Preference Measures Research Articles

Three-way decision based on three-way preference measures and three-level dominance relations in interval-valued systems

Interval-valued systems facilitate data decision, and their preference measures and dominance relations become pivotal for three-way decision (3WD). However, the recent D-type preference measure and partial-overall dominance relation between intervals respectively exhibit the weak representation and incomplete hierarchy, so corresponding results need further development. Aiming at interval-valued systems, an S-type measure is proposed to constitute three-way preference measures, and three-level dominance relations are established, so criss-cross knowledge granulations motivate systematic 3WD models and applications. First, the S-type preference measure is proposed from the sigmoid function, it exhibits good learning semantics and mathematical properties, and its supplementation and improvement induce three-way preference measures. Then, by three-level constructions, three-way preference measures are applied for sorting and classification, and the S-type measure exhibits decision effectiveness and recognition superiority. Furthermore, hierarchical three-way preference measures induce three-level dominance relations, and vertical-horizontal condition granulations generate multiple 3WD models on preference decision classes. Finally, all 3WD strategies from criss-cross dominance relations are comprehensively compared and selected via classification error rates; by data experiments, the S-type measure and its hierarchical relations become effective and optimal for 3WD, and the corresponding 3WD approaches outperform the existing methods from the D-type measure and partial-overall relation.

Accounting for Individual-Specific Reliability of Self-Assessed Measures of Economic Preferences and Personality Traits

Accounting for Individual-Specific Reliability of Self-Assessed Measures of Economic Preferences and Personality Traits

Sleep quality mediates the association between chronotype and mental health in young Indian adults

There is increasing recognition of ‘higher preference for eveningness’ as a potential independent risk factor for poor mental health. To examine the chronotype-mental health relationship while also quantifying the potential roles of poor sleep quality, relevant personality traits, and childhood trauma, we assessed 282 young adults (18–40 years; 195 females) residing in North India, between January and March 2023 (to control for seasonal variation), using self-report measures of diurnal preference, sleep patterns, mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress), personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, schizotypy, and impulsivity), and childhood trauma. The results showed a significant association between eveningness and poor mental health but this association was fully mediated by poor sleep quality. Neuroticism, emotional abuse and cognitive disorganisation were correlated with eveningness as well as with poor mental health and sleep quality. Neuroticism and emotional abuse, but not cognitive disorganisation, also had indirect effects on mental health via sleep quality. Our findings highlight the crucial role played by sleep quality in the chronotype-mental health relationship.

A systematic review of emotional design research in multimedia learning

AbstractThis study provides a current systematic review of emotional design research in the multimedia learning domain and explores how emotional design is studied in multimedia learning. All studies on emotional design in multimedia learning published until 2023 were examined thoroughly. In this study, 51 journal articles were identified based on PRISMA guidelines and reviewed regarding emotional state parameters, emotional design techniques, emotional and other measurements, learning materials, research methodologies, and learning outcomes. The analysis provided several salient findings. Firstly, there has been growing interest in emotional design. Secondly, the impact of emotional design on learning outcomes, emotional states, motivation, and cognitive load was explored. Thirdly, most studies preferred subjective measurements or indirect objective measurements. Fourthly, there was a tendency to examine the effects of shape and color elements in the emotional design techniques. Lastly, the studies reported contradictory results on learning outcomes but agreed that emotional design had a positive impact on motivation and emotional state. This review highlights research gaps and provides recommendations for future studies in the field of emotional design in multimedia learning.

The Sexual Double Standard and Adolescent Stigma: A Sociometric and Comparative Approach

ABSTRACT This study applied a sociometric approach to examine the traditional sexual double standard within a sample of Dutch adolescents (N = 1,175; 53.8% females; M age = 14.75). Drawing on script theory and the key concept of social stigma, this study examined associations between self-reported sexual partnerships and three measures of peer preference: (1) received friendship nominations, (2) peer dislike nominations, and (3) perceived popularity. Results from ordinary least squares regressions support the traditional double standard, indicating that girls who report a higher number of self-reported sexual partners receive fewer friendships and more peer dislike nominations than boys reporting similar numbers of sexual partners. Sexual partnerships are positively associated with boys’ and girls’ perceived popularity. Using sociometric measures of peer stigma, we found evidence of a traditional sexual double standard in an adolescent sample from a liberal and gender egalitarian Western democracy, while also pointing to the potential status rewards associated with adolescent sexual behavior.

A phase 2, open-label, 2-cohort study to evaluate patient preference for nivolumab (NIVO) + relatlimab (RELA) fixed-dose combination (FDC) subcutaneous (SC) vs NIVO + RELA FDC intravenous (IV) and NIVO SC vs NIVO IV in participants with melanoma.

TPS9619 Background: The oncology burden on healthcare resources and patients increases as the number of individuals with cancer grows, necessitating treatment options offering improved convenience to patients. SC delivery of monoclonal antibodies in various cancer indications has previously been shown to be effective, well tolerated, and preferred by patients over IV infusion. In CheckMate 67T (NCT04810078), noninferiority of exposure (time-averaged serum concentration at Day 28 and trough serum concentration at steady state) and efficacy (objective response rate by BICR) were previously reported for NIVO SC 1200 mg + recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20) vs IV in patients with locally advanced/metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. RELATIVITY-127 (NCT05625399) is ongoing to establish exposure noninferiority of NIVO + RELA + rHuPH20 FDC SC to IV in patients with previously untreated metastatic/unresectable melanoma. This phase 2, open-label study CA224-1044 (NCT06101134) assesses patient preference for NIVO SC or NIVO + RELA FDC SC vs IV formulations after transitioning from IV to SC in patients with melanoma and aims to further characterize the safety profile of immuno-oncology therapy during IV-to-SC switch. Methods: Cohort 1 includes adult patients with previously untreated stage III (unresectable) or stage IV (metastatic) melanoma who will receive NIVO + RELA FDC IV every 4 weeks (Q4W) for 2 cycles (28-day cycle) followed by NIVO + RELA + rHuPH20 FDC SC Q4W until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or a maximum total treatment duration of 2 years, whichever comes first. Cohort 2 includes adult patients with completely resected stage IIB/C, stage III or stage IV melanoma who will receive NIVO IV Q4W for 2 cycles (28-day cycle) followed by NIVO SC + rHuPH20 Q4W until disease recurrence, unacceptable toxicity, or a maximum total treatment duration of 1 year, whichever comes first. The primary endpoint is the proportion of participants preferring the SC route of administration based on question 7 of the Patient Experience and Preference Questionnaire after the Cycle 4 Day 1 dose. This question evaluates patient preference for IV or SC or no preference in treatment administration and was previously used in CheckMate 8KX. Secondary endpoints include safety outcomes such as adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, treatment-related AEs, AEs leading to discontinuation, immune-mediated AEs, other events of special interest, injection/infusion-related AEs, deaths, and laboratory abnormalities. Safety is assessed for IV period, SC period (8 weeks each) and overall study period. Exploratory endpoints include additional measures of patient experience and preference for IV vs SC. The study is recruiting to enroll 50 patients per cohort. Clinical trial information: NCT06101134 .

TENDINopathy Severity assessment–Achilles (TENDINS-A): evaluation of reliability and validity in accordance with COSMIN recommendations

ObjectiveTo evaluate the construct validity (structural validity and hypothesis testing), reliability (test–retest reliability, measurement error and internal consistency) and minimal important change (MIC) of the 13-item TENDINopathy Severity assessment–Achilles (TENDINS-A).MethodsParticipants...

What does your partner want? Using a gender equality lens to assess partner support and involvement in family planning in Uganda.

It is unclear if there are any differences in the ways men and women perceive partner support in the context of family planning. The USAID-funded Social and Behavior Change Activity (SBCA) in Uganda explored male versus female priorities in the decision-making considerations and preferred measures of partner support related to family planning. Data were from a cross -sectional nationally representative telephone survey of 1177 men and women aged 18-49 years old in sexual partnerships. Key measures included current family planning use (Are you or your partner currently doing anything to prevent or delay becoming pregnant?); family planning decision-making considerations (In your experience, which of the following are the three most important considerations as you make family planning decisions?); and preferred partner support (What level of involvement would you like to see from your partner in your family planning decisions?). Multivariable logistic regressions explored factors associated with decision-making priorities and preferred partner support, adjusting for sociodemographic confounders. Two-thirds (66%) of men and women wanted a high level of involvement from their partner, which was associated with higher odds of using family planning (aOR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.87-3.24). Specific ways partners could be involved included accompanying them to health services (39%), permitting them to get family planning services (26%), and jointly discussing family planning options (23%). Of note, more women wanted their partner to accompany them (45%) than men (33%) while more men (29%) wanted to jointly discuss options than women (15%). Social and behavior change interventions should operationalize partner support differently for men and women. Study findings were used to implement a health campaign that explicitly encouraged partner dialogue and support across the various life stages; empowering women with knowledge and skills to have honest conversations with their partners about birth spacing and timing.

A wind tunnel study of the effects of vegetation structural characteristics on the airflow field

Implementing vegetation is the preferred measure for controlling soil wind erosion. The physical variations in the wind velocity profile, such as the friction wind velocity (u*), aerodynamic roughness (z0), zero-plane displacement (d) and drag coefficient (Cd), are key to understanding soil wind erosion on vegetation-covered surfaces. However, the lack of systematic and in-depth research in the literature has led to significant controversy and uncertainty. Based on the wind tunnel data of wind velocities at 18 different heights near the ground surface for four plant heights (H = 5, 10, 15, and 20 cm) and densities (ds = 27, 46, 97, and 193 N/m2) and six free stream velocity (u∞ = 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 m/s) scenarios, the relationships among u*, z0, d, the parameters of u∞ and the vegetation structural characteristics, including the plant height (H), density (ds), and lateral cover (λ), are investigated in this paper. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The near-surface wind velocity profiles of the vegetation-covered surface can be divided into three segments with little variation in the wind velocity with height, a rapid increase in the wind velocity with height, and close to the free stream velocity. Their corresponding heights ranged from the surface to heights of 0.5 – 0.75H, 0.5 – 0.75H to 50 cm, and exceeding the height of 50 cm, respectively. (2) The zero-plane displacement increased with the plant height and density but decreased with the free stream velocity. The relationship between them can be expressed by Eq. (5). (3) The friction wind velocity of the vegetation-covered surface increased with the plant height, density, and free stream velocity. The relationship between them can be expressed by Eq. (6). The drag coefficient increased rapidly at first and then slowly decreased with increasing lateral cover, which satisfied the equation Cd = 0.00155 + 0.0111λ/(λ + 0.124). (4) The aerodynamic roughness increased with the plant height and density but decreased with the free stream velocity. The aerodynamic roughness of the vegetation-covered surface under different free stream velocities and lateral cover conditions can be expressed by Eq. (8). The study results are a basis for the modeling of the dynamics of wind erosion on vegetation-covered surfaces.

Flexible Estimation of Policy Preferences for Witnesses in Committee Hearings

Abstract Theoretical expectations regarding communication patterns between legislators and outside agents, such as lobbyists, agency officials, or policy experts, often depend on the relationship between legislators’ and agents’ preferences. However, legislators and nonelected outside agents evaluate the merits of policies using distinct criteria and considerations. We develop a measurement method that flexibly estimates the policy preferences for a class of outside agents—witnesses in committee hearings—separate from that of legislators’ and compute their preference distance across the two dimensions. In our application to Medicare hearings, we find that legislators in the U.S. Congress heavily condition their questioning of witnesses on preference distance, showing that legislators tend to seek policy information from like-minded experts in committee hearings. We do not find this result using a conventional measurement placing both actors on one dimension. The contrast in results lends support for the construct validity of our proposed preference measures.

Quantifying urban environments: Aesthetic preference through the lens of prospect-refuge theory

Prospect-refuge theory suggests that people prefer environments that offer both prospect, the ability to scan for resources, and refuge, a safe place to hide. Urban planners, architects and researchers alike have had a tendency to use prospect-refuge theory research on natural scenes to inform on the design of urban environments. Despite the large body of prospect-refuge theory research, the degree to which prospect and refuge impact preference in urban environments remain unclear. Here, we aim to first evaluate the relationship between prospect, refuge and preference for urban scene images. Secondly, we aim to evaluate the contributions of visual features and streetscape quality ratings to subjective ratings of prospect and refuge in order to create proxy values of prospect and refuge. Finally, we aim to understand how the proxy values impact preference for urban scenes, and if the proxy values created replicate the relationship between subjective measures of prospect, refuge and preference. First, we used participant ratings of prospect and refuge to predict participants' preference for 552 images of urban street scenes. Higher ratings of both prospect and refuge predicted greater image preference. We next used principal components analysis to summarize these images' low- and high-level visual features as well as participant ratings of streetscape qualities, such as walkability and disorder. Visual feature and streetscape quality principal components predicted prospect and refuge ratings in this first image set, providing “proxy measures' for prospect and refuge. In an independent set of 1119 images from Talen et al. (2022) for which prospect and refuge ratings were not available, we asked whether these proxies for prospect and refuge predicted preference. Findings replicated the effect that more refuge in an image predicts more preference. However, the proxy measure of prospect did not predict preference. In summary, our results show that refuge ratings do relate to preferences in urban environments, which extends prospect-refuge theory to more urban environments. Future work is needed to understand if prospect has different implications in more urban environments.

Rehabilitation guidelines following arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation surgery for traumatic instability – a Delphi consensus

BackgroundThere is no consistent approach to rehabilitation following arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation surgery (ASSS) in the UK. The aim of this study was to agree a set of post-operative guidelines for clinical practice. MethodExpert stakeholders (surgeons, physiotherapists and patients) were identified via professional networks and patient involvement and engagements groups. A three-stage online Delphi study was undertaken. Consensus was defined by the OMERACT threshold of 70% agreement. Results11 surgeons, 22 physiotherapists and 4 patients participated. It was agreed patients should be routinely immobilised in a sling for up to 3 weeks but can discard earlier if able. During the immobilisation period, patients should move only within a defined “safe zone.” Permitted functional activities include using cutlery, lifting a drink, slicing bread, using kitchen utensils, wiping a table, light dusting, pulling up clothing, washing/drying dishes. Closing car doors or draining saucepans should be avoided. Through range movements can commence after 4 weeks, resisted movements at 6 weeks. Patients can resume light work as they feel able and return to manual work after 12 weeks.Return to non-contact sports when functional markers for return to play are met was agreed. Return to contact sport is based on function & confidence after a minimum of 12 weeks. Additional factors to consider when determining rehabilitation progression: functional/physical milestones, patient’s confidence and presence of kinesiophobia. The preferred outcome measure is the Oxford Instability Shoulder Score. ConclusionThis consensus provides expert recommendations for the development of rehabilitation guidelines following ASSS. Contribution of the paper•This paper is the first to provide expert recommendations for patients undergoing rehabilitation following arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation surgery.•This paper provides clinicians and patients with expert guidance on appropriate expectations regarding functional restriction and progression following arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation surgery.•In the absence of national clinical guidelines for this patient group, these recommendations will reduce variation and improve quality of care.•The knowledge acquired from this study will also lay the foundation for clinical guidelines to be developed.•The results of this study also demonstrate the need for further, empirical work to be carried out in this area.

Preferences and Quality of Life in Nursing Home Residents: A Mixed Methods Study.

Delivery of person-centered care (PCC) is the standard in nursing homes (NHs) and demonstrates a positive impact on resident quality of life (QOL). PCC inherently recognizes and prioritizes resident preferences; however, preferences, and their degree of importance among residents, demonstrate a variable relationship with QOL that remains underexplored. Therefore, the current study examined the association between preferences and QOL among NH residents. A mixed methods study incorporating surveys was conducted among 144 residents, with semi-structured follow-up interviews with 11 residents. Findings confirm a variable relationship between resident preferences and QOL. Higher order preferences not captured within the preference assessment may influence QOL. High numbers of unimportant and can't do/no choice preferences were linked to resident acclimatization to the NH. QOL was at risk if care was not consistent with preferences. In-depth assessments and robust measures of preferences and QOL should be integrated into care delivery and future research. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(5), 7-13.].

Adjusted net savings needs further adjusting: Reassessing human and resource factors in sustainability measurement

We build a theoretical model of optimal, closed-economy growth of production and consumption, including inputs of human and knowledge capital and growing natural resources, and give two calibrations of it to the global economy's approximately exponential growth during 1995–2014. We thereby show that the World Bank's Adjusted Net Savings (ANS) measure of an economy's sustainability, which has some practical and theoretical advantages over change in wealth, the Bank's preferred measure, ideally needs further adjusting. Our model includes omitted or undervalued estimates of the benefits of human and knowledge capital investment, net resource growth, and productivity growth, and the cost of capitals dilution by population growth. Together these raise estimated, global ANS about 10 percentage points above the Bank's estimate, to equal their growth rate times total wealth, but our adjustments could be negative overall for some countries. By reclassifying about 18% of output from consumption to human and knowledge capital investments, our second calibration needs only 0.3 %/yr of exogenous productivity growth to explain global consumption growth observed during 1995–2014. Though our model omits environmental costs and thus ignores long-run sustainability issues, our adjustments suggest desirable though difficult changes that could improve World Bank ANS as a comparative sustainability indicator.

Preferences of Medical Technology Students on COVID-19 Personal Preventive Behaviors and University Safety Protocols: A Conjoint Analysis

The increase in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines has created an alarming issue in high-density public places, such as schools and universities. Personal preventive behaviors that the students exercise play a big part in whether such behaviors prevent or only predispose them even more to contracting the virus. Several factors may influence the personal preventive behaviors of an individual. These include attitude, awareness, personal beliefs, and culture concerning the disease. Through outlining these several factors, the researchers aim to identify the main attributes that determine students’ preferred COVID-19 personal preventive behavior and implemented precautionary measures. The researchers used a two-part survey: socioeconomic and demographic followed by an orthogonal plan. The safety protocols implemented by the university were found to be the most important factor, followed by knowledge about the disease, communication channels, attitude, and social construct of the family. Thus, this follows that based on the attribute’s importance value, the students prefer safety protocols that are most implemented by the university while social construct of the family is the least preferred. These findings suggest that the safety protocols implemented by the university are the most important factor, hence, policy implementation and strengthening should be observed by the university. Keywords: COVID-19, preventive behavior, knowledge, perception, attitude

Discovering the Value of Novelty: Reconceptualising the Measurement of Novel Experience Preference

This paper addresses the intricate interplay between routine and novelty in the well-being of older adults, challenging the dichotomy often imposed on these concepts. Existing literature highlights the beneficial outcomes associated with both routine and novel experiences for older adults yet fails to provide a comprehensive and contemporary measure of novel experience preference.

How is range of motion of the fingers measured in hand therapy practice? A survey study.

A variety of techniques for measuring finger range of motion (ROM) are available for hand therapist use, however, there is no clear description of which finger ROM methods are preferred in practice. This study explored the preferred measurement techniques, the factors influencing clinical decision-making, and the clinical reasoning processes employed when faced with practice-based measurement scenarios. This was a cross-sectional online survey study of hand therapists and American or Canadian Society of Hand Therapists members. Quantitative methods were employed for participant demographics and categorical clinical questions about practice patterns. Qualitative descriptive questions and vignettes were analysed using inductive and deductive content analysis, respectively. Four hundred and eighty-one responses were included, representing hand therapists with a median age of 51years and median experience of 19years. Participants preferred measuring individual joints with a goniometer (N = 210, 44%) for perceived utility in informing treatment decisions, reliability, and confidence in measurement skills. Participants also preferred active functional ROM (N = 117, 24%) for being quick, easy, and useful in informing treatment decisions. Participants reported using different methods with time constraints in a busy clinic, taking precautions with pins/wounds, bulky dressings/casts, pain tolerance levels of patients, or with specific pathologies. Participants' responses to the multi-stage vignette identified distinct patterns of clinical reasoning approaches within individual vignettes. Hand therapists use multiple methods to measure finger ROM while preferring to use goniometers to measure individual finger joints. They engage procedural and pragmatic reasoning modified by contextual factors when measuring finger ROM.

Unlocking Patient Voices: Advancing Physical Therapist Practice With Discrete Choice Experiments.

As health care moves away from volume-based to value-based delivery, the role of the patient in determining value in health care is now paramount. Thus, health care should be aligned with what matters most to patients. Ascertaining patient preferences is therefore critical if we are to provide patients with care that is meaningful to them. However, preferences are difficult to measure and traditional methods of preference measurement in physical therapy face challenges when attempting to measure such. This perspective makes a case for greater use of the discrete choice experiment (DCE) in physical therapy as a research method to measure patient preferences. The DCE is a research method used to elicit preferences for services or goods. This article addresses the importance of eliciting patient preferences as part of person-centered care in the value-based space, the challenges faced in preference measurement in physical therapy, and how the DCE can alleviate some of those challenges. It also provides examples of the DCE in health care and suggests ways in which it can be effectively used in physical therapist practice to improve the delivery of meaningful rehabilitation services to patients. Implementing greater use of the DCE in physical therapy can improve person-centered physical therapist service delivery and inform policy development that creates cost-effective care which is meaningful to patients. It can further help to highlight the value of physical therapy to population health, and to policy makers as health care moves toward more value-based models.

Physiological, body composition, and body mass measures show that a developmental measure of weight suppression is more valid than the traditional measure.

The traditional measure of weight suppression (TWS; the difference between an individual's highest past weight at adult height and current weight), has been associated with many psychological, behavioral and biological variables in those with eating disorders. A new measure of weight suppression, called developmental weight suppression (DWS), corrects two major problems in the original measure. Initial research indicates that DWS represents a superior operationalization of the construct weight suppression was originally designed to measure (Lowe [1993, Psychol Bull, 114: 100]). This study is the first to examine the relation between both WS measures and weight history, body composition and a variety of metabolic hormones. Data were collected in 91 women with bulimia nervosa (BN) or BN-spectrum disorders. Both weight suppression indices were related to multiple hormones. However, multiple regression analyses showed that the independent effects of DWS differed from the independent effects of TWS in that only DWS was negatively related to: (1) current z-BMI, (2) body fat percentage, and (3) insulin, leptin, T3 free, and TSH. This differential pattern also occurred when results were corrected for multiple comparisons. Findings provide stronger biological support for the construct validity of DWS than TWS and suggest that: (1) from the perspective of individuals with BN, high DWS embodies success at food restriction and weight loss, (2) elevated DWS may trap individuals with BN in a powerful biobehavioral bind, and (3) DWS is the preferred measure of weight suppression in future research on eating disorders. Most individuals with bulimia nervosa lose substantial weight in the process of developing their disorder. Such weight suppression is related to many characteristics of those with the eating disorder bulimia nervosa. This study shows why a new measure of weight suppression, based on an individual's growth during development, is more biologically valid than the traditional measure of weight suppression.

Hotter deserts and the impending challenges for the Spiny-tailed Lizard in India.

Ectotherms are particularly vulnerable to climate change, especially those living in extreme areas, such as deserts, where species are already thermally constrained. Using the vulnerable herbivorous lizard Saara hardwickii as a model system, we used a multi-pronged approach to understand the thermal ecology of a desert agamid and potential impacts of rising temperatures. Our data included field-based measures of operative temperatures, body temperatures, and activity, as well as lab-based measures of thermal limits, preferences, and sprint speed. As expected, the temperature dependence of locomotor performance and foraging activity were different, and in the worst-case global warming scenario (SSP5-8.5), potential sprint speed may decrease by up to 14.5% and foraging activity may decrease by up to 43.5% by 2099. Burrows are essential thermal refuges, and global warming projections suggest that S. hardwickii may be restricted to burrows for up to 9 h per day by 2099, which would greatly limit critical activities, like foraging and seeking mating opportunities. Overall, we show that key information on thermal ecology, including temperature-sensitive behaviours in the wild, is necessary to understand the multiple ways in which increasing temperatures may influence ectothermic vertebrates, especially for species like S. hardwickii that are already vulnerable to environmental change.