OBJECTIVE To design effective prevention and control strategies for haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Mainland China, we evaluated the epidemiologic characteristics and trends of HFRS cases reported between 2006 and 2010. METHODS HFRS data from 1970 to 2010 were obtained from the China Notifiable Disease Reporting System (CNDRS). The cases analysed included clinical cases and l...

We apply linear response theory to a general, inhomogeneous, stationary stellar system, with particular emphasis on dissipative processes analogous to Landau damping. Assuming only that the response is causal, we show that the irreversible work done by an external perturber is described by the anti-Hermitian part of a linear response operator, and damping of collective modes is described by the...

This study attempted to investigate the level of Bank efficiency in Ghana by using Data Envelope Analysis (DEA). The study revealed that bank efficiency in Ghana has improved after the introduction of financial sector reforms in 1988 which have led to more competitions among banks, increased financial innovation, strict regulatory regime and higher profitability. The operational, technical and ...

SUMMARY The Monte Carlo Expectation Maximization (MCEM) algorithm (Wei and Tanner (1991)), a stochas-tic version of EM, is a versatile tool for inference in incomplete data models, especially when used in combination with MCMC simulation methods. Examples of applications include, among many others: regression with missing values (Wei and Tanner (1991)), time-series analysis (Chan and Ledolter (...

(Photosynthetic responses of tropical tree species from different successional groups under contrasting irradiance conditions). This study evaluated the photosynthetic responses of seven tropical trees of different successional groups under contrasting irradiance conditions, taking into account changes in gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence. Although early successional species have show...

Analysis of the Trend Toward Fuller Lips Among FashionModels A preference for fuller lips is a relatively recent, multifactorial aesthetic driven by changing demographics of both consumers andbeauty archetypes (eg, fashionmodels and celebrities), the relatively low cost and safe use of numerous injectable filler agents, and thedicta of the fashion industry.1-3 The arbiters of taste mold opinion...

U.S. hospitals are under continual pressure both to increase productivity and to improve quality through the use of Health Information Technology. This paper analyzes 3,187 US hospitals, using data reported to the American Hospital Association, to assess changes in productivity over a fiveyear period (2002-2006). The Malmquist Indices derived indicate that Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Ef...

M-plane GaN thin films were grown on LiAlO2 substrates under different N/Ga flux ratios by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. An anisotropic growth of M-plane GaN was demonstrated against the N/Ga flux ratio. As the N/Ga flux ratio decreased by increasing Ga flux, the GaN surface trended to a flat morphology with stripes along [11[Formula: see text]0]. According to high-resolution X-ray di...

We examine the dynamics of idiosyncratic risk, market risk and return correlations in European equity markets using weekly observations from 3515 stocks listed in the 12 Euro area stock markets over the period 1974-2004. Similarly to Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel and Xu (2001), we find a rise in idiosyncratic volatility, implying that it now takes more stocks to diversify away idiosyncratic risk. C...