Ant Colony Systems (ACS) have been successfully applied to different optimization issues in recent years. However, only few works have been done by employing ACS method to data mining. This paper addresses the lack of investigations on this study by proposing an ACS -based algorithm to extract membership functions in fuzzy data mining. In this paper, the membership functions were encoded into b...

BACKGROUND Persistent low membership is observed in many community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes in Africa. Causes for low membership have been identified and solutions suggested, but this did not result in increased membership. In this case study of the mutual health organisation of Dar Naïm in Mauritania we explore the underlying drivers that may explain why membership continued to st...

BACKGROUND Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced in 2005 as a demand side intervention to remove financial barriers to accessing health services. After almost a decade of implementation, this study aims to investigate the association of NHIS membership with antenatal visits (ANC), postnatal visits (PNC) and under-five mortality, using data from the most recent Multiple ...

Healthcare Professional Social Networks (HCPSNs) have become a global resource. There are numerous networks visible in countries around the world. This research looks at a selected sample of global HCPSNs with a particular focus on the potential of these emerging networks to become a growing source of professional content. The research evaluates the content offerings of six networks, Sermo, Dox...

Because of its dynamic economy and huge population, China will experience the greatest growth in energy demand of any nation in the world. As such, China represents the largest future source of energy-related pollution, including CO2 emissions. At the same time, China is the leading developing country in its efforts to reduce energy growth. Since 1980, energy demand in China has grown only half...

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Classification of patients with back pain in order to inform treatments is a long-standing aim in medicine. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to classify patients with low back pain and investigate whether different classes responded differently to a cognitive behavioural intervention. The objective was to provide additional guidance on the use of cognitive beha...

A rticle 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. In the US, the First Amendment to the Constitution similarly protects freedom of association: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right o...