scholarly journals Assessing the impact of different grouping methods: time to rethink and regroup?

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Randall ◽  
Anna Ferrante ◽  
Adrian Brown ◽  
James Boyd ◽  
James Semmens
Keyword(s):  
Record Linkage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
Grouping Strategy ◽  
Grouping Strategies ◽  
Linkage Quality ◽  
One To One ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT ObjectivesThe grouping of record-pairs to determine which administrative records belong to the same individual is an important process in record linkage. A variety of grouping methods are used but the relative benefits of each are unknown. We evaluate a number of grouping methods against the traditional merge based clustering approach using large scale administrative data. ApproachThe research aimed to both describe current grouping techniques used for record linkage, and to evaluate the most appropriate grouping method for specific circumstances. A range of grouping strategies were applied to three datasets with known truth sets. Conditions were simulated to appropriately investigate one-to-one, many-to-one and ongoing linkage scenarios. ResultsResults suggest alternate grouping methods will yield large benefits in linkage quality, especially when the quality of the underlying repository is high. Stepwise grouping methods were clearly superior for one-to-one linkage. There appeared little difference in linkage quality between many-to-one grouping approaches. The most appropriate techniques for ongoing linkage depended on the quality of the population spine and the underlying dataset. ConclusionsThese results demonstrate the large effect that the choice of grouping strategy can have on overall linkage quality. Ongoing linkages to high quality population spines provide large improvements in linkage quality compared to merge based linkages. Procuring or developing such a population spine will provide high linkage quality at far lower cost than current methods for improving linkage quality. By improving linkage quality at low cost, this resource can be further utilised by health researchers.

scholarly journals How do you measure up? Methods to assess linkage quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ferrante ◽  
James Boyd ◽  
Sean Randall ◽  
Adrian Brown ◽  
James Semmens
Keyword(s):  
Record Linkage ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Linkage Quality ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Quality Process

ABSTRACT ObjectivesRecord linkage is a powerful technique which transforms discrete episode data into longitudinal person-based records. These records enable the construction and analysis of complex pathways of health and disease progression, and service use. Achieving high linkage quality is essential for ensuring the quality and integrity of research based on linked data. The methods used to assess linkage quality will depend on the volume and characteristics of the datasets involved, the processes used for linkage and the additional information available for quality assessment. This paper proposes and evaluates two methods to routinely assess linkage quality. ApproachLinkage units currently use a range of methods to measure, monitor and improve linkage quality; however, no common approach or standards exist. There is an urgent need to develop “best practices” in evaluating, reporting and benchmarking linkage quality. In assessing linkage quality, of primary interest is in knowing the number of true matches and non-matches identified as links and non-links. Any misclassification of matches within these groups introduces linkage errors. We present efforts to develop sharable methods to measure linkage quality in Australia. This includes a sampling-based method to estimate both precision (accuracy) and recall (sensitivity) following record linkage and a benchmarking method - a transparent and transportable methodology to benchmark the quality of linkages across different operational environments. ResultsThe sampling-based method achieved estimates of linkage quality that were very close to actual linkage quality metrics. This method presents as a feasible means of accurately estimating matching quality and refining linkages in population level linkage studies. The benchmarking method provides a systematic approach to estimating linkage quality with a set of open and shareable datasets and a set of well-defined, established performance metrics. The method provides an opportunity to benchmark the linkage quality of different record linkage operations. Both methods have the potential to assess the inter-rater reliability of clerical reviews. ConclusionsBoth methods produce reliable estimates of linkage quality enabling the exchange of information within and between linkage communities. It is important that researchers can assess risk in studies using record linkage techniques. Understanding the impact of linkage quality on research outputs highlights a need for standard methods to routinely measure linkage quality. These two methods provide a good start to the quality process, but it is important to identify standards and good practices in all parts of the linkage process (pre-processing, standardising activities, linkage, grouping and extracting).

scholarly journals Modelling key market impacts and land allocation for biofuel production and forestry

2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
A. Korobeinikov ◽  
P. Read ◽  
A. Parshotam ◽  
J. Lermit
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Fuel Wood ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Levels ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

It has been suggested that the large scale use of biofuel, that is, fuel derived from biological materials, especially in combination with reforestation of large areas, can lead to a low-cost reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In this paper, a model of three markets: fuel, wood products, and land are considered with the aim of evaluating the impact of large scale biofuel production and forestry on these markets, and to estimate the cost of a policy aimed at the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is shown that the costs are lower than had been previously expected.

scholarly journals Automatic delineation of debris-covered glaciers using InSAR coherence derived from X-, C- and L-band radar data: a case study of Yazgyl Glacier

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (247) ◽  
pp. 811-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEFAN LIPPL ◽  
SAURABH VIJAY ◽  
MATTHIAS BRAUN
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Window Size ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Morphological Operations ◽  
L Band ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Coherence Estimation ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTDespite their importance for mass-balance estimates and the progress in techniques based on optical and thermal satellite imagery, the mapping of debris-covered glacier boundaries remains a challenging task. Manual corrections hamper regular updates. In this study, we present an automatic approach to delineate glacier outlines using interferometrically derived synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) coherence, slope and morphological operations. InSAR coherence detects the temporally decorrelated surface (e.g. glacial extent) irrespective of its surface type and separates it from the highly coherent surrounding areas. We tested the impact of different processing settings, for example resolution, coherence window size and topographic phase removal, on the quality of the generated outlines. We found minor influence of the topographic phase, but a combination of strong multi-looking during interferogram generation and additional averaging during coherence estimation strongly deteriorated the coherence at the glacier edges. We analysed the performance of X-, C- and L- band radar data. The C-band Sentinel-1 data outlined the glacier boundary with the least misclassifications and a type II error of 0.47% compared with Global Land Ice Measurements from Space inventory data. Our study shows the potential of the Sentinel-1 mission together with our automatic processing chain to provide regular updates for land-terminating glaciers on a large scale.

scholarly journals Energy conservation by retrofitting of dwellings

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03010
Author(s):  
Imrich Sánka ◽  
Dušan Petráš
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Air Exchange Rate ◽  
Energy Auditing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of energy renovation on the indoor environmental quality of apartment building during heating season. The study was performed in one residential building before and after its renovation. Energy auditing and classification of the selected building into energy classes were carried out. Additionally, evaluation of indoor air quality was performed using objective measurements and subjective survey. Thermal environment and concentration of CO2 was measured in bedrooms. Higher concentrations of CO2 was observed in the residential building after its renovation. The concentrations of CO2, in some cases exceeded the recommended maximum limits, especially after implementing of energy saving measures on the building. The average air exchange rate was visible higher before renovation of the building. The current study indicates that large-scale of renovations may reduce the quality of the indoor environment in many apartments, especially in the winter season.

scholarly journals Automated Wormscan

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Puckering ◽  
Jake Thompson ◽  
Sushruth Sathyamurthy ◽  
Sinduja Sukumar ◽  
Tirosh Shapira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Moving Objects ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Software Training ◽  
Robust Identification ◽  
Labour Costs ◽  
Difference Images ◽  
Rapid Data Acquisition

There has been a recent surge of interest in computer-aided rapid data acquisition to increase the potential throughput and reduce the labour costs of large scale Caenorhabditis elegans studies. We present Automated WormScan, a low-cost, high-throughput automated system using commercial photo scanners, which is extremely easy to implement and use, capable of scoring tens of thousands of organisms per hour with minimal operator input, and is scalable. The method does not rely on software training for image recognition, but uses the generation of difference images from sequential scans to identify moving objects. This approach results in robust identification of worms with little computational demand. We demonstrate the utility of the system by conducting toxicity, growth and fecundity assays, which demonstrate the consistency of our automated system, the quality of the data relative to manual scoring methods and congruity with previously published results.

Impact of Depressive Symptoms on the Work-life Quality of Financial Workers in China

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
X.-L. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
The Impact

Depression cases have been reported among workers in the financial industries. Occupations in this industry are considered among the most stressful ones. This study aimed to examine the impact of depressive symptoms of financial workers in China on their productivity and well-being. A survey was conducted using a convenient sample of 1024 financial workers recruited from three large-scale financial organizations located in the north and south of China. The result of Hierarchical Regression Analyses shows that depressive symptoms of workers significantly impaired their work-life quality. Severity of depressive symptoms had significant positive relationships with three behavioral manifestations at works. These are, in order of decreasing effect size, turnover intention, presenteeism, and absenteeism. Specifically, depressive symptoms had a larger effect on presenteeism compared to absenteeism, which implies the unawareness or insufficient recognition of Chinese workers towards depression as an illness in comparison with other physical illnesses. Moreover, a Univariate Analysis was conducted to study the moderating effect of emotional labor on the relationship between the severity of depressive symptoms and presenteeism. An aggravating effect was found, displaying a greater damage of depressive symptoms to psychosocial functions of workers. Besides, depressive symptoms of workers also impaired their quality of life in aspects such as interpersonal relationships, life situation, and so on. This study provides evidence of impairments of depression in the workplace, urging the management to pay more attention to its employees' mental health no matter whether it is for the sake of the company's benefit or the employees' well-being.

scholarly journals METHODICAL APPROACHES TO THE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE QUALITY OF TRANSFORMATION PROCESSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (36) ◽  
pp. 203-209
Author(s):  
О. Baranovskyi ◽  
I. Boiarko ◽  
T. Zlunitsyna
Keyword(s):  
National Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Logical Scheme ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
Integral Assessment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Transformation Processes

The existing methods of separate central banks, regulators of financial markets, international financial and credit institutions, rating agencies and consulting companies, which can be used partially to assess the quality of transformational processes taking place in the financial sector, are analyzed. An adequate methodical toolkit is proposed, which will allow to assess the potential of the domestic financial sector, to identify the patterns of transformation processes, and also to assess the impact of their quality on the functioning of financial intermediaries and to propose appropriate mechanisms for ensuring their further development. The structural-logical scheme of formation of criteria and system of indicators of the quality of transformational processes in the financial sector of the country’s economy is developed. Investigated general approaches are considered to be useful for developing a methodology for the integral assessment of the quality of transformation processes in the financial sector of the economy by specifying the content of the main stages and methodological approaches to the goals and object of the research. Assessment of the quality of transformation processes in the financial sector of the national economy is an ambiguous process. This is due to the fact that, firstly, in this regard it can be considered as the impact of transformations on the quality of objects, and as the quality of the transformations in particular. Secondly, transformation processes in the financial sector of the national economy can be positive and negative; general and specific; large-scale and minor; systematic and dotted; intensive and extensive; priority and non-priority; stimulating and moderating; divergent; resource, technological, institutional, organizational, quality, behavioral; timely and spatial; painful, conflict and non-conflict; and also they are made with different expenses. Thirdly, both expected and actual results of transformation processes in the financial sector should be assessed.

scholarly journals Quality of life during the epidemic of COVID-19 and its associated factors among enterprise workers in East China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Chen ◽  
Qian Xu ◽  
Haijiang Lin ◽  
Jianfu Zhu ◽  
Yue Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Associated Factors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Home Ventilation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 related lockdown and home confinement might have an important impact on the quality of life in enterprise workers. We investigated the quality of life during the epidemic in enterprise workers who just returned to work, and assessed its potential influencing factors to have a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 epidemic lockdown and home confinement. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of enterprise workers conducted in Deqing and Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The Chinese version of EQ5D was used to assess life quality, and information about general characteristics and COVID-19 related factors was collected by a structured questionnaire, which was distributed through the social application “WeChat”. Results: A total of 2,435 participants were enrolled, 59.5% of which worked in Deqing. About 50% of the participants reported worries about the COVID-2019 epidemic and 40.1% had a centralized or home quarantine during the epidemic. The mean EQ-5D score and VAS were 0.990 and 93.5. Multiple logistic regression showed that the quality of life measures was related to physical activities (ORad=0.46) and keeping home ventilation (ORad=0.04) in Deqing, and were related to wearing a mask when going out (ORad=0.35), keeping home ventilation (ORad=0.16), unmarried status (ORad=2.38) and having a centralized or home quarantine (ORad=1.64) in Taizhou,Conclusions: The quality of life for returning enterprise workers in areas with different risks of COVID-19 was affected by different factors. Associated factors identified from this study would help develop proper intervention measures for enterprise workers to reduce the impact of large-scale public health events like the COVID-19 on their quality of life.

scholarly journals Enhancing students’ thinking skills through project-based learning in biology

Biosfer ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-249
Author(s):  
Denny Muhammad Fajar ◽  
Murni Ramli ◽  
Joko Ariyanto ◽  
Sri Widoretno ◽  
S Sajidan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Learning Engagement ◽  
High Achieving Students ◽  
Cognitive Levels ◽  
Grouping Strategies ◽  
Opposite Situation ◽  
The Impact

This research aims to enhance students' thinking skills (TS) through a project-based learning (PBL) intervention in two cycles of classroom action research (CAR) on the topic of the Ecosystem. TS was determined by the quantity and quality of the students' questions (SQ) and statements (SS), which were determined based on Bloom's taxonomy. The research target was students in grade X (N=31) of one social science class at a public high school in Surakarta. Their TS were rated as low during the Pre-cycle. Based on their verbal activities, the students were categorized into five active (A) and non-active (NA) groups (A-1, A-2, NA-1, NA-2, and NA-3). The NA students were more engaged after the two cycles of CAR. Although the A-1 and A-2 students posed more SQ and SS than the NA students, some of the NA-1, NA-2, and NA-3 students performed positively. In the Pre-cycle, only the C1 and C2 cognitive levels were detected, mostly as factual and conceptual. During the CAR, however, C4, C5, and C6 were found as procedural. In Cycle II, we can find a few examples of metacognition. Overall, this research has shown that PBL can be used to increase student learning engagement. They become active communicators. There was evidence that the quality of students' questions and statements improved to the level of C6 and metacognition. Hopefully, further research can be conducted on the impact of grouping strategies during PBL activities by purposively combining high-achieving students or actively questioning and giving their peers statements in the opposite situation.

scholarly journals Features of changes in the ecological situation in the Russian Federation and mechanisms for supporting the development of small towns

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Olga Malikova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Ecological Situation ◽  
Urban Agglomerations ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Impact

The formation of large urban agglomerations makes possible to ensure more rational use of productive resources and increase labor productivity. Large cities, as a rule, have developed infrastructure and educational sector. However, there is a difficult ecological situation in many large cities. With a large scale of the city, transport accessibility is seriously complicated. From the viewpoint of favorable habitat, good ecological conditions, small and medium-sized cities often benefit from urban agglomerations. In the Russian Federation, due to the dominance of raw materials industries and the underdevelopment of local industry, small and medium-sized cities are in decline. This predetermines the need to develop special measures to support such territorial entities. The study is based on the generalization of data on the change in the ecological situation in large cities and the impact of atmospheric air pollution on the quality of life of the population. In the framework of the study, the conclusion was substantiated about the expediency of carrying out special measures aimed at improving the ecological situation in large cities and developing measures to support small and medium-sized cities. The recommendations for stimulating the development of production in small and medium-sized cities are grounded. The results of the study can find applications in the practice of regional management.

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