Social science perspectives on managing agricultural technology

TechnologyAgricultural researchResource managementFarmer participationEvaluation

Using Rasch analysis to form plausible health states amenable to valuation: the development of CORE-6D from CORE-OM in order to elicit preferences for common mental health problems

Purpose: To describe a new approach for deriving a preference-based index from a condition specific measure that uses Rasch analysis to develop health states. Methods: CORE-OM is a 34-item instrument monitoring clinical outcomes of people with common mental health problems. CORE-OM is characterised by high correlation across its domains. Rasch analysis was used to reduce the number of items and response levels in order to produce a set of unidimensionally-behaving items, and to generate a credible set of health states corresponding to different levels of symptom severity using the Rasch item threshold map. Results: The proposed methodology resulted in the development of CORE-6D, a 2-dimensional health state description system consisting of a unidimensionally-behaving 5-item emotional component and a physical symptom item. Inspection of the Rasch item threshold map of the emotional component helped identify a set of 11 plausible health states, which, combined with the physical symptom item levels, will be used for the valuation of the instrument, resulting in the development of a preference-based index. Conclusions: This is a useful new approach to develop preference-based measures where the domains of a measure are characterised by high correlation. The CORE-6D preference-based index will enable calculation of Quality Adjusted Life Years in people with common mental health problems

Informal entrepreneurship in developing economies: the impacts of starting-up unregistered on firm performance

To advance understanding of the entrepreneurship process in developing economies, this paper evaluates whether registered enterprises that initially avoid the cost of registration, and focus their resources on overcoming other liabilities of newness, lay a stronger foundation for subsequent growth. Analyzing World Bank Enterprise Survey data across 127 countries, and controlling for other firm performance determinants, registered enterprises that started-up unregistered and spent longer operating unregistered are revealed to have significantly higher subsequent annual sales, employment and productivity growth rates compared with those that registered from the outset. The theoretical and policy implications are then discussed

A review of web-based support systems for students in higher education

Abstract Background Recent evidence suggests that there is an increasing need for accessible and anonymous services to support higher education (HE) students suffering from psychological and/or academic difficulties. Such difficulties can lead to several negative outcomes, including poor academic performance, sub-optimal mental health, reduced study satisfaction, and dropout from study. Currently, universities in the UK lack financial resources and the on-campus mental health services traditionally offered to students are increasingly economically unsustainable. Compounded by the perceived stigma of using such services, mental health providers have been driven to address the escalating needs of students through online services. Methods In this paper, we review online support systems identified through a literature search and a manual search of references in the identified papers. Further systems were identified through web searches, and systems still in development were identified by consultation with researchers in the field. We accessed systems online to extract relevant information, regarding the main difficulties addressed by the systems, the psychological techniques used and any relevant research evidence to support their effectiveness. Conclusion A large number of web-based support systems have been developed to support mental health and wellbeing, although few specifically target HE students. Further research is necessary to establish the effectiveness of such interventions in providing a cost-effective alternative to face-to-face therapy, particularly in certain settings such as HE institutions

Mechanistic Understanding of the Heterogeneous, Rhodium-Cyclic (Alkyl)(Amino)Carbene-Catalyzed (Fluoro-)Arene Hydrogenation

Recently, chemoselective methods for the hydrogenation of fluorinated, silylated, and borylated arenes have been developed providing direct access to previously unattainable, valuable products. Herein, a comprehensive study on the employed rhodium-cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbene (CAAC) catalyst precursor is disclosed. Mechanistic experiments, kinetic studies, and surface-spectroscopic methods revealed supported rhodium(0) nanoparticles (NP) as the active catalytic species. Further studies suggest that CAAC-derived modifiers play a key role in determining the chemoselectivity of the hydrogenation of fluorinated arenes, thus offering an avenue for further tuning of the catalytic properties. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society

A comparative analysis of Patient-Reported Expanded Disability Status Scale tools.

BACKGROUND: Patient-Reported Expanded Disability Status Scale (PREDSS) tools are an attractive alternative to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) during long term or geographically challenging studies, or in pressured clinical service environments. OBJECTIVES: Because the studies reporting these tools have used different metrics to compare the PREDSS and EDSS, we undertook an individual patient data level analysis of all available tools. METHODS: Spearman's rho and the Bland-Altman method were used to assess correlation and agreement respectively. RESULTS: A systematic search for validated PREDSS tools covering the full EDSS range identified eight such tools. Individual patient data were available for five PREDSS tools. Excellent correlation was observed between EDSS and PREDSS with all tools. A higher level of agreement was observed with increasing levels of disability. In all tools, the 95% limits of agreement were greater than the minimum EDSS difference considered to be clinically significant. However, the intra-class coefficient was greater than that reported for EDSS raters of mixed seniority. The visual functional system was identified as the most significant predictor of the PREDSS-EDSS difference. CONCLUSION: This analysis will (1) enable researchers and service providers to make an informed choice of PREDSS tool, depending on their individual requirements, and (2) facilitate improvement of current PREDSS tools.University of Southampton and National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)

Self-perceived quality of life predicts mortality risk better than a multi-biomarker panel, but the combination of both does best

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Associations between measures of subjective health and mortality risk have previously been shown. We assessed the impact and comparative predictive performance of a multi-biomarker panel on this association.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from 4,261 individuals aged 20-79 years recruited for the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania was used. During an average 9.7 year follow-up, 456 deaths (10.7%) occurred. Subjective health was assessed by SF-12 derived physical (PCS-12) and mental component summaries (MCS-12), and a single-item self-rated health (SRH) question. We implemented Cox proportional-hazards regression models to investigate the association of subjective health with mortality and to assess the impact of a combination of 10 biomarkers on this association. Variable selection procedures were used to identify a parsimonious set of subjective health measures and biomarkers, whose predictive ability was compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, C-statistics, and reclassification methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In age- and gender-adjusted Cox models, poor SRH (hazard ratio (HR), 2.07; 95% CI, 1.34-3.20) and low PCS-12 scores (lowest vs. highest quartile: HR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.31-2.33) were significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality; an association independent of various covariates and biomarkers. Furthermore, selected subjective health measures yielded a significantly higher C-statistic (0.883) compared to the selected biomarker panel (0.872), whereas a combined assessment showed the highest C-statistic (0.887) with a highly significant integrated discrimination improvement of 1.5% (p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Adding biomarker information did not affect the association of subjective health measures with mortality, but significantly improved risk stratification. Thus, a combined assessment of self-reported subjective health and measured biomarkers may be useful to identify high-risk individuals for intensified monitoring.</p