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Appliance labels allow consumers to choose products based on their energy use. In most countries, the widely adopted comparative categorical labels give information on energy use in physical units such as kilowatt-hour. Studies on the impact of monetary cost information on labels have reported different results across appliances within studies, and for the same appliances across studies. Recent studies on refrigerators show that monetary information increases the probability of cost-effectiveness analysis and fosters choice of energy-efficient refrigerators but do not estimate the consumer willingness to pay for higher efficiency category. In a discrete choice experiment, we observe choices of a sample of households divided into groups based on whether they get operating cost information on hypothetical choices. We estimate a mixed logit model with correlated random parameters and estimate the magnitude and distribution of consumer willingness to pay for higher energy efficiency category. We find that energy cost information on labels facilitate comparison of refrigerators based on energy-efficiency and leads to a positive willingness to pay for higher levels of energy efficiency. It also increases the share of respondents having a positive willingness to pay for higher efficiency. We conclude that annual energy cost information on refrigerator labels can improve the effectiveness of labelling policy in India. Keywords: Energy efficiency, Appliance labelling, Willingness to pay, Energy cost information, Discrete choice model, 1. INTRODUCTION Research shows that energy-efficient technologies are cost-effective, yet they face multiple barriers in adoption (Ruderman et al., 1987; Sutherland, 1991), the phenomenon commonly referred to as the 'energy-efficiency [...]

Objective: The incidence of hard-to-heal wound infection, especially as a result of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms, has increased in recent years. The reason for the increase is multifactorial and the ability of these pathogenic isolates to form biofilms is one of the important risk factors in wound infection. This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors associated with such cases. Method: This prospective analytical study, conducted over a period of two months, included pus or tissue samples from hospital inpatients with Gram-negative hard-to-heal wound infection. The samples were processed with conventional microbiological techniques. Patient demographic details and the presence of various risk factors were recorded. Biofilm production was detected by tissue culture plate method in the laboratory. The data were analysed using SPSS version 21 (IBM Ltd., US). Results: The experimental cohort comprised 200 patients. Klebsiella spp. was the most common identified organism, followed by Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas spp. Carbapenem resistance was observed in 106 (53%) strains. Almost 66% of the strains showed biofilm formation. On evaluation of associated risk factors, age (p=0.043), presence of biofilms (p=0.0001), diabetes (p=0.002), hypertension (p=0.02) and medical device use (p=0.008) had significant association, whereas sex, previous surgery and prior antibiotic use had no significant impact on the chronicity of the wound. Conclusion: In this study, chronicity of wounds was observed to be associated with multiple risk factors, especially the biofilm-forming ability of the strain. Biofilms are difficult to eradicate and additional measures, such as physical debridement, are important for resolving chronicity. Knowledge about specific risk factors would also allow clinicians a better understanding of the healing process and drive appropriate wound care interventions. Declaration of interest: A grant was received from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for this work (grant ID: 2017-02686). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology is widely promoted as a solution to greater independence and better health for the rapidly growing UK older population. If this is to be realised, we need to understand barriers and facilitators to uptake and investigate who wants this technology and who does not express an interest in use. This analysis is based on data from a population-based cohort study, the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (CFAS)-II, which focused on brain health in older people and included questions about access to- and interest in- internet technologies. The factors affecting willingness to use technologies that support memory and ADL were identified using binary logistic regression analysis. 541 people aged 75 years and older from Cambridgeshire, Nottingham and Newcastle responded. Older adults were more willing to use technologies directed towards improving memory (65%) than towards ADL supportive technologies (38%). Regression analysis showed that an older age (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.34–0.98), female gender (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.42–0.99), no access to technology including laptops and tablets (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.32–0.72), and self-reported physically less slowing down (but no objective health indicators) (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.36–0.88) were strongly associated with UK older adults' lesser willingness to use memory assistive technologies while not having access to laptops and tablets (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.39–0.84) was associated with willingness to use ADL supportive technologies. Older people, females and those with less access to technologies should be considered as target groups by healthcare providers, policymakers, and technology producers to promote technology and support healthy and independent ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]