Search results for "Rationalization"
showing 10 items of 108 documents
Rationale and design of dal-VESSEL: a study to assess the safety and efficacy of dalcetrapib on endothelial function using brachial artery flow-media…
2011
Dalcetrapib increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels through effects on cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). As part of the dalcetrapib dal-HEART clinical trial programme, the efficacy and safety of dalcetrapib is assessed in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in the dal-VESSEL study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00655538), the design and methods of which are presented here. RESEARCH DESIGN AND STUDY METHOD: Men and women with CHD or CHD risk equivalent, with HDL-C levels50 mg/dL were recruited for a 36-week, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. After a pre-randomisation phase of up to 8 weeks, patients received dalcetrapib 600 mg/day or placebo in …
The rise of the middle author: Investigating collaboration and division of labor in biomedical research using partial alphabetical authorship
2017
Contemporary biomedical research is performed by increasingly large teams. Consequently, an increasingly large number of individuals are being listed as authors in the bylines, which complicates the proper attribution of credit and responsibility to individual authors. Typically, more importance is given to the first and last authors, while it is assumed that the others (the middle authors) have made smaller contributions. However, this may not properly reflect the actual division of labor because some authors other than the first and last may have made major contributions. In practice, research teams may differentiate the main contributors from the rest by using partial alphabetical author…
An Optimized Design of Choice Experiments: A New Approach for Studying Decision Behavior in Choice Task Experiments
2014
In this paper, we present a new approach for the optimal experimental design problem of generating diagnostic choice tasks, where the respondent's decision strategy can be unambiguously deduced from the observed choice. In this new approach, we applied a genetic algorithm that creates a one-to-one correspondence between a set of predefined decision strategies and the alternatives of the choice task; it also manipulates the characteristics of the choice tasks. In addition, this new approach takes into account the measurement errors that can occur when the preferences of the decision makers are being measured. The proposed genetic algorithm is capable of generating diagnostic choice tasks eve…
Local State-Society Relations in Romania
2020
The chapter on Romania illustrates the working of networks of local state-society relations in a top-down context where the central government mandates the creation of networks and local governments are supposed to initiate and operationalize them. The chapter discusses two collaborative networks—local action groups and community consultative structures for child protection—and two self-reflective networks—local working groups on Roma issues and consultative committees on youth issues. The networks analyzed vary in terms of policy field coverage (broader vs. narrower field of activity), territorial coverage (single vs. multiple municipalities), and perceived stability in time. The analysis …
The Psychology of Thinking in Creating AI
2021
The broad-scale emergence of AI in industry calls forth basic questions in terms of the knowledge bases and approaches relevant for its design. Engineering design has been mainly developed for electromechanical artifacts. In practice, this has meant that the scientific knowledge required for creating technical artifacts such as engines, cars, ships, cranes, telephones, radios, TVs, and simple data processing units has been natural science. However, one cannot find intelligent processes by means of physics and chemistry. Natural scientific phenomena follow their deterministic laws, but intelligence is based on selection and decision processes. The conceptual landscape of natural science is o…
Assessing interactional skills in a paired speaking test : raters’ interpretation of the construct
2019
The operationalization of interactional competence (IC) within the paired speaking test format allows for a range of interactional skills to be tested. However, in terms of assessment, challenges are posed with regard to the co-constructed nature of IC, making investigations into raters’ perceptions of the construct essential to inform test score interpretation. This qualitative study explores features of IC that raters attended to as they evaluated performances in a paired speaking test, part of a Swedish national test of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Two groups of raters, 17 EFL teachers from Sweden, using national standards based on the Common European Framework of Reference for L…
The frequent stressor and mental health monitoring-paradigm: a proposal for the operationalization and measurement of resilience and the identificati…
2021
Resilience has been defined as the maintenance or quick recovery of mental health during and after times of adversity. How to operationalize resilience and to determine the factors and processes that lead to good long-term mental health outcomes in stressor-exposed individuals is a matter of ongoing debate and of critical importance for the advancement of the field. One of the biggest challenges for implementing an outcome-based definition of resilience in longitudinal observational study designs lies in the fact that real-life adversity is usually unpredictable and that its substantial qualitative as well as temporal variability between subjects often precludes defining circumscribed time …
Fuzzy Identities in (Dis)Integrating Europe: Discursive Identifications of Poles in Britain Following Brexit
2019
This study explores the fuzzy discursive identifications of Polish residents in Britain following the Brexit referendum by using a corpus of Polish-language glocal media materials (Moja.Wyspa.co.uk). Fuzziness is defined and operationalized on three levels: with respect to (1) online media technologies (global/local; above-/below-the-line) that allow diverse voices; (2) identity positions of non-native residents (Polish migrants as EU citizens at a destabilizing moment) who are left with the sense of anomie and “in-betweenness”; (3) discursive strategies of self-presentation mobilized in the ongoing processes of identification, whose analysis sometimes transcends classificatory grids offere…
Critical factors influencing international sporting success of the Philippines : the athletes' perspective
2017
The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the recent declining performance of the Philippines in international sporting competitions by identifying and evaluating relevant factors that are critical to its international success through the perspective of the national elite athletes. An evaluation of the organizational effectiveness of the national sports governing bodies provides explanation to the poor performance of the country in major international competitions such as the Southeast Asian (SEA)Games. One of the most recent approaches used in measuring organizational effectiveness is the Sport Policy factors Leading to International Sporting Success (SPLISS) model. Th…
Heritage tourism: from problems to possibilities
2021
Heritage tourism is, at least for anthropologists, a conception very hard to define, if not operationalize. In Heritage Tourism: From Problems to Possibilities, Yujie Zhu critically explores the co...