. The crude incidence of malignant melanoma in the European Union is 10/100 000 per year. The incidence increases with latitude, i.e. with increasing prevalence of less pigmented skin types, from 3–5/100 000 per year in Mediterranean countries to 12–17 in Nordic countries. The mortality is 2.4/100 000 per year with a lesser variation with geography. Increased ultraviolet-B ray exposure seems re...

BACKGROUND : A recent systematic review found early laparoscopic cholecystectomy (ELC) to be safe and to shorten total hospital stay compared with delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy (DLC) for acute cholecystitis. The cost-effectiveness of ELC versus DLC for acute cholecystitis is unknown. METHODS : A decision tree model estimating and comparing costs to the UK National Health Service (NHS) ...

This paper studies the optimal design of long-term executive pay plans when boards of directors use accounting information for investment decision-making and executives can take costly actions to manipulate this information. The model predicts that a shift to more convex executive pay plans, such as equity plans that rely more on options and less on stock, is associated with higher levels of ma...

Background In Sudan, where studies on HIV dynamics are few, model projections provide an additional source of information for policy-makers to identify data collection priorities and develop prevention programs. In this study, we aimed to estimate the distribution of new HIV infections by mode of exposure and to identify populations...

Mobile communications have undergone an amazing development over the last few decades, with new generations coming out roughly every ten years. Each transition from one generation to the next has brought new capabilities and improved technology. The first generation was based on analogue technology and supported only traditional phone calls, while subsequent generations have become increasingly...

Excerpt] Compared to other industries, the service and hospitality industries employ a greater proportion of low-skill and part-time employees. Those workers generally earn less pay than do skilled or full-time workers. Thus, the hospitality industry's supposed low pay may actually reflect the low-skill nature of much of the work and perhaps mask pockets of highly paid positions. For this reaso...