Oral sensorimotor function is essential for mastication. We hypothesized that palatal coverage would disturb mastication and sensorimotor function. Masticatory efficiency, which was expressed by the declination rate of particle size, and oral stereognosis ability (OSA) were measured for 20 dentate subjects. Both measurements were first performed without an experimental palatal plate. These meas...

background: some studies have shown the possible role of protein‑energy malnutrition (pem) in persistence of endemic goiter in iodine replenished areas. the present study was conducted to assess the association between pem and goiter in schoolchildren of isfahan, iran. methods: in a cross‑sectional study using multistage cluster random‑sampling, 2331 schoolchildren with age ranged from 6‑13 yea...

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is not invariably present in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). The aim of the present study was to investigate polysomnographic determinants of EDS in patients with OSAS. EDS was assessed using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). Patients showed EDS whenever the ESS score was >10 and the MSLT sco...

Distinction: Selected as one of 13 Highest Value Hospitals by the Leapfrog Group in 2008, based on efficiency scores taking into account the quality of care as well as resource utilization, among nearly 1,300 hospitals reviewed. Received a top efficiency score for three of four conditions/procedures examined (coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary interventions, and pneumonia care)...

The existing studies about regional R&D efficiency measurement in a specific period have not considered the dynamic interdependence between regional R&D activities over different periods. This paper offers a solution to this problem in multi-period regional R&D efficiency measurement with a novel application to China’s regional R&D systems. This solution can present a systemic measurement for t...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a powerful technique for performance evaluation of decision making units (DMUs). One of the main objectives that is followed in performance evaluation is discriminating among efficient DMUs to provide a complete ranking of DMUs. DEA successfully divides them into two categories: efficient DMUs and inefficient DMUs. The DMUs in the efficient category have ident...

In today's competitive world, many manufacturing and service firms, including banks, have been forced to use new managerial approaches, and methods for assessing organizational performance. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is one of these approaches, which has been used to evaluate the performance of organizations since 1978. The purpose of this research is to use the technology sup...

Propensity score based-estimators are commonly used to estimate causal effects in evaluation research. To reduce bias in observational studies researchers might be tempted to include many, perhaps correlated, covariates when estimating the propensity score model. Taking into account that the propensity score is estimated, this study investigates how the efficiency of matching, inverse probabili...

The prevalence of 19 elements of collective tactics in score efficient and score inefficient teams was analyzed in 90 First Croatian Handball League--Men games during the 1998-1999 season. Prediction variables were used to describe duration, continuity, system, organization and spatial direction of attacks. Analysis of the basic descriptive and distribution statistical parameters revealed norma...

BACKGROUND Nowadays, restriction on access and optimum use of resources is the main challenge of development in all organizations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the technical efficiency and its factors, influencing hospitals of Tehran. METHODS This research was a descriptive-analytical and retrospective study conducted in 2014-2015. Fifty two hospitals with public, private...