For many years we have heard rumors of the downfall and death of GSS research. In this paper we will argue that the nay-sayers are wrong, as many have been in other disciplines in the past and that they would propose to stop seeking answers before the most important questions may have even been asked. We describe some of the many unanswered research questions left to be addressed in Group Suppo...

INTRODUCTION This study describes the uses of a control chart in the malaria surveillance at the local level, signaling whether there is a need to intensify or adapt control measures. METHODS The districts of Cruzeiro do Sul (n=14), State of Acre, Brazil, were classified into three groups: I) those with an incidence lower than expected; II) those with an incidence within the expected range; a...

Policy-makers often rely on public opinion polls to decide which political projects to pursue. We study how the use of opinion polls influences policy outcomes if respondents feel pressured to offer ”socially desirable” views when answering the pollsters’ questions. Our results indicate that this type of social pressure can lead to second-best policy outcomes even if politicians are aware of th...

AIM The aim of the study is to evaluate the changes of the kinetic parameters of gait in patients with supratentorial unilateral stroke in the chronic period (SUSChP). MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted with 67 patients with SUSChP (56 patients included in the experimental group - 32 men and 24 women, with duration of disease 7.8 ± 2.0 months, and 11 patients in the control group - ...

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to pilot collaborations between two urban farms with two corner stores to increase access to fresh produce in low-income neighbourhoods. DESIGN We conducted a pre-post evaluation of two farm-store collaborations using quantitative distribution and sales data. Using semi-structured interviews, we qualitatively assessed feasibility of implementation and collaboration...

This paper explores, through a number of case studies, the application of Group Support Systems for capacity building initiatives in various sectors in Africa. A model is introduced on the adoption of GSS in an African context. Notwithstanding skeptical expectations with respect to the successful application of the technology, the results clearly indicate (1) that there is support from key part...

OBJECTIVE This study is a descriptive investigation of trends in BMI in the USA over time, across race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) groups, and across different datasets. METHODS The study analyzes micro-level data from three widely used cross-sectional US health datasets: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Health Interview Survey ...

The least well known structure of the Galaxy is its central region, because of the high extinction, the crowding and the confusion between disk and bulge sources along the line of sight. We show how the structure of the inner Galaxy and the dust distribution can be strongly constrained by using red clump stars as distance indicator. The results of this method applied on the deep near-infrared s...

The Combined EIS-NVSS Survey Of Radio Sources (CENSORS) is a 1.4 GHz radio survey selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and complete to a flux-density of 7.2 mJy. It targets the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) Patch D, which is a 3 by 2 square degree field centred on 09 51 36.0 −21 00 00 (J2000). This paper presents the results of spectroscopic observations of 143 of the 150 CENSORS sources. Th...

This paper studies nonmarket institutions that facilitate exports. In Malawi, as in many other developing countries, farmers face numerous constraints that disconnect them from export markets. We explore the role of a local institution, the burley tobacco clubs, in bridging smallholders to exports. Burley clubs potentially enable farmers to increase their tobacco farming productivity by providi...