OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between care co-ordination and use of the Emergency Department (ED) in older managed care enrollees. DESIGN Nested case-control with 103 cases (used the ED) and 194 controls (did not use the ED). PATIENTS AND METHODS Older patients with multiple chronic illnesses enrolled in a care management programme of a large group-model health maintenance organi...

Question: How is tundra vegetation related to climatic, soil chemical, geological variables and grazing across a very large section of the Eurasian arctic area? We were particularly interested in broad-scale vegetation-environment relationships and how well do the patterns conform to climate-vegetation schemes. Material and Methods: We sampled vegetation in 1132 plots from 16 sites from differe...

* The views expressed in this paper are personal. Most outsiders tend to base their analysis of the future of the Eurosystem on the shape of the Federal Reserve System in the US. This paper argues that the US model is inappropriate. It suggests that the Eurosystem is pursuing a different arrangement, where the balance of power in the national central banks rather than in the centre may continue...

Patient-scheduling in hospitals is a complex task which requires new computational methods, e.g. market mechanisms and enhanced support by software agents. These demands are addressed by the MedPAge-Project (Medical Path Agents) which covers the development of a multiagent-system for which an agent oriented specification will be presented. Firstly, based on field studies in five German hospital...

Currently one of the most divisive issues in some Christian communities centers on women’s ordination. This study critically analyzes a religious discourse which defends and justifies the Southern Baptist Convention’s opposition to women’s ordination by using a sociocognitive approach as an underlying theoretical framework. The analysis aims to illustrate how a religious text both assumes and t...

In a period when the globalisation of the World is recognised by all, and systemic problems are emerging on a global scale. A search for systemic solutions is on the agenda. This paper offers a critical in depth discussion of the political co-ordination in Central and Eastern Europe before 1989 implemented through the Central Plan, and compares this with other models of regulation of economic a...