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Greater Utility (greater + utility)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Learning from the Danish case: A comment on Palle Svensson's critique of the Franklin thesis

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2002
Mark N. Franklin
Palle Svensson in this issue of EJPR has objected to the characterisation of Danish voters made by Franklin and others who, in various publications, expounded the thesis that on issues of low salience, referendum votes tend to follow party lines. Svensson finds evidence that the Maastricht Treaty was not an issue of low salience to Danish voters in the ratification referendums conducted there, and gives other details of the evolution of public opinion regarding Europe that clarify the circumstances in which our thesis should apply. In the light of his arguments, this Comment presents a more nuanced version of the thesis that learns from the Danish case, and should be of greater utility than our earlier version in helping to interpret the role of government standing in referendum outcomes. [source]

Immunohistochemical Expression of Cutaneous Leiomyosarcoma

JOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
P. Bhattacharjee
Immunohistochemistry plays a vital role in distinguishing cutaneous leiomyosarcoma (CLMS) from other spindle cell neoplasms. Recently, several new immunohistochemical markers of smooth muscle differentiation (calponin, h-caldesmon) have shown greater utility in the diagnosis of CLMS. We compared the expression of various traditional and novel immunohistochemical markers in CLMS. Thirteen cases of CLMS were immunostained with a panel of antibodies (SMA, MSA, desmin, vimentin, S100, cytokeratin, NSE, HMB-45, CD117, procollagen, h-caldesmon and calponin. Immunostaining was graded from 0 to 4+ based on the percentage of positive staining. All 13 cases of CLMS showed positive staining with SMA, MSA and h-caldesmon. 12 cases showed positive staining with desmin, calponin, vimentin and NSE. 8 cases showed positive staining with CD117 and procollagen. 4 and 3 cases showed focal positive staining for S100 and cytokeratin. All cases were HMB-45 negative. All 13 cases exhibited greater than 50% staining with SMA and MSA. 11 cases were strongly positive (>50%) for calponin and h-caldesmon, while only 8 cases were strongly positive for desmin. Our study finds no significant difference between traditional and novel smooth muscle immunostains. We conclude that a panel of immunohistochemical stains should be employed to differentiate CLMS from other spindle cell neoplasms. [source]

Usefulness of the discrete choice methodology for marketing decision-making in new product development: an example from the European functional foods market

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010
Athanasios Krystallis
Understanding consumer needs should be a high-priority strategic objective in new product development (NPD). Despite their importance, however, NPD processes do not take full advantage of the consumer survey methodologies available. The authors investigate+ parents" preferences for three new functional children's snacks marketed in Greece. Using a very simple discrete choice experimental design, the authors aim (a) to provide an example of consumer research implementation in food-related NPD and to assess its marketing value, and (b) to evaluate the quality of the acquired consumer-related information for marketing decision-making in food consumer-led NPD processes against a number of criteria set in the relevant literature. "Functionality" is found to be a statistically significant attribute for all three children's snacks of the research design compared to other attributes such as flavor and price. Parents seem to perceive the functional snack alternative as offering greater utility as compared to its conventional (i.e., nonfunctional) counterpart. Overall, the authors conclude that, despite some inherent weaknesses, the advantage of the discrete choice methodology in connection with consumer-led food NPD lies in its ability to describe current consumer needs and desires realistically and to contribute to the optimization of existing products. [EconLit Classification: M310, C920, C930, D100]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

A Metric of Maternal Prenatal Risk Drinking Predicts Neurobehavioral Outcomes in Preschool Children

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2009
Lisa M. Chiodo
Background:, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, continue to be high-incidence developmental disorders. Detection of patterns of maternal drinking that place fetuses at risk for these disorders is critical to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, but is challenging and often insufficient during pregnancy. Various screens and measures have been used to identify maternal risk drinking but their ability to predict child outcome has been inconsistent. This study hypothesized that a metric of fetal "at-risk" alcohol exposure (ARAE) derived from several indicators of maternal self-reported drinking would predict alcohol-related neurobehavioral dysfunctions in children better than individual measures of maternal alcohol consumption alone. Methods:, Self-reported peri-conceptional and repeated maternal drinking during pregnancy were assessed with semi-structured interviews and standard screens, i.e., the CAGE, T-ACE, and MAST, in a prospective sample of 75 African-American mothers. Drinking volumes per beverage type were converted to standard quantity and frequency measures. From these individual measures and screening instruments, a simple dichotomous index of prenatal ARAE was defined and used to predict neurobehavioral outcomes in the 4- to 5-year-old offspring of these women. Study outcomes included IQ, attention, memory, visual-motor integration, fine motor skill, and behavior. Statistical analyses controlled for demographic and other potential confounders. Results:, The current "at-risk" drinking metric identified over 62% of the mothers as drinking at risk levels,23% more than the selection criterion identified,and outperformed all individual quantity and frequency consumption measures, including averages of weekly alcohol use and "binge" alcohol exposures (assessed as intake per drinking occasion), as well as an estimate of the Maternal Substance Abuse Checklist (Coles et al., 2000), in predicting prenatal alcohol-related cognitive and behavioral dysfunction in 4- to 5-year-old children. Conclusions:, A metric reflecting multiple indices of "at-risk" maternal alcohol drinking in pregnancy had greater utility in predicting various prenatal alcohol-related neurobehavioral dysfunction and deficits in children compared to individual measures of maternal self-reported alcohol consumption or a previous maternal substance abuse index. Assessing fetal risk drinking in pregnant women was improved by including multiple indicators of both alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences and, if appropriate practical applications are devised, may facilitate intervention by health care workers during pregnancy and potentially reduce the incidence or severity of FASDs. [source]