Game birds are silent controller of maintaining ecological balance. To study the prevalence of intestinal parasites in game birds, a total of 60 birds (budgerigar, parrot, cockatoo, dove, turkey and teeter) were collected from several places of Dhaka Municipality area, during the period of June 2017 to November, 2017. Alongside the effects of age, sex, season and treatment on the prevalence of parasitic infection in game birds were studied. Coprologic analysis revealed that the overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 45%, of which 21.67% of Ascaridia galli, 10% for Balantidium coli and 13.33% for Eimeria spp. The prevalence of Ascaridia galli was 28.7%, t 22.22% and 16.6% in teeter, budgerigar and parrot respectively. Eimeria spp. (16.67%) in budgerigar. The prevalence of Ascaridia galli was highest (25%) followed by Eimeria spp (16.67%) in parrot. The prevalence of Ascaridia galli in cockatoo was 16.67%. In dove prevalence of Balantidium coli (44.44%) was highest followed by Ascaridia galli (22.22%). The prevalence of Eimeria spp. and Balantidium coli were highest (25%) followed by Ascaridia galli (12.50%) in turkey. The prevalence of Ascaridia galli was highest (28.57%) followed by Eimeria spp (14.23%) in teeter. Age of this game birds had significant (p> 0.05) influence on the infections and odds ratio of Chick (<6 month) vs young (>6 month to 1 year), young vs adult (>1 year) and chick vs adult were 1.28, 1.08 and 1.4 respectively. The sex of the game birds had significant (p>0.05) influence on the infections with intestinal parasites and odds ratio of male vs female was 0.81. Game birds had significant (p>0.05) on the infection in the seasons of the year and odds ratio of summer vs winter was 2.12. Game birds had significant (p>0.05) on the infection in the treatment given and the odds ratio of treated vs non-treated was 0.89. It may be concluded that game birds, irrespective of age, sex, season, treatment, intestinal parasites are the serious threat to game birds in Dhaka Municipality area, Bangladesh.

BackgroundArmenians very rarely seek healthcare services and, consequently experience more serious health conditions. With its ongoing reforms, Armenia is focusing on linking health system financing to the quality and volume of care provided. We examine the relationship between the perceived health status of the population and the satisfaction with healthcare services.MethodsA pooled probit model is applied to analyse three datasets (2010, 2011 and 2012) from the Integrated Living Conditions Survey (ILCS).ResultsWe find a strong association between self-perceived health and satisfaction with healthcare services but this association is not consistent across regions.ConclusionsThe socioeconomic position of the household alone does not explain the perception of individual health status. The perceived dwelling condition and geography of residence emerged as important stressors on associations between the perceived health status of the population and the satisfaction with healthcare services. We have modelled the perceived health status and satisfaction with the healthcare services using demand side datasets. This study establishes the need to re-examine this association in a multidimensional construct.

There is some concern that the unobserved preference heterogeneity in random utility maximization theory-based discrete choice experiment modelling is an important source of error variability. The randomness in utility is often interpreted as interpersonal preference heterogeneity but it can also be intrapersonal random variation in preferences. We compare utility maximization and regret minimization-based choice models' sensitivity to individual heterogeneity, examine differences between two consecrated models and validate with empirical illustrations. We use frequency of category (public, semi-private, and private) of bed chosen from Swiss cross-sectional datasets (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) to compare two approaches -utility maximization and regret minimization by applying multinomial logit (MNL) models in regard to the variances in utility (regret) function, goodness-of-fit and predicted marginal effects (pseudo-elasticity) of additional payment. We find parameters with the same sign and estimates with almost same order of magnitude in both the approaches. The statistical significance of attribute effects is consistent in all variants of utility -based MNL models while effects of different attributes are significant only in heteroskedastic extreme value (HEV) variant of regret-based MNL models. This empirical illustration suggests that HEV variant of regret-based models perform better in capturing attribute effects in choice behaviour. KEYWORDSBehavioural paradigm; choice modelling; hospital bed choice; pseudo-elasticity and random regret JEL CLASSIFICATION C25; D12

BackgroundTo assess and quantify the magnitude of health inequalities ascribed to socioeconomic strata from 1994 to 2013 in the Russian Federation.MethodsA balanced sample of 1,496 adult individuals extracted from the 1994 wave of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) is followed for stated self-perceived health status until 2013. The socioeconomic strata (SES) index is constructed with a set of variables (adult equivalent household income, ownership of assets and living conditions) by applying principal component analysis (PCA). We use a regression-based concentration index to measure differences in self-perceived health status. Finally, we examine the degree of aversion to inequalities in self-perceived health status between the worse-off and the better-off with the achievement index.ResultsBy 2013, the mean standardized self-perceived health status has improved by 4.6 % compared to 1994. The absolute size of Concentration Index (CI) for non - standardized self-perceived health status is reduced by 44.27 % from 1994 to 2013. No systematic trend emerges in the evolution of CI for self-perceived health status of the Russians over the 19 year period. However, avoidable inequalities in self-perceived health status of the Russian population is reduced by almost 60 % over the two decades (1994–2013).ConclusionSES, as defined with objective indicators, shows little consistency in association with self-perceived health status in the Russian Federation. This study highlights the need for future research that considers the context of stated self-perceived health status in the realm of subjective socioeconomic status (SSS).

The relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and population health is contextual. This study identifies the determinants of SEP producing health inequalities in the Latvian population. We also estimate the proportional contribution of different socioeconomic strata- (SES-) related determinants in Latvian health inequalities and measure the changes in the relative contributions of such determinants over the period 2005–2015. Using the household survey data (2005–2015), we construct a principal component analysis based SES index. A regression-based concentration index (CI) is our measure of health inequality to examine the distribution of perceived health status. Finally, we identify and estimate the contribution of predictors of health inequalities by decomposing CI with Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. SES-related health inequalities have declined from 2005 (CI: 0.201) to 2015 (CI: 0.137) in Latvia—better-off Latvians enjoyed better perceived health during that period. The proportional contributions of education and working status have increased in 2015 compared to 2005. Although we have generated the first evidence to suggest policy relevant measures in addressing Latvian health inequalities, our decomposition method explains the extent of variation in perceived health instead of covariance between health and SEP.