Efficient Paired Comparison Designs for Utility Elicitation

Two relationships were examined, the relationship between the achievement-related affect and causal attributions for success or failure and the relationship between the expectancy shift and causal ascriptions for success or failure. Subjects were 417 elementary school children, 459 junior high school students, and 175 college students. Two hypothetical boys or girls who received similar marks on an examination but who attributed the results to different causes (ability, effort or luck) were described in a booklet. Subjects were asked to judge which person feels more pleasant (or unpleasant) and which person should expect the same outcome on further similar exams. The method of dual scaling was applied to the paired-comparison data for each sample. Two-dimensional solutions were extracted in the positive affect with success, the expectancy of success after success and the expectancy of failure after failure. Whereas a unidimensional solution was extracted in the negative affect with failure. Developmental shifts were found for successful outcome.

Download Full-text

The Initial Course of IL1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α with Regard to Severity Grade in Acute Pancreatitis

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11040591 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 591

Author(s):

Hanna Sternby ◽

Hannes Hartman ◽

Henrik Thorlacius ◽

Sara Regnér

Keyword(s):

Acute Pancreatitis ◽

Roc Analysis ◽

Paired Comparison ◽

Severe Disease ◽

Temporal Development ◽

Predictive Capacity ◽

Mean Values ◽

Tnf Α ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Ifn Γ

Clinical reports on early immune dysregulation in acute pancreatitis (AP) are scarce. Herein we investigate the initial temporal development of selected biomarkers. Blood samples were taken at 0–24 and 25–48 h after onsets of AP were acquired. Mean values and temporal intermediate difference (delta-values) of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α were calculated. Differences between severity groups, predictive capacity of the biomarkers and association with severe disease were analyzed. Paired comparison of samples (n = 115) taken at 0–24 and 25–48 h after onsets of AP showed a change over time for IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 (p < 0.05) and a significant difference between severity groups after 24 h. In ROC-analysis an IL-6 cut-off level of 196.6 pg/mL could differentiate severe AP (sensitivity 81.9, specificity 91.3). The delta-values of IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly associated with severe outcomes (odds ratios 1.085 and 1.002, respectively). Data of this work demonstrate a distinct change in IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10 and IL-6 over the first 48 h after onset of AP. The temporal development of biomarkers can assist in the early stratification of the disease. Herein IL-1β and IL-6 were associated with severe disease, however the prognostic capacity of investigated biomarkers is low.

Download Full-text

Psychoacoustic Evaluation of Hydraulic Pumps

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13137320 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 7320

Author(s):

Tobias Pietrzyk ◽

Markus Georgi ◽

Sabine Schlittmeier ◽

Katharina Schmitz

Keyword(s):

Sound Pressure ◽

Paired Comparison ◽

Hydraulic Drive ◽

Operating Parameter ◽

Gear Pump ◽

Hydraulic Systems ◽

Hydraulic Pump ◽

Listening Tests ◽

Internal Gear ◽

Axial Piston

In this study, sound measurements of an axial piston pump and an internal gear pump were performed and subjective pleasantness judgements were collected in listening tests (to analyze the subjective pleasantness), which could be seen as the inverse of the subjective annoyance of hydraulic drives. Pumps are the dominant sound source in hydraulic systems. The noise generation of displacement machines is subject of current research. However, in this research only the sound pressure level (SPL) was considered. Psychoacoustic metrics give new possibilities to analyze the sound of hydraulic drive technology and to improve the sound quality. For this purpose, instrumental measurements of the acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters are evaluated for both pump types. The recorded sounds are played back to the participants in listening tests. Participants evaluate them regarding the subjective pleasantness by means of paired comparison, which is an indirect scaling method. The dependence of the subjective pleasantness on speed and pressure was analyzed for both pump types. Different regression analyses were carried out to predict the subjectively perceived pleasantness or annoyance of the pumps. Results show that a lower speed is the decisive operating parameter for reducing both the SPL and the annoyance of a hydraulic pump.

Download Full-text

Three-dimensional analysis of the root canal preparation with Reciproc Blue®, WaveOne Gold® and XP EndoShaper®: a new method in vivo

BMC Oral Health ◽

10.1186/s12903-021-01450-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Javier Caviedes-Bucheli ◽

Nestor Rios-Osorio ◽

Diana Usme ◽

Cristian Jimenez ◽

Adriana Pinzon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

3D Reconstruction ◽

Root Canal ◽

Paired Comparison ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

New Method ◽

Root Canal Preparation ◽

Paired Data ◽

Before And After ◽

Student’S T

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in canal volume after root canal preparation in vivo with 3 different single-file techniques (Reciproc-Blue®, WaveOne-Gold® and XP-EndoShaper®), with a new method using CBCT and 3D reconstruction. Methods In this prospective study, thirty human lower premolars from healthy patients were used, in which extraction was indicated for orthodontic reasons. All the teeth used were caries- and restoration-free with complete root development, without signs of periodontal disease or traumatic occlusion, and with only one straight canal (up to 25º curvature). Teeth were randomly divided into three different groups: Reciproc-Blue, WaveOne-Gold and XP-EndoShaper. CBCT scans before root canal preparation were used to create a 3D reconstruction with RHINOCEROS 5.0 software to assess the initial canal volume, and then compared with 3D reconstructions after canal preparation to measure the increase in canal volume. Student’s t test for paired data were used to determine statistically significant differences between the before and after canal volumes. Anova test was used to determine statistically significant differences in the percentage of canal volume increase between the groups and Tukey's post-hoc test were used to paired comparison. Results Reciproc-Blue showed the higher increase in canal volume, followed by WaveOne-Gold and XP-EndoShaper (p = 0.003). XP-EndoShaper did not show a statistically significant increase in canal volume after root canal preparation (p = 0.06). Conclusion With this model, Reciproc-Blue showed higher increase in root canal volume, followed by WaveOne-Gold, while XP-EndoShaper did not significantly increase root canal volume during preparation.

Download Full-text