Water allocation based on multiple criteria has the potential to maximize the total benefits to be gained from the use of a single unit of water. However most of the multi-criteria methods inherently include a conside...Water allocation based on multiple criteria has the potential to maximize the total benefits to be gained from the use of a single unit of water. However most of the multi-criteria methods inherently include a considerable degree of subjectivity. In this study, we have attempted to reduce the subjectivity factor from water allocation decision-making process by introducing a conjoint analysis method. Opinions on the importance of a number of water allocation criteria were sought from a large number of irrigation farmers. The opinion survey data were then analyzed using the traditional conjoint analysis method which is widely used to analyze marketing surveys. The analysis allowed objective determination of the relative importance of five water allocation criteria (i.e. net farm income, percent of family working on the farm, amount paid to irrigation agency for canal water share). Each water allocation criteria was divided into three levels and utility values for each criteria level were estimated from the farmers’ preferences on five water allocation criteria (attributes). The conjoint survey results revealed that the respondents prefer that “annual net farm income” be the most important attribute in water allocation decisions. As would be expected the vast majority of the respondents overwhelmingly placed the “water price” in the last position.展开更多
Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis(PrEP) prevents human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infection, but its use remains low among U.S. military men who have sex with men(MSM), likely due to mis-matching with personal pre...Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis(PrEP) prevents human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infection, but its use remains low among U.S. military men who have sex with men(MSM), likely due to mis-matching with personal preferences. We conducted a study to characterize preferences to PrEP measures within this population.Methods: HIV-negative military MSM were recruited through a closed, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered(LGBT) military social media group. The survey was anonymous, and consisted of five experimentally varied attributes in service delivery: dosing method, provider type, visit location, lab work evaluation location, and dispensing venue.Relative importance and part-worth utility scores were generated using hierarchical bayes(HB) estimation, and the randomized first choice model was used to examine participation interest across eight possible PrEP program scenarios.Results: A total of 429 participants completed the survey. Among the eight scenarios with varying attributes, the most preferred scenario featured a daily tablet, PrEP injection or implant, along with a military provider, smartphone/telehealth visit, and on-base locations for lab evaluation and medication pick-up. The results also emphasized the importance for providers to be familiar with PrEP prescription knowledge, and to provide interactions sensitive to sexual identity and mental health.Conclusions: A PrEP program consisting of daily tablet is preferred in military healthcare settings is preferred. Longacting implants and injections are also desired.展开更多
This paper applies conjoint analysis approach to simulate and determine the optimal marketing mix for a Romanian company that struggles to face the market higher competition. The company intends to launch its product ...This paper applies conjoint analysis approach to simulate and determine the optimal marketing mix for a Romanian company that struggles to face the market higher competition. The company intends to launch its product into a new market and surveys the likelihood of getting international. The survey helps the company to gather information from clients regarding product characteristics, price, method of distribution, and promotion, according to customer preferences. Having these data, it is made a marketing simulation using conjoint analysis in order to get the optimal marketing mix in launching the product on a new market. The optimal marketing mix is given by the highest mix of utility for the clients, but sometimes the marketing manager would choose a little bit lower utility mix, forced by the company restrictions.展开更多
Rehabilitation assessment plays a vital role in the recovery process of post-stroke patients.Currently,many studies have focused on the implementation of automated assessment scales.However,the impact of stroke on the...Rehabilitation assessment plays a vital role in the recovery process of post-stroke patients.Currently,many studies have focused on the implementation of automated assessment scales.However,the impact of stroke on the synergistic pattern between different human joints is not well understood.In this study,we developed an attention-coupled weighting based quantitative analysis model to identify the pathological alteration in the conjoint response structure between stroke patients and healthy participants,thus providing more intrinsic suggestions for the post-stroke rehabilitation training.In collaboration with the China Rehabilitation Research Center and the Macao University of Science and Technology,we recruited 15 post-stroke patients and 15 healthy participants to complete several actions selected from the Fugl-Meyer assessment(FMA)scale,which is a commonly used post-stroke rehabilitation assessment scale in clinical practice.Our study proposed an attentional coupling weight(ACW)extraction method.By filtering the weights in the attentional coupling network using a priori matrix,we can analyse the effect of stroke on the alteration of synergistic structures and the coordination patterns of the upper and lower extremities.Moreover,we used a commonly accepted synergy analysis method,the nonnegative matrix decomposition(NMF)method,for comparison and validation.The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of our method in quantifying the synergistic structure pattern alterations in post-stroke patients,which provides a new targeted option for the rehabilitation process.展开更多
Accurate cancer staging is the foundation of precision oncology and guides prognosis prediction and therapeutic decision-making. The conjoint TNM System by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Interna...Accurate cancer staging is the foundation of precision oncology and guides prognosis prediction and therapeutic decision-making. The conjoint TNM System by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) has served as the global standard for tumor classification since inception.展开更多
Objective To evaluate the clinical value of siltuximab in the treatment of Castleman disease based on multicriteria decision analysis(MCDA)and evidence and value:Impact on decision making(EVIDEM)framework.Methods The ...Objective To evaluate the clinical value of siltuximab in the treatment of Castleman disease based on multicriteria decision analysis(MCDA)and evidence and value:Impact on decision making(EVIDEM)framework.Methods The evidence matrix for quantitative analysis of MCDA was extracted through literature research,and the weight of each evaluation index was calculated by the maximum differentiation measure in conjoint analysis.Besides,the clinical value of siltuximab in the treatment of Castleman disease was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively based on the results of expert questionnaire surveys.Results and Conclusion The clinical value score of siltuximab was 0.491,and the weight ratio of“therapeutic benefit”(15.39%),“drug effectiveness”(14.46%)and“drug safety”(11.43%)were the three largest.Among the indexes of“drug effectiveness”“drug safety”“patient reported outcome”“therapeutic benefit”and“non-medical cost”,siltuximab for Castleman disease was considered to be a more valuable treatment option than other first-line therapies.By qualitative analysis,57%experts believed that siltuximab was a better treatment option.The indexes that contribute the most to the overall clinical value of siltuximab are“therapeutic benefit”“drug effectiveness”and“quality of evidence”,while the indexes that have a negative impact on the clinical value of siltuximab is“drug treatment cost”.展开更多
The long head of the biceps tendon （LHBT） pathology has been implicated as a common source of shoulder pain. The patients may be more resistant to conservative treatment than those with isolated subacromial impingem...The long head of the biceps tendon （LHBT） pathology has been implicated as a common source of shoulder pain. The patients may be more resistant to conservative treatment than those with isolated subacromial impingement. Even though, the surgical options of this disease remain controversial. It has been reported that tenotomy and tenodesis of the biceps tendon were usually utilized. However, persistent pain, deformity, and muscle cramping were frequently observed. Transfer of the LHBT to the conjoint tendon was originally described by Post and Benca in 1982.4 Verma et all has performed the transfer under arthroscopy since 2004. Eighty percent of their patients reported good results with a minimum 2 years of follow-up. However, there was a steep learning curve to become proficient in their technique. We devised a more convenient transfer compared with O＇Brien＇s technique. Six patients received our modified arthroscopic transfers from May 2006 to May 2007. All of them obtained good results.展开更多
This article presents the potential integration of psychotherapy and massage when considering the essence of their beneficial effects.The essence of this model of practice is multifaceted,combining principles from ana...This article presents the potential integration of psychotherapy and massage when considering the essence of their beneficial effects.The essence of this model of practice is multifaceted,combining principles from anatomy,physiology and neuroscience with psychotherapy to benefit patient care.It has been advocated that possessing multidisciplinary knowledge from these areas of science enhances psychotherapists＇ holistic care of their depressive patients.A narrative review of the literatures and a qualitative,conceptual synthesis has been performed to create a new theoretical-pragmatic construct.This article introduces the concept of massage practice as a part of psychotherapy practice and presents the potential integration of psychotherapeutic knowledge with clinical decision-making and the management of depressive symptoms.The authors emphasize the usefulness of multi- and interdisciplinary knowledge in the psychotherapeutic process and explain how this knowledge might be extrapolated and incorporated into theoretical and practical settings to benefit depressive patients.The justification for this concept is also presented.The principles set out in this article may be a useful source of information for psychotherapists concerned about their patients＇ holistic well-being in addition to the psychopathology for which they have sought treatment.Researchers and psychotherapists can obtain valuable and additional knowledge through cross-fertilization of ideas across the arguments presented here.展开更多
文摘Water allocation based on multiple criteria has the potential to maximize the total benefits to be gained from the use of a single unit of water. However most of the multi-criteria methods inherently include a considerable degree of subjectivity. In this study, we have attempted to reduce the subjectivity factor from water allocation decision-making process by introducing a conjoint analysis method. Opinions on the importance of a number of water allocation criteria were sought from a large number of irrigation farmers. The opinion survey data were then analyzed using the traditional conjoint analysis method which is widely used to analyze marketing surveys. The analysis allowed objective determination of the relative importance of five water allocation criteria (i.e. net farm income, percent of family working on the farm, amount paid to irrigation agency for canal water share). Each water allocation criteria was divided into three levels and utility values for each criteria level were estimated from the farmers’ preferences on five water allocation criteria (attributes). The conjoint survey results revealed that the respondents prefer that “annual net farm income” be the most important attribute in water allocation decisions. As would be expected the vast majority of the respondents overwhelmingly placed the “water price” in the last position.
基金supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR),under award number 1F31NR018620-01A1supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),Center for HIV Identification,Prevention,and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) under award number P30MH059107。
文摘Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis(PrEP) prevents human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infection, but its use remains low among U.S. military men who have sex with men(MSM), likely due to mis-matching with personal preferences. We conducted a study to characterize preferences to PrEP measures within this population.Methods: HIV-negative military MSM were recruited through a closed, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered(LGBT) military social media group. The survey was anonymous, and consisted of five experimentally varied attributes in service delivery: dosing method, provider type, visit location, lab work evaluation location, and dispensing venue.Relative importance and part-worth utility scores were generated using hierarchical bayes(HB) estimation, and the randomized first choice model was used to examine participation interest across eight possible PrEP program scenarios.Results: A total of 429 participants completed the survey. Among the eight scenarios with varying attributes, the most preferred scenario featured a daily tablet, PrEP injection or implant, along with a military provider, smartphone/telehealth visit, and on-base locations for lab evaluation and medication pick-up. The results also emphasized the importance for providers to be familiar with PrEP prescription knowledge, and to provide interactions sensitive to sexual identity and mental health.Conclusions: A PrEP program consisting of daily tablet is preferred in military healthcare settings is preferred. Longacting implants and injections are also desired.
文摘This paper applies conjoint analysis approach to simulate and determine the optimal marketing mix for a Romanian company that struggles to face the market higher competition. The company intends to launch its product into a new market and surveys the likelihood of getting international. The survey helps the company to gather information from clients regarding product characteristics, price, method of distribution, and promotion, according to customer preferences. Having these data, it is made a marketing simulation using conjoint analysis in order to get the optimal marketing mix in launching the product on a new market. The optimal marketing mix is given by the highest mix of utility for the clients, but sometimes the marketing manager would choose a little bit lower utility mix, forced by the company restrictions.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFC3601200)in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U1913601,U21A20479 and 62203441)+1 种基金in part by the Beijing Sci&Tech Program,China(No.Z211100007921021)in part by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation,China(No.Z170003).
文摘Rehabilitation assessment plays a vital role in the recovery process of post-stroke patients.Currently,many studies have focused on the implementation of automated assessment scales.However,the impact of stroke on the synergistic pattern between different human joints is not well understood.In this study,we developed an attention-coupled weighting based quantitative analysis model to identify the pathological alteration in the conjoint response structure between stroke patients and healthy participants,thus providing more intrinsic suggestions for the post-stroke rehabilitation training.In collaboration with the China Rehabilitation Research Center and the Macao University of Science and Technology,we recruited 15 post-stroke patients and 15 healthy participants to complete several actions selected from the Fugl-Meyer assessment(FMA)scale,which is a commonly used post-stroke rehabilitation assessment scale in clinical practice.Our study proposed an attentional coupling weight(ACW)extraction method.By filtering the weights in the attentional coupling network using a priori matrix,we can analyse the effect of stroke on the alteration of synergistic structures and the coordination patterns of the upper and lower extremities.Moreover,we used a commonly accepted synergy analysis method,the nonnegative matrix decomposition(NMF)method,for comparison and validation.The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of our method in quantifying the synergistic structure pattern alterations in post-stroke patients,which provides a new targeted option for the rehabilitation process.
基金supported by the Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (SZSM202211017)。
文摘Accurate cancer staging is the foundation of precision oncology and guides prognosis prediction and therapeutic decision-making. The conjoint TNM System by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) has served as the global standard for tumor classification since inception.
文摘Objective To evaluate the clinical value of siltuximab in the treatment of Castleman disease based on multicriteria decision analysis(MCDA)and evidence and value:Impact on decision making(EVIDEM)framework.Methods The evidence matrix for quantitative analysis of MCDA was extracted through literature research,and the weight of each evaluation index was calculated by the maximum differentiation measure in conjoint analysis.Besides,the clinical value of siltuximab in the treatment of Castleman disease was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively based on the results of expert questionnaire surveys.Results and Conclusion The clinical value score of siltuximab was 0.491,and the weight ratio of“therapeutic benefit”(15.39%),“drug effectiveness”(14.46%)and“drug safety”(11.43%)were the three largest.Among the indexes of“drug effectiveness”“drug safety”“patient reported outcome”“therapeutic benefit”and“non-medical cost”,siltuximab for Castleman disease was considered to be a more valuable treatment option than other first-line therapies.By qualitative analysis,57%experts believed that siltuximab was a better treatment option.The indexes that contribute the most to the overall clinical value of siltuximab are“therapeutic benefit”“drug effectiveness”and“quality of evidence”,while the indexes that have a negative impact on the clinical value of siltuximab is“drug treatment cost”.
文摘The long head of the biceps tendon （LHBT） pathology has been implicated as a common source of shoulder pain. The patients may be more resistant to conservative treatment than those with isolated subacromial impingement. Even though, the surgical options of this disease remain controversial. It has been reported that tenotomy and tenodesis of the biceps tendon were usually utilized. However, persistent pain, deformity, and muscle cramping were frequently observed. Transfer of the LHBT to the conjoint tendon was originally described by Post and Benca in 1982.4 Verma et all has performed the transfer under arthroscopy since 2004. Eighty percent of their patients reported good results with a minimum 2 years of follow-up. However, there was a steep learning curve to become proficient in their technique. We devised a more convenient transfer compared with O＇Brien＇s technique. Six patients received our modified arthroscopic transfers from May 2006 to May 2007. All of them obtained good results.
文摘This article presents the potential integration of psychotherapy and massage when considering the essence of their beneficial effects.The essence of this model of practice is multifaceted,combining principles from anatomy,physiology and neuroscience with psychotherapy to benefit patient care.It has been advocated that possessing multidisciplinary knowledge from these areas of science enhances psychotherapists＇ holistic care of their depressive patients.A narrative review of the literatures and a qualitative,conceptual synthesis has been performed to create a new theoretical-pragmatic construct.This article introduces the concept of massage practice as a part of psychotherapy practice and presents the potential integration of psychotherapeutic knowledge with clinical decision-making and the management of depressive symptoms.The authors emphasize the usefulness of multi- and interdisciplinary knowledge in the psychotherapeutic process and explain how this knowledge might be extrapolated and incorporated into theoretical and practical settings to benefit depressive patients.The justification for this concept is also presented.The principles set out in this article may be a useful source of information for psychotherapists concerned about their patients＇ holistic well-being in addition to the psychopathology for which they have sought treatment.Researchers and psychotherapists can obtain valuable and additional knowledge through cross-fertilization of ideas across the arguments presented here.
