fuzzy measures are suitable in analyzing human subjective evaluation processes. several different strategies have been proposed for distance of fuzzy numbers. the distances introduced for fuzzy numbers can be categorized in two groups:1. the crisp distances which explain crisp values for the distance between two fuzzy numbers.2. the fuzzy distance which introduce a fuzzy distance for normal fuz...

background: more psychiatric visits, especially non-emergency ones, to emergency departments (eds) of general hospitals have been observed in recent years. the aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of psychiatric visits to the ed of rasoul-e-akram hospital, tehran, iran. methods: in this cross-sectional study, during a two-month period, all psychiatric presentations and consult...

because of national and international importance of the anzali international wetland, this study attempts to determine the preservation value and estimate willingness to pay (wtp) by iranian households for preserving this wetland, using contingent valuation method. a logit model was employed with maximum likelihood estimation procedure. results showed, education level of householder, informativ...

BACKGROUND The disease burden of influenza infection among children is not well established. We conducted a population-based surveillance of medical visits associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza. METHODS Eligible children were younger than five years of age, resided in three U.S. counties, and had a medical visit for an acute respiratory tract infection or fever. Nasal and throat swab...

BACKGROUND Recommendations for rheumatology nursing management of chronic inflammatory arthritis (CIA) from European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) states that nurses should take part in the monitoring patients' disease and therapy in order to achieve cost savings. The aim of the study was to compare the costs of rheumatology care between a nurse-led rheumatology clinic (NLC), based on perso...

in this paper, a novel approach for ranking fuzzy numbers based on the angle measure is introduced. several left and right spreads at each chosen levels of fuzzy numbers is used to determine center of mass points(cmps) and then, the angels between the cmps and the horizontal axis is calculated. the total angle is determined by averaging the computed angles and finally, the novel method is compa...

BACKGROUND Although numerous changes are apparent in the US health care system, little is known about how these changes have altered the work of primary care physicians. METHODS We analyzed a nationally representative sample of 136,233 adult office visits to general internists, general practitioners, and family physicians contained in the 1978 through 1981, 1985, and 1989 through 1994 Nationa...

BACKGROUND When health care reform was started in 1991, the physician workforce in Lithuania was dominated by specialists, and the specialty of family physician (FP) did not exist at all. During fifteen years of Lithuania's independence this specialty evolved rapidly and over 1,900 FPs were trained or retrained. Since 2003, the Lithuanian health care sector has undergone restructuring to optimi...

CONTEXT The annual physical examination is a staple of North American medicine. Medicare does not pay for such visits, and the United States Preventive Services Task Force designates these visits as preventive services. OBJECTIVE To understand the expectations of receptionists, patients, and physicians as well as their reasons for scheduling a health maintenance visit and to clarify the expec...