Barefoot running has been associated with decreased stride length and switching from a rearfoot strike (RFS) pattern to a mid/forefoot strike (M/FFS) pattern. However, some individuals naturally contact the ground on their mid/forefoot, even when wearing cushioned running shoes. The purpose of this study was to determine if the mechanics of barefoot running by natural shod RFS runners differed ...

This study was designed to characterize failure-free survival (FFS) as a novel end point for clinical trials of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The study cohort included 400 consecutive patients who received initial systemic treatment of chronic GVHD at our center. FFS was defined by the absence of second-line treatment, nonrelapse mortality, and recurrent malignancy during initial tr...

PURPOSE Recent evidence has demonstrated that classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) originates from mature germinal center B cells. However, only approximately 25% of cHLs express the classical B-cell marker CD20. There is very little, and controversial, information on the prognostic significance of CD20 expression in cHL with regard to failure-free (FFS) and overall survival (OS). EXPERIMENTAL DE...

We measured single event upsets (SEUs) and multiple cell upsets (MCUs) of a flip-flop array in a 65nm bulk CMOS process using accelerated white neutron beams. The flipflop array embeds 84,000 FFs constructing a 84,000bit shift register. Its cell structure is so-called tapless, in which no standard cell contains any well tap. Measurement results from 26 DUTs including 2.2Mbit FFs show that both ...

Since 2002, the healthcare system in Taiwan has implemented a global budgeting scheme in clinics and hospitals with an expenditure cap. The current mode of payment for medical points in Taiwan is primarily through the fee-for-service (FFS) mechanism. This payment mechanism has diminished the quality of services that clinics and hospitals provide to patients. Furthermore, FFS does not grant ince...

CONTEXT Trust is the cornerstone of the patient-physician relationship. Payment methods that place physicians at financial risk have raised concerns about patients' trust in physicians to act in patients' best interests. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the extent to which methods of physician payment are related to patient trust. DESIGN Cross-sectional telephone interview survey done between January ...

BACKGROUND Pesticide consumption is increasing in Bolivia as well as pest resistance, pesticide poisonings and pollution of the environment. This survey evaluates the training of small holder farmers on pesticide handling and ecological alternatives to reduce the negative pesticide effects. METHOD A baseline survey was performed in 2002 and follow-up surveys in 2004 and 2009. Farmers were sel...

This work focuses on the B2B interaction between a service requester and a service provider in a healthcare environment. The requester is the primary caregiver responsible for managing the health of a population of patients. When a patient requires advanced care outside the requester’s expertise, the requester refers the patient to a provider and pays for the referral services. Treatment may su...

To achieve the most energy-efficient operation, this brief presents a circuit design technique for separating the power supply voltage (VDD) of flip-flops (FFs) from that of combinational circuits, called the higher voltage FF (HVFF). Although VDD scaling can reduce the energy, the minimum operating voltage (VDDmin) of FFs prevents the operation at the optimum supply voltage that minimizes the ...

PURPOSE As an alternative to the existing fee-for-service (FFS) system, a diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based payment system has been suggested. The aim of this study was to investigate the early results of pediatric appendicitis treatment under the DRG system, focusing on health care expenditure and quality of health care services. PATIENTS AND METHODS The medical records of 60 patients, 30 ...