Rank Coefficient Research Articles

P492 All intestinal ultrasound scores for ulcerative colitis (and IBUS-SAS) strongly correlate with endoscopic activity: a prospective study

Abstract Background Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is gaining increasing acceptance as a reliable tool for tight monitoring of ulcerative colitis (UC). Although several IUS scores have been proposed, none has been formally implemented into official recommendations of international scientific societies. This study aims to compare the available IUS score for UC, in terms of correlation with endoscopic activity. Methods Patients with UC ≥ 18 years old undergoing partial or full colonoscopy between April and October 2023 were prospectively included. Endoscopic evaluation of at least the sigmoid colon was mandatory for inclusion, and patients with proctitis (Montreal E1) were excluded. Endoscopic activity was scored with both the Mayo Endoscopic Subscore (MES) and the Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS), and defined by MES ≥ 1 and UCEIS ≥ 2. IUS was performed within 4 weeks of endoscopy. The Milan Ultrasound Criteria (MUC, Allocca et al.), the UC-IUS score (Bots et al.), the US Score from Parente et al., and the score from Hata et al. were included in the analysis. Applicability of the US Score from Civitelli et al, an IUS score developed for paediatric patients, and the IBUS-SAS, an IUS score validated for Crohn’s disease, was also evaluated. The Spearman’s rank coefficient (rho = ρ) was used to perform correlations, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were compared with the Hanley & McNeil method. Results Fifty-nine patients were included, of which 59.3% and 50.8% showed any endoscopic activity using the MES and the UCEIS, respectively. Detailed information about the population is reported in Table. All the evaluated IUS scores showed a significant positive correlation with endoscopic activity (p < 0.001), with the UC-IUS score and the US Score from Civitelli et al. outperforming the others both with MES (ρ = 0.745, ρ = 0.762) and UCEIS (ρ = 0.751, ρ = 0.769). The same scores showed the highest Areas Under the Curve (AUC) for detecting a MES ≥ 2 (UC-IUS: 0.841, 95%CI 0.722-0.923, p < 0.001; Civitelli et al.: 0.842, 95%CI 0.724-0.924, p < 0.001) [Figure]. The optimal cut-offs for detecting a MES ≥ 2 with both the MUC and the Civitelli score were similar to that proposed by the Authors (> 5.04 vs > 6.20 and > 2 vs > 1, respectively). Conclusion All the included IUS scores showed good correlation with endoscopic activity. The UC-IUS and the US Score from Civitelli et al. performed better than the others in detecting a MES ≥ 2 and might be suggested to monitor disease activity of UC and intervene early during disease relapse.

The Heart's Function as a Pump Assessed via Impedance Cardiography and the Autonomic System Balance in Patients with Early-Stage Acromegaly.

Acromegaly is a rare, chronic disease that involves structural and functional abnormalities of the cardiovascular system. Acromegaly likely affects interactions between the cardiovascular system and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Therefore, assessing the relationship between sympathetic-parasympathetic balance by analyzing heart rate variability (HRV) and the hemodynamic profile via impedance cardiography (ICG) may be useful in learning the exact nature of interactions between the ANS and the cardiovascular system. The purpose of this study was to assess a possible association between HRV and ICG-based parameters of cardiac function in patients newly diagnosed with acromegaly. This observational cohort study was conducted on 33 patients (18 men, mean age of 47 years) newly diagnosed with acromegaly and no significant comorbidities. A correlation analysis (Spearman's rank coefficient R) of the parameters assessed via ICG and the HRV assessed via 24 h ambulatory electrocardiography was performed. ICG assessments included the following parameters: stroke volume index (SI), cardiac index (CI), acceleration index (ACI), velocity index (VI), and Heather index (HI). The analysis of HRV included both time-domain parameters (pNN50, SDNN, SDSD, rMSSD) and frequency-domain parameters (total power (TP) and its individual frequency bands: low-frequency (LF day/night), high-frequency (HF day/night), and the LF/HF ratio (day/night)). Frequency-domain HRV analysis showed the following correlations: (1) lower nighttime LF values with higher ACI (R = -0.38; p = 0.027) and HI (R = -0.46; p = 0.007) values; (2) higher nighttime HF values with higher ACI (R = 0.39; p = 0.027) and HI (R = 0.43; p = 0.014) values; (3) lower nighttime LF/HF values with higher ACI (R = -0.36; p = 0.037) and HI (R = -0.42; p = 0.014) values; (4) higher nighttime TP values with higher SI values (R = 0.35; p = 0.049). Time-domain parameters of HRV showed a significant correlation only between the nighttime values of SDSD and SI (R = 0.35; p = 0.049) and between the daytime and nighttime values of SDNN and HR (R = -0.50; p = 0.003 and R = -0.35; p = 0.046). In multivariate regression, only ACI was revealed to be independently related to HRV. In patients newly diagnosed with acromegaly, the relationship between the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance assessed via HRV and the hemodynamic profile assessed via ICG was revealed. Better function of the left ventricle was associated with a parasympathetic shift in the autonomic balance.

Small airway dysfunction measured by impulse oscillometry is associated with exacerbations and poor symptom control in patients with asthma treated in a tertiary hospital subspecialist airways disease clinic.

Small airways dysfunction contributes to asthma pathophysiology and clinical outcomes including exacerbations and asthma control. Respiratory oscillometry is a simple, non-invasive and effort independent lung function test that provides vital information about small airway function. However, interpretation and clinical utility of respiratory oscillometry has been in part limited by lack of agreed parameters and the respective cutoffs. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of small airways dysfunction based on published impulse oscillometry (IOS) definition in patients with asthma referred to a tertiary asthma clinic and the extent to which it correlates with asthma clinical outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients with asthma managed in the severe asthma clinic between January 2019 and December 2022 who underwent routine lung function tests with oscillometry and spirometry. Small airways dysfunction was determined from various published IOS parameter cutoffs, and the data were analysed to determine correlations between IOS parameters and asthma outcomes. Amongst the 148 patients, the prevalence of small airways dysfunction ranged from 53% to 78% depending on the defining oscillometry parameter. All oscillometry parameters correlated with the severity of airflow obstruction (FEV1% predicted, p < 0.001). Several oscillometry parameters correlated with asthma symptom burden, the strongest correlation was seen for frequency dependent resistance (R5-R20) with scores of Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ6) (Spearman's rank coefficient 0.213, p = 0.028) and Asthma Control Test (ACT) (Spearman's rank coefficient -0.248, p = 0.012). R5-R20 was predictive of poor asthma control defined by ACQ6 >1.5 (OR 2.97, p = 0.022) or ACT <20 (OR 2.44, p = 0.055). Small airways dysfunction defined by R5-R20 and area under the reactance curve (AX) also significantly increases asthma exacerbation risk (OR 2.60, p = 0.02 and OR 2.31, p = 0.03 respectively). Respiratory oscillometry is a sensitive measure of small airways dysfunction that should complement spirometry in the routine assessment of asthma. Small airways dysfunction is highly prevalent in patients with asthma referred to a tertiary asthma clinic. R5-R20 was the metric most predictive in identifying patients at risk of asthma exacerbations and poor asthma control.

Personality Profile, Self-Efficacy, and Teaching Performance of Junior High School Teachers

Teachers’ performance is crucial for the achievement of educational success, and as a result, numerous empirical studies have been conducted to explore various factors influencing teachers' teaching performance. However, focusing on teachers' personality and self-efficacy could be a valuable effort in identifying factors that impact their performance in pursuing educational goals. This study aimed to determine the personality profile, level of self-efficacy, and teaching performance of junior high school teachers (JHS). A descriptive research design was employed with 111 respondents who answered the questionnaires. Results showed that, when grouped and compared according to age, sex, and length of service, there was no significant difference between the personality profile and the level of self-efficacy of JHS teachers except for the Agreeableness personality trait when grouped and compared according to sex. Similarly, there is no significant difference between the level of teaching performance when grouped and compared according to age and length of service, except for the variable of sex. Conversely, using the ChiSquare Test of Independence tool, the result depicted no significant correlation between the personality profile of JHS teachers and the level of teaching performance. Also, with the utilization of the Spearman Rank Coefficient Correlation, the level of self-efficacy and the level of teaching performance have not been found to be significantly correlated.

Enhancing Village Ranking: Leveraging Cluster Analysis and Machine Learning

The research presented in this paper addresses the critical challenge of ranking Indian villages based on their potential for socio-economic growth, inspired by the objectives of the Shyam Prasad Mukerji Rurban Mission (SPMRM). Leveraging a novel algorithm known as ClusterRank, an extension of the PageRank algorithm, we endeavor to provide a timely, efficient, and accurate solution for village ranking. The ClusterRank algorithm, an extension of the well-known PageRank algorithm, serves as the cornerstone of our approach. It excels in its ability to efficiently and accurately rank villages, outperforming alternative ranking methods. Notably, our findings reveal the superior convergence speed of the ClusterRank algorithm, affirming its capacity to produce rapid results. To assess the efficacy of ClusterRank, we employ a range of statistical ranking coefficients, including the Spearman, Kendall, and Point Biserial correlation coefficients. Our analysis demonstrates a strong positive correlation, with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.89, between the rankings generated by ClusterRank and the ground truth rankings provided by SPMRM. This correlation underscores the effectiveness of ClusterRank in identifying villages with high growth potential and highlights its alignment with the objectives of the SPMRM. This research presents a compelling case for the adoption of the ClusterRank algorithm by SPMRM as a valuable tool in the identification of rural areas poised for rurban development. Such adoption not only promises substantial time and resource savings but also directs the focus of SPMRM towards the implementation of targeted interventions and initiatives to uplift rural communities. Moreover, our supplementary analyses using Kendall and Point Biserial correlation coefficients further validate the robustness of the ClusterRank algorithm.

Probable Respiratory Sarcopenia Decreases Activities of Daily Living in Older Patients Hospitalized with Respiratory Diseases: A Cross-sectional Study.

Respiratory sarcopenia is characterized by low respiratory muscle mass and respiratory muscle strength, but its impact on activities of daily living (ADL) remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the association between respiratory sarcopenia and decreased ADL. This retrospective cross-sectional study included older inpatients (≥65 years old) with respiratory diseases who underwent rehabilitation. Because the evaluation of respiratory muscle mass is challenging, probable respiratory sarcopenia was defined according to low appendicular skeletal muscle index (<7 kg/m2 for men, <5.7 kg/m2 for women) and peak expiratory flow rate (<4.4 L/s for men, <3.21 L/s for women). ADL was assessed on the first day of rehabilitation using the baseline Barthel Index (BI). Of 111 inpatients (median age 75 years; 57 women), 13 (11.7%) had probable respiratory sarcopenia. Forty-five patients (40.5%) had sarcopenia and 12 of these had probable respiratory sarcopenia. Pulmonary functions (Forced Vital Capacity and expiratory volume in 1 s) were significantly lower in patients with probable respiratory sarcopenia than those without. Spearman's rank coefficient analysis showed probable respiratory sarcopenia did not significantly correlate with age, phase angle, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), or hemoglobin (Hb). Multivariate linear regression analysis with baseline BI revealed probable respiratory sarcopenia (β -0.279 and P=0.004) was the significant factor after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, CCI, and Hb. Probable respiratory sarcopenia was independently associated with decreased ADL in patients aged 65 years and older who were hospitalized with respiratory diseases.

The Impact of Role-playing Games on Developing Empathy of Future Preschool Inclusive Teachers

Inclusive education should be based on the effective involvement of people with disabilities in the educational process to obtain positive results. The work aims to determine the impact of role-playing games on developing empathy of future inclusive teachers. The aim was achieved using the Likert scale, observation, value function calculations, the rank coefficient of the level of effectiveness, and the Cramér criterion. The results of the study showed that it is necessary to ensure that students’ experiences during communication are considered first and foremost for the effectiveness of learning in an inclusive class and the development of empathy (0.93). Therefore, this criterion was primarily considered during the development of learning mechanisms. Training mechanisms for future teachers were intended to ensure the formation of an adaptive function, a communicative function, an understanding of a new approach, and the formation of an educational function. The game-based approach became the foundation of the educational process. A high level of empathy was achieved among 89% of students, which is associated with the development of tolerance. A high level of empathy was reflected in the development of communication (28%), creative activity (27%), and a greater level of restraint (23%). An individual approach in the process of teaching preschoolers influences their achievement of a high level of knowledge. The importance of the work is determining approaches to the development of a high level of empathy among future inclusive teachers using role-playing games, which is important for children’s development. Research prospects are related to the possibilities of developing empathy for future teachers by using the role-playing approach in education and digital technologies.

Multi-criteria analysis of deep pits sustainable development strategy

Relevance. Long periods of development of steeply dipping deposits necessitate multiple adjustments of mining and technical system throughout an open pit life cycle. The decisions made determine the development strategy of a mining enterprise for a long period. The complexity of making such strategic decisions depends on numerous influencing parameters. These parameters have a different impact, have a variety of units of measurement, target values, and are not only quantitative but also qualitative. There is a need for new approaches to the choice of development strategy of the mining and technical system of an open pit, as well as its main subsystem – the opening-up of an opencast system. It is proposed to base these approaches on multi-criteria decision-making methods that consider many influencing parameters. Aim. Development of a methodology for choosing a strategy for sustainable development of the deep open pit mining and technical system based on multi-criteria decision-making methods and assessment of the opening system parameters. Objects. Mining enterprise, mining and technical systems, opening system. Methods. Literature review, system analysis, multi-criteria decision making. Results. The authors have determined the main strategies for development of the mining and technical system for deep open pits. These strategies aim at achieving the sustainable development of the mining and technical system: adjustment of the current stage mining parameters; transition to a new stage of mining; transition to a combined open-underground mining; mine closure. The key role of the opening system in the structure of the mining and technical system is substantiated to ensure its sustainable development. The authors systematized the main parameters for evaluating the pit opening system and set target values for each parameter. A review of the main multi-criteria decision-making methods used to solve various problems in the mining industry is made. A rank coefficient is proposed for choosing the mining and technical system development strategy. The calculation of this coefficient is based on a combination of the fuzzy AHP and CRADIS multi-criteria methods. A method was developed for selecting a strategy for sustainable development of the mining and technical system of deep open pits. A case study was conducted on the conditions of the Maly Kuibas open pit. The obtained results strongly suggest that the best strategy with the highest ranking is the transition to the combined development method.

Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Is Associated With Improved Sexual Function And Quality of Life

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate changes in sexual function and activity following arthroscopic hip surgery for femoroacetabular impingement using the United Kingdom Non-Arthroplasty Hip Registry dataset. Sub-analyses were performed between males and females, and patients over 40 and under 40 years old. MethodsPatients who had arthroscopic hip surgery between 1st January 2012 and 31st October 2020, were aged over 16, and completed the relevant PROMs were included. Question 9 of the iHOT-12 (SAQ) refers to problems with sexual activity, and responses to this were compared pre-operatively and at 6-months and 12-months post-operatively. Sub-analyses were also performed, including SAQ scores by patients’ sex or age. SAQ scores were correlated with EQ-5D-5L scores using Spearman’s rank coefficient. ResultsSAQ was answered by 2547 patients pre-operatively and at 6-months post-operatively (62.3% female, median age 36.2, IQR 29-44 years) and by 2314 at 12-months (61.9% female, median age 36.2, IQR 29-44 years). Scores for sexual activity increased from 35.0 pre-operatively to 70.0 at 6-months (p<0.001), maintained at 12-months (p<0.001). Female patients demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in their scores for sexual function from pre-operatively (median 30.0, IQR 14-50) to 6-months (median 60, IQR 28-86, p<0.001) and 12-months (median 62.0, IQR 29-90, p<0.001), compared to male patients (pre-operative median 50.0, IQR 25-84; 6-month median 80, IQR 45-97; 12-month median 80, IQR 41-98). The effect of age on improvements in sexual function did not demonstrate a significant difference. A significant positive correlation was found between improvements in sexual function and quality of life, as measured by the EQ-5D-5L, at 6-months and 12-months (p<0.001). ConclusionHip arthroscopy for symptomatic FAI produces an improvement in sexual function and activity. Scores for sexual function improved regardless of patient age or sex; however, female patients experienced a greater improvement in sexual function than males.

Розлади харчової поведінки дітей внаслідок стресу, спричиненого війною: загальні результати дослідження

The purpose of the study is to determine eating disorders based on the results of a survey of parents and an analysis of the perception of the behavior of children aged 5-17 in conditions of stress caused by war. Research materials and methods. A large-scale cross-sectional survey of parents of school-age children who were in Ukraine at the time of the start of the war (February 24, 2022) was conducted. A total of 5,165 parents took part in the survey. The survey concerned eating disorders and included information about the gender, age, place and conditions of the child's stay, financial support and the family's access to food, general mental manifestations of stress, eating disorders that arose as a result of military operations, changes in the child's physique, etc. The work uses a specially developed questionnaire based on standardized questionnaires about children's stress and eating disorders. This stage of the work determines the peculiarities of the child's whereabouts in relation to military events (staying in occupied territories, in close proximity to hostilities, in peaceful territory, moving within Ukraine or going abroad) and their impact on the eating behavior of school-aged children. The processing of the results included descriptive statistics, as well as the analysis of the relationships of the variables using conjugation tables by calculating the Spearman's rank coefficient and Pearson's chi-square for qualitative variables. The results. It was established that the absence or decrease of appetite, rapid satiety, change in attitude to food are general stress disorders inherent in the entire studied cohort of children. Statistical analysis revealed that the frequency and duration of eating disorders, appetite, delayed satiety, capriciousness or lack of understanding, somato-vegetative manifestations, the formation of disgust or passion for certain food products in school-age children are related to the intensity and nature of the experienced military stress. Being in occupied territories or near hostilities and subsequent displacement has the greatest impact on the frequency and duration of eating disorders. The formation of long-term eating disorders in all groups is actually a deepening of unhealthy eating habits of schoolchildren, which were demonstrated in previous studies. It is expected that these violations will lead to an increase in the frequency of chronic non-communicable diseases in later life. Conclusions. The obtained results are important for the further interpretation of the results in the framework of the study of children's eating disorders under the conditions of stress caused by the war in Ukraine and providing recommendations for the correction of the detected violations. The research has an important social significance for Ukraine, as it is aimed at solving the psychological and medical consequences of the war.

Analysis of Critical Project Success Factors—Sustainable Management of the Fast-Track Construction Industry

Fast-track construction has recently become the prevailing construction approach globally. It enables owners and developers to make rapid returns on investment through shortened construction periods. This strategy has many effects on the industry; therefore, four groups of factors were studied in this project: (1) financial, (2) logistics and finance, (3) management, and (4) legal. A 22-question survey was distributed to 155 professionals in the construction industry, who evaluated the impact of the stated factors on a 5-point scale. The results revealed a high level of consistency determined through Cronbach’s alpha, and a positive correlation was found by Spearman’s rank coefficient. The Relative Importance Index was used to rank the factors based the evaluation by the professionals, resulting in the following impact ranking: (1) poor communication among design and construction teams, (2) large amounts of rework, (3) low quality of work by the contractor, (4) design errors, (5) late or insufficient payment according to terms agreed with the client, and (6) unavailability of materials in the market. By providing a quantitative RII model to evaluate fast-track project management performance with the use of corresponding performance indicators, this study will benefit industry practitioners and researchers as it identifies the most significant factors that impact fast-tract project management performance.

A multinational survey of companion animal veterinary clinicians: How can antimicrobial stewardship guidelines be optimised for the target stakeholder?

Antimicrobial stewardship initiatives are widely regarded as a cornerstone for ameliorating the global health impact of antimicrobial resistance. Within companion animal health, such efforts have largely focused on development and dissemination of antimicrobial stewardship guidelines (ASGs). However, there have been few attempts to understand veterinarian attitudes towards and knowledge of ASGs or to determine how awareness regarding ASGs might best be increased. An online survey regarding ASGs was formulated for veterinarians who treat companion animals. The survey was distributed across 46 European and associated countries between 12 January and 30 June, 2022. In total, 2271 surveys were completed, with 64.9% of respondents (n = 1474) reporting awareness and usage of at least one ASG. Respondents from countries with greater awareness of ASGs tended to report more appropriate use of antimicrobials (Spearman's rank coefficient = 0.6084, P ≤ 0.001), with respondents from countries with country-specific ASGs tending to score highest across both awareness and appropriate use domains. Respondents prioritised guidance around antimicrobial choice (82.0%, n = 1863), duration of treatment (66.0%, n = 1499), and dosage (51.9%, n = 1179) for inclusion in future ASGs, with 78.0% (n = 1776) of respondents preferring ASGs to be integrated into their patient management system. Awareness of ASGs and their use in companion animal veterinary practice appears to be greater than previously reported, with respondents tending to report antimicrobial prescription decision making broadly in line with current clinical recommendations. However, further initiatives aimed at maximising accessibility to ASGs both within countries and individual veterinary practices are recommended.

P053 A Chrononutrition Questionnaire to capture sleep, temporal patterns of eating, and chronotype: Reliability and Validity

Abstract Chrononutrition investigates temporal patterns of eating. Irregular patterns in shift workers and evening chronotypes adversely affect cardiometabolic health. We investigated the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of a Chrononutrition Questionnaire that aims to capture temporal patterns of eating and chronotype in shift and non-shift workers. 58 non-shift and 47 shift workers completed the study. Outcomes include: 1) chronotype, 2) sleep: wake/sleep/mid-sleep time and sleep duration, 3) temporal eating patterns: meal/snack regularity and frequency, times of first/last/largest eating occasions (EO), main meal (MM) 1/2/3, and duration of eating window (DEW) on work and work-free days (non-shift) and morning/afternoon/night/work-free days (shift workers). Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients and weighted kappa), and convergent validity was determined against food and sleep diaries (Spearman Rank Coefficients). Reliability was acceptable for chronotype, sleep, and all temporal eating patterns except morning (last EO) and night shifts (last EO, DEW). Convergent validity was good for chronotype and sleep except for wake times and/or sleep duration on work-free days after morning and afternoon shifts. Meal/snack regularity and frequency showed good validity for non-shift but not shift workers. Times of first/last EO, MM1/2/3 and DEW generally showed good validity except for on work-free days, morning shifts, and night shifts. Time of largest EO was poorly correlated except for night shifts. The Chrononutrition Questionnaire has good test-retest reliability and acceptable convergent validity.

Features of statistical methods application in rating construction

The article is devoted to solving the problem of rating construction methodology, including issues of comparability in dynamics and inconsistency. The study analyzes approaches to the procedures for aggregating private components of the rating. Attention is focused on the shortcomings of ratings used in international and domestic practice as integral meters, among which are the incompleteness of information on the private components of ratings, an unacceptably high level of error in the development of ratings as integral meters and the lack of evaluation of their quality. The approach to rating construction on the basis of average weighted sum of ranks is offered. The ratio of the sum of the squares of the rank paired coefficients of the private rating to the total sum of the squares of the rank coefficients for all private ratings (the matrix of squares of rank correlations) is used as weights. The approach proposed by the authors, in contrast to the existing methodological approaches, makes it possible to build a rating in the absence of information about private components. The novelty of the study results lies in the method of estimating weights of private ratings as basic components of the rating. The article presents the results of construction a rating of the regions of the Central Federal District in Russia for achieving national goals in 2021 based on private ratings, which confirmed the adequacy of the proposed approach. The article may be of interest to a wide range of researchers in the field of statistics and regional economics.

Optimal Selection of Cotton Fabrics: A WASPAS Method Approach

Always used for cotton-rich materials. WASPAS Cotton Fabric Selection in this paper, “the WASPAS method, a relatively fresh and computationally powerful MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) tool”, is suggested to rank ten candidate cotton fabrics according to four cloth properties such as: “cover, thickness, area density, and permeability”. The suggested fabrics are evaluated and chosen in order to achieve the best thermal comfort characteristics. “Sample Number 3 ranks first (best option) with the highest evaluation score of 0.95281, while Sample Number 6 ranks tenth with the lowest evaluation score of 0.50685.” The proposed method's ranking results demonstrate a substantial agreement in ranking with previous approaches, as evidenced by the extremely high standard coefficients of correlation. With rank coefficients of correlation higher than 0.90, the ranking methods provided by the four hypothetical weight sets have the highest degree of agreement. Furthermore, even if the original making choices team is changed, that will be no rank reversal. As a result, sensitivity analyses based on altering criterion weights and the impact of dynamic matrices improve the proposed approach's stability and robustness in terms of ranking success.

A Rank Analysis and Ensemble Machine Learning Model for Load Forecasting in the Nodes of the Central Mongolian Power System

Forecasting electricity consumption is currently one of the most important scientific and practical tasks in the field of electric power industry. The early retrieval of data on expected load profiles makes it possible to choose the optimal operating mode of the system. The resultant forecast accuracy significantly affects the performance of the entire electrical complex and the operating conditions of the electricity market. This can be achieved through using a model of total electricity consumption designed with an acceptable margin of error. This paper proposes a new method for predicting power consumption in all nodes of the power system through the determination of rank coefficients calculated directly for the corresponding voltage level, including node substations, power supply zones, and other parts of the power system. The forecast of the daily load schedule and the construction of a power consumption model was based on the example of nodes in the central power system in Mongolia. An ensemble of decision trees was applied to construct a daily load schedule and rank coefficients were used to simulate consumption in the nodes. Initial data were obtained from daily load schedules, meteorological factors, and calendar features of the central power system, which accounts for the majority of energy consumption and generation in Mongolia. The study period was 2019–2021. The daily load schedules of the power system were constructed using machine learning with a probability of 1.25%. The proposed rank analysis for power system zones increases the forecasting accuracy for each zone and can improve the quality of management and create more favorable conditions for the development of distributed generation.

ROUGE-SEM: Better evaluation of summarization using ROUGE combined with semantics

With the development of pre-trained language models and large-scale datasets, automatic text summarization has attracted much attention from the community of natural language processing, but the progress of automatic summarization evaluation has stagnated. Although there have been efforts to improve automatic summarization evaluation, ROUGE has remained one of the most popular metrics for nearly 20 years due to its competitive evaluation performance. However, ROUGE is not perfect, there are studies have shown that it is suffering from inaccurate evaluation of abstractive summarization and limited diversity of generated summaries, both caused by lexical bias. To avoid the bias of lexical similarity, more and more meaningful embedding-based metrics have been proposed to evaluate summaries by measuring semantic similarity. Due to the challenge of accurately measuring semantic similarity, none of them can fully replace ROUGE as the default automatic evaluation toolkit for text summarization. To address the aforementioned problems, we propose a compromise evaluation framework (ROUGE-SEM) for improving ROUGE with semantic information, which compensates for the lack of semantic awareness through a semantic similarity module. According to the differences in semantic similarity and lexical similarity, summaries are classified into four categories for the first time, including good-summary, pearl-summary, glass-summary, and bad-summary. In particular, the back-translation technique is adopted to rewrite pearl-summary and glass-summary that are inaccurately evaluated by ROUGE to alleviate lexical bias. Through this pipeline framework, summaries are first classified by candidate summary classifier, then rewritten by categorized summary rewriter, and finally scored by rewritten summary scorer, which are efficiently evaluated in a manner consistent with human behavior. When measured using Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall rank coefficients, our proposal achieves comparable or higher correlations with human judgments than several state-of-the-art automatic summarization evaluation metrics in dimensions of coherence, consistency, fluency, and relevance. This also suggests that improving ROUGE with semantics is a promising direction for automatic summarization evaluation.

Knowledge, Attitude &amp; Practice (KAP) among Staff Nurses Regarding Biomedical Waste Management (BMW): A Correlational Study Design

Background: The safe and effective management of biomedical waste generated in the hospital is a collective responsibility of all health workers involved in patient care. It is cardinal that the staff nurses must have up to date knowledge regarding handling and management of biomedical waste for the sake of both themselves and the patients. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice levels among staff nurses regarding biomedical waste management and to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitude and practice levels. Materials and Methods: The following study adopted a Correlational design. 100 staff nurses from selected hospitals in Kollam, Kerala were assigned using convenience sampling. The data was collected using a structured knowledge questionnaire, a five-point Likert attitude scale and a verbal response checklist. Results: Findings of the study revealed that the Spearman’s Rank Coefficient (Rho) ‘ρ’ calculated at 0.65** for finding the relationship between knowledge and attitude levels was statistically significant at P&lt;0.01 level. Also, the ‘ρ’ value (0.59**) calculated between knowledge and practice levels was significant at 0.01 level. The Chi square (χ2) value calculated was statistically significant for Knowledge level and selected sociodemographic variables such as; Gender (χ2 18.56**, df=02, P&lt;0.01 level) and Professional Experience (χ2 11.59*, df-04, p&lt;0.05 level); Also, between professional experience and Attitude (6.44**) and professional experience and practice levels (10.17**). The Fisher’s exact test revealed association between Gender and Attitude (P# 0.016*, df=02, P&lt;0.05 level) as well as Gender and Practice (P# 0.005**, df-01, P&lt;0.01 level of significance). Conclusion: The findings confirmed that there was a medium/moderate positive correlation between knowledge and attitude as well as knowledge and practice levels regarding biomedical waste management among staff nurses. Keywords: KAP, BMW, Staff Nurses, Correlational Design.

Use of digital tools for preclinical training in complete denture: A pilot study.

Advances in CAD-CAM complete dentures open up opportunities in preclinical laboratory education. A cross-over study was conducted to assess the benefit of digital training in custom tray fabrication. Hypotheses were that digital training improved conceptual skill acquisition and that assessment of digital work helps in the discrimination of students' difficulty. Third-year students were allocated either into group A and took the manual practical classes before the digital ones, or into group B (N = 154). Prior to the sessions, a motor skill test was conducted. The influence on the learning process was evaluated by comparing the groups' results to the manual lab work with a Student's t-test. The effectiveness of the assessment in discriminating manual aptitude and conceptual skill was studied through Spearman's rank coefficient between digital and manual scores in conceptual skill and with a subgroup analysis according to the results of the motor skill test. The level of significance was set up at .05. Students' satisfaction was also assessed with a questionnaire. Students in group B achieved better scores. Spearman's rank coefficient test showed a weak correlation, R = .16. For manual lab work, the most manually skilled students did significantly better. In contrast, for the digital session, the medium manually skilled students did better. More than half of the students (55%) found the manual and digital sessions complementary, without identifying any difference depending on the learning sequence. Digital training improved the students' results in the conventional practical exercise. Assessments of the digital and conventional custom trays were complementary in order to distinguish conceptual and motor skills.

Investigating the Small Pixel Effect in Ultra-High Resolution Photon-Counting CT of the Lung.

The aim of this study was to investigate potential benefits of ultra-high resolution (UHR) over standard resolution scan mode in ultra-low dose photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) of the lung. Six cadaveric specimens were examined with 5 dose settings using tin prefiltration, each in UHR (120 × 0.2 mm) and standard mode (144 × 0.4 mm), on a first-generation PCD-CT scanner. Image quality was evaluated quantitatively by noise comparisons in the trachea and both main bronchi. In addition, 16 readers (14 radiologists and 2 internal medicine physicians) independently completed a browser-based pairwise forced-choice comparison task for assessment of subjective image quality. The Kendall rank coefficient ( W ) was calculated to assess interrater agreement, and Pearson's correlation coefficient ( r ) was used to analyze the relationship between noise measurements and image quality rankings. Across all dose levels, image noise in UHR mode was lower than in standard mode for scan protocols matched by CTDI vol ( P < 0.001). UHR examinations exhibited noise levels comparable to the next higher dose setting in standard mode ( P ≥ 0.275). Subjective ranking of protocols based on 5760 pairwise tests showed high interrater agreement ( W = 0.99; P ≤ 0.001) with UHR images being preferred by readers in the majority of comparisons. Irrespective of scan mode, a substantial indirect correlation was observed between image noise and subjective image quality ranking ( r = -0.97; P ≤ 0.001). In PCD-CT of the lung, UHR scan mode reduces image noise considerably over standard resolution acquisition. Originating from the smaller detector element size in fan direction, the small pixel effect allows for superior image quality in ultra-low dose examinations with considerable potential for radiation dose reduction.