This paper compares the Portuguese and Bulgarian consumer price indices (CPI) and attempts to identify some areas in which the CPI compilation methodology could be improved in the two countries. This work is organised into six sections. The first section briefly describes the organisational structure on which the production of the CPI is based in the two countries. The second section focuses on...

BACKGROUND Formal knowledge networks are considered among the solutions for strengthening knowledge translation and one of the elements of innovative systems in developing and developed countries. In the year 2000, knowledge networks were established in Iran's health system to organize, lead, empower, and coordinate efforts made by health-related research centers in the country. Since the asses...

Spasticity is one of the common complications in upper motor neuron lesions and without appropriate treatment it causes disturbances in movement pattern. Assessments of patients are effective in patient's management. Modified Ashworth scale (MAS) is one of the criteria in qualitative assessment of spasticity, and there are lots of controversies about its validity. The purpose of this study is t...

We carried out a morphometric analysis of acetabular dysplasia in patients with cerebral palsy requiring hip surgery using three-dimensional CT. We evaluated 54 hips in 27 patients. The contralateral normal hips of ten patients with unilateral Perthes' disease were used as a control group. The acetabular defects were assessed qualitatively as anterior, posterior or global. Quantitative assessme...

Ascertainment of lifetime occupational exposures in an epidemiological study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is important in order to investigate its effect on the disease and develop prevention strategies. The aim of our paper is to describe and evaluate a methodology used to assign lifetime occupational exposure to participants in a case-control study of COPD where lifetime oc...

The ability to quantitatively assess ecological health is of great interest to those tasked with monitoring and conserving ecosystems. For decades, biomonitoring research and policies have relied on multimetric health indices of various forms. Although indices are numbers, many are constructed based on qualitative procedures, thus limiting the quantitative rigor of the practical interpretations...