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Key Measures (key + measure)
Selected AbstractsDynamic-window search for real-time simulation of dynamic systemsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2003Sugjoon Yoon Abstract 1Various parameter values are provided in the form of tables, where data keys are ordered and unevenly spaced in general, for real-time simulation of system components or dynamics of vehicles such as airplanes, automobiles, ships, and so on. The main purpose of this study is to compare conventional searching algorithms and to find or develop the most efficient searching method under constraint of real-time simulation, especially hardware-in-the-loop simulation. Since the real-time constraint enforces use of a fixed step size in the integration of system differential equations because of the inherent nature of input from and output to real hardware, the worst case of iterated probes in searching algorithms is the key measure of comparison. If a parameter value has certain dynamics because of its relation with the state variables of the simulated system, the integration algorithm and the step size, a searching region at a given time frame can be reduced dramatically from the entire data table taking advantage of the information. The size of the reduced searching region, named dynamic-searching window, varies and the window moves by its own dynamics as simulation time runs. Numerous numerical experiments were conducted with various data tables of different sizes and types, and yielded results compatible with relevant theories. In conclusion, whether bisection or interpolation or fast search is used in real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation, the combination of dynamic-window search guarantees a more stable and faster search of parameter values than using conventional algorithms alone. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] INTERRELATIONS AMONG LIKING ATTRIBUTES FOR APPLE PIE: RESEARCH APPROACHES AND PRAGMATIC VIEWPOINTSJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 4 2001HOWARD MOSKOWITZ ABSTRACT Liking is a key measure for applied product development. All too often, however, the liking attributes are simply reported, but other than analyzing overall liking ratings no other analysis is done on the ratings. Much more remains for applied product testers to learn from these liking attributes. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the interrelations among different liking attributes for apple pie. It shows that panelists discriminate among samples using different liking scales, but many of these scales correlate with each other creating a great deal of redundancy in the list of attributes. Factor analysis reveals one major dimension for liking of the entire pie, and three dimensions for liking of slices. A different way of analysis shows potentially more utility for developers. A linear model relating overall liking to each attribute liking reveals different slopes, suggesting different importance levels for the attribute liking scales. Furthermore, one can create an integrated liking model. The liking ratings can be combined into a single, overall product model, allowing the researcher to understand how changes in one liking attribute simultaneously affect all other liking attributes. [source] Measurement error bias in pharmaceutical cost-effectiveness analysisAPPLIED STOCHASTIC MODELS IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, Issue 5-6 2006*Article first published online: 20 DEC 200, Ian C. Marschner Abstract Drug development in the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly influenced by measures of cost-effectiveness, such as cost per life-year gained, and some governments make decisions about whether to pay for drugs based on cost-effectiveness considerations. While cost per life-year gained is a key measure of cost-effectiveness, costs associated with the intermediate outcome of improving a biomarker, such as cholesterol level or blood pressure, provide important supplementary information, particularly where mortality data may be limited. In this case, cost-effectiveness can be interpreted as the additional cost per unit time of achieving an additional beneficial biomarker response to treatment. A problem in this context is that biomarker assessment is typically subject to measurement error which leads to bias in assessing the benefit of a drug, and hence in the assessment of its cost-effectiveness. We discuss the adjustment of cost-effectiveness analyses for measurement error and consider the potential magnitude of bias that can arise. Using example calculations in the context of cholesterol-lowering therapy, it is demonstrated that such biases can be significant, leading to costs being overestimated by in excess of 25%. Ignoring measurement error in cost-effectiveness analyses can, therefore, have a substantial effect on the interpretation of such analyses. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] For debate: problems with the DMF index pertinent to dental caries data analysisCOMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 6 2005J. M. Broadbent Abstract , The Decayed, Missing, Filled (DMF) index has been used for over 50 years and is well established as the key measure of caries experience in dental epidemiology. Despite its long history of use, there is debate about the most appropriate number of surfaces to include for a missing tooth. Assigning the maximum possible value for the ,M' component of DMFS (Surfaces) leads to overestimation of an individual's caries experience, and in any associated comparisons of in-caries experience, whereas assigning the minimum possible value for the ,M' component has the opposite effect. Alternative methods of assigning the number of caries-affected surfaces for an extracted tooth are considered. The net caries increment and adjusted caries increment (common methods of correction of the crude increment measure for reversals) are discussed, along with incidence density, a measure of caries extent. Problems exist with the adjusted caries increment, particularly among cohorts with low mean baseline caries experience. Development of an alternative method of estimating the relationship of ,true' and ,examiner' reversals is advocated, as well as greater utilization of incidence density in dental epidemiology. [source] CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECTUREJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2003James A. Brickley Effective corporate leadership involves more than developing a good strategic plan and setting high ethical standards. It also means coming up with an organizational design that encourages the company's managers and employees to carry out its business plan and maintain its ethical standards. In this article, the authors use the term organizational architecture to refer to three key elements of a company's design: ,the assignment of decision-making authority,who gets to make what decisions; ,performance evaluation,the key measures of performance for evaluating business units and individual employees; and ,compensation structure,how employees are rewarded for meeting performance goals. In well-designed companies, each of these elements is mutually reinforcing and supportive of the company's overall business strategy. Decision-making authority is assigned to managers and employees who have the knowledge and experience needed to make the best investment and operating decisions. And to ensure that those decision makers have the incentive as well as the knowledge to make the best decisions, the corporate systems used to evaluate and reward their performance are based on measures that are linked as directly as possible to the corporate goal of creating value. Some of the most popular management techniques of the past two decades, such as reengineering, TQM, and the Balanced Scorecard, have often had disappointing results because they address only one or two elements of organizational architecture, leaving the overall structure out of balance. What's more, a flawed organizational design can lead to far worse than missed opportunities to create value. As the authors note, the recent corporate scandals involved not just improper behavior by senior executives, but corporate structures that, far from safeguarding against such behavior, in some ways encouraged it. In the case of Enron, for example, top management's near-total focus on boosting reported earnings (a questionable corporate goal to begin with) combined with decentralized decision making and loose oversight at all levels of the company to produce an enormously risky high-leverage strategy that ended up bringing down the firm. [source] The Government of Health Care and the Politics of Patient Empowerment: New Labour and the NHS Reform Agenda in EnglandLAW & POLICY, Issue 3 2010KENNETH VEITCH This article considers the issue of patient empowerment in the context of New Labour's proposed reforms to the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Through an exploration of some of the key measures in the government's white paper High Quality Care for All, the article argues for a conceptualization of patient empowerment as a political technique of governing. Patient empowerment, it is contended, can no longer be understood solely as a quantitative phenomenon to be balanced within the doctor-patient relationship. Rather, its deployment by the government as a way of governing health and health care more broadly demands that we consider what political functions,including, importantly, it is argued here, managing the problem of the increasing cost of illness and health care,patient empowerment may be involved in performing. In order to assist in this enquiry, the article draws on some of Michel Foucault's work on the art of governing. It is suggested that his understanding of the neoliberal mode of governing best captures the proposed changes to the NHS and the role patient empowerment plays in their implementation. [source] Small-scale mining and its socio-economic impact in developing countriesNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 1 2002Gavin Hilson This article examines both the positive and negative socio-economic impacts of small-scale mining in developing countries, and outlines some key measures for improving sustainability in the sector. It is important to clarify that, in spite of experiencing its share of environmental- and health-related problems that adversely impact human quality-of-life, small-scale mining plays a pivotal role in alleviating poverty in the developing world, and contributes significantly to national revenues and foreign exchange earnings. Though these important socio-economic contributions make small-scale mining an indispensable economic activity, there is an obvious need for improved sustainability in the industry, more specifically, for operations to resolve pressing problems, many of which have wide-ranging impacts. However, because most small-scale mines are low-tech and employ poorly trained uneducated people, it is difficult for the sector to improve on its own. Thus, governments and regional international bodies must play an expanded role in bridging critical information, techno-logic and economic gaps. It is concluded that governments and regional organizations could accomplish much in the way of improved sustainability in the small-scale mining industry by: (1) legalizing small-scale mining and implementing sector-specific legislation; (2) contributing to community development and providing increased economic support; and (3) providing training and educational assistance, and playing an expanded role in the dissemination and transfer of important technologies. [source] Up and Down with the Agrarian Question: Issue Attention and Land Reform in Contemporary BrazilPOLITICS & POLICY, Issue 4 2008Gabriel Ondetti The two most recent Brazilian presidents have both surprised observers with their land reform programs but for very different reasons. Despite presiding over a center-right government with strong ties to large landowners and a state-shrinking economic program, Fernando Henrique Cardoso implemented easily the largest rural land redistribution in Brazilian history. As the leader of a leftist party and a historic champion of radical land reform, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seemed to have sterling pro-land reform credentials. Yet Lula's program has, by some key measures, fallen well short of Cardoso's. This article attempts to explain these two anomalous outcomes. Drawing on Downs' concept of the "issue-attention cycle," it argues that the trajectory of land reform under Cardoso and Lula largely reflects the impact of a variable rarely cited in analyses of Brazilian politics: public issue saliency. This argument holds implications for both the future of land reform in Brazil and our broader understanding of the Brazilian political system. [source] Gearing up for mobile advertising: A cross-cultural examination of key factors that drive mobile messages home to consumersPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 8 2008Yung Kyun Choi Mobile advertising is gearing up for success, but researchers and practitioners need to understand how to measure the effectiveness of this advertising form,particularly the factors that drive mobile messages home in different cultures. This study identifies key measures of effectiveness as well as antecedent variables in the context of 629 Korean and American consumers. Entertainment and credibility were key factors predicting positive attitude and purchase intention among both Koreans and Americans. However, this study found multiple cross-cultural differences,particularly in informativeness, perceived interactivity, and the value of mobile advertising. Theoretical explanations and practical implications are suggested. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Effects of gut passage, feces, and seed handling on latency and rate of germination in seeds consumed by capuchins (Cebus capucinus)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Kim Valenta Abstract One of the key measures of the effectiveness of primary seed dispersal by animals is the quality of seed dispersal (Schupp: Plant Ecol 107/108 [1993] 15,29). We present data on quality of seed dispersal by two groups of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica to test the hypothesis that capuchin seed handling results in effective primary dispersal for some fruit species they consume. We examined seed handling for 27 plant species, and germination rates of 18 species consumed by capuchins. For five of the most commonly swallowed seed species, we determined germination rates and average time to germination (latency) for seeds ingested and defecated by capuchins and compared these to seeds removed directly from fruit and planted. For the same five species, we compared germination rates and latency for passed seeds planted in capuchin feces to those cleaned of feces and planted in soil. For three of five species, differences in proportion of germinated seeds were significantly higher for gut passed seeds than for controls. For four of five species, germination latency was significantly faster for gut passed seeds than for controls. Feces had either no effect on seed germination rate or precluded germination. Data presented here support the hypothesis that white-faced capuchins are effective primary dispersers. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Persistence of volatility in futures marketsTHE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 6 2006Zhiyao Chen This article examines the characteristics of key measures of volatility for different types of futures contracts to provide a better foundation for modeling volatility behavior and derivative values. Particular attention is focused on analyzing how different measures of volatility affect volatility persistence relationships. Intraday realized measures of volatility are found to be more persistent than daily measures, the type of GARCH procedure used for conditional volatility analysis is critical, and realized volatility persistence is not coherent with conditional volatility persistence. Specifically, although there is a good fit between the realized and conditional volatilities, no coherence exists between their degrees of persistence, a counterintuitive finding that shows realized and conditional volatility measures are not a substitute for one another. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:571,594, 2006 [source] Memory distortion in eyewitnesses: a meta-analysis of the post-identification feedback effectAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2006Amy Bradfield Douglass Feedback administered to eyewitnesses after they make a line-up identification dramatically distorts a wide range of retrospective judgements (e.g. G. L. Wells & A. L. Bradfield, 1998 Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(3), 360,376.). This paper presents a meta-analysis of extant research on post-identification feedback, including 20 experimental tests with over 2400 participant-witnesses. The effect of confirming feedback (i.e. ,Good, you identified the suspect') was robust. Large effect sizes were obtained for most dependent measures, including the key measures of retrospective certainty, view and attention. Smaller effect sizes were obtained for so-called objective measures (e.g. length of time the culprit was in view) and comparisons between disconfirming feedback and control conditions. This meta-analysis demonstrates the reliability and robustness of the post-identification feedback effect. It reinforces recommendations for double-blind testing, recording of eyewitness reports immediately after an identification is made, and reconsideration by court systems of variables currently recommended for consideration in eyewitness evaluations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Enhancing Public Accountability for Developing Countries: Major Constraints and StrategiesAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2009Pan Suk Kim Many Asian countries are attempting to promote public accountability as a part of public-sector reform, but their situation remains unsatisfactory compared to advanced countries. Except for a few, many Asian developing countries are still struggling with political and socioeconomic weaknesses. Indeed, the nature of public sector reform in many Asian developing countries differs substantially from that of advanced countries. Furthermore, the concept of accountability is not interpreted equally throughout the world. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to review the major constraints to enhancing public accountability in Asian developing countries and to discuss major strategies to promote such accountability from the perspective of developing countries. This article first reviews the concept of accountability and its development, followed by discussion of constraints in enhancing public accountability and public sector reform, key measures to enhance public accountability, and implications and conclusions. [source] | ||||||||||