Since the launch of the novel medical reimbursement system Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) in 2003 in Japan, inpatient data has been accumulated over time as part of a Japanese governmental nationwide database. This is partially accessible by the public, and this study examined the adequacy of this database as epidemiological research material by extracting the data relating to aneurysmal...

Searching for an object in an environment using a mobile robot is a challenging task that requires an algorithm to define a set of points in which to sense the environment and an effective traversing strategy, to decide the order in which to visit such points. Previous work on sensing strategies normally assume unrealistic conditions like infinite visibility of the sensors. This paper introduce...

Many farming-system studies have investigated the design and evaluation of crop-management practices with respect to economic performance and reduction in environmental impacts. In contrast, little research has been devoted to analysing these practices in terms of matching the recurrent context-dependent demand for resources (labour in particular) with those available on the farm. This paper pr...

BACKGROUND In order to ensure their population's regular access to essential medicines, many least developed countries and developing countries are faced with the policy question of whether to import or manufacture drugs locally, in particular for life-saving antiretroviral medicines for HIV/AIDS patients. In order for domestic manufacturing to be viable and cost-effective, the local industry m...