Survey Platforms Research Articles

A Comparison of Methods for Classifying Female Sablefish Maturity and Skip Spawning Outside the Spawning Season

AbstractOvarian development in Sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria was classified using three methods for samples collected during July and August in the Gulf of Alaska, approximately 6–8 months prior to spawning. Although not an ideal time for predicting future spawning, this is when survey platforms, such as longline and trawl vessels, are available annually. The three maturity classification methods included (1) macroscopic classification at sea by trained scientists but with these personnel varying throughout the survey period, (2) macroscopic classification after the survey from photographs by a single, highly trained scientist (standardized macroscopic), and (3) a microscopic evaluation of ovarian structures from histological slides. Based on certain oocyte development characteristics, the second half of August was identified as the time period when maturity could be the most accurately classified in the Gulf of Alaska. Age and length at maturity were estimated to be earlier or smaller, respectively, on some portions of the survey, when macroscopic at‐sea methods were used as opposed to standardized macroscopic or microscopic methods. Skip spawning was documented throughout the survey but at a lower rate than was reported in other studies (2% versus 6% and 21%), indicating that the rate of skip spawning is likely variable. The results demonstrate that accurate maturity classifications may be determined from collections during nonpreferable months when histology or the standardized macroscopic method is used. Identifying skip spawning is likely reliant on microscopic analysis, and so a combination of the standardized macroscopic method along with limited histological sampling, to identify skip spawning rates or to classify maturity when there is uncertainty at sea, may be the most time‐ and cost‐effective option for species similar to Sablefish that skip spawn.

Mobile Apps versus Web Browsers: A Comparison of Self-administered Survey Platforms

The research program at 23andMe, Inc., a personal genetics company, studies a variety of health and medical conditions using customers' genetic and self-reported health information. While genetic i...

Validation of a novel radiation mapping platform for the reduction of operator-induced shielding effects

With extensive remediation currently ongoing because of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, there exists the even greater need to provide a system with which the distribution of radiation (specifically radiocesium) can be rapidly determined across extensive areas, yet at high (metre or sub-metre) spatial resolutions. Although a range of potential survey methods have been utilised (e.g. fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter, vehicular and more-recently unmanned aerial vehicle) to characterise the distribution of radiological contamination, ground-based (on-foot) methods that employ human operatives to traverse sites of interest remains one of the primary methods through which to perform routine radiological site surveys. Through the application of a newly-developed platform carried as a backpack-contained unit, it was possible to map sites at twice the rate previously possible—reducing not only the exposure time of the operator to ionising radiation, but also dramatically reducing the level of radiation attenuation (introduced by the operator) onto the detector. Like magnetometry platforms used during geological ore prospecting, this system was similarly boom-based, extending sideways away from the central operator. While conventional radiological survey platforms require a correction be performed on the data to account for the carrier (aircraft, vehicle or human) interception and attenuation incident radiation—this system is shown to not require such a retrospective correction.

OA204] AN EXCEL-BASED TOOL FOR IMPROVING PATIENT DOSE DATA REPORTING AND ANALYSIS

Purpose The radiation protection legislation requires patient dose surveys to be organized and diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) to be established and further used by radiology facilities for benchmarking and optimizing their local practice. To facilitate this process, an online data collection platform for national dose surveys in diagnostic and interventional radiology was created by the Ministry of Health. To report their data in absence of dose tracking software, the hospital staff needs to enter data manually through the platform interface. This paper presents a tool developed to speed up this process and reduce human errors. Methods and Materials A freeware application idRS was developed that constitutes electronic forms in Excel (Microsoft Corporation, USA) format with interactive functions written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Its role is to gather needed data from a manually or automatically populated Excel table, and transfer them to the online platform. The interactive features include checking for technical errors in the data sample, guiding hints for users, automatic data transmission, automatic estimation of the typical (mean) dose of the sample and comparison of this value with the current national DRL and/or values published in the scientific literature. Results Separate versions for radiography, fluoroscopy and computed tomography were created. They were tested with 880 real patient dose data recorded in three X-ray departments, and previously submitted manually through the online platform. No difference was found between the calculated mean values from data sets transferred with idRS and previously reported. The results of testing the idRS with two different computer configurations found difference of less than 2 s in the transfer time for 20 patients per procedure, which varied between 7 s for radiography and 20.7 s for multi-phase CT. Conclusion The idRS application significantly simplified and improved the process of submitting patient data to the online platform. It is expected that this will encourage more hospitals to contribute to the national dose data collection and for using the platform for establishing their local typical doses.

A survey of United States dairy hoof care professionals on costs associated with treatment of foot disorders

The objective of this study was to collect information regarding hoof care professionals' billing practices and to gather their opinions about foot disorders and the value of their prevention. Responses were gathered from veterinarians (n = 18) and hoof trimmers (n = 116) through both online and paper survey platforms. Because of the limited number of respondents, veterinarian responses were not further analyzed. Of the 6 foot disorders included in the survey, the treatment cost per case was greatest for toe ulcers (mean ± standard deviation; $20.2 ± 8.5), sole ulcers ($19.7 ± 8.6), white line disease ($19.5 ± 8.1), and thin soles ($18.1 ± 8.1), and least for infectious disorders (foot rot and digital dermatitis; $8.0 ± 7.6 and $7.5 ± 9.6, respectively). Of the disorders, digital dermatitis represented most of the foot disorder cases treated by respondents over the past year (43.9 ± 20.4%), whereas toe ulcers and thin soles represented the least (5.3 ± 4.1 and 5.3 ± 5.7%, respectively). Respondents that served mostly large herds (>500 lactating cows) reported a lower prevalence of digital dermatitis (31.6 ± 4.2 vs. 44.4 ± 3.4 and 46.7 ± 3.2% in small and medium herds, respectively) and a higher prevalence of sole ulcers (23.1 ± 3.0 vs. 13.4 ± 2.4 and 13.3 ± 2.3% in small and medium herds, respectively). Region of the United States (Northeast, Midwest, or other) also influenced foot disorder prevalence; respondents from the Northeast reported more sole ulcers than respondents from other regions (22.1 ± 2.3 vs. 12.4 ± 3.3%). When respondents were asked which disorder was associated with the greatest total cost per case to the producer (treatment and labor costs plus the reduction in milk yield, reduced reproductive performance, and so on), hoof trimmers ranked digital dermatitis as having the greatest total cost per case and thin soles as having the least total cost per case. Finally, respondents indicated that the most important benefits of reducing foot disorders were enhanced animal welfare and increased milk production, whereas the least important benefit was reduced veterinary and hoof trimmer fees. Results from this survey can be used to improve the accuracy of foot disorder cost estimates and contribute to better decision-making regarding both foot disorder treatment and prevention.

An exploration of a respondent pre-qualifying framework to increase response rates in social media initiated online surveys

The use of web-based surveys is currently increasing due to its cost-effectiveness and agility as it provides access to market researchers to web-connected populations who are unlikely to answer through traditional survey methods. However, survey response rates in market research are in general decline and among survey platforms, web-based surveys have the highest rates of non-response. Thus, there is a need to address the declining response rates for web-based surveys particularly unit response rates – the likelihood the respondent would answer the survey. This paper proposes a respondent prequalifying framework that reduces unit non-response rates of web-based non-probabilistic surveys. A checklist of respondent characteristics influencing the likelihood of unit non-response was developed. The framework was then adopted for its applicability by replicating the recruitment phase of two case studies wherein the prequalifying checklist was applied with consideration to the respondent profile requirements of each study. While this paper does not intend to provide robust empirical evidence to the proposed framework, it demonstrates a promising framework that can be used to increase unit non-response rate by comprehensively integrating the pre-qualifying factors in the domain literature and carefully developing such framework to the most plausible direction a web-survey can be implemented. Findings suggest that (1) the proposed respondent prequalifying framework increases the unit response by prequalifying the sample in the recruitment stage, and (2) increasing the threshold value may increase unit response rates with careful consideration to some significant issues such as the weights assigned to the prequalifying factors, the quality of the background information of the respondents in relation to the prequalifying factors, and the sensitivity of the survey topic. The proposed framework is developed with strong theoretical grounding and detailed discussion for its practical use is also provided. The framework benefits market researchers by reducing unit non-response costs and increasing efficiency in social media-based market surveys.

POLÍTICAS DE AÇÃO AFIRMATIVA: AGÊNCIA PARA A POPULAÇÃO NEGRA NO BRASIL

The present work is an attempt to break the Eurocentric vision that historically marginalized the black population and its history, from the Afrocentrada perspective. For that, the concepts of agent, agency and disenchantment of Asante (2009) were used. The objective is to analyze how Affirmative Actions, such as Law 10.639 / 03, conquered by black social movements in the field of public policies may be serving as agencies for the black population to become agents of their own histories. Presenting a basic cut of effective results of Affirmative Actions in the field of education and work in Brazil and Paraiba. This is an exploratory study, with a qualitative and quantitative sociological approach, based on indicators produced and made available on survey platforms and in scientific literature.

New barcoded primers for efficient retrieval of cercozoan sequences in high-throughput environmental diversity surveys, with emphasis on worldwide biological soil crusts.

We describe the performance of a new metabarcoding approach to investigate the environmental diversity of a prominent group of widespread unicellular organisms, the Cercozoa. Cercozoa is an immensely large group of protists, and although it may dominate in soil and aquatic ecosystems, its environmental diversity remains undersampled. We designed PCR primers targeting the hypervariable region V4 of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU or 18S) gene, which is the recommended barcode marker for Cercozoa. The length of the amplified fragment (c. 350bp) is suitable for Illumina MiSeq, the most cost-effective platform for molecular environmental surveys. We provide barcoded primers, an economical alternative to multiple libraries for multiplex sequencing of over a hundred samples. In silico, our primers matched 68% of the cercozoan sequences of the reference database and performed better than previously proposed new-generation sequencing primers. In mountain grassland soils and in biological soil crusts from a variety of climatic regions, we were able to detect cercozoan sequences encompassing nearly the whole range of the phylum. We obtained 901 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% similarity threshold from 26 samples, with c. 50,000 sequences per site, and only 8% of noncercozoan sequences. We could report a further increase in the diversity of Cercozoa, as only 43% of the OTUs were 97%-100% similar to any known sequence. Our study thus provides an advanced tool for cercozoan metabarcoding and to investigate their diversity and distribution in the environment.

The Camera-Based Assessment Survey System (C-BASS): A towed camera platform for reef fish abundance surveys and benthic habitat characterization in the Gulf of Mexico

An ongoing challenge for fisheries management is to provide cost-effective and timely estimates of habitat stratified fish densities. Traditional approaches use modified commercial fishing gear (such as trawls and baited hooks) that have biases in species selectivity and may also be inappropriate for deployment in some habitat types. Underwater visual and optical approaches offer the promise of more precise and less biased assessments of relative fish abundance, as well as direct estimates of absolute fish abundance. A number of video-based approaches have been developed and the technology for data acquisition, calibration, and synthesis has been developing rapidly.Beginning in 2012, our group of engineers and researchers at the University of South Florida has been working towards the goal of completing large scale, video-based surveys in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This paper discusses design considerations and development of a towed camera system for collection of video-based data on commercially and recreationally important reef fishes and benthic habitat on the West Florida Shelf. Factors considered during development included potential habitat types to be assessed, sea-floor bathymetry, vessel support requirements, personnel requirements, and cost-effectiveness of system components. This regional-specific effort has resulted in a towed platform called the Camera-Based Assessment Survey System, or C-BASS, which has proven capable of surveying tens of kilometers of video transects per day and has the ability to cost-effective population estimates of reef fishes and coincident benthic habitat classification.

Validating Bayesian truth serum in large-scale online human experiments.

Bayesian truth serum (BTS) is an exciting new method for improving honesty and information quality in multiple-choice survey, but, despite the method’s mathematical reliance on large sample sizes, existing literature about BTS only focuses on small experiments. Combined with the prevalence of online survey platforms, such as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, which facilitate surveys with hundreds or thousands of participants, BTS must be effective in large-scale experiments for BTS to become a readily accepted tool in real-world applications. We demonstrate that BTS quantifiably improves honesty in large-scale online surveys where the “honest” distribution of answers is known in expectation on aggregate. Furthermore, we explore a marketing application where “honest” answers cannot be known, but find that BTS treatment impacts the resulting distributions of answers.

Web-based platform for patient dose surveys in diagnostic and interventional radiology in Bulgaria: Functionality testing and optimisation

In the period 2013–2016 the National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection (NCRRP) at the Ministry of Health of Bulgaria has developed a web based platform for performing national patient dose surveys and establishing Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs). It is accessible via internet browser, allowing the users to submit data remotely. Electronic questionnaires, specific for radiography, fluoroscopy, image guided interventional procedures, mammography and CT, were provided. Short and clear manuals were added to guide users and minimise human errors. The web-based data collection platform is functional and is currently being used for performing the third national dose survey in Bulgaria, launched in 2016. Data analysis is facilitated due to the standardisation of collected data and their storing. Using the platform, the participating facilities can establish their typical dose levels based on the median value, and compare them to DRLs. A disadvantage of the platform is the need to enter data manually, but it is opened for future upgrades for automatic data harvesting and analysis. Various practical approaches were used to overcome the lack of qualified human resources and insufficient understanding of the DRL and dose tracking concept and to motivate facilities to submit data.

Development and Practice of Teaching Platform for Construction Survey

With the rapid development of new technology and new process, engineering construction, survey data processing process of measuring real-time rapid completion of engineering construction has become an inevitable requirement of engineering construction the calculation function of the use of program engineering calculator powerful flexible and rapid completion of surveying data processing has become a staff engineering survey specialty. Must have a core occupation ability. The construction of measurement data engineering construction measurement, calculator program design and development of teaching application platform, to cultivate engineering survey specialty construction measurement data processing core. Occupation ability and reform of teaching mode of "construction measurement data processing” course teaching of engineering has an important reference value. In recent years, new technology, new technology is widely used in production and construction, and on the professional competence engineering measurement technology professional positions should have put forward new demands, mainly in measuring, painting, considered to improve the professional capacity of the three. Industries and enterprises through employer surveys, showing that vocational students to test, draw the two professional competence easy to master, to "count" the ability to grasp is not enough, while students usually study also used to focus on the first two. Engineering calculator as handheld computing devices, specially adapted in real-time, flexible, mobile data processing engineering construction measurement, measurement of work in the construction site has outstanding advantages. Higher engineering measuring technology for students, the design and development capabilities in engineering construction survey calculator program is to improve the construction of measurement data processing professional competence necessary requirement. In this paper, engineering measurement technology professional job of professional competence based on the requirements, analysis of engineering construction calculator measuring program "Teaching," demand for integrated teaching, building engineering calculator program design and development of teaching application platform, based on the completion of construction Measurement data processing process systematization of engineering calculators Construction Survey assemblies for students of engineering construction survey data processing professional competence has important practical value.

Sensor Pods: Multi-Resolution Surveys from a Light Aircraft

Airborne remote sensing, whether performed from conventional aerial survey platforms such as light aircraft or the more recent Remotely Piloted Airborne Systems (RPAS) has the ability to compliment mapping generated using earth-orbiting satellites, particularly for areas that may experience prolonged cloud cover. Traditional aerial platforms are costly but capture spectral resolution imagery over large areas. RPAS are relatively low-cost, and provide very-high resolution imagery but this is limited to small areas. We believe that we are the first group to retrofit these new, low-cost, lightweight sensors in a traditional aircraft. Unlike RPAS surveys which have a limited payload, this is the first time that a method has been designed to operate four distinct RPAS sensors simultaneously—hyperspectral, thermal, hyper, RGB, video. This means that imagery covering a broad range of the spectrum captured during a single survey, through different imaging capture techniques (frame, pushbroom, video) can be applied to investigate different multiple aspects of the surrounding environment such as, soil moisture, vegetation vitality, topography or drainage, etc. In this paper, we present the initial results validating our innovative hybrid system adapting dedicated RPAS sensors for a light aircraft sensor pod, thereby providing the benefits of both methodologies. Simultaneous image capture with a Nikon D800E SLR and a series of dedicated RPAS sensors, including a FLIR thermal imager, a four-band multispectral camera and a 100-band hyperspectral imager was enabled by integration in a single sensor pod operating from a Cessna c172. However, to enable accurate sensor fusion for image analysis, each sensor must first be combined in a common vehicle coordinate system and a method for triggering, time-stamping and calculating the position/pose of each sensor at the time of image capture devised. Initial tests were carried out over agricultural regions with geometric tests designed to assess the spatial accuracy of the fused imagery in terms of its absolute and relative accuracy. The results demonstrate that by using our innovative system, images captured simultaneously by the four sensors could be geometrically corrected successfully and then co-registered and fused exhibiting a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of approximately 10m independent of inertial measurements and ground control.

“Delirium Day”: a nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

BackgroundTo date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy.MethodsThis is a point prevalence study (called “Delirium Day”) including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints.ResultsThe mean sample age was 82.0 ± 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12–1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41–4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29–3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45–2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11–5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06–1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30–2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40–2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29–3.14), while admission to other settings was not.ConclusionsDelirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The “Delirium Day” project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-016-0649-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Testing the Usability of Communication Materials through Heat Maps in Online Survey Platforms

Testing the Usability of Communication Materials through Heat Maps in Online Survey Platforms

AIM Data Services

AIM Data Services as a virtual facility provides virtual 3D reference tracks for simulation applications in the domain of automotive and railway systems. It offers tools for management and analysis of experiment data and a platform for survey and processing of vehicle data in the public transport domain. Collected spatial data is bundled in a database cluster and published through common web mapping interfaces.

Review of Underwater Cable Shape Detection

AbstractUnderwater cables play vital roles in marine engineering because they provide power and communication connections from the shore to an increasing number of sea installations. To ensure the system is operating reliably and continuously, it is necessary to detect the shapes of underwater cables in real time. However, this task is difficult to accomplish because the underwater cables are located in a dynamic and complicated subsea environment, which can cause changes in position, depth, and visibility.In this report, the current development of underwater cable shape detection methods, including visual, acoustic, magnetic detection, and multisensor fusion detection, and the advantages and disadvantages are described and analyzed. Furthermore, the disadvantages of these methods are addressed, which, based on survey platforms with high cost, include a long detection period and the failure to reveal emergencies. Then, the need to construct a simple and reliable system to detect the shapes of underwater cables is highlighted, and one possible solution based on bend sensors embedded in underwater cables is discussed.

Reducing Magnetic Noise of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for High-Quality Magnetic Surveys

The use of light and ultralight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for magnetic data acquisition can be efficient for resolving multiple geological and engineering tasks including geological mapping, ore deposits’ prospecting, and pipelines’ monitoring. The accuracy of the aeromagnetic data acquired using UAV depends mainly on deviation noise of electric devices (engine, servos, etc.). The goal of this research is to develop a nonmagnetic unmanned aerial platform (NUAP) for high-quality magnetic surveys. Considering parameters of regional and local magnetic survey, a fixed-wing UAV suits geological tasks better for plain area and copter type for hills and mountains. Analysis of the experimental magnetic anomalies produced by a serial light fixed-wing UAV and subsequent magnetic and aerodynamic modeling demonstrates a capacity of NUAP with internal combustion engine carrying an atomic magnetic sensor mounted on the UAV wings to facilitate a high-quality magnetic survey.

Automatic questionnaire survey by using the collective message over the Internet

As to implement questionnaire survey, a researcher usually has to spend much time and efforts on questionnaire delivery, questionnaire collection and questionnaire analysis. In order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in questionnaire survey, this research develops an automatic questionnaire survey model. In the proposed model, the questions in the questionnaires can be converted into structured components and the component characteristics can be obtained from the related online message. By using the Artificial Neural Network method, the relationship model between the online message and questionnaire questions can be derived and the derived model can be used to acquire the answers to the questions from the message highly related to the questions. Moreover, distributions of the answers can be visually depicted. By utilizing the proposed methodology, researchers can efficiently realize the results about their questionnaire derived from the online population.On the basis of the proposed model, this research develops a platform for automatic questionnaire survey and analysis. Moreover, real-world questions and message, Yahoo! Answers, were used to evaluate feasibility and performance of the proposed model and platform. According to the experimental result question answers can be effectively acquired from the message highly related to the questions. The proposed method and platform can assist people quickly and effectively accomplish questionnaire survey.

Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) Uganda: Update for Household Survey.

The first step in improving surgical care delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is quantifying surgical need. The Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) is a validated household survey that has been previously implemented in three LMICs with great success. We implemented the SOSAS survey in Uganda, a medium-sized country with comparatively more language and ethnic group diversity. The investigators partnered with the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) Uganda to access a data collection platform sampling 2520 households in 105 randomly selected enumeration areas. Due to geographic size consideration and language diversity, SOSAS's methodology was updated in three significant dimensions (1) technology, (2) staff management, and (3) questionnaire adaptations. The SOSAS survey was successfully implemented with non-medically trained but field proven research assistants. We sampled 2315 of 2402 eligible households (response rate 96.4 %) and 4248 of 4374 eligible individual respondents (response rate 97.1 %). The female-to-male ratio was 51.1-48.9 %. Total survey cost was USD 73,145 and data collection occurred in 14 days. SOSAS Uganda has demonstrated that non-medically trained, but university-educated, experienced researchers supervised by academic surgeons can successfully perform accurate data collection of SOSAS. SOSAS can be successfully implemented within larger and more diverse LMICs using existing national survey platforms, and SOSAS Uganda provides insights on how SOSAS can be executed specifically within other PMA2020 program countries.