) and educational level were also found to be related to ASR. By predicting the ASR trend in the next 10 years, we found that the ASR attributable to smoking might increase significantly among men. The ASR attributable to air pollution showed a significant decrease in women. Unfortunately, ASR attributable to second-hand smoke was found to increase in women.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the leading contributor to the burden of global diseases. Although China and its provinces demonstrated a downward trend of COPD DALY, some provinces still faced challenges. Moreover, ASR attributable to risk factors was different in regions, gender, age, and years. The predicted trend of COPD was also different. Therefore, more targeted strategies should be formulated to reduce the burden of COPD in China and its provinces.

Canine angiostrongylosis is an emerging disease caused by Angiostrongylus vasorum, mainly affecting wild carnivores and dogs. In Spain, there are studies reporting infections in foxes, wolves, and badgers in different regions of the country. However, there are hardly any publications on its prevalence in dogs. The aim of this study was to complete and update the epidemiologic map of A. vasorum in dogs in Spain. A total of 5619 canine blood samples from all autonomous cities and provinces of Spain were collected and tested for the presence of circulating A. vasorum antigens. The overall apparent prevalence of canine A. vasorum infection in Spain was 1.39%. No significant differences were found for sex or age, but significant differences between outdoor and indoor/outdoor dogs were found. A high prevalence was also observed in the northern third of the country, where an oceanic climate prevails, being humid and rainy and where abundant vegetation can be found, thus favoring the proliferation of intermediate hosts. The results suggest that A. vasorum canine infections are heterogeneously present in a large part of the territory, demonstrating its expansion throughout the country, and therefore, awareness and prevention campaigns for this disease should be promoted.

We examine the roles of sub-national and national governments in Canada and the United States vis-à-vis the protective public health response in the onset phase of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This period was characterized in both countries by incomplete information as well as by uncertainty regarding which level of government should be responsible for which policies. The crisis represents an opportunity to study how national and sub-national governments respond to such policy challenges. In this article, we present a unique dataset that catalogues the policy responses of US states and Canadian provinces as well as those of the respective federal governments: the Protective Policy Index (PPI). We then compare the United States and Canada along several dimensions, including the absolute values of sub-national levels of the index relative to the total protections enjoyed by citizens, the relationship between early threat (as measured by the mortality rate near the start of the public health crisis) and the evolution of the PPI, and finally the institutional and legislative origins of the protective health policies. We find that the sub-national contribution to policy is more important for both the United States and Canada than are their national-level policies, and it is unrelated in scope to our early threat measure. We also show that the institutional origin of the policies as evidenced by the COVID-19 response differs greatly between the two countries and has implications for the evolution of federalism in each.
Nous examinons le rôle des gouvernements infranationaux et nationaux du Canada et des États-Unis dans l’adoption de mesures de protection de la santé publique au stade initial de la pandémie mondiale de COVID‑19. Cette période a été caractérisée dans les deux pays par des informations incomplètes ainsi que par une incertitude quant à l’ordre de gouvernement responsable de telle ou telle politique. La crise offre l’occasion d’étudier comment les gouvernements nationaux et infranationaux relèvent ces défis politiques. Dans l’article qui suit, nous présentons un ensemble de données unique qui répertorie les décisions politiques des États américains et des provinces canadiennes en matière de protection, ainsi que celles des gouvernements fédéraux respectifs : l’indice de politique de protection (IPP). Nous comparons ensuite les États-Unis et le Canada selon plusieurs dimensions, notamment les valeurs absolues des niveaux infranationaux de l’IPP par rapport aux protections totales dont bénéficient les citoyens, la relation entre la « menace précoce » (mesurée selon les taux de mortalité à l’approche du début de la crise de santé publique) et l’évolution de l’IPP et, enfin, les origines institutionnelles–législatives des politiques de protection de la santé. Nous constatons que la contribution infranationale à la politique est plus importante pour les deux pays mais qu’elle n’est pas liée à notre mesure de la « menace précoce ». Nous démontrons également que l’origine institutionnelle des politiques diffère grandement entre les deux pays et que cela a des répercussions sur l’évolution du fédéralisme.

UNASSIGNED: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc. However, given the heterogeneity in the enforcement of these strategies and constant fluctuations in the strictness levels of these strategies, it becomes challenging to assess the true impact of these strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19.
UNASSIGNED: In the present study, we evaluated various transmission control measures that were imposed in 10 global urban cities and provinces in 2021- Bangkok, Gauteng, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, London, Manila City, New Delhi, New York City, Singapore, and Tokyo.
UNASSIGNED: Based on our analysis, we herein propose the population-level Swiss cheese model for the failures and pitfalls in various strategies that each of these cities and provinces had. Furthermore, whilst all the evaluated cities and provinces took a different personalized approach to managing the pandemic, what remained common was dynamic enforcement and monitoring of breaches of each barrier of protection. The measures taken to reinforce the barriers were adjusted continuously based on the evolving epidemiological situation.
UNASSIGNED: How an individual city or province handled the pandemic profoundly affected and determined how the entire country handled the pandemic since the chain of transmission needs to be broken at the very grassroot level to achieve nationwide control.
UNASSIGNED: The present study did not receive any external funding.