Two means to the same end: hierarchical value maps in tourism - comparing the association pattern technique with direct importance ratings.

Abstract Purpose Quality of life (QoL) has been the subject of increasing interest in oncology. Most examinations of QoL have focused on health-related QoL, while other factors often remain unconsidered. Moreover, QoL questionnaires implicitly assume that the subjective importance of the various QoL domains is identical from one patient to the next. The aim of this study was to analyze QoL in a broader sense, considering the subjective importance of the QoL components. Methods A sample of 173 male urologic patients was surveyed twice: once while hospitalized (t1) and once again 3 months later (t2). Patients completed the Questions on Life Satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ-M), which includes satisfaction and importance ratings for eight dimensions of QoL. A control group was taken from the general population (n = 477). Results Health was the most important QoL dimension for both the patient and the general population groups. While satisfaction with health was low in the patient group, the satisfaction ratings of the other seven domains were higher in the patient group than in the general population. The satisfaction with the domain partnership/sexuality showed a significant decline from t1 to t2. Multiple regression analyses showed that the domains health and income contributed most strongly to the global QoL score at t2 in the patient group. Conclusion Health is not the only relevant category when assessing QoL in cancer patients; social relationships and finances are pertinent as well. Importance ratings contribute to a better understanding of the relevance of the QoL dimensions for the patients.

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Futuristic Trends and Innovations for Examining the Performance of Course Learning Outcomes Using the Rasch Analytical Model

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics10060727 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 727

Author(s):

Moustafa M. Nasralla ◽

Basiem Al-Shattarat ◽

Dhafer J. Almakhles ◽

Abdelhakim Abdelhadi ◽

Eman S. Abowardah

Keyword(s):

Learning Outcomes ◽

Analytical Model ◽

Rasch Model ◽

Teaching Techniques ◽

Business Courses ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Association Pattern ◽

Engineering Education Research ◽

Academic Year ◽

The Rasch Model

The literature on engineering education research highlights the relevance of evaluating course learning outcomes (CLOs). However, generic and reliable mechanisms for evaluating CLOs remain challenges. The purpose of this project was to accurately assess the efficacy of the learning and teaching techniques through analysing the CLOs’ performance by using an advanced analytical model (i.e., the Rasch model) in the context of engineering and business education. This model produced an association pattern between the students and the overall achieved CLO performance. The sample in this project comprised students who are enrolled in some nominated engineering and business courses over one academic year at Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia. This sample considered several types of assessment, such as direct assessments (e.g., quizzes, assignments, projects, and examination) and indirect assessments (e.g., surveys). The current research illustrates that the Rasch model for measurement can categorise grades according to course expectations and standards in a more accurate manner, thus differentiating students by their extent of educational knowledge. The results from this project will guide the educator to track and monitor the CLOs’ performance, which is identified in every course to estimate the students’ knowledge, skills, and competence levels, which will be collected from the predefined sample by the end of each semester. The Rasch measurement model’s proposed approach can adequately assess the learning outcomes.

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Influence of maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status on offspring anthropometric measurements and body composition in three Brazilian Birth Cohorts

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980020004887 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Mariane da Silva Dias ◽

Alicia Matijasevich ◽

Aluísio JD Barros ◽

Ana Maria B. Menezes ◽

Bruna Celestino Schneider ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Composition ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Waist Circumference ◽

Nutritional Status ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Birth Cohorts ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Association Pattern ◽

Maternity Hospitals

Abstract Objective: We aimed at evaluating the association of maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status with offspring anthropometry and body composition. We also evaluated whether these associations were modified by gender, diet and physical activity and mediated by birth weight. Design: Birth cohort study. Setting: Waist circumference was measured with an inextensible tape, and fat and lean mass were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Multiple linear regression was used to adjust for possible confounders and allele score of BMI. We carried out mediation analysis using G-formula. Participants: In 1982, 1993 and 2004, all maternity hospitals in Pelotas (South Brazil) were visited daily and all live births whose families lived in the urban area of the city were evaluated. These subjects have been followed up at different ages. Results: Offspring of obese mothers had on average higher BMI, waist circumference and fat mass index than those of normal weight mothers, and these differences were higher among daughters. The magnitudes of the association were similar in the cohorts, except for height, where the association pattern was not clear. In the 1982 cohort, further adjustment for a BMI allele score had no material influence on the magnitude of the associations. Mediation analyses showed that birth weight captured part of this association. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status is positively associated with offspring BMI and adiposity in offspring. And this association is higher among daughters whose mother was overweight or obese and, birth weight explains part of this association.

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Association Patterns of Ontological Features Signify Electronic Health Records in Liver Cancer

Journal of Healthcare Engineering ◽

10.1155/2017/6493016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lawrence W. C. Chan ◽

S. C. Cesar Wong ◽

Choo Chiap Chiau ◽

Tak-Ming Chan ◽

Liang Tao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Liver Cancer ◽

Clinical Decision Support ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Computed Tomography Imaging ◽

Health Records ◽

Association Pattern ◽

Electronic Health ◽

Systematized Nomenclature Of Medicine ◽

Primary Predictor

Electronic Health Record (EHR) system enables clinical decision support. In this study, a set of 112 abdominal computed tomography imaging examination reports, consisting of 59 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver metastases (so-called HCC group for simplicity) and 53 cases with no abnormality detected (NAD group), were collected from four hospitals in Hong Kong. We extracted terms related to liver cancer from the reports and mapped them to ontological features using Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) Clinical Terms (CT). The primary predictor panel was formed by these ontological features. Association levels between every two features in the HCC and NAD groups were quantified using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The HCC group reveals a distinct association pattern that signifies liver cancer and provides clinical decision support for suspected cases, motivating the inclusion of new features to form the augmented predictor panel. Logistic regression analysis with stepwise forward procedure was applied to the primary and augmented predictor sets, respectively. The obtained model with the new features attained 84.7% sensitivity and 88.4% overall accuracy in distinguishing HCC from NAD cases, which were significantly improved when compared with that without the new features.

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Correction to: A weighted interval rough number based method to determine relative importance ratings of customer requirements in QFD product planning

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing ◽

10.1007/s10845-018-1457-0 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 459-459 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pai Zheng ◽

Xun Xu ◽

Sheng Quan Xie

Keyword(s):

Relative Importance ◽

Customer Requirements ◽

Product Planning ◽

Importance Ratings

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Association Pattern of Interleukin-1 Receptor-Associated Kinase-4 Gene Polymorphisms with Allergic Rhinitis in a Han Chinese Population

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0021769 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 6 (6) ◽

pp. e21769 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yuan Zhang ◽

Xiaoping Lin ◽

Martin Desrosiers ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Na Meng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Allergic Rhinitis ◽

Gene Polymorphisms ◽

Chinese Population ◽

Interleukin 1 ◽

Han Chinese ◽

Han Chinese Population ◽

Association Pattern

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The Relationship of Megazoobenthos Association with Seagrass Ecosystem Conditions in Ujung Genteng Waters, Sukabumi

Asian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Research ◽

10.9734/ajfar/2019/v5i430081 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Gilang Primanagita Rachman ◽

Indah Riyantini ◽

Zahidah Hasan ◽

Herman Hamdani

Keyword(s):

Diversity Index ◽

Close Association ◽

Strong Relationship ◽

Survey Method ◽

Association Pattern ◽

Seagrass Ecosystem ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Seagrass Density ◽

Diadema Setosum

Seagrass beds in Ujung Genteng waters are one of the shallow marine ecosystems that have relatively high biodiversity. Seagrass ecosystem as one of the coastal ecosystems in these waters has a diversity of marine life that is associated with it. The purpose of this study was to establish the association pattern and the correlation of mega zoobenthos to seagrass ecosystem conditions. The method used was a survey method by conducting a survey direct observation of the stations that have been determined. Three seagrass species were identified, namely: Thallasia hemprichii, Cymodoceae rotundata and Enhalus acoroides. The highest density of seagrass was found in station 2 with the type of seagrass Thallasia hemprichii as much as 207 ind/m2. Fifteen mega zoobenthos species were identified representing 3 phyla. Species Mega zoobenthos which is most commonly found in Ujung Genteng waters is Ophiothrix fragilis, Ophiocoma erinaceus, and Diadema setosum. The mega zoobenthos Diversity Index at the observation station is included in the medium category that is 2.33-2.66 and the evenness index is 0.63-0.84. Correlation of seagrass density with mega zoobenthos obtained by 0.92 shows that there is a very strong relationship between seagrass density with mega zoobenthos. The result shows that there are 4 patterns of close association and 2 patterns of very close association. Ophiocoma erinaceus of the ophiuroidea class has a pattern of very close positive associations with seagrass Cymodoceae rotundata and Dendrodoris sp of the order nudibranchia has a pattern of very close negative associations with seagrass Cymodoceae rotundata.

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