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Different Attributes (different + attribute)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	55%

Selected Abstracts

Perceived support from healthcare practitioners among adults with type 2 diabetes

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 7 2010
Bjørg Oftedal
oftedal b., karlsen b. & bru e. (2010) Perceived support from healthcare practitioners among adults with type 2 diabetes. Journal of Advanced Nursing,66(7), 1500,1509. Abstract Title.,Perceived support from healthcare practitioners among adults with type 2 diabetes. Aim., This paper is a report of a study of how adults with type 2 diabetes perceive different attributes of support provided by healthcare practitioners and how various attributes of support can influence people's motivation to self-manage their disease. Background., Motivational problems seem to be a major reason for poor diabetes management. According to well-known theories of motivation, expectations of being able to perform certain behaviours are a key element. Different attributes of support from healthcare practitioners are likely to influence such expectations. To date, no researchers have specifically examined how people with type 2 diabetes perceive different attributes of support from healthcare practitioners and how these may influence their motivation to manage their disease themselves. Methods., A descriptive/explorative qualitative design and focus groups were used to collect data. The sample consisted of 19 adults with type 2 diabetes, and the data were collected in 2007 and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings., Five themes were identified, reflecting perceived attributes of support from healthcare practitioners: (1) an empathetic approach, (2) practical advice and information, (3) involvement in decision-making, (4) accurate and individualized information and (5) ongoing group-based support. Conclusion., Healthcare practitioners may strengthen the self-management motivation among adults with type 2 diabetes by enhancing expectations of being able to perform the necessary diabetes care, and through the provision of empathetic, individualized, practical and ongoing group-based support. [source]

Selection of Descriptors for Particle Shape Characterization

PARTICLE & PARTICLE SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION, Issue 1 2003

Abstract Conventional shape descriptors, formed from a ratio of two particle size measurements, are among the simplest of the many methods used for quantitative particle shape characterization. However, a significant limitation of using one of these shape descriptors is that its value is often not unique to a specific shape. Use of several different shape descriptors may circumvent this problem but, as particle size can be defined in a large number of ways, a similarly large number of shape descriptors can be defined. While some differ substantially, others are only subtly different, conveying similar information. Thus, it is not obvious which of the many possible descriptors should be utilized. In this paper, two-dimensional particle shape descriptors obtained by image analysis of six different commercially sourced powders were considered. Techniques of cluster and correlation analysis were applied to assist in identifying redundant descriptors for shape characterization of these powder particles, allowing for efficient description of shape using a reduced set. It was found that at least two descriptors are required: aspect ratio and the square root of form factor. Significantly, each descriptor is most sensitive to a different attribute of shape: elongation and ruggedness, respectively. [source]

SURVEYING UNIVERSITY STUDENT STANDARDS IN ECONOMICS

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2005
Peter Abelson
In late 2003 and early 2004 the Economic Society of Australia surveyed the Heads of Economics Departments in Australia to determine their views on three main issues: student standards; major factors affecting these standards; and policy implications. This paper describes the main results of the survey, reviews the conduct and value of this kind of survey, and discusses policy implications for economics in universities. Most respondents considered that student standards have declined and that the main causes include lower entry standards, high student/staff ratios, and a declining culture of study. However, some respondents argued that standards are multi-dimensional and that people may properly attach different weights to different attributes. Strong precautions assuring anonymity to respondents minimised strategic responses, but may not have eliminated them entirely. However, the respondents' views were based largely on experience rather than evidence and a major finding of this paper is the need for more evidence on standards and on the factors that influence them. Most respondents favoured a decentralised university-based approach to dealing with these issues, contending that centralised accreditation is inappropriate and that market forces would promote quality issues. In the writer's view, externally set and assessed exams as part of university examination procedures would lift standards and send out improved market signals. [source]

Using discrete choice experiments to value preferences for pharmacy services

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 1 2005
Dr. Katherine Payne Research fellow
Objective This paper describes the application of discrete choice experiments (DCEs), in the measurement of consumers' preferences for pharmacy services. Summary Patients' preferences for healthcare influence strongly their use of services. Quantifying revealed preferences for services (what services people use) is not always possible because either the service does not yet exist or the consumer has no experience of it. There is a need for tools that measure stated preference (what people say they will do) for healthcare, to allow development of new services. DCEs have been used in the valuation of preferences for healthcare services and interventions and can be applied usefully to the valuation of preferences for pharmacy services. DCEs assume that preferences are based on preferences for different attributes of a service, and that consumers are prepared to trade off one attribute against another, such as effectiveness versus side-effects. In a DCE study, respondents make hypothetical choices between scenarios of services with fixed attributes, but varying levels, revealing their strength of preference for attributes of that service. These data are analysed using regression, which generates coefficients that quantify the direction and magnitude of preferences. Marginal rates of substitution and willingness to pay for each attribute can be estimated, which provide powerful information for future service provision. For this approach to be applied in practice, key methodological issues must be handled explicitly, principally scenario design, attribute and level selection, orthogonality, level balance, minimal overlap and utility balance. A hypothetical example of a DCE designed for valuing consumers' preferences for a medication review service for the elderly is described. [source]

Particulate Organic Matter (POM) in the Humid and Wet Zones of the Ellegirini River, Kenya

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF HYDROBIOLOGY, Issue 4-5 2007
Charles Mwithali M'Erimba
Abstract Field experiments to quantify the amount of particulate organic matter as an energy source for the system were conducted between February 2002 and June 2002 in humid and wet zones of the Ellegirini River in Kenya. The experiment involved collecting ten random samples from each zone. The humid zone held a hundred times more coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) ash-free dry mass than the wet zone, where the stream current and other influencing parameters decreased CPOM amount. In conclusion it can be said that these significant differences are the result of different attributes between these two zones. Factors like current velocity, discharge or the absence of CPOM holding structures are responsible for low CPOM in the wet zone. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Perceived support from healthcare practitioners among adults with type 2 diabetes

Decomposing the Value of Agricultural Multifunctionality: Combining Contingent Valuation and the Analytical Hierarchy Process

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2007
Zein Kallas
Q18; Q11; Q25 Abstract Agricultural multifunctionality is the recognition of the joint exercise of economic, environmental and social functions by this sector. Nevertheless, not all these contributions to society are valued in markets, moreover a large share of them are public goods. For this reason, in order to make this concept of multifunctionality operative for the design of public policies, it is necessary to estimate the social demand of such functions. The objective of this article was to implement an empirical application along these lines. For this purpose, the agricultural system of cereal steppes in Tierra de Campos in Spain is taken as a case study. The economic valuation technique used relies on a combined implementation of contingent valuation and the analytical hierarchy process. The results obtained demonstrate the existence of a significant demand for the different attributes included in the multifunctionality concept, although this demand is heterogeneous and is based on the socioeconomic characteristics of individual persons. [source]

Women's and health professionals' preferences for prenatal testing for Down syndrome in Australia

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Sharon M. LEWIS
Abstract Aim:, To describe and compare women's and health professionals' preferences for prenatal screening tests for Down syndrome. Design:, Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Participants and setting:, Women (n = 322) attending for a glucose challenge test at 26 weeks gestation and health professionals (266 midwives and 34 obstetricians) at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, between 13 December 2002 and 30 April 2003. Outcome measures:, The relative value participants attach to attributes of Down syndrome screening tests as determined by conjoint analysis and ranking scales. Results:, Women and health professionals shared similar relative values regarding the importance of detection rate of screening tests, according to coefficients from conjoint analysis models. However, health professionals placed higher relative values on timing of prenatal tests and risk associated with the subsequent diagnostic test than did women. Comparison of coefficients suggests that, compared with health professionals, women would wait longer and accept a greater decrease in detection rate for a test if it was safer. Using the more traditional ranking scale, the safest test was ranked first by 56% of women while 47% of health professionals ranked a test with the highest detection rate first. Equal proportions (,10%) in both groups ranked the earliest test first. Conclusion:, There is a general agreement between pregnant women and health professionals regarding the relative importance they attach to different attributes of a test. However, health professionals appeared to favour earlier timing of tests while women placed greater emphasis on safety. Utilising two different measures of preference demonstrated the complexity of decision-making. [source]

Preferences for aspects of a dermatology consultation

BRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2006
J. Coast
Summary Background, General practitioners with special interests (GPSIs) are increasingly being used to provide dermatology services in the U.K. Little is known about U.K. dermatology patient attitudes to proposed variations in secondary care service delivery or the values they attach to aspects of the care they receive. Objectives, To quantify preferences for different attributes of care within dermatology secondary care services. Methods, Attributes of care that are important to dermatology patients were derived using in-depth qualitative interviews with 19 patients at different points in the care pathway. A discrete choice experiment using ,best,worst scaling' was sent by post to 119 patients referred to secondary care dermatology services and suitable for GPSI care who had agreed to participate in research. Results, Four attributes were derived from the qualitative work: waiting, expertise, thorough care and convenience. For the discrete choice experiment, 99 patients returned questionnaires, 93 of which contained sufficient data for analysis. All attributes were found to be quantitatively important. The attribute of greatest importance was expertise of the doctor, while waiting time was of least importance. Respondents were willing to wait longer than the current 3 months maximum to receive care that was thorough, 2·1 months to see a team led by an expert and 1·3 months to attend a consultation that is easy to get to. Conclusions, Although the need to reduce outpatient waiting times is a key policy driver behind the expansion of GPSI services, this does not appear to be the most important issue for patients. The thoroughness with which the consultation is provided and the expertise of the clinician seen are higher priorities. [source]