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Health care organizations are under increasing pressure to account for their performance to outside constituencies. This chapter reviews the background, nature, and consequences of organized efforts to enhance transparency in health care. Market reforms and quality concerns create mounting demands for public transparency, but health care quality is difficult to assess in a way that is both fair an
The alignment of a set of objects by means of transformations plays an important role in computer vision. Whilst the case for only two objects can be solved globally, when multiple objects are considered usually iterative methods are used. In practice the iterative methods perform well if the relative transformations between any pair of objects are free of noise. However, if only noisy relative tr
This chapter is an attempt to provide an interdisciplinary approach and appraisal. Methodologically, the chapter combines law with several disciplines in cultural studies, namely, history, ethics, and philosophy. The overarching objective is to provide a succinct overview of the development of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) while, at the same time, homing in on some of the main themes and
Dealing with the heterogeneity of breast tumors and treating breast cancer patients pose a great challenge. The heterogeneity within and between tumors indicates that each case of breast cancer may have a good prognosis and could benefit from tailored therapies. Breast cancer is a condition that undergoes changes as the tumor progresses and metastasizes, which presents further challenges for imple
Neuroblastoma is one of the most common paediatric malignancies. Detection of somatic genetic alterations in this tumour is instrumental for its risk stratification and treatment. On the other hand, an absence of detected chromosomal imbalances in neuroblastoma biopsies is difficult to interpret because it is unclear whether this situation truly reflects the tumour genome or if it is due to subopt
Activated normal density granulocytes (NDGs) can suppress T-cell responses in a similar way as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that NDGs from blood and bone marrow of multiple myeloma (MM) patients have the ability to suppress T-cells, as MDSC. MM is an incurable plasma cell malignancy of the bone marrow. Like most malignancies, myeloma cells alter
Today, commercially used brasses commonly contain 2 to 4 wt.% lead. As the availability of low-lead and lead-freebrass increase, there are environmental incentives for investigating the consequences of replacing thelead-containing brasses with lead-free equivalents. Generally, lead-free brass is expected to have a lowermachinability than its lead-alloyed counterpart, implying a higher manufacturin
Noise is a common exposure in the occupational work environment. Earlier studies of occupational noise and pregnancy outcome are few and show mixed results. To investigate if objectively assessed exposure to occupational noise during pregnancy is associated with reduced intrauterine growth and/or preterm birth a nationwide cohort study of 857,010 single births was initiated. Individual information
Image segmentation among overlapping land cover areas in satellite images is a very crucial task. Detection of belongingness is the important problem for classifying mixed pixels. This paper proposes an approach for pixel classification using a hybrid approach of Fuzzy C-Means and Cellular automata methods. This new unsupervised method is able to detect clusters using 2-Dimensional Cellular Automa
The critical effect of load representation in voltage stability studies is discussed in this paper. Under the same conditions in the system, the load representation will affect the location of the operating point in a P-V curve representation, leading the system closer to or further from the collapse point. The use of dynamic load models in voltage stability studies is motivated, especially in tho
Fractional exhaled nitric oxide is elevated in allergen-provoked asthma. The cellular and molecular source of the elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide is, however, uncertain.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the natural antioxidant astaxanthin in functional dyspepsia in different doses and compared with placebo. Design: The study was a controlled, prospective, randomized, and double blind trial. Participants: Patients with functional dyspepsia, divided into three groups with 44 individuals in each group (placebo, 16 mg, or 40 mg astaxan
Organometal halide perovskite-based solar cells have recently been reported to be highly efficient, giving an overall power conversion efficiency of up to 15%. However, much of the fundamental photophysical properties underlying this performance has remained unknown. Here, we apply photoluminescence, transient absorption, time-resolved terahertz and microwave conductivity measurements to determine
BACKGROUND Tannins can bind to and precipitate protein by forming insoluble complexes resistant to fermentation and with a positive effect on protein utilisation by ruminants. Three protein types, Rubisco, rapeseed protein and bovine serum albumin (a single high-molecular weight protein), were used to test the effects of increasing concentrations of structurally different condensed tannins on prot
In contemporary nuclear physics, the European Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) represents a crucial detection system for cutting-edge nuclear structure studies. AGATA consists of highly segmented high-purity germanium crystals and uses the pulse-shape analysis technique to determine both the position and the energy of the γ-ray interaction points in the crystals. It is the tracking algorithms
