in order to avoid drought effects, it is essential to detect and monitor the spatial andtemporal changes of the phenomenon. in general, drought indices are made use of toachieve the goals. the main aim followed in this paper is to introduce and assess a newdrought index termed mrdi. mrdi (modified reconnaissance drought index) is thencompared with modified standardized precipitation index (mspi...

Health monitoring is emerging as one of the most promising developments for product in-service reliability assessment and maintenance. This paper presents an overview of the concepts used in current health monitoring approaches, with a focus on Life Consumption Monitoring (LCM). Its application to electronic systems is discussed. In addition to in-service reliability assessment and maintenance,...

objectives due to the lack of a standard tool for assessing patients’ capacity to consent to medical treatment in iran, the present study was carried out aiming to devise a persian version of a cross-cultural adaptation of the macarthur competence assessment tool. conclusions in the present study, we are able to focus on and prove the efficacy and benefits of this measurement tool. results the ...

OBJECTIVES To explore how people living with type 2 diabetes self-manage their condition in everyday life and the impact of the Diabetes Manual programme, a one-to-one structured educational intervention aiming to increase skills and confidence for self-management. METHOD Semi-structured interviews with 12 participants on the Diabetes Manual trial, sampled purposively according to baseline se...

BACKGROUND In the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster in 2004, an online psychological self-assessment (ONSET) was developed and made available by the University of Zurich in order to provide an online screening instrument for Tsunami victims to test if they were traumatized and in need of mental health care. The objective of the study was to report the lessons learnt that were made using an Inte...

BACKGROUND Using the Internet to replicate client/counselor interactions provides a tremendous opportunity to disseminate interventions at relatively low cost per participant. However, there are substantial challenges with this approach. The Weight Loss Maintenance Trial (WLM) compared two long-term weight-maintenance interventions: (1) a personal contact arm and (2) an Internet arm, to a third...

Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) ratings were used to examine whether groups of 21 younger (M age = 20.02 years, SD = 2.28) and 21 older (M age = 66.26 years, SD = 5.64) adults had similar affective experiences to pictures from the International Affective Picture System (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1997). The psychometrics of the SAM valence and arousal scales were also compared across age groups. ...

Developing country environmental impact assessment (EIA) dates back to the mid-1970s and, although it varies significantly from country to country, its performance generally falls far behind that of EIA in developed countries. It is crucial that this performance be improved in order to help to protect the environment of three quarters of the world’s land area. This paper reviews developing coun...

(2007). Mating Intelligence: New insights into intimate relationships, human sexuality, and the mind's reproductive system. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum (pp. 37-75).