In this paper, we focus on those policy instruments with monetary incentives that are used to contain public health expenditure in high-income countries. First, a schematic view of the main cost-containment methods and the variables in the health system they intend to influence is presented. Two types of instruments to control the level and growth of public health expenditure are considered: (i...

The aim of this paper is to show the significance of the function of Mechanic of Surgical Instruments in raising up a modern, in 19th century terms, surgical clinic by prof. Ludwik Bierkowski. Exploiting mainly source materials, this article discusses the character of mechanical occupations and his duties. The personality of Gotlob Jentsch, first to take this position, and his immediate success...

Over the past 10 years, several instruments developed specifically for the assessment of Quality of Life (QOL) in dementia have been introduced. The goal of the current review is to present, compare, and critique existing QOL measures for dementia populations to assist investigators and clinicians in selecting the optimal inventory for their specific needs. Nine measures are reviewed with a foc...

Using the results of previous studies of service quality attributes, "ve sets of quality measures are identi"ed. These indicators or measures, through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), are then accurately and consistently weighted. The priority weights are, in turn, incorporated in a goal-programming model to help select the `besta set of quality control instruments for customer data collec...

For assessing conceptual data model quality it is useful to have quantitative and objective measurement instruments. The scarcity of such measurement instruments leaded us to define a set of measures for structural complexity, an internal quality attribute of conceptual data models, with the idea that it is related to the external quality of such models. In order to gather empirical evidence th...

Elder abuse is a pervasive phenomenon around the world with devastating effects on the victims. Although it is not a new phenomenon, interest in examining elder abuse is relatively new. This paper aims to provide an overview of the aetiological theories and measures of elder abuse. The paper briefly reviews theories to explain causes of elder abuse and then discusses the most commonly used meas...

Base measures such as the number of lines-of-code are often used to make predictions about such phenomena as project effort, product quality or maintenance effort. However, quite often we rely on the measurement instruments where the exact algorithm for calculating the value of the measure is not known. The objective of our research is to explore how we can increase the certainty of base measur...

Index-based hedging instruments such as industry loss warranties are increasingly recognized as effective hedging tools for insurance and reinsurance portfolios. However, wider adoption of these instruments is inhibited by basis risk, the difference between the index-based payoff and the buyer's actual loss. This study presents a systematic approach for potential buyers to analyze and manage ba...

BACKGROUND In response to a resurgence of interest in and demonstrated utility of the approach-avoidance goal distinction, a number of researchers (Elliot & Church, 1997; Midgley et al., 1998; Skaalvik, 1997) have developed instruments to assess individual differences in the tendency to adopt approach-avoidance goals. However, to date there has been no attempt to examine the psychometric proper...

The purpose of this project was to compare the Widex Quattro and the Ensoniq Sound Selector hearing instruments as to benefits (real and perceived) and overall convenience. It is the premise of the Ensoniq designers that a high fidelity (wide band) hearing aid is adequate for all listening conditions due to its exact reproduction of sound. Conversely, it is the premise of the Quattro designers ...