BACKGROUND Patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) form a heterogeneous group and frequently attend their family physician (FP). Little is known about how FPs recognize MUPS in their patients. We conducted a focus group study to explore how FPs recognize MUPS and whether they recognize specific subgroups of patients with MUPS. Targeting such subgroups might improve treatmen...

A nonlinear system may be characterized by an orthogonal functional power series (FPS) computed from cross correlations between input and output variables. \Is the response changing over the course of the experiment?" is a fundamental question encountered in the analysis of both FPS and evoked potentials (EP's). Regression on closed-form functions of time produces a time-varying FPS or EP. Eval...

We motivate the use of Problem-Solving Methods (PSM) in order to realize reusable knowledge models. The notion of PSM is extended to Frameworks of Problem Solving (FPS), thus giving PSM a larger generality and enable specialization or update of PSM during system development. An example of a FPS in the context of a project dealing with model-based diagnosis illustrates the approach. Finally, we ...

Isabel Oitavem has introduced a term rewriting system (TRS) which captures the class FPS of polynomial-space computable functions. We propose an alternative TRS for FPS. As a consequence, it is obtained that FPS is the smallest class containing certain initial functions and closed under specific operations. It turns out that our characterization is relatively simple and suggests an uniform appr...

BACKGROUND Based on changes in pharmacokinetics and -dynamics in elderly patients, there are potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) that should be avoided in patients aged ≥ 65 years. Current studies showed prescription rates of PIM between 22.5 and 28.4 % in the primary care setting. The evidence concerning reasons for PIM prescription by FPs is limited. METHODS This mixed method study ...