Accurately reflecting expected prices in stated preference designs can be challenging for foods like ribeye steak, which exhibit stark fluctuations in prices across time and space. To address this ...issue, we introduce a novel price vector design, the reference‐price‐informed (RP‐informed) design, which directly incorporates individual's reference prices into discrete choice experiments. By presenting consumers with posted prices that align with their expected prices, this design reflects real‐world food markets. We test this design in a discrete choice experiment evaluating consumer preferences for “low carbon” beef. Our results project a very small market share of low‐carbon ribeye (3%–5%) with conventional meat taking up most of the market. Our results also show that a reference‐price‐informed design reduces reference price uncertainty and leads to more conservative market share estimates than traditional designs, thus preventing the potential overestimation of product's market potential.
The present study aims to highlight the users' awareness as well as opinion regarding virtual reference service (VRS) in respect to traditional reference service (TRS) and to throw light on critical ...dimensions which may provide new insight in the pre-implementation stage of VRS in Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) libraries. The study is based on a sample drawn from users of the CRIKC libraries. To assess and evaluate the users' perception about the feasibility of VRS, a structured interview schedule was prepared and conducted among 388 users of CRIKC libraries. The reason for choosing an interview schedule was to know the status of VRS as well as users' opinion regarding the service in greater depth.
Die Autorinnen und Autoren geben Einblicke in das Projekt MyHealth am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), in dem von 2017–2022 partizipativ Maßnahmen und Strukturen zur Förderung von ...Studierendengesundheit erforscht, vernetzt und entwickelt wurden. Mittels Konzepten, Praxisbeispielen und Zusatzmaterialien geben sie einen Überblick über zentrale Aspekte eines lebensweltorientierten Studentischen Gesundheitsmanagements (SGM). Themen sind unter anderem• Begriffe und Strategien der Gesundheitsförderung für Studierende,• SGM in Forschung und Lehre,• Kommunikation und Wissenstransfer,• Verstetigung und Perspektiven.Der Band ermöglicht es, die Projekterkenntnisse hinsichtlich ihrer Übertragbarkeit auf andere Hochschuleinrichtungen zu diskutieren.
The face-to-face academic reference interview, while once the only means of accessing the services of professional reference librarians, is in the process of being almost entirely replaced by a range ...of online reference services. While such virtual reference services (VRS) provide convenient and instant access to guidance and support from librarians, they also potentially allow responding librarians to let their unconscious biases impact the service provided based on the racial or ethnic belonging of the user. This email-based observation study seeks to investigate whether there is evidence for implicit ethnic bias or discrimination displayed in virtual reference interactions conducted at academic libraries in England. Findings from the data analysis of a total of 158 received responses demonstrate trends of some unequal service provision provided to users based potentially on ethnicity or race, as well as an overall lack of adherence to professional guidelines on best-practices for academic reference interactions. While the results of this study point towards the need for greater adherence to professional guidelines generally, it becomes clear that the guidelines themselves must do better at engaging and explicitly thematising the impact of race and ethnicity on library service provision in order to ensure that such guidelines are actively anti-racist rather than merely race-neutral.
All known direct and indirect approaches for the estimation of reference intervals (RIs) have difficulties in processing very skewed data with a high percentage of values at or below the detection ...limit. A new model for the indirect estimation of RIs is proposed, which can be applied even to extremely skewed data distributions with a relatively high percentage of data at or below the detection limit. Furthermore, it fits better to some simulated data files than other indirect methods. The approach starts with a quantile-quantile plot providing preliminary estimates for the parameters (λ, μ, σ) of the assumed power normal distribution. These are iteratively refined by a truncated minimum chi-square (TMC) estimation. The finally estimated parameters are used to calculate the 95% reference interval. Confidence intervals for the interval limits are calculated by the asymptotic formula for quantiles, and tolerance limits are determined via bootstrapping. If age intervals are given, the procedure is applied per age interval and a spline function describes the age dependency of the reference limits by a continuous function. The approach can be performed in the statistical package R and on the Excel platform.
Even the best reference librarian can falter when suddenly thrust into cyberspace without the proper tools and training. As online library reference services become commonpractice, there’s a critical ...need to develop core competencies unique to the virtual world—from conducting chats to multitasking. What does it take to be successful at the virtual reference desk? Washington State has committed to training its librarians to provide answers "anytime, anywhere." Now this proven, learner-centered approach is available to libraries large and small, as they confront issues relating to offering virtual reference or improving existing services.
Purpose
A joint IAEA/AAPM international working group has developed a Code of Practice (CoP) for the dosimetry of small static fields used in external megavoltage photon beam radiotherapy, published ...by the IAEA as TRS‐483. This summary paper introduces and outlines the main aspects of the CoP.
Methods
IAEA TRS‐483 is a condensation of the wide range of different approaches that have been described in the literature for the reference dosimetry of radiotherapy machines with nominal accelerating potential up to 10 MV that cannot establish the conventional 10 cm × 10 cm reference field, and for the determination of field output factors for relative dosimetry in small static photon fields. The formalism used is based on that developed by Alfonso et al. Med Phys. 2008;35:5179–5186 for this modality.
Results
Three introductory sections describe the rationale and context of the CoP, the clinical use of small photon fields, and the physics of small‐field dosimetry. In the fourth section, definitions of terms that are specific to the CoP (as compared to previous CoPs for broad‐beam reference dosimetry, such as IAEA TRS‐398 and AAPM TG‐51) are given; this section includes a list of the symbols and equivalences between IAEA and AAPM nomenclature to facilitate the practical implementation of the CoP by end users of IAEA TRS‐398 and AAPM TG‐51. The fifth section summarizes the equations and procedures that are recommended in the CoP and the sixth section provides an overview of the methods used to derive the data provided in IAEA TRS‐483.
Conclusions
This is the first time an international Code of Practice for the dosimetry of small photon fields based on comprehensive data and correction factors has been published. This joint IAEA/AAPM CoP will ensure consistent reference dosimetry traceable to the international System of Units and enable common and internationally harmonized procedures to be followed by radiotherapy centers worldwide for the dosimetry of small static megavoltage photon fields.
Using laboratory test results for diagnosis and monitoring requires a reliable reference to which the results can be compared. Currently, most reference data is derived from the population, and ...patients in this context are considered members of a population group rather than individuals. However, such reference data has limitations when used as the reference for an individual. A patient's test results preferably should be compared with their own, individualized reference intervals (RI), i.e. a personalized RI (prRI).
The prRI is based on the homeostatic model and can be calculated using an individual's previous test results obtained in a steady-state situation and estimates of analytical (CV
A
) and biological variation (BV). BV used to calculate the prRI can be obtained from the population (within-subject biological variation, CV
I
) or an individual's own data (within-person biological variation, CV
P
). Statistically, the prediction interval provides a useful tool to calculate the interval (i.e. prRI) for future observation based on previous measurements. With the development of information technology, the data of millions of patients is stored and processed in medical laboratories, allowing the implementation of personalized laboratory medicine. PrRI for each individual should be made available as part of the laboratory information system and should be continually updated as new test results become available.
In this review, we summarize the limitations of population-based RI for the diagnosis and monitoring of disease, provide an outline of the prRI concept and different approaches to its determination, including statistical considerations for deriving prRI, and discuss aspects which must be further investigated prior to implementation of prRI in clinical practice.
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