This paper examineswhetherwe can improve the predictability of financial return series by exploiting the effect of cross-correlations among different financial markets. We forecast financial return series based on the support vector machines (SVM) method, which can surpass the random-walk model consistently. By comparing the mean absolute errors and the root mean squared errors, we show that it...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The management of job-related stress among health-care workers is critical for the improvement of healthcare services; however, there is no existing research on endoscopy unit workers as a team. Korea has a unique health-care system for endoscopy unit workers. In this study, we aimed to estimate job stress and job satisfaction among health-care providers in endoscopy units in Ko...

OBJECTIVES We aimed to describe the proportion and characteristics of cancer patients who perceived that better care would have greatly improved their well-being in (1) specific and (2) multiple domains of patient-centred care. DESIGN Cross-sectional touchscreen computer survey. SETTING Four Australian radiation therapy departments located within major urban public hospitals. PARTICIPANTS...

BACKGROUND Nocturnal enuresis is an important problem among young children living in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to determine the possible differences in the prevalence of enuresis between children in boarding school and daytime school and the association of enuresis with sociodemographic factors. METHODS This was a cross-sectional survey. A total of 562 self-administered questionna...

This paper presents an overview of pseudonoise patterns suitable for embedding in images for the purposes of information hiding, including some new constructions. Typically, correlative recovery is used in such schemes. In order to minimize errors, a single pattern embedded in an image should possess a solitary autocorrelation peak and low off-peak values. Cross-correlation with the image is re...

Background Multi-disciplinary team (MDT)-working is recognized as a key modality for providing cancer services in the province of Quebec (Canada) and elsewhere [1]. Evidence suggests that the quality of teamworking varies across cancer teams and this may impact on care-providing process, and ultimately on patient care experience [2]. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effects of MDT-...

During an epidemic of respiratory syncytial (R.S.) virus in Newcastle upon Tyne 13 children developed R.S. virus infections while in hospital with other conditions. R.S. virus infection was also noted in four members of the staff. In two of the hospital wards outbreaks developed. All children infected with R.S. virus developed symptoms. The symptoms varied with age; two children aged 2 months o...

BACKGROUND Nosocomial infections represent one of the challenging problems of modern medicine. Healthcare providers play an important role in the transmission of these infections on their hands, clothing and equipment. Modern security systems require personnel to wear clearly displayed identity (ID) tags, and to have an easily accessible access disc. These access and ID tags are often worn arou...

A cross-sectional serosurvey was conducted to assess the proportion of persons exposed to hantaviruses in a virus-endemic area of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Findings of this study suggested the presence of > or =1 hantaviruses circulating in this region causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, mild disease, or asymptomatic infection.

Safe reprocessing of medical devices through cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization is essential for the prevention of health care associated infections (HAI) and to guarantee patient safety. Several studies detected residual contamination and even severe infections of patients, despite carrying out reprocessing. To develop appropriate solutions, the existing situation in Germany and selecte...