A Supervised Approach to Delineate Built-Up Areas for Monitoring and Analysis of Settlements

Monitoring urban growth and measuring urban sprawl is essential for improving urban planning and development. In this paper, we introduce a supervised approach for the delineation of urban areas using commonly available topographic data and commercial GIS software. The method uses a supervised parameter optimization approach along with buffer-based quality measuring method. The approach was developed, tested and evaluated in terms of possible usage in monitoring built-up areas in spatial science at a very fine-grained level. Results show that built-up area boundaries can be delineated automatically with higher quality compared to the settlement boundaries actually used. The approach has been applied to 166 settlement bodies in Germany. The study shows a very efficient way of extracting settlement boundaries from topographic data and maps and contributes to the quantification and monitoring of urban sprawl. Moreover, the findings from this study can potentially guide policy makers and urban planners from other countries

Measuring the productivity of residential long-term care in England: methods for quality adjustment and regional comparison

Productivity trend information is valuable in developing policy and for understanding changes in the ‘value for money’ of the care system. In this paper, we consider approaches to measuring productivity of adult social care (ASC), and particularly care home services. Productivity growth in the public sector is traditionally measured by comparing change in total output to change in total inputs, but has not accounted for changes in service quality and need. In this study, we propose a method to estimate ‘quality adjusted’ output based on indicators of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT), using data collected in the annual adult social care survey (ASCS). When combined with expenditure and activity data for 2010 to 2012, we found that this approach was feasible to implement with current data and that it altered the productivity results compared with non-adjusted productivity metrics. Overall, quality-adjusted productivity grew in most regions between 2010 and 2011 and remained unchanged for most regions from 2011 to 2012

Measuring patient-perceived quality of care in US hospitals using Twitter

BACKGROUND: Patients routinely use Twitter to share feedback about their experience receiving healthcare. Identifying and analysing the content of posts sent to hospitals may provide a novel real-time measure of quality, supplementing traditional, survey-based approaches. OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of Twitter as a supplemental data stream for measuring patient-perceived quality of care in US hospitals and compare patient sentiments about hospitals with established quality measures. DESIGN: 404 065 tweets directed to 2349 US hospitals over a 1-year period were classified as having to do with patient experience using a machine learning approach. Sentiment was calculated for these tweets using natural language processing. 11 602 tweets were manually categorised into patient experience topics. Finally, hospitals with ≥50 patient experience tweets were surveyed to understand how they use Twitter to interact with patients. KEY RESULTS: Roughly half of the hospitals in the US have a presence on Twitter. Of the tweets directed toward these hospitals, 34 725 (9.4%) were related to patient experience and covered diverse topics. Analyses limited to hospitals with ≥50 patient experience tweets revealed that they were more active on Twitter, more likely to be below the national median of Medicare patients (p<0.001) and above the national median for nurse/patient ratio (p=0.006), and to be a non-profit hospital (p<0.001). After adjusting for hospital characteristics, we found that Twitter sentiment was not associated with Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) ratings (but having a Twitter account was), although there was a weak association with 30-day hospital readmission rates (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Tweets describing patient experiences in hospitals cover a wide range of patient care aspects and can be identified using automated approaches. These tweets represent a potentially untapped indicator of quality and may be valuable to patients, researchers, policy makers and hospital administrators

Public hospital costs and quality in the Dominican Republic

Measuring costs in public hospitals in developing countries is hampered by the lack of an appropriate costing system, or of any systematic cost accounting. Invoices for goods and services, prices for inputs, and patient records are generally absent. As a result, cost measures have historically been based on budget figures - the only available financial data. But budget allocations bear little relationship to the resources actually required to provide services to hospital patients. The patient-based methodology described by the authors circumvents this problem by measuring actual hospital resources allocated to patients. Their study was conducted in a single Dominican hospital during a one week period in April 1989. Their approach documents and gives prices for goods, services, and personnel time provided by the hospital to emergency patients, inpatients, and outpatients. They used the following to measure quality and efficiency: (a) the qualifications and relative costs of medical manpower delivering services; (b) the extent and nature of shortages; (c) comparisons of physician orders and actual services provided; and (d) (for selected diagnoses) the specifics of clinical practices in the hospital, compared with accepted clinical norms for the Dominican Republic. They found that average and total costs of services understate the true costs - because of shortages, inappropriate and underused personnel, and nonfunctioning equipment. Quality of care measures suggest low quality and poor efficiency. Norms of medical practice were not followed in more than 80 percent of the cases examined. Rates of completion for diagnostic tests were below 50 percent for outpatient services and between 60 and 70 percent for inpatient and emergency services. The study registered significant monthly savings of $641 for noncompletion of tests and$824 for nonavailability of drugs. Policy recommendations of the authors center on the need to reform the organization and delivery of health care as well as physician payment practices - and to giving more authority to hospital administrators. To make Dominican hospitals more efficient, there must be greater authority and accountability for hospital directors and better incentives for improving medical and management performance. Quality assurance needs great improvement if the Dominican system is to ensure a basic standard of care.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Business Environment,Business in Development,Health Economics&Finance

A Case Study of the National Institute of Public Administration of the Republic of Indonesia

학위논문(석사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 행정대학원 행정학과, 2023. 2. ByeongJo Kim.The Policy Quality Index (PQI) has been nationally utilized to assess Indonesian public policy quality since 2021. However, policymaking process seems to be made based on intuition, political interest, public opinion, and ideology. In fact, measuring policy quality is not that easy, particularly in a complex issue. Regarding to that, through the clear and standardized indicators and procedures, policy quality can be measured appropriately. Consequently, the research aims to identify, analyse, and discuss the implementation of the Policy Quality Index for policy quality assessment in Indonesian governmental agencies and the challenges for the process of the public policy quality assessment. Applying the Grounded Theory Approach based on the literature by Charmaz, the study aims to identify and to analyse the primary data that has been collected through the semi-structured interviews with prospective actors who are involved in the PQI implementation. Based on the interview data, following selective coding or main themes have been generated: 1) implementation background; 2) index methodology development; 3) collaborative implementation; 4) stakeholders roles; 5) implementation benefits; 6) implementation procedure; and 7) implementation constraints. Those mentioned main themes consist of second-order categories that are generated from the axial coding, and first-order concepts that are gained from the initial coding. The study found that the PQI implementation is related to the agenda of bureaucratic reform in the area of policy deregulation which is aimed to manage the laws and regulations that are still contradictory, inconsistent, ambiguous, and have multiple interpretations. So, the Ministry of State Civil Apparatus Utilization and Bureaucratic Reform as the authorized organization who has authority in managing bureaucratic reform in Indonesia has adopted the Policy Quality Index in 2021 for assessing government institutions bureaucratic reform performance in the area of policy deregulation. At the same time, the data gathered shows that the PQI framework assessment is based on four policy cycles that are consisted of agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. Regarding the policy samples that can be evaluated using the PQI, the organization has decided to limit the samples in the initial PQI implementation as a national standard index for measuring policy quality. It is applied because the organization aims to get comparable assessment results about the policy quality in Indonesia. The policy samples of the PQI are ministerial regulations, institutional regulations, regional regulations, and regional head regulations. In the implementation, there are also low level of understanding and participation from the users because government institutions do not follow the policymaking cycles that are started from agenda setting to policy evaluation in the policymaking process. Then, the organization has also faced limited financial and human resources in the PQI implementation.Cempaka Noor Kumala Izza 정책품질지수(Policy Quality Index, PQI)는 2021년부터 인도네시아 공공정책의 질을 평가하기 위해 전국적으로 활용되고 있다. 그러나 정책 결정 과정은 직관, 정치적 관심, 여론, 이념에 따라 이루어지는 것으로 보인다. 사실 정책의 질을 측정하는 것은 특히 복잡한 문제에서 그리 쉽지 않다. 그와 관련하여, 명확하고 표준화된 지표와 절차를 통해 정책의 질을 적절하게 측정할 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구의 목적은 인도네시아 정부기관의 정책품질평가를 위한 정책품질지수의 구현과 공공정책품질평가 과정의 과제를 파악하고 분석하고 논의하는 것이다. Charmaz의 문헌을 기반으로 한 근거 이론 접근법을 적용하여, 본 연구는 다음과 같은 주요 데이터를 식별하고 분석하는 것을 목표로 한다. PQI 구현에 참여하는 예비 행위자와의 반구조적 인터뷰를 통해 수집되었다. 인터뷰 자료를 바탕으로 1) 구현 배경, 2) 지수 방법론 개발, 3) 협업 구현, 4) 이해관계자 역할, 5) 구현 편익, 6) 구현 절차, 7) 구현 제약 등의 선택적 코딩 또는 주요 주제가 생성되었다. 언급된 주요 주제는 축 코딩에서 생성된 2차 범주와 초기 코딩에서 얻은 1차 개념으로 구성된다. 이 연구는 PQI 시행이 여전히 모순되고 일관성이 없고 모호하며 해석이 다양한 법과 규제를 관리하기 위한 정책규제완화 분야의 관료개혁 의제와 관련이 있음을 발견했다. 따라서 인도네시아의 관료개혁 관리 권한을 가진 공인기관으로서 국가공무원제도활용관료개혁부는 2021년 정책규제완화 분야에서 정부기관의 관료개혁 성과를 평가하기 위해 '정책품질지수'를 채택하였다. 이와 함께 수집된 자료를 통해 PQI 프레임워크 평가는 의제설정, 정책수립, 정책추진, 정책평가로 구성된 4가지 정책주기를 기반으로 하고 있음을 알 수 있다. PQI를 사용하여 평가할 수 있는 정책 샘플과 관련하여, 정책 품질을 측정하기 위한 국가 표준 지표로서 초기 PQI 구현 시 샘플을 제한하기로 결정하였다. 인도네시아 정책의 질에 대한 비교 평가 결과를 얻는 것을 목적으로 하기 때문에 적용된다. PQI의 정책 샘플은 장관 규정, 제도 규정, 지역 규정 및 지역 책임 규정이다. 에서 정책 수립 과정에서 의제 설정부터 정책 평가까지 시작되는 정책 수립 주기를 정부 기관이 따르지 않아 이용자들의 이해와 참여 수준도 낮다. 그 후, 조직은 또한 PQI 구현에서 제한된 재정 및 인적 자원에 직면했다.Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1. Background and Purpose of Study 1 1.2. Scope of the Study 3 1.3. Research Methods 3 Chapter 2: Overview of The Policy Quality Index 5 2.1. What is The Policy Quality Index 5 2.2. Assessing Indonesian Public Policy Using the Policy Quality Index 6 2.3. What are the Indicators in Assessing Policy Quality 11 Chapter 3: Theoretical Background 12 3.1. Definition of Public Policy 12 3.2. Public Policy Evaluation 13 3.3. Public Policy Analysis 17 3.4. A Rationality Model in the Policymaking Process 21 3.5. Previous Study Review 23 Chapter 4: Research Design 24 4.1. Research Methodology 24 4.2. Grounded Theory Approach 27 Chapter 5: Findings and Discussion 33 5.1. Findings 33 5.2. Discussion 41 Chapter 6: Conclusion and Limitation 64 6.1. Conclusion 64 6.2. Limitation 67 Bibliography 68 Appendix 74석

New tools for assessing personal exposure near urban air pollution hotspots

During the last decade, researchers and policy makers have focused on the development and deployment of air pollution mitigation measures invoking solutions based on technology transfer. This term encompasses the synthesis of air quality monitoring, primarily by networks of inexpensive sensors, remote sensing and numerical modelling, as tools for supporting policy makers and disseminating air quality information to the citizens. It has been recognised that localised concentration maxima developing around traffic sources represent an exposure contribution of major epidemiological significance. The ability, therefore, of an integrated air quality management system to reliably assess personal exposure heavily depends on the consistent numerical treatment of multiscale interactions which determine the flow and dispersion structures in these fine spatial scales. Moreover, it is important to incorporate innovative methodologies for enhancing the stability and error-resilience of the sensor networks themselves. The approach presented in this work focuses on the utilisation of latest developments both in sensor technology and numerical air quality modelling, so as to provide end products able to support regulatory assessment and environmental information services. A peer-to-peer network of air quality measuring devices is deployed in six urban areas in the Balkan region in order to provide real time air quality data over areas of high population and emissions density. The coupled mesoscale modelling system MEMO/ MARS-aero and the mesomicro MEMICO two-way coupling methodology implement the physical modelling core of the system in the respective spatial scales. These modelling tools are used to estimate, integrate and complement the sensor data on pollutant levels in predictions of high temporal and spatial resolution in order to highlight pollution hot spots. In the case of fine particulate matter, special adaptations are incorporated in the emissions and chemical transformation treatment in order to provide consistent number concentration fields, which constitute the most relevant exposure metric

Towards a harmonized European surveillance for dietary and physical activity indicators in young and adult populations

Background The Policy Evaluation Network proposes a consolidated approach to measure comparable health indicators across European health surveillance systems to evaluate effectiveness of policy action. Methods In a stepwise approach, questionnaire items used by the systems for measuring diet and physical activity data to describe health indicators were identified based on their validity, reliability, and suitability to monitor achievement of health recommendations. They were collated to unified questionnaire modules and discussed bilaterally with representatives of these systems to explore barriers and facilitators for implementation. Also, establishment of a methodological competence platform was proposed, in which the surveillance and monitoring systems agree on the priorities and common quality standards for the harmonization process and to coordinate the integration of questionnaire modules into existing systems. Results In total, seven questionnaire modules were developed, of which two diet and two physical activity modules were proposed for implementation. Each module allows measurement of data reflecting only partial aspects of national and WHO recommendations related to diet and physical activity. Main barriers were the requirements of systems to monitor temporal trends and to minimize costs. Main facilitator for implementation was the systems’ use of questionnaire items that were comparable to the unified modules. Representatives agreed to participate in a methodological competence platform. Conclusion We successfully took first steps in the realization of the roadmap towards a harmonization of European surveillance by introducing unified questionnaire modules allowing the collection of comparable health indicators and by initiating the establishment of a competence platform to guide this process

The Coexistence of Multiple Distributions Systems for Financial Services: The Case of Property-Liability Insurance

Property-liability insurance is distributed by two different types of firms, those that distribute their product through independent agents, who represent more than one insurer,and direct writing insurers that distribute insurance through exclusive agents, who represent only one insurer. This paper analyzes the reasons for the long term coexistence of the independent agency and direct writing distribution systems. Two primary hypotheses explain the coexistence of independent and exclusive agents. The market imperfections hypothesis suggests that firms that use independent agents survive while providing essentially the same service as firms using exclusive agents because of market imperfections such as price regulation, slow diffusion of information in insurance markets, or search costs that permit inefficient firms to survive alongside efficient firms. Efficient firms are expected to earn super-normal risk-adjusted profits, while inefficient firms will earn risk-adjusted profits closer to normal levels. The product quality hypothesis suggests that higher costs of independent agents represent unobserved differences in product quality or service intensity, such as the providing of additional customer assistance with claims settlement,offering a greater variety of product choice sand reducing policyholder search costs. This hypothesis predicts normal risk-adjusted profits for both independent and exclusive agency firms. Because product quality in insurance is essentially unobserved, researchers have been unable to reach consensus on whether the market imperfections hypothesis or the product quality hypothesis is more consistent with the observed cost data. This lack of consensus leaves open the economic question of whether the market works well in solving the problem of minimizing product distribution costs and leaves unresolved the policy issue of whether marketing costs in property-liability insurance are excessive and perhaps should receive regulatory attention. The authors propose a new methodology for distinguishing between market imperfection sand product quality using frontier efficiency methods. They estimate both profit efficiency and cost efficiency for a sample of independent and exclusive agency insurers. Measuring profit efficiency helps to identify unobserved product quality differences because customers should be willing to pay extra for higher quality. This approach allows for the possibility that some firms may incur additional costs providing superior service and be compensated for these costs through higher revenues. Profit efficiency also implicitly incorporates the qualities floss control and risk management services,since insurers that more effectively control losses and manage risk should have higher average risk-adjusted profits but not necessarily lower costs than less effective insurers. The empirical results confirm that independent agency firms have higher costs on average than do direct writers. The principal finding of the study is that most of the average differential between the two groups of firms disappears in the profit function analysis. This is a robust result that holds both in the authors tables of averages and in the regression analysis and applies to both the standard and non-standard profit functions. Based on averages, the profit efficiency differential is at most one-third as large as the profit efficiency differential.Based on the regression analysis, the profit inefficiency differential is at most one-fourth as large as the cost inefficiency differential,and the profit inefficiency differential is not statistically significant in the more fully specified models that control for size,organizational form and business mix. The results provide strong support for the product quality hypothesis and do not support the market imperfections hypothesis. The higher costs of independent agents appear to be due almost entirely to the provision of higher quality services, which are compensated for by additional revenues. A significant public policy implication is that regulatory decisions should not be based on costs alone. The authors findings imply that marketing cost differentials among insurers are mostly attributable to service differentials rather than to inefficiency and therefore do not represent social costs. The profit inefficiency results show that there is room for improvement in both the independent and direct writing segments of the industry. However, facilitating competition is likely to be a more effective approach to increasing efficiency than restrictive price regulation.

Better Admission Control and Disk Scheduling for Multimedia Applications

General purpose operating systems have been designed to provide fast, loss-free disk service to all applications. However, multimedia applications are capable of tolerating some data loss, but are very sensitive to variation in disk service timing. Present research efforts to handle multimedia applications assume pessimistic disk behaviour when deciding to admit new multimedia connections so as not to violate the real-time application constraints. However, since multimedia applications are ``soft\u27 real-time applications that can tolerate some loss, we propose an optimistic scheme for admission control which uses average case values for disk access. Typically, disk scheduling mechanisms for multimedia applications reduce disk access times by only trying to minimize movement to subsequent blocks after sequencing based on Earliest Deadline First. We propose to implement a disk scheduling algorithm that uses knowledge of the media stored and permissible loss and jitter for each client, in addition to the physical parameters used by the other scheduling algorithms. We will evaluate our approach by implementing our admission control policy and disk scheduling algorithm in Linux and measuring the quality of various multimedia streams. If successful, the contributions of this thesis are the development of new admission control and flexible disk scheduling algorithm for improved multimedia quality of service

Three Concepts of Competitiveness Measures for Livestock Production in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper provides the overview of competitiveness measures applied in measuring competitiveness of livestock production in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Three concepts of competitiveness are presented that are based on (i) Porters diamond of competitive advantage, (ii) competitiveness measures based on accountancy data and Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM approach, and (iii) competitiveness measures based on international trade data. On the basis of the presented results the paper evaluates competitiveness of livestock production in CEE countries focusing on policy implications of transition and integration of CEEs countries livestock sectors into the Single European Market. Low international competitiveness In CEE countries is for beef and milk, but with some indices of most recent improvements. Pork production (e.g. in Bulgaria) and sheep production (e.g. in Slovakia) may become internationally competitive. Less clear pattern is for the poultry sector. Some improvements may arise as result of a deep restructuring, quality, technology and efficiency improvements and rationalisation of costs, including in food processing