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High Quality Data (high + quality_data)
Selected AbstractsAUTOMATICALLY OPERATING RADARS FOR MONITORING INSECT PEST MIGRATIONSINSECT SCIENCE, Issue 4 2002Alistair Drake Abstract, Over the last three decades, special-purpose "entomological" radars have contributed much to the development of our understanding of insect migration, especially of the nocturnal migrations at altitudes of up to , 1 km that are regularly undertaken by many important pest species. One of the limitations of early radar studies, the difficulty of maintaining observations over long periods, has recently been overcome by the development of automated units that operate autonomously and transmit summaries of their observations to a base laboratory over the public telephone network. These relatively low-cost Insect Monitoring Radars (IMRs) employ a novel "ZLC" configuration that allows high quality data on the migrants' flight parameters and identity to be acquired. Two IMRs are currently operating in the semi-arid inland of eastern Australia, in a region where populations of migrant moths (Lepidoptera) and Australian plague locusts Chortoicetes terminifera (Orthoptera) commonly originate, and some examples of outputs from one of these units are presented. IMRs are able to provide the data needed to characterize a migration system, i.e. to estimate the probabilities of migration events occurring in particular directions at particular seasons and in response to particular environmental conditions and cues. They also appear capable of fulfilling a "sentinel" role for pest-management organisations, alerting forecasters to major migration events and thus to the likely new locations of potential target populations. Finally, they may be suitable for a more general ecological monitoring role, perhaps especially for quantifying year-to-year variations in biological productivity. [source] Methodological issues in online data collectionJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2007Mary Ann Cantrell Abstract Title.,Methodological issues in online data collection Aim., This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the use of an online data collection method to survey early survivors of childhood cancer about their physical and psychosocial characteristics and health-related quality of life. Background., A major advantage in conducting web-based nursing research is the ability to involve participants who are challenging to study because of their small numbers or inaccessibility because of geographic location. As paediatric oncology patients and early survivors of childhood cancer are often not easily accessible because of their small numbers at single institutions, web-based research methods have been proposed as a potentially effective approach to collect data in studies involving these clinical populations. Method., Guided by published literature on using the Internet for data collection, an online protocol was developed; this included construction of a website, development of a homepage and interactive HyperText Markup Language pages and the posting of the study link on various websites. Data collection occurred over a 6-month period between December 2005 and May 2006. Findings., Despite using strategies in conducting online research cited in published literature, the recruitment of subjects was very prolonged and the volume of missing data among many respondents excluded them from the study and created bias within the study's results. Conclusion., Web-based, online data collection methods create opportunities to conduct research globally, especially among difficult to access populations. However, web-based research requires careful consideration of how the study will be advertized and how data will be collected to ensure high quality data and validity of the findings. [source] Studying complex caring interfaces: key issues arising from a study of multi-agency rehabilitative care for people who have suffered a strokeJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 3 2002DAVINA ALLEN BA ,,Ensuring `seamless' health and social services provision has been a concern of policy makers for many years but our understanding of this complex system of work remains underdeveloped. ,,This article reports selected findings from a series of ethnographic case studies of health and social services provision to adults recovering from a first acute stroke. ,,Flexible working, the need for a lead professional and the transition from hospital to home are themes considered. ,,The need for high quality data in order to develop our existing understanding of complex caring interfaces is underlined. [source] Telemetric Intracavernosal and Intraspongiosal Pressure MonitoringTHE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 10 2008Rany Shamloul MD ABSTRACT Introduction., Despite the major breakthroughs basic research in erectile physiology experienced in the last, most of the methods used for quantitative assessment of erectile function in longitudinal studies suffer many drawbacks. Objective., This review will focus on radiotelemetric assessment of intracavernosal (ICP) and intraspongiosal (ISP) regarding the technique, data collection, interpretation, and overall benefits. Results., Telemetric recording of ICP and ISP allows for qualitative and quantitative assessment of erectile responses in experimental animals, a characteristic that is not possible using other techniques. This technique has many advantages that can collectively lead to production of high quality data regarding erection. The system suffers two drawbacks, its high cost and the need for surgical implantation of the transmitter. Conclusion., The use of telemetric monitoring of ICP and ISP carries many advantages that will, hopefully, establish this technique as the gold standard method for assessment of erectile responses in the near future. Shamloul R. Telemetric intracavernosal and intraspongiosal pressure monitoring. J Sex Med 2008;5:2246,2252. [source] Empirical properties of duality theoryAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2002Jayson L. Lusk This research examines selected empirical properties of duality relationships. Monte Carlo experiments indicate that Hessian matrices estimated from the normalised unrestricted profit, restricted profit and production functions yield conflicting results in the presence of measurement error and low relative price variability. In particular, small amounts of measurement error in quantity variables can translate into large errors in uncompensated estimates calculated via restricted and unrestricted profit and production functions. These results emphasise the need for high quality data when estimating empirical models in order to accurately determine dual relationships implied by economic theory. [source] |