Assessing efficiency of public health and medical care provision in OECD countries after a decade of reform

The objective of this study was to examine the change in efficiency of health care systems of 34 OECD countries between 2000 and 2012, a period marked by significant health reform in most OECD countries. This paper uses a novel Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DNDEA) model to analyze the efficiency of the public health system and the medical care system of these OECD countries independently along with assessing the efficiency of their overall health system. This helps understand the relative priorities for improving the overall health system. The data for this study was obtained from the OECD Health Facts database. The study findings suggest that countries which improved their public health system were more likely to show overall improvement in efficiency

Effects of alcohol-gasoline blends on exhaust and noise emissions in small scaled generators

In this study, the effect of methanol or butanol addition to gasoline on exhaust emissions and noise level has been experimentally investigated. Results showed that the concentrations of CO and NO_x emissions were decreased depending on the higher alcohol contents and the carbon monoxide concentration of gasoline was higher than that of methanol or butanol-gasoline blends for all engine loads. It was determined that content of the HC was decreased at higher engine load but noise level was increased

Accuracy of digital panoramic radiographs on the vertical measurements of dental implants

Amaç: Panoramik radyografi (PR), dental ve iliskili yapilari degerlendirmek için en sik kullanilan tekniktir. Bu çalismanin amaci, dental implant tedavisinin planlanmasinda panoramik radyografik görüntülerin (PRI) dogrulugunu ve anterior, premolar ve posterior bölgeler için bir panoramik cihazin büyütme oranini belirlemekti. Gereç ve Yöntem: Implant cerrahisi sonrasi PRI'lari alinmis olan 83 hasta çalismaya dahil edildi. önceden dikey uzunluklari bilinen toplam 240 adet dental implant (53 anterior, 69 premolar ve 118 molar bölge), PRI'nin büyütme oranini ve dogrulugunu belirlemek için, panoramik sistemin ölçüm araçlari kullanilarak ameliyat sonrasi radyografik görüntüler üzerinde tekrar ölçüldü. Verilerin normal dagilima sahip olmasi nedeniyle, istatistiksel analiz için eslestirilmis t testi kullanildi (p < 0,05). üç bölgenin büyütme orani, implantlarin ölçülen dikey uzunlugunun, implantlarin gerçek dikey uzunluguna orani bulunarak hesaplandi. Bulgular: Implantlarin gerçek dikey uzunlugu ve PRI'dan ölçülen dikey uzunlugu arasinda istatistiksel olarak anlamli fark bulundu (p < 0,05). Bununla birlikte, korelasyon orani tüm bölgeler için 1'e yakin bulundu. Implantlarin gerçek dikey uzunlugu ve PRI'den ölçülen dikey uzunlugu arasindaki fark, ön bölge için 0.50 mm, premolar bölge için 0,97 mm ve molar bölge için 0,83 mm idi. Cliniview™ (Instrumentarium Sti., Tuusula, FINLANDIYA) yazilimi tarafindan düzeltilen panoramik sistemin büyütme orani, tüm bölgeler için 1 civarinda bulundu. Sonuçlar: PRI'lar, kolay ulasilabilir olmalari ve düsük radyasyon dozlari sayesinde, implant cerrahisi planlamasindaki dikey ölçümler için 1 mm'lik güven araligi ile kullanilabilir. © Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Dentistry 2018.Objectives: Panoramic radiography (PR) is the most commonly used technique to evaluate the dental and associated structures. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of panoramic radiographic images (PRIs) in planning the dental implant treatment and the magnification rate of a panoramic device for anterior, premolar and posterior regions. Materials and Methods: Eighty-eight patients with PRIs were taken after implant surgery were included to the study. A total of 240 dental implants (53 anterior, 69 premolar, and 118 molar regions) of which actual vertical lengths were known, were re-measured on post-operative radiographic images using the scaling tools of the panoramic system to determine the magnification rate and the accuracy of PRIs. Because the data had normal distribution, the paired t test was used for the statistical analysis (p < 0.05). The magnification rates of the three regions were calculated as the ratio of the radiographically measured vertical length of the implants to the actual vertical length of the implants. Results: A statistically significant difference was found between the actual and measured vertical length of the implants on the PRI (p < 0.05). However, the correlation rate was found close to 1 for all regions. The difference between the actual and measured vertical length of the implants on the PRI was 0.50 mm for the anterior region, 0.97 mm for the premolar region, and 0.83 mm for the molar region. The magnification rate of the panoramic system corrected by Cliniview™ (Instrumentarium Corp., Tuusula, FINLAND) software was found around 1 for all the regions. Conclusions: Due to their readily accessible nature and low radiation dose, PRIs can be used in implant surgery for vertical measurements with 1 mm confidence interval. © Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Dentistry 2018

Cancer biomarker development from basic science to clinical practice

The amount of published literature on biomarkers has exponentially increased over the last two decades. Cancer biomarkers are molecules that are either part of tumour cells or secreted by tumour cells. Biomarkers can be used for diagnosing cancer (tumour versus normal and differentiation of subtypes), prognosticating patients (progression free survival and overall survival) and predicting response to therapy. However, very few biomarkers are currently used in clinical practice compared to the unprecedented discovery rate. Some of the examples are: carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) for colon cancer; prostate specific antigen (PSA) for prostate; and estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 for breast cancer. Cancer biomarkers passes through a series of phases before they are used in clinical practice. First phase in biomarker development is identification of biomarkers which involve discovery, demonstration and qualification. This is followed by validation phase, which includes verification, prioritisation and initial validation. More large-scale and outcome-oriented validation studies expedite the clinical translation of biomarkers by providing a strong ‘evidence base’. The final phase in biomarker development is the routine clinical use of biomarker. In summary, careful identification of biomarkers and then validation in well-designed retrospective and prospective studies is a systematic strategy for developing clinically useful biomarkers

Comprehensive Invasive and Noninvasive Approach to Diagnosis and Management of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

In the United States, lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer mortality, with nearly 160,000 deaths estimated in 2014. Of newly diagnosed lung cancers, approximately 85% are non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and NSCLC can often be distinguished based on clinical presentation and imaging findings. When SCLC is suspected, the diagnosis is typically established using noninvasive or minimally invasive means, and treatment is dictated by a dichotomous disease characterization: limited stage versus extensive stage disease

Evaluation of yarn characteristics using computer vision and image processing

Irregularity, hairiness and twist are among the most important characteristics that define yarn quality. This thesis describes computer vision and image processing techniques developed to evaluate these characteristics. The optical and electronic aspects such as the illumination, lens parameters and aberrations play crucial role on the quality of yam images and on the overall performance of image processing. The depth of field limitation being the most important restraint in yam imaging as well as image distortion in line scan cameras arising from digitisation and yam movement are modelled mathematically and verified through experiments both for front-lit and back-lit illuminations. Various light sources and arrangements are tested and relative advantages and disadvantages are discussed based on the image quality. Known problems in defining the hair-core boundaries and determining the total hairiness from yam images are addressed and image enhancement and processing algorithms developed to overcome these problems are explained. A method to simulate various yam scanning resolution conditions is described. Using this method, the minimum scanning resolution limits to measure the hairiness and irregularity are investigated. [Continues.

DESIGN SPECIAL SCHOOL MATERIAL FOR THE STUDENTS WITH VISUAL DISABILITY USING ( THE KURDISH LANGUAGE FIRST TIME WITH BRAILLE IN THE WORLD ) AND BARCODE TECHNOLOGY

Purpose of the study: It has been presented by the researcher in this paper to be relied upon in the design of curricula for visually impaired people using barcode technology in The Kurdish region and the Kurdish speakers, in this paper the researcher use the Kurdish language with the Braille first time in the world and he hopes to add this language to usage of Braille in the next modifying in UNESCO organization because of it is now the second official language in Iraqi law. Methodology: In these study characters of the Kurdish language has been investigated. Students with visual disabilities in the form of various groups gathered to be taught using the signs of Kurdish language. Their progress during this effort has been reported through this article Results: Braille is not exclusive to people without another. It is an easy-to-read and writes tool for people with visual impairments. Although the Kurdish population is more than 30 million, their language is not mentioned in the UNESCO Guide until 2018

Impact of Macroeconomic Announcements on Implied Volatility Slope of SPX Options and VIX

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic announcements on the high-frequency behavior of the observed implied volatility skew of S&P 500 index options and VIX. We document that macroeconomic announcements affect VIX significantly and slope at a lesser extent. We also find evidence that good and bad announcements significantly and asymmetrically change implied volatility slope and VIX. 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

PSS/E based placement wind/PV hybrid system to improve stability of Iraqi grid

Proper employment of Hybrid Wind/ PV system is often implemented near the load, and it is linked with the grid to study dynamic stability analysis. Generally, instability is because of sudden load demand variant and variant in renewable sources generation. As well as, weather variation creates several factors that affect the operation of the integrated hybrid system. So this paper introduces output result of a PV /wind via power electronic technique; DC chopper; that is linked to Iraqi power system to promote the facilitating achievement of Wind/ PV voltage. Moreover, PSS/E is used to study dynamic power stability for hybrid system which is attached to an effective region of Iraqi Network. The hybrid system is connected to Amara Old bus and fault bus is achieved to that bus and the stability results reflects that settling time after disturbance is not satisfactory. But, it is found that PV/wind generation system influences Iraqi grid stability to be better than that with only PV generation and the latter is better than stability of the grid that is enhanced with only wind generation. These results represent an important guideline for Iraqi power system planner