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RAND Corporation

NonprofitSanta Monica, California, United States
About: RAND Corporation is a nonprofit organization based out in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 9602 authors who have published 18570 publications receiving 744658 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
Narayan Sastry1
TL;DR: The results show that the smoke haze from the fires had a deleterious effect on the health of the population in Malaysia.
Abstract: I assess the population health effects in Malaysia of air pollution from a widespread series of fires that occurred in Indonesia between April and November of 1997. I describe how the fires occurred and why the associated air pollution was so widespread and long lasting. The main objective is to uncover any mortality effects and to assess how large and important they were. I also investigate whether the mortality effects were persistent or whether they represented a short-term, mortality-harvesting effect. The results show that the smoke haze from the fires had a deleterious effect on the health of the population in Malaysia.

238 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Geocoding and surname analysis show promise for estimating racial/ethnic health plan composition of enrollees when direct data on major racial and ethnic groups are lacking and can be used to assess disparities in care, pending availability of self-reported race/ethnicity data.
Abstract: Objective. To review two indirect methods, geocoding and surname analysis, for estimating race/ethnicity as a means for health plans to assess disparities in care. Study Design. Review of published articles and unpublished data on the use of geocoding and surname analyses. Principal Findings. Few published studies have evaluated use of geocoding to estimate racial and ethnic characteristics of a patient population or to assess disparities in health care. Three of four studies showed similar estimates of the proportion of blacks and one showed nearly identical estimates of racial disparities, regardless of whether indirect or more direct measures (e.g., death certificate or CMS data) were used. However, accuracy depended on racial segregation levels in the population and region assessed and geocoding was unreliable for identifying Hispanics and Asians/Pacific Islanders. Similarly, several studies suggest surname analyses produces reasonable estimates of whether an enrollee is Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander and can identify disparities in care. However, accuracy depends on the concentrations of Asians or Hispanics in areas assessed. It is less accurate for women and more acculturated and higher SES persons due intermarriage, name changes, and adoption. Surname analysis is not accurate for identifying African Americans. Recent unpublished analyses suggest plans can successfully use a combined geocoding/surname analyses approach to identify disparities in care in most regions. Refinements based on Bayesian methods may make geocoding/surname analyses appropriate for use in areas where the accuracy is currently poor, but validation of these preliminary results is needed. Conclusions. Geocoding and surname analysis show promise for estimating racial/ ethnic health plan composition of enrollees when direct data on major racial and ethnic groups are lacking. These data can be used to assess disparities in care, pending availability of self-reported race/ethnicity data.

238 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
W. Doyle1
TL;DR: Some ideas for position- and size-invariant two-dimensional pattern recognition lead, in some cases, to easily mechanized operations and an application to detection of straight lines is proposed.
Abstract: : Some ideas for position- and size-invariant two-dimensional pattern recognition are discussed. They lead, in some cases, to easily mechanized operations. An application to detection of straight lines is proposed. (Author)

237 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to show how the functional equation technique of a new mathematical discipline, dynamic programming, can be used in the formulation and solution of a variety of optimization problems concerning the design of adaptive devices.
Abstract: One of the most challenging areas in the field of automatic control is the design of automatic control devices that 'learn' to improve their performamce based upon experience, i.e., that can adapt themselves to circumstances as they find them. The military and commercial implications of such devices are impressive, and interest in the two main areas of research in the field of control, the USA and the USSR, runs high. Unfortunately, though, both theory and construction of adaptive controllers are in their infancy, and some time may pass before they are commonplace. Nonetheless, development at this time of adequate theories of processes of this nature is essential. The purpose of our paper is to show how the functional equation technique of a new mathematical discipline, dynamic programming, can be used in the formulation and solution of a variety of optimization problems concerning the design of adaptive devices. Although, occasionally, a solution in closed form can be obtained, in general, numerical solution via the use of high-speed digital computers is contemplated. We discuss here the closely allied problems of formulating adaptive control processes in precise mathematical terms and of presenting feasible computational algoritbms for determining numerical solutioms. To illustrate the general concepts, consider a system which is governed by the inhomogeneous Van der Pol equation \ddot{x} + \mu(x^{2} - 1) \dot{x} + x = r(t), 0 \leq t \leq T , where r(t) is a random function whose statistical properties are only partially known to a feedback control device which seeks to keep the system near the unstable equilibrium state x = 0, \dot{x} = 0 . It proposes to do this by selecting the value of μ as a function of the state of the system at time t , and the time t itself. By observing the random process r(t) , the controller may, with the passage of time, infer more and more concerning the statistical properties of the function r(t) and thus may be expected to improve the quality of its control decisions. In this way the controller adapts itself to circumstances as it finds them. The process is thus an interesting example of adaptive control, and, conceivably, with some immediate applications. Lastly, some areas of this general domain requiring additional research are indicated.

237 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The goal is to make it possible for people to express their ideas in the same way they think about them, and to achieve this, the team has performed various studies about how people think about programming tasks, and developed new tools for programming and debugging.
Abstract: Over the last six years, we have been working to create programming languages and environments that are more natural, or closer to the way people think about their tasks. Our goal is to make it possible for people to express their ideas in the same way they think about them. To achieve this, we have performed various studies about how people think about programming tasks, both when trying to create a new program and when trying to find and fix bugs in existing programs. We then use this knowledge to develop new tools for programming and debugging. Our user studies have shown the resulting systems provide significant benefits to users.

237 citations


Authors

Showing all 9660 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Darien Wood1602174136596
Herbert A. Simon157745194597
Ron D. Hays13578182285
Paul G. Shekelle132601101639
John E. Ware121327134031
Linda Darling-Hammond10937459518
Robert H. Brook10557143743
Clifford Y. Ko10451437029
Lotfi A. Zadeh104331148857
Claudio Ronco102131272828
Joseph P. Newhouse10148447711
Kenneth B. Wells10048447479
Moyses Szklo9942847487
Alan M. Zaslavsky9844458335
Graham J. Hutchings9799544270
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
202311
202277
2021640
2020574
2019548
2018491