Comparative Assessment Of Quality Research Articles

A comparative assessment of oral health-related quality of life of children born with orofacial clefts in Sudan and their caregivers'

BackgroundCleft lip and palate(CL/P)is the most common orofacial malformation affecting one in every 700–1000 newborns worldwide. The aim of the study wasto evaluate the impact of CL/P on health- related quality of life (OHRQoL) in Sudanese children and the level of concordance between caregivers' and children and to investigate correlates of the caregivers' perceptions of OHRQoL with that of their children.MethodsThe sample consisted of 75 children with clefts (age range 8–16 years), (46 male, 29 female) and their caregivers' attending University of Science and Technology Dental Teaching Hospital. The children and their caregivers' were interviewed separately. The interview consisted of 38 questions adopted from the COHIP (Arabic version).The level of concordance between caregivers' and children was compared using paired t-tests and intraclass correlations. Predictive validity was assessed using Pearson correlations and linear regression analyses.ResultsThe translated COHIP and its subscales, had Cronbach' alphas score ranged between (0.65 and 0.75) for caregivers' and children with cleft. COHIP scores for children and caregivers' were (89.41 ± 19.97) and (94.34 ± 19.52) respectively. Caregivers' and children differed significantly in the overall COHIP and oral symptoms subscale. There were high correlations between caregivers' and children ranged from (0.63 to 0.87). The correlation between all subscales was statistically significant (p = 0.05).ConclusionsCaregivers' had higher perceptions of oral symptoms and overall COHIP compared to their children using the Arabic version of the COHIP. Caregiver's reports have to be considered complementary to the reports of their children themselves.

Comparative assessment of the optical-electronic images segmentation quality by the ant colony optimization and the artificial bee colony

The article discusses the methods of swarm intelligence, namely, an improved method based on the ant colony optimization and the method of an artificial bee colony. The goal of the work is to carry out a comparative assessment of the optical-electronic images segmentation quality by the ant colony optimization and the artificial bee colony. Segmentation of tonal optical-electronic images was carried out using the proposed methods of swarm intelligence. The results of the segmentation of optical-electronic images obtained from the spacecraft are presented. A visual assessment of the quality of segmentation results was carried out using improved methods. The classical errors of the first and second kind of segmentation of optoelectronic images are calculated for the proposed methods of swarm intelligence and for known segmentation methods. The features of using each of the proposed methods of swarm intelligence are determined. The tasks for which it is better to use each of the proposed methods of swarm intelligence are determined.

In Vitro Comparative Quality Assessment of Different Brands of Doxycycline Hyclate Finished Dosage Forms: Capsule and Tablet in Jimma Town, South-West Ethiopia.

Background Persistent postmarket quality evaluation helps produce clear information on the current quality status of the different brands of a given drug and hence introduces a biopharmaceutical and therapeutically equivalent list of the products to the prescribers and users of it. This in turn facilitates access to essential medicines by breaking the high-cost barrier imposed by a few expensive brands of the product. This study was aimed at determining the quality and evaluating the equivalence of doxycycline hyclate capsules and tablets in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods Ten brands of doxycycline hyclate capsules and tablets were tested for product identity, dosage uniformity, assay, and in vitro dissolution; and tablets were tested for friability and hardness. Results All investigated brands of doxycycline complied with the USP for dosage uniformity, an assay of the active ingredient, and single-point dissolution tests. One brand, D09, failed both hardness and friability tests. Comparisons of dissolution profiles applying fit factors confirmed that only brands D04, D06, and D07 had similarities with the innovator. Ratio test approaches also showed that significant variability exists between test products and comparators. Weibull model was found to provide the best adjustment curve for all brands, from model-dependent approaches employed for explaining the overall release of drug from the dosage forms. Conclusions Doxycycline is a biowaiver product. Hence, in vitro dissolution evaluation suffices its market approval. In this quality assessment study, however, the samples passed quality control tests, except D09 brand which failed friability; it has been revealed that five out of eight brands had problems with interchangeability. Only three doxycycline hyclate brands were found to be equivalent to the comparators.

Annotating affective dimensions in user-generated content

In an era where user-generated content becomes ever more prevalent, reliable methods to judge emotional properties of these kinds of complex texts are needed, for example for developing corpora in machine learning contexts. In this study, we focus on Dutch Twitter messages, a genre which is high in emotional content and frequently investigated in the field of computational linguistics. We compare three annotation methods to annotate the emotional dimensions valence, arousal and dominance in 300 Tweets, namely rating scales, pairwise comparison and best–worst scaling. We evaluate the annotation methods on the criterion of inter-annotator agreement, based on judgments of 18 annotators in total. On this dataset, best–worst scaling has the highest inter-annotator agreement. We find that the difference in agreement is largest for dominance and smallest for valence, suggesting that the benefit of best–worst scaling becomes more pronounced as the annotation task gets more difficult. However, we also find that best–worst scaling is particularly more time-consuming than are rating scale and pairwise comparison annotations. This leads us to conclude that, in particular when dealing with computational models, a comparative assessment of quality versus costs needs to be made.

Comparative assessment of honey quality

Comparative assessment of honey quality

Assessment of Water Quality of Khari River in Agra District During Lockdown Period using Multivariant Techniques and Quality Indexes

Throughout the world, the lock-down period during COVID-19 (March 2020- July 2021) has reported an improvement in the ecological scenario with controlled anthropogenic activities. This study presents a comparative assessment of water quality of the highly polluted Khari river in Agra district (India) during the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic period of COVID-19. The result was analyzed in terms of water quality index (WQI), the most accessed tool used by various researchers to report the water quality. In addition, Aggressive index (AI) and Langelier saturation index (LSI) have also been determined. Further, multivariate analysis has been performed in terms of principal component analysis (PCA). ANOVA has been used to study the variance of the parameters. The study revealed a positive impact of pandemic on the water quality as the parameters improved during the post-pandemic period as compared to the pre-pandemic period. However, as the river was highly polluted during the pre-pandemic period, strict actions are required for further improvement in its water quality for agricultural, industrial and industrial use.

Comparative assessment of the operation quality of shovel-truck systems at open-pit coal mines in the summer and transitional seasons

The operation quality of shovel-truck systems (STSs) at open-pit coal mines in the summer and transitional autumn-spring periods differs markedly. This is due to a decrease in the speed of haul trucks during the transitional season compared to the summer season. This leads to an increase in the travel time of trucks. Shovels and trucks must work longer to ensure the planned volumes of loading and transportation and the required number of hauls. Consequently, the duration of the working shift (or day) increases. This leads to deterioration in the STS performance in the autumn-spring period. A quantitative assessment of changes in the STS operation quality will reveal the directions of its improvement.

Comparative Perceptual Assessment of Visual Signals Using Free Energy Features

In this paper, we put forward the concept of comparative perceptual quality assessment (C-PQA), which refers to the judgment of relative qualities of two visual signals of the same content, but subject to different types and levels of distortions. While it is straightforward for human observers to fulfill the CPQA task in daily lives, it remains a difficult challenge for the current research of perceptual quality assessment (PQA). Among the existing PQA algorithms, the full-reference (FR) and reducedreference (RR) methods both need prior knowledge of the original images while the no-reference (NR) algorithms usually work with a single input image. C-PQA is inherently different from those existing methods in that it takes an image pair as input and predicts their relative quality without using any knowledge about the original image. In this paper, we propose a brain theory inspired approach to C-PQA that emulates the process of comparing the relative quality of two visual stimuli as performed by the human visual system (HVS) within the framework of free energy minimization. The brain's internal generative models initialized on the inputs are then used to explain both images. During the internal generative modeling, a group of features are extracted and then integrated to determine the relative quality of two images. We designed a dedicated image database to test the proposed C-PQA algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves up to 98% prediction accuracy in line with the subjective ratings, outperforming many state of the art PQA algorithms.

Conducting commodity assessment of lactose free and ordinary (lactose) yoghurts on the example of ukrainian producers

The objects of research were 5 lactose-free and 5 ordinary (lactose) yoghurts presented on the market in Kharkiv (Ukraine). When carrying out research work, a complex of generally accepted chemical, physicochemical, mathematical methods was used, corrected for the merchandising evaluation of yoghurts. The first stage of the study was to conduct a comparative organoleptic assessment of selected samples, paying attention to the uniformity of consistency, the presence of inclusions, the presence of foreign odors and flavors, as well as the uniformity of color. According to the results of a comparative organoleptic quality assessment, it was found that all the studied samples of yoghurts had the same pure, sour milk taste, without extraneous odors unusual for the product, with a well-expressed sour taste. The results of the consistency assessment indicate that on the surface of sample No. 3 there was a separation of whey and a curd, with an undisturbed clot, which occurred due to the fact that lactose-free yoghurt was produced by the thermostatic method. The second stage of the comparative merchandising assessment of selected yoghurt samples was to determine their main physical and chemical parameters in accordance with the requirements of DSTU 4343:2004 «Yoghurts. General technical requirements». The analysis of the physicochemical indicators of the studied samples showed that only sample 1 had deviations from the requirements of the normative and technical documentation, namely, the content of the mass fraction of dry substances was lower by 0.3 %, which indicates non-compliance with the product manufacturing technology. The content of the mass fraction of dry substances of other samples was within acceptable limits. When determining the content of titratable and active acidity, the mass fraction of fat in yoghurts, it was found that all the samples under study did not deviate from the requirements of the regulatory and technical documentation. It was found that carrying out a commodity assessment (determination of organoleptic and physicochemical indicators) makes it possible to obtain a set of results on the freshness of the studied samples of lactose-free and ordinary (lactose) yoghurts.

Comparative Assessment of Water Quality of Tube wells and Pipe Borne Water in Kaluvankeni Hostels, Eastern University, Sri Lanka

This study was carried out to assess the water quality of tube wells and pipe borne water supplied in the hostels of Kaluvankeni, Eastern University, Sri Lanka using physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Salinity, TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), Total Hardness, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Turbidity, and quantitative studies of some specific cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+, Cr3+, Cd2+, K+) and anions (NO3-, NO2-, PO43-, Cl-, F-). The sampling was carried out for two times per week for four weeks during the period from March to July 2020. Water samples were collected from three stations in hostels and were analyzed separately using standard methods. The results showed that both tube wells exceeded the permissible threshold levels of salinity, DO, turbidity, iron, potassium, and chromium while only tube well 2 exceeded the permissible threshold levels of conductivity. Pipe borne water was within the permissible threshold levels of all the parameters. The root causes for high turbidity in Tube well water was due suspensions from soil due to the frequent drawings from them. High level of iron concentrations could possibly be as a result of corrosions of iron pipes and may be due to the ground water contaminations from burial mounds. The obtained values of each parameter were compared with the standard values set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Sri Lankan Standard for Drinking water (SLS 614:2013). Overall, the pipe borne water was safe for the consumption while the water from both tube wells were not advisable for consumptions but they can be used for non-consumable purposes.

Comparative Assessment of Service Quality of IPT Modes in Urban India

This paper carries out a comparative assessment of service quality of intermediate public transport (IPT) modes namely auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws through users' perception. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out to collect users' data about the importance and satisfaction on a six-point Likert scale. A total number of 856 filled questionnaires were taken and analyzed using Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). The analysis showed that the attributes of security, convenience for elderly and differently-abled people, and safety of female users, especially during night hours were assigned high importance but low satisfaction with both IPT modes. Further, it was also found that on-board illumination inside the vehicle at night for auto-rickshaw and safety concern for e-rickshaw was also rated with high importance but with low satisfaction. In order to increase the patronage of these IPT modes and improve their service quality, the above attributes were needed to be addressed on a priority basis. The attributes having a high satisfaction need to be maintained at least at the existing levels. The findings of the study shall be useful for policy makers and operators in planning and improvement of the transportation systems of mid-sized cities of developing countries.

<p>In vitro Comparative Quality Assessment of Different Brands of Furosemide Tablets Marketed in Northwest Ethiopia</p>

BackgroundThe use of ineffective and poor quality drugs endangers therapeutic treatment and may lead to treatment failure. For desired therapeutic effect, drugs should contain the appropriate amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient and the required physical characteristics.AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate quality as well as physicochemical bioequivalence of different brands of furosemide tablets marketed in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsFive different brands of furosemide tablets were purchased from community pharmacies in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia. The quality control parameters of furosemide tablets were determined by identification, weight variation, disintegration, assay and dissolution tests and the results were compared with USP and BP pharmacopoeial standards. Difference (f1) and similarity (f2) factors were calculated to assess in vitro bioequivalence requirements.ResultsIdentification test results revealed that all samples contained the stated active pharmaceutical ingredients. The results of weight variation tests indicated that all samples complied with USP specification limits. The active pharmaceutical ingredients quantitative assay showed that all the brands of furosemide tablets were between the 90% and 105% limit of label claim. Similarly, all samples fulfilled disintegration time (i.e., ≤30 min) and dissolution tolerance limits (i.e., Q ≥80% at 60 min). Hence, none of the samples were found to be counterfeit and/or substandard. Difference factor (f1) values were <15 and similarity factor (f2) values were >50 for all the tested brands of furosemide tablets.ConclusionThis study revealed that all the furosemide brands met the quality specification of weight variation, hardness, friability, dissolution, disintegration and assay. The study also indicated similarity in the dissolution profile of the brands of furosemide tablets with the innovator product. Hence, all of these generic brands could be substituted with the innovator product in clinical practice.

The study of life quality parameters in children and adolescents with HIV associated tuberculosis

The objective of the study:to perform comparative assessment of life quality (LQ) associated with health of children and adolescents suffering from tuberculosis, both HIV negative and HIV positive.Subjects and methods. In 2017-2019, the cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in Pediatric Department of Samarkand Regional TB Dispensary, the study was aimed to assess life quality associated with health in 70 children and adolescents at the age from 5 to 18 years old. 35 of them had tuberculosis and HIV infection (TB/HIV Group), 35 had tuberculosis and negative HIV status. Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory – PedsQL was used to assess the life quality.Conclusion. The combination of HIV infection and tuberculosis has a more pronounced effect on the physical and mental functioning of patients and worsens the life quality of children and adolescents to a greater extent than tuberculosis.

A Comparative Assessment of the Baking Quality of Hybrid and Population Wheat Cultivars

The study assessed the quality parameters of grain and flour, the rheological properties of dough and the quality of bread prepared from flour of hybrid cultivars of wheat in comparison with population cultivars of wheat. As the interest in wheat hybrids cultivars from the agricultural and milling industry is growing, their technological value of grain and flour was evaluated at two levels of nitrogen fertilisation (N1—110 kg/ha, N2—150 kg/ha). Increasing the fertilisation (N2) produced a significant influence on the crude protein and gluten content in the flour, as well as the moisture of the crumb and the yield of the dough without impacting other rheological traits and parameters of bread baking process. The performed principal component analysis (PCA) allowed for identification of the best cultivars among the studied wheat cultivars (Hybery and Hyvento). The hybrid cultivar Hyvento was characterised by favourable qualitative traits of the grain (vitreousness, crude protein content) and rheological parameters of the dough (bread volume), however, it had lower baking quality parameters. Among the hybrid cultivars, the best applicability for baking purposes was Hybery due to the favourable values of the baking process parameters and bread quality (bread yield, bread volume, Dallmann porosity index of crumb). Hybrid cultivars of wheat can therefore be used for the production of bread and be an alternative in agricultural production for population cultivars, which will contribute to filling the knowledge gap for the hybrid wheat cultivars.

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia.

(Reprinted with permission from The American Journal of Psychiatry 2020; 177:868-872).

Comparative Assessment of Water Quality on Spring Water and Supplied PHED Water in Aizawl City, Mizoram India

Comparative Assessment of Water Quality on Spring Water and Supplied PHED Water in Aizawl City, Mizoram India

Сравнительная оценка показателей качества и безопасности зерна тритикале нового сорта Башкирская 3 и сорта Башкирская короткостебельная трёх селекционных линий: АД 46332, АД 63248 и АД 63938

Сравнительная оценка показателей качества и безопасности зерна тритикале нового сорта Башкирская 3 и сорта Башкирская короткостебельная трёх селекционных линий: АД 46332, АД 63248 и АД 63938

Comparative assessment of surface and ground water quality using geoinformatics

Water quality demonstrates physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. The quality of surface and groundwater is currently an important concern with population growth and industrialization. Over exploitation of water resources due to demand is causing the deterioration of surface water and ground water. Periodic water quality testing must be carried out to protect our water resources. The present research analyses the spatial variation of surface water and groundwater in and around the lakes of Hyderabad. Twenty-Seven lakes and their neighboring bore water samples are obtained for water quality monitoring. Samples are evaluated for specific physico-chemical parameters such as pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Cl, SO4, Na, K, Ca, Mg, and Total Hardness (TH). The spatial variation of water quality parameters for the 27 lakes and groundwater were analysed. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were carried out to determine comparative study of lake and ground water. The study found that most of the lakes were polluted and this had an impact on surrounding ground water.

Comparative Antibacterial Activity and Quality Assessment of Essential Oils from Different Producers Against Oral Pathogens

Abstract The aim of the study is to evaluate antibacterial properties of commercial essential oils (Oregano, Black pepper, Coriander, Cinnamon) against oral pathogens (Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis). Nevertheless, we want to asses if the price of the essential oils (EO) which were purchased from 2 different retailers, can influence the quality of essential oil and the antimicrobial effect. Materials and methods: Essential oils from two different Producers (A-high price range, respectively B-low price range) with two opposite price ranges were purchased from local retailers. The inhibitory effect was assessed by disk diffusion. Bacterial inoculums of 0.5 McFarland units (~1.5 x 108 CFU/ml) were prepared from Streptococcus mutans Enterococcus faecalis. Muller-Hinton agar plates were inoculated with bacterial inoculums. Sterile paper disks with the diameter of 6 mm (Bioanalyse Ltd, Turkey) were dispensed on the medium surface. Five μl of essential oils were pipetted on corresponding disks. After 10 minutes (time needed for a proper diffusion of active components), the plates were incubated in normal atmosphere at 37°C. After 24 hours of incubation, the inhibition zone diameters (in millimeters) were read and noted in spreadsheet software, aside the average price in €/ml of essential oil. A cost-efficiency antibacterial activity index was also calculated.Results:With regard to EO from Producer A, the inhibition zone against Enteroccocus ranged from the weakest 14mm(Black pepper), 28mm(Coriander) to the strongest over 40 mm(Oregano and Cinnamon). With regard to volatile essential oils from Producer B, against the Enteroccocus, the smallest inhibition zone was observed for Coriander (10 mm), followed by Black pepper(11 mm); on the opposite side, the strongest inhibition zone presented both Oregano EO and Cinnamon EO (34 mm). Against S. mutans, the weakest inhibition zone showed Black pepper(6 mm), followed by Coriander EO(12 mm) and the strongest inhibition zone had Oregano EO(38 mm) and Cinnamon EO (40 mm). All the EO from the Producer A managed to successfully inhibit S. mutans growth. In both producers, Origanum vulgare EO was the most cost-efficient against E. faecalis (index=0.06 for Producer A and 0.03 for Producer B). In the case of Producer A, against S.mutans the best index was seen at Coriandrum sativum EO (0,05) and the weakest at Cinnamonum zeylanicum (0,14). In the case of Producer B, against E. faecalis, the lowest index was seen at Piper nigrum(0,13). The same pattern was seen against S. mutans, the highest index had Origanum vulgare(0,03) and the lowest Piper nigrum (0,23) Conclusions:Most of essential oils studied from both Producers, had better antibacterial effect against S. mutans compared to E. faecalis.All the EO from the Producer A managed to successfully inhibit S. mutans growth.The high price EO had a better antimicrobial effect compared to the low price EO.The strongest antimicrobial effect against E.faecalis had the high-price Oregano and Cinnamon EO and the weakest antimicrobial effect had low-price Coriander EO. Against S. mutans, the greatest efficacy had all high-price EO, and the lowest had the low-price Black pepper EO.The high price of some EO (Piper nigrum) does not make any difference regarding the antibacterial effect. Lower price EO may be still suitable in regards of antibacterial effect if considering the associated costs, even if the effect does not reach the potency of the higher-price alternatives.

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia