“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!” – Higher Hypomania Scores Are Associated with Higher Mental Toughness, Increased Physical Activity, and Lower Symptoms of Depression and Lower Sleep Complaints

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Leila Jahangard

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: In the present study, we explored the associations between hypomania, symptoms of depression, sleep complaints, physical activity and mental toughness. The latter construct has gained interest for its association with a broad variety of favorable behavior in both clinical and non-clinical samples.Subjects and Methods: The non-clinical sample consisted of 206 young adults (M = 21.3 years; age range: 18–24 years; 57.3% males. They completed questionnaires covering hypomania, mental toughness, symptoms of depression, physical activity, and sleep quality.Results: Higher hypomania scores were associated with higher mental toughness, increased physical activity, lower symptoms of depression and lower sleep complaints. No gender differences were observed. Higher hypomania scores were predicted by higher scores of mental toughness subscales of control and challenge, and physical activity.Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that among a non-clinical sample of young adults, self-rated hypomania scores were associated with higher scores on mental toughness and physical activity, along with lower depression and sleep complaints. The pattern of results further suggests that hypomania traits are associated with a broad range of favorable psychological, behavioral and sleep-related traits, at least among a non-clinical sample of young adults.

Which clinical variable influences health-related quality of life the most after spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage? Hunt and Hess scale, Fisher score, World Federation of Neurosurgeons score, Brussels coma score, and Glasgow coma score compared.

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Kapapa, Thomas; Tjahjadi, Martin; König, Ralph; Wirtz, Christian Rainer; Woischneck, Dieter

2013-12-01

To determine the strength of the correlation between the Hunt and Hess scale, Fisher score, Brussels coma score, World Federation of Neurosurgeons score, and Glasgow coma score and health-related quality of life. Evaluable questionnaires from 236 patients (5.6 years [± standard deviation, 2.854 years] on average after hemorrhage) were included in the analysis. Quality of life was documented using the MOS-36 item short form health survey. Because of the ordinal nature of the variables, Kendall tau was used for calculation. Significance was established as P ≤ 0.05. Weak and very weak correlations were found in general (r ≤ 0.28). The strongest correlations were found between the Glasgow coma score and quality of life (r = 0.236, P = 0.0001). In particular, the "best verbal response" achieved the strongest correlations in the comparison, at r = 0.28/P = 0.0001. The Fisher score showed very weak correlations (r = -0.148/P = 0.012). The Brussels coma score (r = -0.216/P = 0.0001), Hunt and Hess scale (r = -0.197/P = 0.0001), and the World Federation of Neurosurgeons score (r = -0.185/P = 0.0001) revealed stronger correlations, especially in terms of the physical aspects of quality of life. The Glasgow coma scale revealed the strongest, and the Fisher score showed the weakest correlations. Thus the Fisher score, as an indicator of the severity of a hemorrhage, has little significance in terms of health-related quality of life. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of mandibular advancement device on sleep bruxism score and sleep quality.

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Solanki, Nehal; Singh, Balendra Pratap; Chand, Pooran; Siddharth, Ramashankar; Arya, Deeksha; Kumar, Lakshya; Tripathi, Suryakant; Jivanani, Hemant; Dubey, Abhishek

2017-01-01

The use of mandibular advancement devices (MADs) in the treatment of sleep bruxism is gaining widespread importance. However, the effects of MADs on sleep bruxism scores, sleep quality, and occlusal force are not clear. The purpose of this clinical study was to analyze the effect of MADs on sleep bruxism scores, sleep quality, and occlusal force. This uncontrolled before and after study enrolled 30 participants with sleep bruxism. Outcomes assessed were sleep quality, sleep bruxism scores (sleep bruxism bursts and sleep bruxism episodes/hour), and occlusal force before and after 15 and 30 days of using a MAD. Sleep bruxism scores were assessed by ambulatory polysomnography and sleep quality by using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Occlusal force was recorded by using a digital gnathodynamometer in the first molar region on both sides. Statistical analysis was done by 1-factor repeated measures ANOVA (α=.05). Statistically significant reductions in sleep bruxism bursts/h, sleep bruxism episodes/h, and PSQI scores were found after 15 and 30 days of using a MAD (Pbruxism scores, sleep quality, and reduction in occlusal force in sleep bruxism participants after using MADs. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Food-based diet quality score in relation to depressive symptoms in young and middle-aged Japanese women.

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Sakai, Hiroka; Murakami, Kentaro; Kobayashi, Satomi; Suga, Hitomi; Sasaki, Satoshi

2017-06-01

Only a few studies have focused on the association between overall diet, rather than intakes of individual nutrients or foods, and depressive symptoms in Japanese. This cross-sectional study examined associations between a diet quality score and depressive symptoms in 3963 young (age 18 years) and 3833 middle-aged (mean age 47·9 (sd 4·2) years) Japanese women. Dietary information was collected using a diet history questionnaire. A previously developed diet quality score was computed mainly based on the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 22·0 % for young women and 16·8 % for middle-aged women, assessed as a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) score ≥23 and ≥19, respectively. As expected, the diet quality score was associated positively with intakes of 'grain dishes', 'vegetable dishes', 'fish and meat dishes', 'milk' and 'fruits' and inversely with intakes of energy from 'snacks, confection and beverages' and Na from seasonings. After adjustment for potential confounders, OR for depressive symptoms in the highest v. lowest quintiles of the diet quality score was 0·65 (95 % CI 0·50, 0·84) in young women (P for trend=0·0005). In middle-aged women, the corresponding value was 0·59 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·78) (P for trenddiet quality and CES-D scores were treated as continuous variables also showed inverse associations. In conclusion, this cross-sectional study showed that a higher diet quality score was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in young and middle-aged Japanese women. Prospective studies are needed to confirm a public health relevance of this finding.

Quality Assurance in Chinese Higher Education

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Li, Yuan

2010-01-01

Quality assurance has been integrated into the fabric of higher education in China, with the issue of quality in higher education--how to evaluate it and how to enhance it--now taking centre stage in Chinese higher education. In the past decade, the development of quality assurance in Chinese higher education has covered a broad spectrum of…

Hungary Higher Education Quality Assurance System

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Che Ru-shan

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Higher education quality assurance system has drawn much attention since 1980s. Most countries are committed to build the higher education quality assurance system to meet international standards. Under such an international trend, Hungary also actively promotes higher education reform, and established Hungarian Accreditation Committee and in order to ensure the quality of higher education.

Association between Diet-Quality Scores, Adiposity, Total Cholesterol and Markers of Nutritional Status in European Adults: Findings from the Food4Me Study

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Rosalind Fallaize

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Diet-quality scores (DQS, which are developed across the globe, are used to define adherence to specific eating patterns and have been associated with risk of coronary heart disease and type-II diabetes. We explored the association between five diet-quality scores (Healthy Eating Index, HEI; Alternate Healthy Eating Index, AHEI; MedDietScore, MDS; PREDIMED Mediterranean Diet Score, P-MDS; Dutch Healthy Diet-Index, DHDI and markers of metabolic health (anthropometry, objective physical activity levels (PAL, and dried blood spot total cholesterol (TC, total carotenoids, and omega-3 index in the Food4Me cohort, using regression analysis. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Participants (n = 1480 were adults recruited from seven European Union (EU countries. Overall, women had higher HEI and AHEI than men (p < 0.05, and scores varied significantly between countries. For all DQS, higher scores were associated with lower body mass index, lower waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference, and higher total carotenoids and omega-3-index (p trends < 0.05. Higher HEI, AHEI, DHDI, and P-MDS scores were associated with increased daily PAL, moderate and vigorous activity, and reduced sedentary behaviour (p trend < 0.05. We observed no association between DQS and TC. To conclude, higher DQS, which reflect better dietary patterns, were associated with markers of better nutritional status and metabolic health.

Quality Management in Higher Education

OpenAIRE

Svoboda, Petr

2017-01-01

The thesis deals with quality management theory as an important part of management science. The primary objective of this work is an identification, formulation and analysis of such managerial issues in quality of higher education, which either are not known, or whose resolution is not considered fully sufficient. The thesis contains a bibliography of more than 200 related scientific works and presents selected issues of quality management in higher education, such as quality perception or it...

Quality of Higher Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zou, Yihuan; Zhao, Yingsheng; Du, Xiangyun

. This transformation involves a broad scale of change at individual level, organizational level, and societal level. In this change process in higher education, staff development remains one of the key elements for university innovation and at the same time demands a systematic and holistic approach.......This paper starts with a critical approach to reflect on the current practice of quality assessment and assurance in higher education. This is followed by a proposal that in response to the global challenges for improving the quality of higher education, universities should take active actions...... of change by improving the quality of teaching and learning. From a constructivist perspective of understanding education and learning, this paper also discusses why and how universities should give more weight to learning and change the traditional role of teaching to an innovative approach of facilitation...

First quality score for referral letters in gastroenterology—a validation study

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Eskeland, Sigrun Losada; Brunborg, Cathrine; Seip, Birgitte; Wiencke, Kristine; Hovde, Øistein; Owen, Tanja; Skogestad, Erik; Huppertz-Hauss, Gert; Halvorsen, Fred-Arne; Garborg, Kjetil; Aabakken, Lars; de Lange, Thomas

2016-01-01

Objective To create and validate an objective and reliable score to assess referral quality in gastroenterology. Design An observational multicentre study. Setting and participants 25 gastroenterologists participated in selecting variables for a Thirty Point Score (TPS) for quality assessment of referrals to gastroenterology specialist healthcare for 9 common indications. From May to September 2014, 7 hospitals from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority participated in collecting and scoring 327 referrals to a gastroenterologist. Main outcome measure Correlation between the TPS and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for referral quality. Results The 327 referrals had an average TPS of 13.2 (range 1–25) and an average VAS of 4.7 (range 0.2–9.5). The reliability of the score was excellent, with an intra-rater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.87 and inter-rater ICC of 0.91. The overall correlation between the TPS and the VAS was moderate (r=0.42), and ranged from fair to substantial for the various indications. Mean agreement was good (ICC=0.47, 95% CI (0.34 to 0.57)), ranging from poor to good. Conclusions The TPS is reliable, objective and shows good agreement with the subjective VAS. The score may be a useful tool for assessing referral quality in gastroenterology, particularly important when evaluating the effect of interventions to improve referral quality. PMID:27855107

ReQON: a Bioconductor package for recalibrating quality scores from next-generation sequencing data

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Cabanski Christopher R

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Next-generation sequencing technologies have become important tools for genome-wide studies. However, the quality scores that are assigned to each base have been shown to be inaccurate. If the quality scores are used in downstream analyses, these inaccuracies can have a significant impact on the results. Results Here we present ReQON, a tool that recalibrates the base quality scores from an input BAM file of aligned sequencing data using logistic regression. ReQON also generates diagnostic plots showing the effectiveness of the recalibration. We show that ReQON produces quality scores that are both more accurate, in the sense that they more closely correspond to the probability of a sequencing error, and do a better job of discriminating between sequencing errors and non-errors than the original quality scores. We also compare ReQON to other available recalibration tools and show that ReQON is less biased and performs favorably in terms of quality score accuracy. Conclusion ReQON is an open source software package, written in R and available through Bioconductor, for recalibrating base quality scores for next-generation sequencing data. ReQON produces a new BAM file with more accurate quality scores, which can improve the results of downstream analysis, and produces several diagnostic plots showing the effectiveness of the recalibration.

Does higher quality early child care promote low-income children's math and reading achievement in middle childhood?

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Dearing, Eric; McCartney, Kathleen; Taylor, Beck A

2009-01-01

Higher quality child care during infancy and early childhood (6-54 months of age) was examined as a moderator of associations between family economic status and children's (N = 1,364) math and reading achievement in middle childhood (4.5-11 years of age). Low income was less strongly predictive of underachievement for children who had been in higher quality care than for those who had not. Consistent with a cognitive advantage hypothesis, higher quality care appeared to promote achievement indirectly via early school readiness skills. Family characteristics associated with selection into child care also appeared to promote the achievement of low-income children, but the moderating effect of higher quality care per se remained evident when controlling for selection using covariates and propensity scores.

First quality score for referral letters in gastroenterology-a validation study.

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Eskeland, Sigrun Losada; Brunborg, Cathrine; Seip, Birgitte; Wiencke, Kristine; Hovde, Øistein; Owen, Tanja; Skogestad, Erik; Huppertz-Hauss, Gert; Halvorsen, Fred-Arne; Garborg, Kjetil; Aabakken, Lars; de Lange, Thomas

2016-10-08

To create and validate an objective and reliable score to assess referral quality in gastroenterology. An observational multicentre study. 25 gastroenterologists participated in selecting variables for a Thirty Point Score (TPS) for quality assessment of referrals to gastroenterology specialist healthcare for 9 common indications. From May to September 2014, 7 hospitals from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority participated in collecting and scoring 327 referrals to a gastroenterologist. Correlation between the TPS and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for referral quality. The 327 referrals had an average TPS of 13.2 (range 1-25) and an average VAS of 4.7 (range 0.2-9.5). The reliability of the score was excellent, with an intra-rater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.87 and inter-rater ICC of 0.91. The overall correlation between the TPS and the VAS was moderate (r=0.42), and ranged from fair to substantial for the various indications. Mean agreement was good (ICC=0.47, 95% CI (0.34 to 0.57)), ranging from poor to good. The TPS is reliable, objective and shows good agreement with the subjective VAS. The score may be a useful tool for assessing referral quality in gastroenterology, particularly important when evaluating the effect of interventions to improve referral quality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Optimizing Scoring and Sampling Methods for Assessing Built Neighborhood Environment Quality in Residential Areas

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Adu-Brimpong, Joel; Coffey, Nathan; Ayers, Colby; Berrigan, David; Yingling, Leah R.; Thomas, Samantha; Mitchell, Valerie; Ahuja, Chaarushi; Rivers, Joshua; Hartz, Jacob; Powell-Wiley, Tiffany M.

2017-01-01

Optimization of existing measurement tools is necessary to explore links between aspects of the neighborhood built environment and health behaviors or outcomes. We evaluate a scoring method for virtual neighborhood audits utilizing the Active Neighborhood Checklist (the Checklist), a neighborhood audit measure, and assess street segment representativeness in low-income neighborhoods. Eighty-two home neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health/Needs Assessment (NCT01927783) participants were audited using Google Street View imagery and the Checklist (five sections with 89 total questions). Twelve street segments per home address were assessed for (1) Land-Use Type; (2) Public Transportation Availability; (3) Street Characteristics; (4) Environment Quality and (5) Sidewalks/Walking/Biking features. Checklist items were scored 0–2 points/question. A combinations algorithm was developed to assess street segments’ representativeness. Spearman correlations were calculated between built environment quality scores and Walk Score®, a validated neighborhood walkability measure. Street segment quality scores ranged 10–47 (Mean = 29.4 ± 6.9) and overall neighborhood quality scores, 172–475 (Mean = 352.3 ± 63.6). Walk scores® ranged 0–91 (Mean = 46.7 ± 26.3). Street segment combinations’ correlation coefficients ranged 0.75–1.0. Significant positive correlations were found between overall neighborhood quality scores, four of the five Checklist subsection scores, and Walk Scores® (r = 0.62, p health behaviors and outcomes. PMID:28282878

Higher prices, higher quality? Evidence from German nursing homes.

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Herr, Annika; Hottenrott, Hanna

2016-02-01

This study investigates the relationship between prices and quality of 7400 German nursing homes. We use a cross section of public quality reports for all German nursing homes, which had been evaluated between 2010 and 2013 by external institutions. Our analysis is based on multivariate regressions in a two stage least squares framework, where we instrument prices to explain their effect on quality controlling for income, nursing home density, demographics, labour market characteristics, and infrastructure at the regional level. Descriptive analysis shows that prices and quality do not only vary across nursing homes, but also across counties and federal states and that quality and prices correlate positively. Second, the econometric analysis, which accounts for the endogenous relation between negotiated price and reported quality, shows that quality indeed positively depends on prices. In addition, more places in nursing homes per people in need are correlated with both lower prices and higher quality. Finally, unobserved factors at the federal state level capture some of the variation of reported quality across nursing homes. Our results suggest that higher prices increase quality. Furthermore, since reported quality and prices vary substantially across federal states, we conclude that the quality and prices of long-term care facilities may well be compared within federal states but not across. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing Scoring and Sampling Methods for Assessing Built Neighborhood Environment Quality in Residential Areas

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Joel Adu-Brimpong

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Optimization of existing measurement tools is necessary to explore links between aspects of the neighborhood built environment and health behaviors or outcomes. We evaluate a scoring method for virtual neighborhood audits utilizing the Active Neighborhood Checklist (the Checklist, a neighborhood audit measure, and assess street segment representativeness in low-income neighborhoods. Eighty-two home neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health/Needs Assessment (NCT01927783 participants were audited using Google Street View imagery and the Checklist (five sections with 89 total questions. Twelve street segments per home address were assessed for (1 Land-Use Type; (2 Public Transportation Availability; (3 Street Characteristics; (4 Environment Quality and (5 Sidewalks/Walking/Biking features. Checklist items were scored 0–2 points/question. A combinations algorithm was developed to assess street segments’ representativeness. Spearman correlations were calculated between built environment quality scores and Walk Score®, a validated neighborhood walkability measure. Street segment quality scores ranged 10–47 (Mean = 29.4 ± 6.9 and overall neighborhood quality scores, 172–475 (Mean = 352.3 ± 63.6. Walk scores® ranged 0–91 (Mean = 46.7 ± 26.3. Street segment combinations’ correlation coefficients ranged 0.75–1.0. Significant positive correlations were found between overall neighborhood quality scores, four of the five Checklist subsection scores, and Walk Scores® (r = 0.62, p < 0.001. This scoring method adequately captures neighborhood features in low-income, residential areas and may aid in delineating impact of specific built environment features on health behaviors and outcomes.

Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews.

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Rethlefsen, Melissa L; Farrell, Ann M; Osterhaus Trzasko, Leah C; Brigham, Tara J

2015-06-01

To determine whether librarian and information specialist authorship was associated with better reported systematic review (SR) search quality. SRs from high-impact general internal medicine journals were reviewed for search quality characteristics and reporting quality by independent reviewers using three instruments, including a checklist of Institute of Medicine Recommended Standards for the Search Process and a scored modification of the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies instrument. The level of librarian and information specialist participation was significantly associated with search reproducibility from reported search strategies (Χ(2) = 23.5; P Librarian co-authored SRs had significantly higher odds of meeting 8 of 13 analyzed search standards than those with no librarian participation and six more than those with mentioned librarian participation. One-way ANOVA showed that differences in total search quality scores between all three groups were statistically significant (F2,267 = 10.1233; P librarian or information specialist co-authors are correlated with significantly higher quality reported search strategies. To minimize bias in SRs, authors and editors could encourage librarian engagement in SRs including authorship as a potential way to help improve documentation of the search strategy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

dBBQs: dataBase of Bacterial Quality scores

OpenAIRE

Wanchai, Visanu; Patumcharoenpol, Preecha; Nookaew, Intawat; Ussery, David

2017-01-01

Background: It is well-known that genome sequencing technologies are becoming significantly cheaper and faster. As a result of this, the exponential growth in sequencing data in public databases allows us to explore ever growing large collections of genome sequences. However, it is less known that the majority of available sequenced genome sequences in public databases are not complete, drafts of varying qualities. We have calculated quality scores for around 100,000 bacterial genomes from al...

Scoring Mental Health Quality of Life With the SF-36 in Patients With and Without Diabetes Foot Complications.

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Ahn, Junho; Del Core, Michael A; Wukich, Dane K; Liu, George T; Lalli, Trapper; VanPelt, Michael D; La Fontaine, Javier; Lavery, Lawrence A; Raspovic, Katherine M

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to examine if using orthogonal and oblique factor analysis detect changes in health-related quality of life differently in diabetic patients on the Short Form-36 (SF-36) survey. A total of 155 patients had diabetic foot complications (DFC), and 145 patients had no DFCs. The SF-36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores were calculated using scoring coefficients determined by orthogonal and oblique rotation principle component analyses of the subscales. The DFC group had lower orthogonal ( P < .00001) and oblique PCS scores ( P < .00001). However, despite lower Mental Health subscale scores in the patients with DFCs, orthogonal MCS scores ( P = .156) did not differ. In contrast, the oblique MCS scores reflected the difference in the Mental Health subscale ( P = .0005). Orthogonal and oblique PCS scores did not differ significantly. However, orthogonal MCS scores were significantly higher than oblique MCS scores in those with DFCs ( P = .0004) and without DFCs ( P = .005). The shorter, 12-item SF-12 survey demonstrated similar results. Poorer physical function leads to higher orthogonal MCS scores than if determined by oblique scoring coefficients since Physical Function, Bodily Pain, and General Health are weighted more negatively in orthogonal coefficients when calculating the MCS score. Oblique scoring coefficients may address this issue, but further study is necessary to confirm whether oblique MCS scores accurately represent the mental health of patients with diabetic foot disease.

Higher Education Quality Assessment Model: Towards Achieving Educational Quality Standard

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Noaman, Amin Y.; Ragab, Abdul Hamid M.; Madbouly, Ayman I.; Khedra, Ahmed M.; Fayoumi, Ayman G.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a developed higher education quality assessment model (HEQAM) that can be applied for enhancement of university services. This is because there is no universal unified quality standard model that can be used to assess the quality criteria of higher education institutes. The analytical hierarchy process is used to identify the…

A glance at quality score: implication for de novo transcriptome reconstruction of Illumina reads

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Stanley Kimbung Mbandi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Downstream analyses of short-reads from next-generation sequencing platforms are often preceded by a pre-processing step that removes uncalled and wrongly called bases. Standard approaches rely on their associated base quality scores to retain the read or a portion of it when the score is above a predefined threshold. It is difficult to differentiate sequencing error from biological variation without a reference using quality scores. The effects of quality score based trimming have not been systematically studied in de novo transcriptome assembly. Using RNA-Seq data produced from Illumina, we teased out the effects of quality score base filtering or trimming on de novo transcriptome reconstruction. We showed that assemblies produced from reads subjected to different quality score thresholds contain truncated and missing transfrags when compared to those from untrimmed reads. Our data supports the fact that de novo assembling of untrimmed data is challenging for de Bruijn graph assemblers. However, our results indicates that comparing the assemblies from untrimmed and trimmed read subsets can suggest appropriate filtering parameters and enable selection of the optimum de novo transcriptome assembly in non-model organisms.

Supplementary effects of higher levels of various disaccharides on processing yield, quality properties and sensory attributes of Chinese - style pork jerky.

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Chen, Chih-Ming; Lin, Hsien-Tang

2017-12-01

This study evaluated the supplementary effect of higher concentrations of various disaccharides on processing yield, major physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of Chinese-style pork jerky (CSPJ). CSPJ samples were prepared by marinating sliced ham (4 mm) with three dissaccharides, including sucrose, lactose, and maltose, at 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24%. Subsequently, the CSPJ samples were dried and roasted. The moisture content, water activity, crude protein, moisture-to-protein ratio, pH, processing yield, shear force, color, and sensory attributes of the CSPJ samples were evaluated. The quality characteristics of CSPJ samples prepared with sucrose were more acceptable. By contrast, CSPJ samples prepared with lactose showed the lowest scores. However, the processing yield and moisture content were the highest for CSPJ samples prepared with lactose, which may be associated with improved benefits for cost reduction. Furthermore, sucrose and lactose supplementation resulted in contrasting quality characteristics; for example, CSPJ samples with sucrose and maltose supplementation had higher sensory scores for color than samples with lactose supplementation. Additionally, most quality characteristics of CSPJ samples with sucrose supplementation contrasted with those of the samples with lactose supplementation; for example, the samples with sucrose supplementation had higher scores for sensory attributes than those with lactose supplementation. Sucrose supplementation up to 21% to 24% was associated with the highest overall acceptability scores (5.19 to 5.80), enhanced quality characteristics, increased processing yield, and reduced production cost.

Supplementary effects of higher levels of various disaccharides on processing yield, quality properties and sensory attributes of Chinese - style pork jerky

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Chih-Ming Chen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective This study evaluated the supplementary effect of higher concentrations of various disaccharides on processing yield, major physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of Chinese-style pork jerky (CSPJ. Methods CSPJ samples were prepared by marinating sliced ham (4 mm with three dissaccharides, including sucrose, lactose, and maltose, at 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24%. Subsequently, the CSPJ samples were dried and roasted. The moisture content, water activity, crude protein, moisture-to-protein ratio, pH, processing yield, shear force, color, and sensory attributes of the CSPJ samples were evaluated. Results The quality characteristics of CSPJ samples prepared with sucrose were more acceptable. By contrast, CSPJ samples prepared with lactose showed the lowest scores. However, the processing yield and moisture content were the highest for CSPJ samples prepared with lactose, which may be associated with improved benefits for cost reduction. Furthermore, sucrose and lactose supplementation resulted in contrasting quality characteristics; for example, CSPJ samples with sucrose and maltose supplementation had higher sensory scores for color than samples with lactose supplementation. Additionally, most quality characteristics of CSPJ samples with sucrose supplementation contrasted with those of the samples with lactose supplementation; for example, the samples with sucrose supplementation had higher scores for sensory attributes than those with lactose supplementation. Conclusion Sucrose supplementation up to 21% to 24% was associated with the highest overall acceptability scores (5.19 to 5.80, enhanced quality characteristics, increased processing yield, and reduced production cost.

Quality Street: Encountering Higher Education's Accountabilities

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Leihy, Peodair; Salazar, José Miguel

2017-01-01

This article offers a new approach to quality, focusing on the dimensions that gather around it. The mismatched goals of controlling and improving higher education continue to trouble the conceptual clarity of accountability. Quality in higher education emerges as something agreed upon (to varying efficacy) through accountability measures, rather…

Key performance indicators score (KPIs-score) based on clinical and laboratorial parameters can establish benchmarks for internal quality control in an ART program.

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Franco, José G; Petersen, Claudia G; Mauri, Ana L; Vagnini, Laura D; Renzi, Adriana; Petersen, Bruna; Mattila, M C; Comar, Vanessa A; Ricci, Juliana; Dieamant, Felipe; Oliveira, João Batista A; Baruffi, Ricardo L R

2017-06-01

KPIs have been employed for internal quality control (IQC) in ART. However, clinical KPIs (C-KPIs) such as age, AMH and number of oocytes collected are never added to laboratory KPIs (L-KPIs), such as fertilization rate and morphological quality of the embryos for analysis, even though the final endpoint is the evaluation of clinical pregnancy rates. This paper analyzed if a KPIs-score strategy with clinical and laboratorial parameters could be used to establish benchmarks for IQC in ART cycles. In this prospective cohort study, 280 patients (36.4±4.3years) underwent ART. The total KPIs-score was obtained by the analysis of age, AMH (AMH Gen II ELISA/pre-mixing modified, Beckman Coulter Inc.), number of metaphase-II oocytes, fertilization rates and morphological quality of the embryonic lot. The total KPIs-score (C-KPIs+L-KPIs) was correlated with the presence or absence of clinical pregnancy. The relationship between the C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores was analyzed to establish quality standards, to increase the performance of clinical and laboratorial processes in ART. The logistic regression model (LRM), with respect to pregnancy and total KPIs-score (280 patients/102 clinical pregnancies), yielded an odds ratio of 1.24 (95%CI = 1.16-1.32). There was also a significant difference (pclinical pregnancies (total KPIs-score=20.4±3.7) and the group without clinical pregnancies (total KPIs-score=15.9±5). Clinical pregnancy probabilities (CPP) can be obtained using the LRM (prediction key) with the total KPIs-score as a predictor variable. The mean C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores obtained in the pregnancy group were 11.9±2.9 and 8.5±1.7, respectively. Routinely, in all cases where the C-KPIs score was ≥9, after the procedure, the L-KPIs score obtained was ≤6, a revision of the laboratory procedure was performed to assess quality standards. This total KPIs-score could set up benchmarks for clinical pregnancy. Moreover, IQC can use C-KPIs and L-KPIs scores to detect problems

ITC Guidelines on Quality Control in Scoring, Test Analysis, and Reporting of Test Scores

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Allalouf, Avi

2014-01-01

The Quality Control (QC) Guidelines are intended to increase the efficiency, precision, and accuracy of the scoring, analysis, and reporting process of testing. The QC Guidelines focus on large-scale testing operations where multiple forms of tests are created for use on set dates. However, they may also be used for a wide variety of other testing…

APPROACH TO QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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Zora Arsovski

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Quality assurance in higher education is streamed in two interconnected concepts: (1 quality management according to ISO 9000 and (2 Bologna process. In this paper both concepts are presented, with point on internal state and term plan activities for quality improvement in higher education in Serbia.

Quantifying radioxerostomia: salivary flow rate, examiner's score, and quality of life questionnaire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Nawas, B.; Al-Nawas, K.; Kunkel, M.; Groetz, K.A.

2006-01-01

Background and purpose: salivary flow rates alone are not sufficient to quantify all aspects of radioxerostomia. This is a problem in studies aiming to reduce radioxerostomia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between objectively measured salivary flow rate and subjective xerostomia ratings by the physician (RTOG scale) or the patients (quality of life [QoL] questionnaire). Patients and methods: in a case-control study patients who underwent recall for oral cancer were screened. Inclusion criteria for this diagnostic, noninterventional study were: history of oral carcinoma, surgical and radiation therapy, time interval from start of radiation therapy > 90 days, salivary glands within the radiation field. The control group consisted of patients, who had not received radiotherapy. RTOG salivary gland score, quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 and H and N35), and sialometry were recorded. Results: patients with RTOG score 0 had mean salivary flow rates of 0.3 ml/min, those with RTOG 1 0.12 ml/min, RTOG 2 0.02 ml/min, and RTOG 3 < 0.01 ml/min. RTOG score 4 (total fibrosis) did not occur. Based on salivary flow rates, all patients were grouped into xerostomia < 0.2 ml/min (30 patients) and nonxerostomia (twelve patients). QoL results revealed significant differences between patients with xerostomia and nonxerostomia for physical function, dyspnea, swallowing, social eating, dry mouth, nutritional support, and a tendency to higher values for appetite loss. Conclusion: the correlation between ''subjective'' QoL parameters and salivary flow was confirmed. The different subjective aspects of radioxerostomia seem to be better differentiated by the EORTC QoL questionnaire. (orig.)

Higher Mediterranean Diet Quality Scores and Lower Body Mass Index Are Associated with a Less-Oxidized Plasma Glutathione and Cysteine Redox Status in Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bettermann, Erika L; Hartman, Terryl J; Easley, Kirk A; Ferranti, Erin P; Jones, Dean P; Quyyumi, Arshed A; Vaccarino, Viola; Ziegler, Thomas R; Alvarez, Jessica A

2018-02-01

Both systemic redox status and diet quality are associated with risk outcomes in chronic disease. It is not known, however, the extent to which diet quality influences plasma thiol/disulfide redox status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of diet, as measured by diet quality scores and other dietary factors, on systemic thiol/disulfide redox status. We performed a cross-sectional study of 685 working men and women (ages ≥18 y) in Atlanta, GA. Diet was assessed by 3 diet quality scores: the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS). We measured concentrations of plasma glutathione (GSH), cysteine, their associated oxidized forms [glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and cystine (CySS), respectively], and their redox potentials (EhGSSG and EhCySS) to determine thiol/disulfide redox status. Linear regression modeling was performed to assess relations between diet and plasma redox after adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), sex, race, and history of chronic disease. MDS was positively associated with plasma GSH (β = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.03) and total GSH (GSH + GSSG) (β = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.03), and inversely associated with the CySS:GSH ratio (β = -0.02; 95% CI: -0.04, -0.004). There were significant independent associations between individual MDS components (dairy, vegetables, fish, and monounsaturated fat intake) and varying plasma redox indexes (P indexes and other diet factors of interest were not significantly correlated with plasma thiol and disulfide redox measures. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with a favorable plasma thiol/disulfide redox profile, independent of BMI, in a generally healthy working adult population. Although longitudinal studies are warranted, these findings contribute to the feasibility of targeting a Mediterranean diet to improve plasma redox status.

Quality in Higher Education: United Arab Emirates Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Soomro, Tariq Rahim; Ahmad, Reyaz

2012-01-01

Quality in higher education is the major concern among researchers. Managing quality in higher education in a multicultural population with different approaches is not only challenging but an uphill task. This paper will focus on quality concern in higher education keeping in view, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) perspectives. A model to maintain…

GENERIC QUALITY STANDARDS VS. SPECIFIC QUALITY STANDARDS: THE CASE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

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Laila El Abbadi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Quality as a new requirement for the field of higher education leads institutions to seek to satisfy generic or specific quality standards imposed directly or indirectly by its customers. The aim of this study is to compare between ISO9001, as a generic quality standard, and the Code of Practice of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, as a specific quality standard. A correlation matrix is drawn and correlation rates are calculated to show similarities and differences between them. This paper shows, first, that ISO9001 and QAA Code of Practice are compatible. Second, implementing a quality management system in accordance with ISO9001 requirements can constitute an adequate framework for the application of the QAA Code of Practice requirements. Third, to make the ISO9001 requirements closer to a specific quality standard in the field of higher education, it is recommended to complete these standards by specific requirements to the field of higher education.

Free Dietary Choice and Free-Range Rearing Improve the Product Quality, Gait Score, and Microbial Richness of Chickens

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Siyu Chen

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Poultry welfare has been extensively studied; however, there is a lack of rigorous scientific knowledge relating to the different aspects of welfare factors and how this may contribute to the production quantity and product quality as well as the welfare of chickens. Therefore, we conducted an integrated study to compare welfare factors in chickens by providing free dietary choice under cage rearing, and further comparing cage rearing with free-range rearing. One hundred chickens each were allocated to a cage rearing group with conventional feeding (CC, a cage rearing group with free dietary choice of mealworms (FDM, a cage rearing group with free dietary choice of mealworms and fresh grass (FDMG, and a free-range rearing system group with free dietary choice of mealworms and fresh grass (FRMG. Results showed that under cage rearing, free dietary choice contributed to better meat quality and gait score, higher values of blood platelets, and a richer gut microbial composition, but poorer egg production than CC chickens. As compared to FDMG, FRMG chickens showed better meat quality, gait score, and feather conditions, as well as a richer gut microbial composition; however, they had poorer egg production and a poorer foot pad and foot feather condition. We conclude that free dietary choice and free-range rearing systems improve the product quality, gait score, and microbial richness of chickens.

Automatic ECG quality scoring methodology: mimicking human annotators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johannesen, Lars; Galeotti, Loriano

2012-01-01

An algorithm to determine the quality of electrocardiograms (ECGs) can enable inexperienced nurses and paramedics to record ECGs of sufficient diagnostic quality. Previously, we proposed an algorithm for determining if ECG recordings are of acceptable quality, which was entered in the PhysioNet Challenge 2011. In the present work, we propose an improved two-step algorithm, which first rejects ECGs with macroscopic errors (signal absent, large voltage shifts or saturation) and subsequently quantifies the noise (baseline, powerline or muscular noise) on a continuous scale. The performance of the improved algorithm was evaluated using the PhysioNet Challenge database (1500 ECGs rated by humans for signal quality). We achieved a classification accuracy of 92.3% on the training set and 90.0% on the test set. The improved algorithm is capable of detecting ECGs with macroscopic errors and giving the user a score of the overall quality. This allows the user to assess the degree of noise and decide if it is acceptable depending on the purpose of the recording. (paper)

Quality Assurance: Strategic Choices for Higher Education in Turkey

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Mahmut ÖZER

2011-01-01

Full Text Available As the number of students and higher education institutions in the world increases and there is a growing difficulty in financing the higher education systems, decision-makers have begun to show more interest in quality assurance. As quality assurance is given special attention in European countries, developing countries such as Turkey are interested in importing quality assurance systems. It is not possible to set quality assurance without sensitivity toward quality and without having quality as a cultural practice. The most likely encountered quality assurance approach in the world is that the higher education institution itself is responsible for its quality. In addition, external quality assurance procedures used are based on (academic peer review rather than on bureaucratic evaluations. Moreover, there is a lively debate across the world regarding the bureaucratic regulations of the quality assurance agencies and institutions that restrict the autonomy of higher education institutions. Without taking into consideration of the existing centralized structure of the higher education system in Turkey, of meeting social demands for the higher education, and of current higher education enrollment rates, the possible establishment of a quality assurance mechanism that may have sanctions on universities in Turkey is a threat to already limited autonomy of universities and is having a risk of additional bureaucratic burden. By laying out the roles and responsibilities of Turkish Council of Higher Education, the government and universities, this article discusses policies that should be adopted regarding the quality assurance.

Longitudinal AddiQoL scores may identify higher risk for adrenal crises in Addison's disease.

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Meyer, Gesine; Koch, Maike; Herrmann, Eva; Bojunga, Jörg; Badenhoop, Klaus

2018-05-01

Several studies have shown a reduced quality of life (QoL) in patients with Addison's disease (AD), but investigations of QoL over a long-term course are lacking. Adrenal crises (AC) are life-threatening complications in AD. The purpose of this prospective study was to test whether the repeated use of QoL-questionnaires can detect prodromal periods of an AC. 110 patients with AD were asked to complete the disease specific-QoL questionnaire AddiQoL and a short questionnaire about adverse events once monthly over a period of ten months. AC was defined if at least two of the following symptoms were reported: (a) hypotension, (b) nausea or vomiting, (c) severe fatigue, (d) documented hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, or hypoglycemia, and subsequent parenteral glucocorticoid administration was carried out. Prevalence of AC was 10.9/100 patient years. AddiQoL scores in patients with AC showed a trend (p = 0,08) to a wider fluctuation over time. Subjective precrises not meeting the criteria for AC were reported by 31 patients who had significantly lower AddiQoL scores (p = 0,018). These are the first data showing the course of QoL during a period of ten months in patients with AD. Incidence of AC exceeds previous data. Our data show, that subjective precrises in AD associate with lower QoL. AC, as well as precrises affect intraindividual AddiQol-scores over time with a trend to a stronger fluctuation. Longitudinal AddiQol scores and self-reporting of precrises via patient diaries are additional clinical tools to identify higher risk for critical events.

Diet quality of Italian yogurt consumers: an application of the probability of adequate nutrient intake score (PANDiet).

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Mistura, Lorenza; D'Addezio, Laura; Sette, Stefania; Piccinelli, Raffaela; Turrini, Aida

2016-01-01

The diet quality in yogurt consumers and non-consumers was evaluated by applying the probability of adequate nutrient intake (PANDiet) index to a sample of adults and elderly from the Italian food consumption survey INRAN SCAI 2005-06. Overall, yogurt consumers had a significantly higher mean intake of energy, calcium and percentage of energy from total sugars whereas the mean percentage of energy from total fat, saturated fatty acid and total carbohydrate were significantly (p yogurt consumers than in non-consumers, (60.58 ± 0.33 vs. 58.58 ± 0.19, p yogurt consumers. The items of calcium, potassium and riboflavin showed the major percentage variation between consumers and non-consumers. Yogurt consumers were more likely to have adequate intakes of vitamins and minerals, and a higher quality score of the diet.

The Quality of Toddler Child Care and Cognitive Skills at 24 Months: Propensity Score Analysis Results from the ECLS-B

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Ruzek, Erik; Burchinal, Margaret; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J.

2013-01-01

Over half of the toddlers in the U.S. experience routine nonparental care, but much less is known about early care than about preschool care. This study analyzed 2-year-old child care and child outcome data from the nationally representative ECLS-B sample of children born in 2001. At two-years of age, 51% of children experienced exclusive parental care, 18% relative care, 15% family child care, and 16% center care. More children in nonparental care were in medium quality care (61%) than in high quality (26%) or low quality (13%) care. Low-income children were more likely than non-low income children to be cared for by their parents and, when in care, were more often in lower quality care. The impact of toddler care quality on cognitive skills was estimated using propensity score adjustments to account for potential selection confounds due to family and child characteristics. Children’s cognitive scores were higher in high or medium quality care than in low quality care, but no evidence emerged suggesting that poverty moderated the quality effects. Nevertheless, this suggests that increasing the proportion of low-income children in high quality care could reduce the achievement gap because low-income children are very unlikely to experience high quality care. PMID:24347815

Assessment of the Quality Management Models in Higher Education

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Basar, Gulsun; Altinay, Zehra; Dagli, Gokmen; Altinay, Fahriye

2016-01-01

This study involves the assessment of the quality management models in Higher Education by explaining the importance of quality in higher education and by examining the higher education quality assurance system practices in other countries. The qualitative study was carried out with the members of the Higher Education Planning, Evaluation,…

Quality assessment in higher education using the SERVQUALQ model

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Sabina Đonlagić

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is striving towards growth and increased employment and it has been proven by empirical studies worldwide that higher education contributes to socio-economic development of a country. Universities are important for generation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge in order to contribute to socio-economic benefits of a country. Higher education institutions are being pressured to improve value for their activities and providing quality higher education service to students should be taken seriously. In this paper we will address the emerging demand for quality in higher education. Higher education institutions should assess quality of their services and establish methods for improving quality. Activities of quality assurance should be integrated into the management process at higher education institutions. This paper is addressing the issue of service quality measurement in higher education institutions. The most frequently used model in this context is the SERVQUAL model. This model is measuring quality from the students' point of view, since students are considered to be one of the most important stakeholders for a higher education institution. The main objective of this research is to provide empirical evidence that the adapted SERVQAL model can be used in higher education and to identify the service quality gap based on its application at one institution of higher education (Faculty of Economics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, results of the gap analysis using the SERVQUAL methodology provide relevant information in which areas improvement is necessary in order to enhance service quality.

Quality of higher education: organisational or educational?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zou, Yihuan; Du, Xiangyun; Rasmussen, Palle

2012-01-01

Based on a study of Chinese university self-evaluation reports, this paper argues that higher education institutions are trying to manage the tensions between educational and organisational quality and the increasing and worldwide concerns about quality assurance. After 30 years of dramatic...... remain an important basis for external review. In an attempt to examine the institutional understanding of quality in higher education, the authors conducted a content analysis study of 53 self-evaluation reports written by a wide range of higher education institutions in China. This study concludes...... educational reform, China has established a nationwide evaluation system for assessing its higher education institutions. This comprehensive system includes a series of procedures for both internal self-evaluation and external peer reviewing, among which self-evaluation reports prepared by each institution...

Ranking Quality in Higher Education: Guiding or Misleading?

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Bergseth, Brita; Petocz, Peter; Abrandt Dahlgren, Madeleine

2014-01-01

The study examines two different models of measuring, assessing and ranking quality in higher education. Do different systems of quality assessment lead to equivalent conclusions about the quality of education? This comparative study is based on the rankings of 24 Swedish higher education institutions. Two ranking actors have independently…

Consumption of Low-Calorie Sweeteners among U.S. Adults Is Associated with Higher Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005 Scores and More Physical Activity

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Adam Drewnowski

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The possibility that low-calorie sweeteners (LCS promote lower quality diets and, therefore, weight gain has been noted as a cause for concern. Data from a representative sample of 22,231 adults were obtained from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2008 NHANES. A single 24-hour recall was used to identify consumers of LCS beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI 2005 and its multiple subscores. Health behaviors of interest were physical activity, smoking and alcohol use. LCS consumers had higher HEI 2005 scores than did non-consumers, largely explained by better SoFAAS subscores (solid fats, added sugar and alcohol. LCS consumers had better HEI subscores for vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, but worse subscores for saturated fat and sodium compared to non-consumers. Similar trends were observed for LCS beverages, tabletop LCS and LCS foods. Consumers of LCS were less likely to smoke and were more likely to engage in recreational physical activity. LCS use was associated with higher HEI 2005 scores, lower consumption of empty calories, less smoking and more physical activity.

Consumption of low-calorie sweeteners among U.S. adults is associated with higher Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005) scores and more physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewnowski, Adam; Rehm, Colin D

2014-10-17

The possibility that low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) promote lower quality diets and, therefore, weight gain has been noted as a cause for concern. Data from a representative sample of 22,231 adults were obtained from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2008 NHANES). A single 24-hour recall was used to identify consumers of LCS beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI 2005) and its multiple subscores. Health behaviors of interest were physical activity, smoking and alcohol use. LCS consumers had higher HEI 2005 scores than did non-consumers, largely explained by better SoFAAS subscores (solid fats, added sugar and alcohol). LCS consumers had better HEI subscores for vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, but worse subscores for saturated fat and sodium compared to non-consumers. Similar trends were observed for LCS beverages, tabletop LCS and LCS foods. Consumers of LCS were less likely to smoke and were more likely to engage in recreational physical activity. LCS use was associated with higher HEI 2005 scores, lower consumption of empty calories, less smoking and more physical activity.

Reinforcing Quality Assurance in Romanian Higher Education

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Ana-Maria Dima

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Since 1993, the quality assurance system in Romania has gained considerable experience. This experience was recently recognized in 2008 by the ENQA: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education through the admission of ARACIS as a full member of EQAR: the European Quality Assurance Register. The Board of ENQA agreed to grant ARACIS’s full membership of ENQA for five years from 2 June 2009. This article explores the benefits of membership for the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – ARACIS, comparing to other regional and global quality assurance agencies networks. The common features and differences between ARACIS and other European agencies are questioned through the frameworks of ENQA and INQAAHE as a case study.

Rating the methodological quality in systematic reviews of studies on measurement properties: a scoring system for the COSMIN checklist.

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Terwee, Caroline B; Mokkink, Lidwine B; Knol, Dirk L; Ostelo, Raymond W J G; Bouter, Lex M; de Vet, Henrica C W

2012-05-01

The COSMIN checklist is a standardized tool for assessing the methodological quality of studies on measurement properties. It contains 9 boxes, each dealing with one measurement property, with 5-18 items per box about design aspects and statistical methods. Our aim was to develop a scoring system for the COSMIN checklist to calculate quality scores per measurement property when using the checklist in systematic reviews of measurement properties. The scoring system was developed based on discussions among experts and testing of the scoring system on 46 articles from a systematic review. Four response options were defined for each COSMIN item (excellent, good, fair, and poor). A quality score per measurement property is obtained by taking the lowest rating of any item in a box ("worst score counts"). Specific criteria for excellent, good, fair, and poor quality for each COSMIN item are described. In defining the criteria, the "worst score counts" algorithm was taken into consideration. This means that only fatal flaws were defined as poor quality. The scores of the 46 articles show how the scoring system can be used to provide an overview of the methodological quality of studies included in a systematic review of measurement properties. Based on experience in testing this scoring system on 46 articles, the COSMIN checklist with the proposed scoring system seems to be a useful tool for assessing the methodological quality of studies included in systematic reviews of measurement properties.

Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Review of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Tricia

2015-01-01

This paper examines the literature surrounding quality assurance in global higher education. It provides an overview of accreditation as a mechanism to ensure quality in higher education, examines models of QA, and explores the concept of quality (including definitions of quality and quality assurance). In addition, this paper provides a review of…

Quantifying radioxerostomia: salivary flow rate, examiner's score, and quality of life questionnaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Nawas, B.; Al-Nawas, K.; Kunkel, M.; Groetz, K.A. [Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital of the Johannes Gutenberg Univ., Mainz (Germany)

2006-06-15

Background and purpose: salivary flow rates alone are not sufficient to quantify all aspects of radioxerostomia. This is a problem in studies aiming to reduce radioxerostomia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between objectively measured salivary flow rate and subjective xerostomia ratings by the physician (RTOG scale) or the patients (quality of life [QoL] questionnaire). Patients and methods: in a case-control study patients who underwent recall for oral cancer were screened. Inclusion criteria for this diagnostic, noninterventional study were: history of oral carcinoma, surgical and radiation therapy, time interval from start of radiation therapy > 90 days, salivary glands within the radiation field. The control group consisted of patients, who had not received radiotherapy. RTOG salivary gland score, quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 and H and N35), and sialometry were recorded. Results: patients with RTOG score 0 had mean salivary flow rates of 0.3 ml/min, those with RTOG 1 0.12 ml/min, RTOG 2 0.02 ml/min, and RTOG 3 < 0.01 ml/min. RTOG score 4 (total fibrosis) did not occur. Based on salivary flow rates, all patients were grouped into xerostomia < 0.2 ml/min (30 patients) and nonxerostomia (twelve patients). QoL results revealed significant differences between patients with xerostomia and nonxerostomia for physical function, dyspnea, swallowing, social eating, dry mouth, nutritional support, and a tendency to higher values for appetite loss. Conclusion: the correlation between ''subjective'' QoL parameters and salivary flow was confirmed. The different subjective aspects of radioxerostomia seem to be better differentiated by the EORTC QoL questionnaire. (orig.)

Nullifying quality: the marketasation of higher education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendixen, Carsten; Jacobsen, Jens Christian

2017-01-01

higher education. In the long run it will hardly benefit educational programmes if institutions of higher educations fail to ‘stand for’ quality that, in the very least, can supplement the fulfilment of politically determined targets and standards. In this way the market will have not only graduates who......The increasing dominance of educational markets means that quality of higher education has the character of open signifiers of periodic occurrence, embedded institutionally as ways of consensual communication on how to go on as smoothly as possible. This promotes the growth of context dependent...... nullification processes. On the other hand, institutions have to adopt standards in education as a measure of outcome indicators for benchmarking. When quality is replaced by standards and if standards are equivalent to labour market relevance this might signal the beginning of overall external control over...

On Q: Causing Quality in Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Seymour, Daniel T.

This book presents college and university education as a quality-oriented service with students, parents, and legislators as customers demanding quality. It attempts to blend the concept of strategic management of quality in industry with the latest thinking on the administration of higher education. The first chapter discusses the importance of…

Self-Evaluation Scores of Hearing Difficulties and Quality of Life Components among Retired Workers with Noise-Related Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

MIYAKITA, T.; UEDA, A.; ZUSHO, H.; KUDOH, Y.

2002-02-01

This study is intended to clarify the relationships between hearing loss caused both by noise exposure and aging and self-rated scores of hearing disabilities and to elucidate the structure of the quality of life (QOL) determinants and their moderating conditions among retired workers with noise-related hearing loss. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: background questions, the hearing disabilities and handicap scale (HDHS), and questions regarding QOL covering five areas, self-rated health, personal health practice, social support network, life satisfaction, and life events. Two hundred ten retired workers aged 56-65 years old (60·6±1·6) with noise-related hearing loss responded to our questionnaire. All were previously engaged in noise exposed work such as shipbuilding, steel and woodwork. According to the hearing disability score (DIS score), subjects were divided into three groups and comparisons were made of the hearing handicap score (HD score) among those groups. Although groups with a higher DIS score showed a higher HD score, a large individual difference in HD score was observed in each of the three groups with the same DIS score level. The results of multiple regression analysis including two variables (life satisfaction and HD score) as the dependent variables and seven variables as the independent variables showed that the strongest explanatory variable for life satisfaction was social support network, followed by handicaps caused by hearing disabilities, self-rated health and personal health practice. It was demonstrated that hearing disabilities and handicap measured by the Japanese version of the HDHS were directly associated with the deterioration in QOL. Measures of the social support network, life satisfaction, and hearing disabilities and handicaps may assist in the detection of workers who can be targeted for a variety of interventions, such as audiological rehabilitation or the creation of a barrier-free community that is supportive

Apropos of the Quality Management in Higher Education

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A. G. Kislov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to introduction and implementation of quality management system in the sphere of Russian higher education. The research demanded the prehistory observation of the above processes, their legal bases analysis, as well as setting the existing practices of the state control and supervision of education in compliance with the principles of TQM (Total Quality Management. Different normative acts and documents have been reviewed concerning accreditation of higher educational establishments, and determining the state policy of quality improvement of the higher school functioning. The author emphasizes that participation of different organizations - including educational ones – in certification procedures and competitions in the quality sphere is considered voluntary according to the Russian legislation. However, for getting the state accreditation educational establishments have no other way apart from setting the internal structures responsible for students training quality. The above structures in educational establishments look rather strange and alien duplicating in their best the state control and supervision system. They appear to be quite expansive for educational establishments and demanding extra time and effort from the staff. In conclusion the author points out that the state policy forcing the quality management issues reflects the interests of certain social groups, namely those who directly participate in external supervision of higher educa- tional institutions. The research findings can be applied while correcting the educational policy of the Russian Federation, and developing the concepts of regulatory legal acts in the higher educational sphere.

Ossification score is a better indicator of maturity related changes in eating quality than animal age.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonny, S P F; Pethick, D W; Legrand, I; Wierzbicki, J; Allen, P; Farmer, L J; Polkinghorne, R J; Hocquette, J-F; Gardner, G E

2016-04-01

Ossification score and animal age are both used as proxies for maturity-related collagen crosslinking and consequently decreases in beef tenderness. Ossification score is strongly influenced by the hormonal status of the animal and may therefore better reflect physiological maturity and consequently eating quality. As part of a broader cross-European study, local consumers scored 18 different muscle types cooked in three ways from 482 carcasses with ages ranging from 590 to 6135 days and ossification scores ranging from 110 to 590. The data were studied across three different maturity ranges; the complete range of maturities, a lesser range and a more mature range. The lesser maturity group consisted of carcasses having either an ossification score of 200 or less or an age of 987 days or less with the remainder in the greater maturity group. The three different maturity ranges were analysed separately with a linear mixed effects model. Across all the data, and for the greater maturity group, animal age had a greater magnitude of effect on eating quality than ossification score. This is likely due to a loss of sensitivity in mature carcasses where ossification approached and even reached the maximum value. In contrast, age had no relationship with eating quality for the lesser maturity group, leaving ossification score as the more appropriate measure. Therefore ossification score is more appropriate for most commercial beef carcasses, however it is inadequate for carcasses with greater maturity such as cull cows. Both measures may therefore be required in models to predict eating quality over populations with a wide range in maturity.

Do public nursing home care providers deliver higher quality than private providers? Evidence from Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Winblad, Ulrika; Blomqvist, Paula; Karlsson, Andreas

2017-07-14

Swedish nursing home care has undergone a transformation, where the previous virtual public monopoly on providing such services has been replaced by a system of mixed provision. This has led to a rapidly growing share of private actors, the majority of which are large, for-profit firms. In the wake of this development, concerns have been voiced regarding the implications for care quality. In this article, we investigate the relationship between ownership and care quality in nursing homes for the elderly by comparing quality levels between public, for-profit, and non-profit nursing home care providers. We also look at a special category of for-profit providers; private equity companies. The source of data is a national survey conducted by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in 2011 at 2710 nursing homes. Data from 14 quality indicators are analyzed, including structure and process measures such as staff levels, staff competence, resident participation, and screening for pressure ulcers, nutrition status, and risk of falling. The main statistical method employed is multiple OLS regression analysis. We differentiate in the analysis between structural and processual quality measures. The results indicate that public nursing homes have higher quality than privately operated homes with regard to two structural quality measures: staffing levels and individual accommodation. Privately operated nursing homes, on the other hand, tend to score higher on process-based quality indicators such as medication review and screening for falls and malnutrition. No significant differences were found between different ownership categories of privately operated nursing homes. Ownership does appear to be related to quality outcomes in Swedish nursing home care, but the results are mixed and inconclusive. That staffing levels, which has been regarded as a key quality indicator in previous research, are higher in publicly operated homes than private is consistent with earlier

From Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement in the European Higher Education Area

Science.gov (United States)

Gvaramadze, Irakli

2008-01-01

This article focuses on recent trends in quality assurance initiatives, analyses how the European Higher Education Area promotes quality enhancement mechanisms and their implications for quality cultures in universities. It presents and discusses two approaches towards quality enhancement both at the institutional and programme level: 1. Quality…

Interpreting Quality of Life after Brain Injury Scores: Cross-Walk with the Short Form-36.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Lindsay; Marsden-Loftus, Isaac; Koskinen, Sanna; Bakx, Wilbert; Bullinger, Monika; Formisano, Rita; Maas, Andrew; Neugebauer, Edmund; Powell, Jane; Sarajuuri, Jaana; Sasse, Nadine; von Steinbuechel, Nicole; von Wild, Klaus; Truelle, Jean-Luc

2017-01-01

The Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) instruments are traumatic brain injury (TBI)-specific assessments of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), with established validity and reliability. The purpose of the study is to help improve the interpretability of the two QOLIBRI summary scores (the QOLIBRI Total score and the QOLBRI Overall Scale [OS] score). An analysis was conducted of 761 patients with TBI who took part in the QOLIBRI validation studies. A cross-walk between QOLIBRI scores and the SF-36 Mental Component Summary norm-based scoring system was performed using geometric mean regression analysis. The exercise supports a previous suggestion that QOLIBRI Total scores GOSE), as a measure of global function, are presented in the form of means and standard deviations that allow comparison with other studies, and data on age and sex are presented for the QOLIBRI-OS. While bearing in mind the potential imprecision of the comparison, the findings provide a framework for evaluating QOLIBRI summary scores in relation to generic HRQoL that improves their interpretability.

IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM ACTIVITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. M. Sultalieva

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract. The aim of the article is the improvement of quality assessment system of higher education institutions in the aspect of management. The problems of quality improvement are revealed and classified. The analysis of criteria assessment sets used to define the efficiency of higher education institutions activity is carried out. The components of quality of higher education institutions activity are specified. The structural model of quality assessment system of higher education institutions activity is offered. The analysis of macro environment of a university based on the method of strategic management is carried out, i.e. PEST analysis. As a result of the research a new model of macro criteria model of quality assessment system of higher education institutions, characterizing quality management as an approach to university efficiency is offered, moreover, this system can define the level of its competitiveness in the aspect of quality management. 

Exploring the Notion of Quality in Quality Higher Education Assessment in a Collaborative Future

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, Kate; Gibbs, Paul

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on the notion of quality in higher education with particular focus on "objectifying through articulation" the assessment of quality by professional experts. The article gives an overview of the differentiations of quality as used in higher education. It explores a substantial…

A Conceptual Analysis of Quality in Quality Function Deployment-Based Contexts of Higher Education

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Matorera, Douglas

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to assess and evaluate how higher education institutions (HEIs) using Quality Function Deployment draw out the relevancy and potential of the model in shaping their concept of "Quality" and how that Quality can be assured in higher education institutions' (HEIs') programmes. An intensive literature review was…

Is quality assurance in higher education contextually relative ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It does this by raising questions such as whether quality in higher education is the same as, for example, quality of clothing or the quality of meat in local butcheries. The article questions ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

Longitudinal Prediction of Quality-of-Life Scores and Locomotion in Individuals With Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

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Hiremath, Shivayogi V; Hogaboom, Nathan S; Roscher, Melissa R; Worobey, Lynn A; Oyster, Michelle L; Boninger, Michael L

2017-12-01

To examine (1) differences in quality-of-life scores for groups based on transitions in locomotion status at 1, 5, and 10 years postdischarge in a sample of people with spinal cord injury (SCI); and (2) whether demographic factors and transitions in locomotion status can predict quality-of-life measures at these time points. Retrospective case study of the National SCI Database. Model SCI Systems Centers. Individuals with SCI (N=10,190) from 21 SCI Model Systems Centers, identified through the National SCI Model Systems Centers database between the years 1985 and 2012. Subjects had FIM (locomotion mode) data at discharge and at least 1 of the following: 1, 5, or 10 years postdischarge. Not applicable. FIM-locomotion mode; Severity of Depression Scale; Satisfaction With Life Scale; and Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique. Participants who transitioned from ambulation to wheelchair use reported lower participation and life satisfaction, and higher depression levels (P.05) or life satisfaction (P>.05) compared with those who transitioned from wheelchair to ambulation. Demographic factors and locomotion transitions predicted quality-of-life scores at all time points (P<.05). The results of this study indicate that transitioning from ambulation to wheelchair use can negatively impact psychosocial health 10 years after SCI. Clinicians should be aware of this when deciding on ambulation training. Further work to characterize who may be at risk for these transitions is needed. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality Of Life And Prevalence Of Burnout Syndrome In Higher Education Teachers

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Maria de Lourdes Campos

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Burnout Syndrome, in the twenty-first century, appears among the most common mental disorder among teachers resulting from the interaction between  individual aspects and the working environment, interpreted as a response to chronic job stress.  Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of burnout syndrome and quality of life of higher education teachers in the city of Cajazeiras, Paraíba, Brazil.  Method: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study performed with 174 teachers from institutions of higher education.  Results: The burnout syndrome was observed in only 3.4% of teachers. However, the recorded data require a closer look at the health of the teachers investigated, since a considerable part of them are in the score limit for disease development. Regarding the quality of life of teachers who presented the manifestations of the syndrome, the physical and psychological domains were shown to be the worst for most subjects.  Conclusion: There are teachers in higher education, executing their  profession, affected by burnout syndrome, suggesting a  relationship between this psychosocial phenomenon and the labor context, permeating  the three dimensions proposed by Maslach and Leiter: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and the lack of personal fulfillment.   DOI: https://doi.org/10.3823/2512

Do employers know the quality of health care benefits they provide? Use of HEDIS depression scores for health plans.

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Robst, John; Rost, Kathryn; Marshall, Donna

2013-11-01

OBJECTIVE Dissemination of health quality measures is a necessary ingredient of efforts to harness market-based forces, such as value-based purchasing by employers, to improve health care quality. This study examined reporting of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures for depression to firms interested in improving depression care. METHODS During surveys conducted between 2009 and 2011, a sample of 325 employers that were interested in improving depression treatment were asked whether their primary health plan reports HEDIS scores for depression to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and if so, whether they knew the scores. Data about HEDIS reporting by the health plans were collected from the NCQA. RESULTS HEDIS depression scores were reported by the primary health plans of 154 (47%) employers, but only 7% of employers knew their plan's HEDIS scores. Because larger employers were more likely to report knowing the scores, 53% of all employees worked for employers who reported knowing the scores. A number of structural, health benefit, and need characteristics predicted knowledge of HEDIS depression scores by employers. CONCLUSIONS The study demonstrated that motivated employers did not know their depression HEDIS scores even when their plan publicly reported them. Measures of health care quality are not reaching the buyers of insurance products; however, larger employers were more likely to know the HEDIS scores for their health plan, suggesting that value-based purchasing may have some ability to affect health care quality.

Plasma ascorbic acid, a priori diet quality score, and incident hypertension

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Buijsse, Brian; Jacobs, D.R.; Steffen, L.M.; Kromhout, Daan; Gross, M.D.

2015-01-01

Vitamin C may reduce risk of hypertension, either in itself or by marking a healthy diet pattern. We assessed whether plasma ascorbic acid and the a priori diet quality score relate to incident hypertension and whether they explain each other's predictive abilities. Data were from 2884 black and

Data from frequency-volume charts versus symptom scores and quality of life score in men with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Venrooij, GEPM; Eckhardt, MD; Gisolf, KWH; Boon, TA

Objective: The aim is to study the relations between reported data on frequency-volume charts and the American Urological Association (AUA) symptom scores and quality of life score. Methods: Males with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), were consecutively

Highlighting ethical decisions underlying the scoring of animal welfare in the Welfare Quality® scheme

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Veissier, I.; Jensen, Karsten Klint; Botreau, R.

2011-01-01

dimension of scoring and labelling does not mean that we should reject them, but it does mean that we need to make the normative and ethical background explicit. The Welfare Quality® scoring system is used as a case study in order to highlight the role of underlying value-based decisions. In this scoring......, but the rules governing the assignment of an animal unit to a category take into account what had been observed on European farms. The scientists behind Welfare Quality® are keen to make the value-based choices underlying assessments of animal welfare transparent. This is essential to allow stakeholder groups......All systems of scoring animal units (groups, farms, slaughter plants, etc.) according to the level of the animals’ welfare are based inevitably on normative decisions. Similarly, all methods of labelling, in terms of acceptability, are based on choices reflecting ethical values. The evaluative...

Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Proposals for Consultation.

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Higher Education Funding Council for England, Bristol.

This document sets out for consultation proposals for a revised method for quality assurance of teaching and learning in higher education. The proposals cover: (1) the objectives and principles of quality assurance; (2) an approach to quality assurance based on external audit principles; (3) the collection and publication of information; (4)…

Perceptions of Higher Education Quality at Three Universities in Vietnam

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Pham, Huong Thi; Starkey, Louise

2016-01-01

Purpose: Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education…

Is quality of higher educational institutions in Western Balkan real?

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Živaljević Aleksandra

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a survey conducted in November of 2013 in 120 higher education institutions in the Western Balkans Countries, with purpose to determine which models are used for quality improvement in Western Balkans higher educational institutions, and whether critical conditions for continuous quality improvement have been met by applying those models. Data were obtained by using questionnaire which consisted of 24 questions related to 2 previously defined hypotheses. Gathered data were tested with Student's t test to determine if there is a significant difference between the groups of higher educational institutions which use different quality models, as well as between private and public higher educational institutions. Authors argue that the rules imposed by Governments do not provide sufficient incentive for meeting the critical conditions for the continuous quality improvement. Legal framework and mandatory accreditation conducted by government bodies lead higher educational institutions to fulfil the formal requirements, distancing them from the essence of quality management, i.e. from self-criticism and motivation to consistently deliver better results than the previous ones and giving them the illusion of achieving quality through compliance with formal criteria.

Quality Improvement in Virtual Higher Education: A Grounded Theory Approach

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Mahdiuon, Rouhollah; Masoumi, Davoud; Farasatkhah, Maghsoud

2017-01-01

The article aims to explore the attributes of quality and quality improvement including the process and specific actions associated with these attributes--that contribute enhancing quality in Iranian Virtual Higher Education (VHE) institutions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with experts and key actors in Iranian virtual higher education.…

Quality and Quality Assurance in Ethiopian Higher Education. Critical Issues and Practical Implications.

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Kahsay, M.

2012-01-01

This book critically examines quality and quality assurance in the Ethiopian higher education context. More specifically, the main research problem that guided the study was: ‘how and under what circumstances do the public Universities in Ethiopia assure quality of their education, and what

Quality provisioning and accountability in African higher | Maila ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Excellence in educational quality provisioning and accountability is an obligatory function for higher education. Currently certain scholars allege that poor provisioning and lack of accountability are rife in most higher education institutions. They cite varied reasons for the failures. Of note, African higher education institutions ...

Improving iris recognition performance using segmentation, quality enhancement, match score fusion, and indexing.

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Vatsa, Mayank; Singh, Richa; Noore, Afzel

2008-08-01

This paper proposes algorithms for iris segmentation, quality enhancement, match score fusion, and indexing to improve both the accuracy and the speed of iris recognition. A curve evolution approach is proposed to effectively segment a nonideal iris image using the modified Mumford-Shah functional. Different enhancement algorithms are concurrently applied on the segmented iris image to produce multiple enhanced versions of the iris image. A support-vector-machine-based learning algorithm selects locally enhanced regions from each globally enhanced image and combines these good-quality regions to create a single high-quality iris image. Two distinct features are extracted from the high-quality iris image. The global textural feature is extracted using the 1-D log polar Gabor transform, and the local topological feature is extracted using Euler numbers. An intelligent fusion algorithm combines the textural and topological matching scores to further improve the iris recognition performance and reduce the false rejection rate, whereas an indexing algorithm enables fast and accurate iris identification. The verification and identification performance of the proposed algorithms is validated and compared with other algorithms using the CASIA Version 3, ICE 2005, and UBIRIS iris databases.

The Enigma of Quality in Greek Higher Education. A mixed methods study of introducing quality management into Greek higher education.

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Papadimitriou, A.; Papadimitriou, Antigoni

2011-01-01

This study investigated the adoption of quality management in Greek universities as an outcome of organizational processes. It examined a period in the first decade of the 21st century when program evaluation and quality management were heavily debated in Greece. The study recognizes that higher

Patients with tattoo reactions have reduced quality of life and suffer from itch: Dermatology Life Quality Index and Itch Severity Score measurements.

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Hutton Carlsen, K; Serup, J

2015-02-01

Tattoos are a trend with increasing side-effects. The burden of local reaction with swelling, itching and discomfort may impel sufferers to consult medical assistance. To assess tattoo reactions and their influence on quality of life and itching by utilizing the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scoring system and Itch Severity Scale (ISS). Patients attending the 'Tattoo Clinic' at Bispebjerg University Hospital, Denmark with tattoo problems spanning more than 3 months were invited. Forty patients participated during September-November 2012. Patients attending their routine consultations completed the ISS and DLQI questionnaires. Patients with tattoo reactions experienced reduced quality of life, DLQI score 7.4 and were burdened by itch, ISS score 7.2. Both DLQI and ISS results attained the level of discomfort of known skin diseases such as psoriasis, pruritus and eczema albeit the typical tattooed affected areas are smaller. Sufferers of tattoo reactions have reduced quality of life and are often burdened by itching attaining the level of other cumbersome afflictions recognized as dermatological diseases associated with itch. Tattoo reactions warrant diagnosis and treatment with same professional intent shared with other skin diseases. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality Assurance for Higher Education Franchising.

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Yorke, Mantz

1993-01-01

The practice of "franchising" higher education programs, or provision of educational programs through vendors, is examined as it occurs in the United Kingdom as a result of recent educational policy changes. A set of principles for assuring the quality of such programs is proposed. (MSE)

Clinical observation on scores of anxiety, depression and quality of life for advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma patients with palliation intervention therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yue; Jiang Tinghui; Jiang Yongxing; Sun Xianjun

2007-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the influence of palliative intervention therapy on advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma patients with depression and anxiety before and after the treatment. Methods: 56 advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma patients were selected and treated with intra-arterial perfusion chemotherapy or intra-arterial perfusion chemotherapy with embolization. Curative effects were assessed with the SDS, SAS and FACT-G before and after the treatment. In addition, all patients took self-assessment with SCL-90, comparing with the Chinese norms. Results: SCL-90 scores including the somatization agent, depression agent, and anxiety agent scores of the advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma were higher than those of Chinese norms, with significant difference (P<0.05). After palliative intervention therapy, the scores of SDS and SAS were lower than those before the palliative intervention therapy with significant difference (P< 0.05); and furthermore with an obvious improvement in the scores of FACT-G (P<0.05). Conclusion: Palliative intervention therapy for advanced gastrointestinal carcinoma patients can improve the complaints of depression anxiety and quality of life. (authors)

Student Perceptions on Service Quality of Higher Education: an Empirical Study

OpenAIRE

Rahayu, Fatik; Murtanto, Murtanto; Ekasari, Ayu

2007-01-01

Educational literatures suggest that there is mounting pressure from customers of higher education to close the gap between their expectation of institutional performance and the actual performance (Widrick et al., 2002; Pariseau and Mc Daniel, 1997; Shank et al., 1995). Therefore, it is imperative that higher educations actively monitor the quality of their service. This study deals with measuring the service quality in higher education. The service quality of higher education in this resear...

Score distribution of the scoliosis research society health-related quality of life in different subgroups of adolescent subjects unaffected by scoliosis in China.

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Wu, Weifei; Du, Yuanli; Liang, Jie; Chen, Ying; Tan, Xiaoyi; Xiang, Xuanping; Wang, Wanhong; Ru, Neng

2014-02-01

A comparative study. The aims of this study were to: (1) evaluate Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-22 questionnaire performance in normal adolescents without scoliosis to establish a normative baseline useful for evaluating the discriminate validity of the SRS-22 in primary adolescent scoliosis; and (2) investigate impact of age and sex on SRS-22 in an adolescent population unaffected by scoliosis. The SRS-22 questionnaire is widely used to measure health-related quality of life of patients with spinal disease including scoliosis and lumbar spondylolisthesis. However, normal data, which are very important, when comparing patients and nonpatients, are few, little, and there are few studies about factors that may affect SRS questionnaire performance. The adolescent population was from 14 schools located in 7 provinces. A total of 2008 adolescents (961 females, 1026 males, 21 unknown; mean age, 14.3 yr; range, 11-20) completed the simplified Chinese version of SRS-22 questionnaire and demographic questions. Surveys were stratified into 8 age-sex groups for analysis: male/female; 12 to 13.4, 13.5 to 14.9, 15 to 15.9, and more than 16 years of age. Post hoc testing and the Tukey least significant difference were used to compare differences between any 2 of the 4 age groups. Self-image scores in males were higher than those in females (P < 0.01). Pain domain scores were significantly higher in males than those in females in the 13.5- to 14.9-year-old subgroup, whereas other subgroups showed no obvious differences. The function domain scores in males who were aged 15 to 15.9 years and those older than 16 years were significantly higher than those in females (P < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in mental health domain scores among age-sex subgroups, with the exception of the 13.5- to 14.9-year-old group. This is the first study to characterize the sex and age influence on the SRS-22 scores in normal population. Age and sex have an important

Benchmarking as an Instrument for Improvement of Quality Management in Higher Education

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Narimantas Kazimieras Paliulis

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Conditioned by globalisation and constant change, higher education institutions (HEIs are forced to pursue new instruments for quality assurance in higher education. States seem to pursue this aim by attempting to create an efficiently operating system of higher education that satisfies needs of diverse societal groups. Quality dimension is the most important element of efficient and effective higher education. From the perspective of a state, assessment and monitoring of quality are instruments for the management of processes of higher education. The article substantiates these statements using the evolution of the dimension of quality in the European and Lithuanian higher education in the course of the Bologna Process. The article also presents a benchmarking method and discusses its development and application tendencies in business organisations. Also, it looks at possibilities to apply this method in higher education. The main aim of this article is to explore benchmarking as an effective instrument for the improvement of performance quality in HEIs and complement the already implemented quality management systems. Another aim is to suggest this method to national agencies for quality assurance in higher education for monitoring and analysis of qualitative changes on the systematic level. The object of the article is the improvement of performance quality in HEIs. Benchmarking is proposed for the use in higher education on the institutional level as an instrument that complements presently introduced quality management systems in Lithuanian HEIs. This way, it will contribute to the formation of the culture of quality in higher education.

QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

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Goutam Kumar Kundu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of existing research and present a holistic understanding of quality in higher education. This literature review builds on major sources of relevant research relating to educational quality methodologies, quality literacy and multi-dimensional concept of quality. The paper attempts to understand quality in education as a relationship amongst all the participants and resources of an educational institution. Based on the results of the literature review, the paper attempts to establish the foundation for a comprehensive understanding and analysis of quality focussing on higher education. This literature review provides a frame of reference that serves as a basis for future research regarding role of quality in education.

Emblems of Quality in Higher Education. Developing and Sustaining High-Quality Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Haworth, Jennifer Grant; Conrad, Clifton F.

This book proposes an "engagement" theory of program quality to evaluate and improve higher education programs at all degree levels. Based on interviews with 781 participants in a national study of Masters degree programs, it focuses on the interactive roles of students, faculty, and administrators in developing high-quality programs…

The association between self-reported diet quality and health-related quality of life in rural and urban Australian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Bolton, Kristy A; Jacka, Felice; Allender, Steven; Kremer, Peter; Gibbs, Lisa; Waters, Elizabeth; de Silva, Andrea

2016-10-01

This study examines the relationship between diet quality and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in rural and urban Australian adolescents, and gender differences. Cross-sectional. Secondary schools. 722 rural and 422 urban students from 19 secondary schools. Self-report dietary-related behaviours, demographic information, HRQoL (AQoL-6D) were collected. Healthy and unhealthy diet quality scores were calculated; multiple linear regression investigated associations between diet quality and HRQoL. Compared to urban students, rural students had higher HRQoL, higher healthy diet score, lower unhealthy diet score, consumed less soft drink and less frequently, less takeaway and a higher proportion consumed breakfast (P health problems. Such interventions should consider gender and locality. © 2016 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Higher Income and Integration into the Workforce Are the Main Factors Associated with Quality of Life in Acromegalic Patients in Northeastern Brazil.

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GuimarãesSá, Adriana Maria; Ferreira, Pedro Antônio Muniz; Souza, Marinilde Teles; Nascimento, Gilvan Cortês; da Silva Pereira Damianse, Sabrina; de Carvalho Rocha, Viviane Chaves; Dos Santos Faria, Manuel; de Souza Paiva Ferreira, Adalgisa

2018-01-01

To identify the factors associated with quality of life in patients with acromegaly with follow-up at the referral service in neuroendocrinology of the state of Maranhão, northeast Brazil. The Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (Acro-QoL) was used. Factors independently associated with quality of life were identified using multivariate linear regression, with p values integrated into the job market and quality of life scores in the overall domain ( β = 0.288, p = 0.003), psychological domain ( β = 0.291, p = 0.032), and personal relationship domain ( β = 0.314, p = 0.019). We also observed a positive association with income and the quality of life scores in all domains as follows: overall domain ( β = 0.037, p = 0.003), physical domain ( β = 0.988, p = 0.001), psychological domain ( β = 0.342, p = 0.008), physical appearance domain ( β = 0.270, p = 0.049), and personal relationship domain ( β = 0.315, p = 0.012). For patients with acromegaly living in one of the least developed regions of Brazil, integration into the job market and a higher income were associated with a better quality of life.

Depression, anxiety and quality of life scores in seniors after an endurance exercise program

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Antunes Hanna Karen Moreira

2005-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Mood disorders are a frequent problem in old age, and their symptoms constitute an important public health issue. These alterations affect the quality of life mainly by restricting social life. The participation in a regular exercise program is an effective way of reducing or preventing the functional decline associated with aging. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of fitness-endurance activity (at the intensity of Ventilatory Threshold 1 (VT-1 in depression, anxiety and quality of life scores in seniors. METHODS: The study involved 46 sedentary seniors aged 60-75 (66.97 ± 4.80 who were randomly allocated to two groups: 1 Control group, which was neither asked to vary their everyday activities nor to join a regular physical fitness program; and 2 Experimental group, whose members took part in an aerobic fitness program consisting of ergometer cycle sessions 3 times a week on alternate days for six months working at a heart rate corresponding to ventilatory threshold (VT-1 intensity. Subjects were submitted to a basal evaluation using the geriatric depression screening scale - GDS, STAI trait/state (anxiety scale and SF-36 (quality of life scale. RESULTS: Comparing the groups after the study period, we found a significant decrease in depressive and anxiety scores and an improvement in the quality of life in the experimental group, but no significant changes in the control group. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that an aerobic exercise program at VT-1 intensity suffices to promote favorable modifications in depressive and anxiety scores to improve the quality of life in seniors.

The quality movement in higher education in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, H S

1995-09-01

Continuous quality improvement (CQI), often implemented as part of an integrated management system called total quality management (TQM), has been institutionalized within many manufacturing, military and service organizations in the USA as a response to declining market share, low productivity and customer complaints about poor quality. Signs and symptoms suggest that higher education has similar problems which are systematic and relate to the quality ot higher education, financing, facilities, curriculum and graduates. In the 1990S, the quality movement has begun to spread to the field of education as a means of diagnosing and treating the problems widely recognized as residing in US educational institutions, especially in colleges and universities. Many business leaders and authors believe that 'quality is the most important strategic issue facing top management in the 1990s'. This belief arises partly due to the fact that managers are beginning to understand the relationship between healthy, high quality organizations and healthy profits. This article traces the recent US quality movement from its roots in manufacturing and the military, its adoption by service institutions, and its more recent application by higher education institutions.

Gender-heterogeneous working groups produce higher quality science.

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Lesley G Campbell

Full Text Available Here we present the first empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that a gender-heterogeneous problem-solving team generally produced journal articles perceived to be higher quality by peers than a team comprised of highly-performing individuals of the same gender. Although women were historically underrepresented as principal investigators of working groups, their frequency as PIs at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis is now comparable to the national frequencies in biology and they are now equally qualified, in terms of their impact on the accumulation of ecological knowledge (as measured by the h-index. While women continue to be underrepresented as working group participants, peer-reviewed publications with gender-heterogeneous authorship teams received 34% more citations than publications produced by gender-uniform authorship teams. This suggests that peers citing these publications perceive publications that also happen to have gender-heterogeneous authorship teams as higher quality than publications with gender uniform authorship teams. Promoting diversity not only promotes representation and fairness but may lead to higher quality science.

Gender-heterogeneous working groups produce higher quality science.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Lesley G; Mehtani, Siya; Dozier, Mary E; Rinehart, Janice

2013-01-01

Here we present the first empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that a gender-heterogeneous problem-solving team generally produced journal articles perceived to be higher quality by peers than a team comprised of highly-performing individuals of the same gender. Although women were historically underrepresented as principal investigators of working groups, their frequency as PIs at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis is now comparable to the national frequencies in biology and they are now equally qualified, in terms of their impact on the accumulation of ecological knowledge (as measured by the h-index). While women continue to be underrepresented as working group participants, peer-reviewed publications with gender-heterogeneous authorship teams received 34% more citations than publications produced by gender-uniform authorship teams. This suggests that peers citing these publications perceive publications that also happen to have gender-heterogeneous authorship teams as higher quality than publications with gender uniform authorship teams. Promoting diversity not only promotes representation and fairness but may lead to higher quality science.

Translation and validation of the Danish version of the postoperative quality of recovery score QoR-15

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kleif, J; Edwards, H M; Sort, R

2015-01-01

.12 to -0.43, P half reliability was 0.90 and 0.88. Test-retest reliability was 0.99 (95% CI: 0......BACKGROUND: Patient perceived quality of recovery is an important outcome after surgery and should be measured in clinical trials. Quality of recovery after surgery and general anaesthesia can be measured by the QoR-15. A high score indicates a good recovery and the score ranges from 0 to 150...

Oral health-related quality-of-life scores differ by socioeconomic status and caries experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaffee, Benjamin W; Rodrigues, Priscila Humbert; Kramer, Paulo Floriani; Vítolo, Márcia Regina; Feldens, Carlos Alberto

2017-06-01

(i) Quantify the relative association between child dental caries experience and maternal-reported child oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL); (ii) examine whether that association differed according to family socioeconomic status (SES); and (iii) explore whether absolute OHRQoL varied by family SES at similar levels of child caries experience. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of children in southern Brazil (n=456, mean age: 38 months) participating in an existing health centre-based intervention study. OHRQoL impact was quantified as mean score on the Brazilian Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) and compared over categories of caries experience (dmft: 0, dmft: 1-4, dmft: ≥5). Adjusted ECOHIS ratios between caries categories were calculated using regression modelling, overall and within socioeconomic strata defined by maternal education, social class and household income. Caries prevalence (dmft >0) was 39.7%, mean ECOHIS score was 2.0 (SD: 3.5), and 44.3% of mothers reported OHRQoL impact (ECOHIS score >0). Increasing child caries experience was associated with worsening child and family quality of life: ECOHIS scores were 3.0 times greater (95% CI: 2.0, 4.4) for children with dmft ≥5 vs dmft=0, a pattern that persisted regardless of family socioeconomic status (P for interaction: all >0.3). However, adjusted for dental status and sociodemographic characteristics, mean ECOHIS scores were lower when reported by mothers of less educational attainment (ratio: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5, 1.0), lower social class (ratio: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.5, 1.0) or in lower income households (ratio: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.6, 1.3). Dental caries was associated with negative child and family experiences and lower OHRQoL across all social groups; yet, families facing greater disadvantage may report lesser quality-of-life impact at the same level of disease experience. Thus, subjective quality-of-life measures may differ under varying social contexts, with possible

QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS IN POLISH AND UKRAINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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Marta Tutko

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the progress made to develop external and internal quality assurance systems in Polish and Ukrainian higher education in the European Higher Education Area background. The focus of the paper is on the extent to which quality assurance systems in these countries are following the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Furthermore, internal and external quality assur-ance in the European context is presented in the article. The authors of the article also conducted a comparative analysis of quality assurance systems in Polish and Ukrainian higher education.

Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics’ Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education

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Lazarus Nabaho

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics’ perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and, therefore, do not point out cross-disciplinary perspectives in perceptions of quality. This article explores how academics across six disciplines perceive quality in higher education. Method: The article is anchored in the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected from 14 purposely selected academics at Makerere University in Uganda and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings show that academics perceive quality in higher education as transformation, fitness for purpose, and exceptional. The findings further demonstrate that a stakeholder group or an individual stakeholder can subscribe to a notion of quality in higher education but voice divergent views on its variants. Similarly, the academic discipline, the perceived purpose of higher education, and the problems within a higher education system have an influence on stakeholders’ conception of quality in higher education. Conclusions: From the findings it can be inferred that quality in higher education defies a single definition and that stakeholders’ perceptions of quality do not take place in a vacuum. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The multidimensional nature of quality and the contestations around it necessitate a multidimensional approach to assuring and assessing it.

Trading Quality across Borders: Colonial Discourse and International Quality Assurance Policies in Higher Education

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Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo

2014-01-01

Accountability and quality assurance have become central discourses in higher education policy throughout the world. However, accountability and quality assurance involve power and control. Practices and ideas about quality developed in the Global North are spreading rapidly across the Global South, leading to increased uniformity in the…

Application of a simple, affordable quality metric tool to colorectal, upper gastrointestinal, hernia, and hepatobiliary surgery patients: the HARM score.

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Brady, Justin T; Ko, Bona; Hohmann, Samuel F; Crawshaw, Benjamin P; Leinicke, Jennifer A; Steele, Scott R; Augestad, Knut M; Delaney, Conor P

2018-06-01

Quality is the major driver for both clinical and financial assessment. There remains a need for simple, affordable, quality metric tools to evaluate patient outcomes, which led us to develop the HospitAl length of stay, Readmission and Mortality (HARM) score. We hypothesized that the HARM score would be a reliable tool to assess patient outcomes across various surgical specialties. From 2011 to 2015, we identified colorectal, hepatobiliary, upper gastrointestinal, and hernia surgery admissions using the Vizient Clinical Database. Individual and hospital HARM scores were calculated from length of stay, 30-day readmission, and mortality rates. We evaluated the correlation of HARM scores with complication rates using the Clavien-Dindo classification. We identified 525,083 surgical patients: 206,981 colorectal, 164,691 hepatobiliary, 97,157 hernia, and 56,254 upper gastrointestinal. Overall, 53.8% of patients were admitted electively with a mean HARM score of 2.24; 46.2% were admitted emergently with a mean HARM score of 1.45 (p  4 (p  4, complication rates were 9.3, 23.2, 38.8, and 71.6%, respectively. There was a similar trend for increasing HARM score in emergent admissions as well. For all surgical procedure categories, increasing HARM score, with and without risk adjustment, correlated with increasing severity of complications by Clavien-Dindo classification. The HARM score is an easy-to-use quality metric that correlates with increasing complication rates and complication severity across multiple surgical disciplines when evaluated on a large administrative database. This inexpensive tool could be adopted across multiple institutions to compare the quality of surgical care.

Higher stress scores for female medical students measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10 in Pakistan

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Khadija Qamar

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the stress level of medical students and the relationship between stress and academic year. A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted at an undergraduate medical school with a five-year curriculum, in Pakistan, from January 2014 to April 2014. Medical students in the first four years were included in the study. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10, a self-administered questionnaire, was distributed to the students. A total of 445 medical students completed the questionnaire. The average stress score was 19.61 (SD = 6.76 with a range from 10 to 43. Stress was experienced by 169 students (41.7%. The scores of female students were higher than scores of males, indicating a higher stress level (P = 0.011. The relationship between stress and academic year was insignificant (P = 0.392.

Factors Influencing Assessment Quality in Higher Vocational Education

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Baartman, Liesbeth; Gulikers, Judith; Dijkstra, Asha

2013-01-01

The development of assessments that are fit to assess professional competence in higher vocational education requires a reconsideration of assessment methods, quality criteria and (self)evaluation. This article examines the self-evaluations of nine courses of a large higher vocational education institute. Per course, 4-11 teachers and 3-10…

Higher dietary diversity score is associated with obesity: a case-control study.

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Karimbeiki, R; Pourmasoumi, M; Feizi, A; Abbasi, B; Hadi, A; Rafie, N; Safavi, S M

2018-04-01

The present study was carried out to compare dietary diversity score (DDS) among overweight, obese, and normal-weight adults. This case-control study was conducted with a total of 200 cases (100 participants with obesity and 100 participants with overweight) and 300 controls (normal weight) matched by socio-economic status (SES), older than 18 years. Dietary intakes were assessed using a self-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire. Data regarding physical activity and sociodemographic variables were gathered. DDS was computed based on the scoring of the five food groups emphasized in the United States Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid. Anthropometric measurements were measured, and the body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. The mean ± standard deviation of DDS was higher in participants with obesity (5.65 ± 1.32) than that in overweight participants (5.23 ± 1.23), while the lowest score was reported among normal-weight individuals (4.97 ± 1.42) (P obesity increased with each unit increase in DDS (odds ratio [OR]: 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22, 1.74). However, the association became slightly weaker after adjusting for potential confounding factors (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.68). It was concluded that there was a significant positive association between DDS and obesity. However, additional investigations are warranted. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between general practice characteristics and quality of care: a national survey of quality indicators used in the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework, 2004–5

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Armstrong David

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The descriptive information now available for primary care in the UK is unique in international terms. Under the 'Quality and Outcomes Framework' (QOF, data for 147 performance indicators are available for each general practice. We aimed to determine the relationship between the quality of primary care, as judged by the total QOF score, social deprivation and practice characteristics. Methods We obtained QOF data for each practice in England and linked these with census derived data (deprivation indices and proportion of patients born in a developing country. Characteristics of practices were also obtained. QOF and census data were available for 8480 practices. Results The median QOF score was 999.7 out of a possible maximum of 1050 points. Three characteristics were independently associated with higher QOF scores: training practices, group practices and practices in less socially deprived areas. In a regression model, these three factors explained 14.6% of the variation in QOF score. Higher list sizes per GP, turnover of registered patients, chronic disease prevalence, proportions of elderly patients or patients born in a developing country did not contribute to lower QOF scores in the final model. Conclusion Socially deprived areas experience a lower quality of primary care, as judged by QOF scores. Social deprivation itself is an independent predictor of lower quality. Training and group practices are independent predictors of higher quality but these types of practices are less well represented in socially deprived areas.

Opportunity or Exploitation? Women and Quality Assurance in Higher Education

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Morley, Louise

2005-01-01

Based on interviews with 18 UK women academics and managers on quality and power in higher education, this article interrogates the impact of quality assurance discourses and practices on women in higher education. Micro-level analysis of the effects of audit and the evaluative state seem to suggest that hegemonic masculinities and gendered power…

The relationship between observer-based toxicity scoring and patient assessed symptom severity after treatment for head and neck cancer. A correlative cross sectional study of the DAHANCA toxicity scoring system and the EORTC quality of life questionnaires

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Jensen, Kenneth; Bonde Jensen, Anders; Grau, Cai

2006-01-01

Background and purpose: Morbidity is an important issue in cancer research. The observer-based toxicity scoring system used by DAHANCA (the Danish head and neck cancer study group) has proved itself sensitive to differences in toxicity in a large randomised study, but like other toxicity scoring systems it has not been formally validated. Conversely, the EORTC quality of life questionnaire (QLQ) has been validated as a tool for collecting information about the consequences of disease and treatment on the well being of cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the two methods of side effect recording. Patients and methods: One hundred and sixteen recurrence free patients with laryngeal (n=44), pharyngeal (n=34) and oral cavity (n=38) cancer attending follow-up after radiotherapy (n=83) or surgery (n=33) completed EORTC C30, the core questionnaire concerning general symptoms and function and EORTC H and N35 the head and neck specific questionnaire. The attending physicians in the follow-up clinic evaluated and recorded DAHANCA toxicity scores on the same patients. Results: The DAHANCA toxicity scoring system and the EORTC QLQ correlated with several clinical endpoints. The conceptually similar endpoints of the two methods correlated significantly. The objective endpoints of the DAHANCA scoring system were only correlated with quality of life endpoints to a very low degree. The DAHANCA toxicity scores had a low sensitivity (0.48-0.74) in detecting equivalent subjective complaints from the questionnaires and the observer-based scoring system severely underestimated patient complaints. A specific patient group where the DAHANCA score had a higher tendency to fail could not be detected. Conclusion: The DAHANCA toxicity score is an effective instrument in assessing objective treatment induced toxicity in head and neck cancer patients but insensitive and non-specific with regard to patient assessed subjective endpoints. This

Lower- Versus Higher-Income Populations In The Alternative Quality Contract: Improved Quality And Similar Spending.

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Song, Zirui; Rose, Sherri; Chernew, Michael E; Safran, Dana Gelb

2017-01-01

As population-based payment models become increasingly common, it is crucial to understand how such payment models affect health disparities. We evaluated health care quality and spending among enrollees in areas with lower versus higher socioeconomic status in Massachusetts before and after providers entered into the Alternative Quality Contract, a two-sided population-based payment model with substantial incentives tied to quality. We compared changes in process measures, outcome measures, and spending between enrollees in areas with lower and higher socioeconomic status from 2006 to 2012 (outcome measures were measured after the intervention only). Quality improved for all enrollees in the Alternative Quality Contract after their provider organizations entered the contract. Process measures improved 1.2 percentage points per year more among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status than among those in areas with higher socioeconomic status. Outcome measure improvement was no different between the subgroups; neither were changes in spending. Larger or comparable improvements in quality among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status suggest a potential narrowing of disparities. Strong pay-for-performance incentives within a population-based payment model could encourage providers to focus on improving quality for more disadvantaged populations. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Examination of the Five Comparable Component Scores of the Diet Quality Indexes HEI-2005 and RC-DQI Using a Nationally Representative Sample of 2–18 Year Old Children: NHANES 2003–2006

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Sibylle Kranz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Obesity has been associated with low diet quality and the suboptimal intake of food groups and nutrients. Two composite diet quality measurement tools are appropriate for Americans 2–18 years old: the Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2005 and the Revised Children’s Diet Quality Index (RC-DQI. The five components included in both indexes are fruits, vegetables, total grains, whole grains, and milk/dairy. Component scores ranged from 0 to 5 or 0 to 10 points with lower scores indicating suboptimal intake. To allow direct comparisons, one component was rescaled by dividing it by 2; then, all components ranged from 0 to 5 points. The aim of this study was to directly compare the scoring results of these five components using dietary data from a nationally representative sample of children (NHANES 2003–2006, . Correlation coefficients within and between indexes showed less internal consistency in the HEI; age- and ethnic-group stratified analyses indicated higher sensitivity of the RC-DQI. HEI scoring was likely to dichotomize the population into two groups (those with 0 and those with 5 points, while RC-DQI scores resulted in a larger distribution of scores. The scoring scheme of diet quality indexes for children results in great variation of the outcomes, and researchers must be aware of those effects.

Complications among colorectal cancer survivors: SF-6D preference-weighted quality of life scores.

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Hornbrook, Mark C; Wendel, Christopher S; Coons, Stephen Joel; Grant, Marcia; Herrinton, Lisa J; Mohler, M Jane; Baldwin, Carol M; McMullen, Carmit K; Green, Sylvan B; Altschuler, Andrea; Rawl, Susan M; Krouse, Robert S

2011-03-01

Societal preference-weighted health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores enable comparing multidimensional health states across diseases and treatments for research and policy. To assess the effects of living with a permanent intestinal stoma, compared with a major bowel resection, among colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Cross-sectional multivariate linear regression analysis to explain preference-weighted HRQOL scores. In all, 640 CRC survivors (≥ 5 years) from 3 group model health maintenance organizations; ostomates and nonostomates with colorectal resections for CRC were matched on gender, age (± 5 years), time since diagnosis, and tumor site (rectum vs. colon). SF-6D scoring system was applied to Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 version 2 (SF-36v2); City of Hope Quality of Life-Ostomy; and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index. Survey of CRC survivors linked to respondents' clinical data extracted from health maintenance organization files. Response rate was 52%. Ostomates and nonostomates had similar sociodemographic characteristics. Mean SF-6D score was 0.69 for ostomates, compared with 0.73 for nonostomates (P ostomy after other factors were taken into account. Surgical complications, comorbidities, and metastatic disease lowered the preference-weighted HRQOL of CRC survivors with and without ostomies. Further research to understand and reduce late complications from CRC surgeries as well as associated depression is warranted.

A Prototype Public Speaking Skills Assessment: An Evaluation of Human-Scoring Quality. Research Report. ETS RR-15-36

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Joe, Jilliam; Kitchen, Christopher; Chen, Lei; Feng, Gary

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the evaluation of human-scoring quality for an assessment of public speaking skills. Videotaped performances given by 17 speakers on 4 tasks were scored by expert and nonexpert raters who had extensive experience scoring performance-based and constructed-response assessments. The Public Speaking Competence…

Infections after shoulder arthroplasty are correlated with higher anesthetic risk score: a case-control study in Brazil

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Leonardo Hideto Nagaya

2017-11-01

Conclusion: This study provides evidence suggesting that patient-related known factors such as higher ASA score predisposes to shoulder arthroplasty-associated infection. Furthermore, unusual pathogens associated with PSI were identified.

Assessment of quality indicators in spanish higher military education

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Olmos Gómez Maria del Carmen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The quality assessment is subject to multiple interpretations of its content and purpose, and also regarding to methods and techniques used to develop it. Although purposes of assessment are varied, usually pursuit three goals: Improvement, accountability and information. Currently, the concept of quality evaluation has been replaced by the management of educational quality, as Matthew [6] point “the new culture of evaluation is no longer oriented to penalty, ranking or selection of people, as provide a reasoned and reasonable information to guide the management of educational improvement”. Military Training Centres are externally evaluated by an experts External Evaluation Unit to identify strengths and weaknesses on their self-evaluation system and focus on important aspects related to the organization of the Centre, development of work plans, teacher’s style and students learning strategies, system of evaluation and qualification and accurate recommendations to improve all that. This research focuses on the evaluation of quality indicators for the external evaluation of higher education at Military Education Centres in Spain and it is funded by a joint project between University of Granada and MADOC. The technique used for collecting and analysing information was a content description of several documents provided by these military educational authorities, arising the identification and extraction of relevant indicators on the evaluation of higher education. This analysis was primarily based on standards and indicators systems by ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation adapted to the Military Higher Education, but also it was consider other standards by international agencies and evaluative institutions, such as University of Chile, University of Paraguay, Canarias Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation and Agency for Quality Education System University of Castilla y León. The analysis realize a usual

Assessment of quality indicators in Spanish higher military education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olmos Gómez Maria del Carmen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The quality assessment is subject to multiple interpretations of its content and purpose, and also regarding to methods and techniques used to develop it. Although purposes of assessment are varied, usually pursuit three goals: Improvement, accountability and information. Currently, the concept of quality evaluation has been replaced by the management of educational quality, as Matthew [6] point “the new culture of evaluation is no longer oriented to penalty, ranking or selection of people, as provide a reasoned and reasonable information to guide the management of educational improvement”. Military Training Centres are externally evaluated by an experts External Evaluation Unit to identify strengths and weaknesses on their self-evaluation system and focus on important aspects related to the organization of the Centre, development of work plans, teacher’s style and students learning strategies, system of evaluation and qualification and accurate recommendations to improve all that. This research focuses on the evaluation of quality indicators for the external evaluation of higher education at Military Education Centres in Spain and it is funded by a joint project between University of Granada and MADOC. The technique used for collecting and analysing information was a content description of several documents provided by these military educational authorities, arising the identification and extraction of relevant indicators on the evaluation of higher education. This analysis was primarily based on standards and indicators systems by ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation adapted to the Military Higher Education, but also it was consider other standards by international agencies and evaluative institutions, such as University of Chile, University of Paraguay, Canarias Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation and Agency for Quality Education System University of Castilla y León. The analysis realize a usual

Unravelling Quality Culture in Higher Education: A Realist Review

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Bendermacher, G. W. G.; oude Egbrink, M. G. A.; Wolfhagen, I. H. A. P.; Dolmans, D. H. J. M.

2017-01-01

There is a growing belief that higher education institutions should nurture a "quality culture" in which structural/managerial and cultural/psychological elements act in synergy to continuously improve education. Notwithstanding the positive connotation of the "quality culture" concept, its exact configuration remains subject…

Programme evaluation: Maintaining quality in higher education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The evaluation of educational or social programmes is paramount for establishing success or impact in higher education. Evaluation questions about programme goals (e.g. better performance of first-year students) or about the quality of programme strategies (design and implementation) and effectiveness of delivery ...

Internal Resources to Improve the Quality of Higher Education

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Tatyana V. Zak

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the situation in the Russian higher education system. The factors affecting the improvement of the quality of higher education are analyzed. The emphasis is on mass universities. The main obstacles to improving the quality of education in these institutions are the Institute of collective reputation and the high costs of the struggle for improving the quality of education.The necessity of focusing on the actuation of the internal resources to improve the quality associated with the change in the educational process: giving students the right to choose the timing exams and training period at university. The implementation of the proposed measures will reduce the opportunity costs associated with quality improvement activities. The proposed change in the organization of the learning process opens the possibility to estimate the activity of universities in terms of medium-term implementation of educational programs. The use of this indicator will not only combine the two different targets of universities, but also to minimize the costs of opportunistic behavior of teachers and management.

Evaluation of Diabetes Quality of Care Based on a Care Scoring System among People Referring to Diabetes Clinic in Ardabil, 2014

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J Ataei

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background & objectives: Successful implementation of diabetes care can reduce acute and chronic complications of diabetes. This study was conducted to evaluate the quality of care according to a care scoring system among people with type 2 diabetes referring to the diabetes clinic in Ardabil. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in 2014 and a total of 300 people with type 2 diabetes in age range of 20-70 years old were included via convenience sampling. Data were collected by an interviewer using a structured questionnaire and checklist. Each patient was classified according to a quality of care scoring system into 3 categories: ≤10, 15-20, >20. Statistical analysis performed by SPSS v.20 software and descriptive analysis used to display data as frequency tables and graphs. Analytical tests such as ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Chi squared, and fisher exact test were also used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of patients was 54.13 ± 9.13 and the majority of them were women (72.3%. The mean of BMI and HbA1c was 29.58 ± 4.77 and 8.93± 2.13, respectively. The mean of FBS was 191.18 ± 84.23 and the average length of disease was 7.74±5.89 years. The mean of quality of care score among participants was 23.20±9.99. About one-third of patients (29.7% had a quality care score ≤10, half of them (51% had a score between 15-20, and only 19.35% had a score >20. There was an association between HbA1c, FBS, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol and LDL with a quality of care score which was statistically significant (p<0.05. Conclusion: In this study there was a gap between the current quality of care of patients and recommended standards. Therefore in order to minimize the current barriers and problems it is recommended to implement an effective interventional program. In addition, using a quality care scoring system is a rapid, easy and valid method for evaluating diabetes quality of care.

[Quality management in a clinical research facility: Evaluation of changes in quality in-house figures and the appraisal of in-house quality indicators].

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Aden, Bile; Allekotte, Silke; Mösges, Ralph

2016-12-01

For long-term maintenance and improvement of quality within a clinical research institute, the implementation and certification of a quality management system is suitable. Due to the implemented quality management system according to the still valid DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 desired quality objectives are achieved effectively. The evaluation of quality scores and the appraisal of in-house quality indicators make an important contribution in this regard. In order to achieve this and draw quality assurance conclusions, quality indicators as sensible and sensitive as possible are developed. For this, own key objectives, the retrospective evaluation of quality scores, a prospective follow-up and also discussions establish the basis. In the in-house clinical research institute the measures introduced by the quality management led to higher efficiency in work processes, improved staff skills, higher customer satisfaction and overall to more successful outcomes in relation to the self-defined key objectives. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Is higher nursing home quality more costly?

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Giorgio, L Di; Filippini, M; Masiero, G

2016-11-01

Widespread issues regarding quality in nursing homes call for an improved understanding of the relationship with costs. This relationship may differ in European countries, where care is mainly delivered by nonprofit providers. In accordance with the economic theory of production, we estimate a total cost function for nursing home services using data from 45 nursing homes in Switzerland between 2006 and 2010. Quality is measured by means of clinical indicators regarding process and outcome derived from the minimum data set. We consider both composite and single quality indicators. Contrary to most previous studies, we use panel data and control for omitted variables bias. This allows us to capture features specific to nursing homes that may explain differences in structural quality or cost levels. Additional analysis is provided to address simultaneity bias using an instrumental variable approach. We find evidence that poor levels of quality regarding outcome, as measured by the prevalence of severe pain and weight loss, lead to higher costs. This may have important implications for the design of payment schemes for nursing homes.

Programme Evaluation: Maintaining Quality in Higher Education

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Loots, A.

2008-01-01

The evaluation of educational or social programmes is paramount for establishing success or impact in higher education. Evaluation questions about programme goals (e.g. better performance of first-year students) or about the quality of programme strategies (design and implementation) and effectiveness of delivery (coordinator inputs and…

High Framingham risk score decreases quality of life in adults

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Christian Yosaputra

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Cardiovascular disease (CVD risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and obesity tend to occur together in the general population. Increasing prevalence of multiple CVD risk factors has been related to increased risk of death from coronary heart disease and stroke. Studies have suggested that people with several risk factors of CVD may have impaired health-related quality of life. The objective of this study was to assess the association of CVD risk factors with quality of life (QOL among adults aged 40 to 65 years. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 220 subjects 40 - 65 years of age at a health center. The CVD risk factors were assessed using the Framingham risk score that is the standard instrument for assessment of the risk of a first cardiac event. The risk factors assessed were age, smoking, blood pressure, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. QOL was assessed by means of the WHOQOL-BREF instrument that had been prevalidated. The results of the study showed that 28.2% of subjects were smokers, 56.4% had stage 1 hypertension, 42.8% high total cholesterol and 13.6% low HDL cholesterol. The high risk group amounted to 45.5% and 42.3% constitued an intermediate risk group. High CVD risk scores were significantly associated with a low QOL for all domains (physical, psychological, social and environment (p=0.000. Preventing or reducing the multiple CVD risk factors to improve QOL is necessary among adults.

A higher score on the Aging Males' Symptoms scale is associated with insulin resistance in middle-aged men.

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Hamanoue, Nobuya; Tanabe, Makito; Tanaka, Tomoko; Akehi, Yuko; Murakami, Junji; Nomiyama, Takashi; Yanase, Toshihiko

2017-05-30

An age-associated androgen decrease and its pathological conditions are defined as late-onset hypogonadism (LOH). Among the various symptoms associated with LOH, a visceral fat increase is strongly associated with relatively low levels of testosterone. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between the Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) scores and metabolic abnormalities. Thus, we aimed to clarify this relationship by investigating the relationship between AMS scores and various markers in blood. During routine health examinations in 241 middle-aged males (52.7±7.5 years of age, mean±SD), 150 males (62.2%) displayed higher AMS values than normal. No statistical association was observed between total AMS scores and any testosterone value. All mental, physical and sexual AMS subscales were significantly positively correlated with insulin levels and HOMA-IR. Only sexual subscale scores were significantly inversely associated with free or bioavailable testosterone level. Males with insulin resistance (HOMA-IR≥2.5) demonstrated significantly higher AMS scores than those with normal insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IRinsulin and HOMA-IR values. Interestingly, univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that HOMA-IR≥2.5 was a significant predictor for detection of moderately severe AMS values (AMS≥37), whereas AMS≥37 was not a predictor of metabolic syndrome by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criterion. In conclusion, almost 60% of healthy male subjects displayed abnormal AMS scores. AMS values were not associated with testosterone values but rather were related to insulin resistance, particularly in subjects with moderately severe AMS values. Insulin resistance-related general unwellness might be reflected by AMS values.

The Quality Movements in Higher Education in the United States.

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Miller, Richard I.

1996-01-01

Discussion of various quality control strategies in American higher education looks at and compares Total Quality Management (TQM), outcomes assessment, Deming's 14 points, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the ISO 9000 series, restructuring, reengineering, and performance indicators. It is suggested that colleges and universities will…

Reliability of a visual scoring system with fluorescent tracers to assess dermal pesticide exposure.

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Aragon, Aurora; Blanco, Luis; Lopez, Lylliam; Liden, Carola; Nise, Gun; Wesseling, Catharina

2004-10-01

We modified Fenske's semi-quantitative 'visual scoring system' of fluorescent tracer deposited on the skin of pesticide applicators and evaluated its reproducibility in the Nicaraguan setting. The body surface of 33 farmers, divided into 31 segments, was videotaped in the field after spraying with a pesticide solution containing a fluorescent tracer. A portable UV lamp was used for illumination in a foldaway dark room. The videos of five farmers were randomly selected. The scoring was based on a matrix with extension of fluorescent patterns (scale 0-5) on the ordinate and intensity (scale 0-5) on the abscissa, with the product of these two ranks as the final score for each body segment (0-25). Five medical students rated and evaluated the quality of 155 video images having undergone 4 h of training. Cronbach alpha coefficients and two-way random effects intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with absolute agreement were computed to assess inter-rater reliability. Consistency was high (Cronbach alpha = 0.96), but the scores differed substantially between raters. The overall ICC was satisfactory [0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.62-0.83], but it was lower for intensity (0.54; 95% CI = 0.40-0.66) and higher for extension (0.80; 95% CI = 0.71-0.86). ICCs were lowest for images with low scores and evaluated as low quality, and highest for images with high scores and high quality. Inter-rater reliability coefficients indicate repeatability of the scoring system. However, field conditions for recording fluorescence should be improved to achieve higher quality images, and training should emphasize a better mechanism for the reading of body areas with low contamination.

Quality Assurance in Transnational Higher Education. ENQA Workshop Report 11

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Bennett, Paul; Bergan, Sjur; Cassar, Daniela; Hamilton, Marlene; Soinila, Michele; Sursock, Andree; Uvalic-Trumbic, Stamenka; Williams, Peter

2010-01-01

The present report is the product of an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Bologna Seminar "Quality Assurance in Transnational Education: from words to action" hosted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, UK) in London in December, 2008. The seminar discussed the current trends in Transnational…

Service Quality in Higher Education Using an Enhanced SERVQUAL Approach

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Tan, Kay C.; Kek, Sei W.

2004-01-01

Customer service and quality are driving forces in the business community. As higher educational institutions tussle for competitive advantage and high service quality, the evaluation of educational service quality is essential to provide motivation for and to give feedback on the effectiveness of educational plans and implementation. This…

Worldviews and Quality in Higher Education: a dichotomy between productivity and social responsibility

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Julio Bertolin

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses and analyzes concepts that have been often used by important stakeholders to refer to challenges and to quality in higher education. The aim is to identify the conceptualizations of quality in higher education that underlie the use of different concepts such as efficiency and equity. Based on publications by important multilateral organizations, these terms are correlated with the conceptualizations of higher education and, at the political level, with two major contemporary socioeconomic models: neoliberalism and social welfare state. Finally, two ideological tendencies for the understanding of quality in higher education are presented: quality as productivity and quality as social responsibility.

Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Zimbabwe

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Garwe, Evelyn Chiyevo

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to furnish local and global stakeholders with detailed information regarding the development and current status of quality assurance in the Zimbabwean higher education sector. The study used document analysis, observation and interviews with key informants as sources of data. This paper addresses the dearth of…

Quality Instruction as a Motivating Factor in Higher Education

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Sogunro, Olusegun A.

2017-01-01

The importance of quality instruction in motivating students in higher education cannot be overemphasized. Without quality instruction, students' motivation to learn recedes. Five focus groups of graduate students aided the data collection for this study. More than one-third of the 119 participating graduate students involved in this study claimed…

"Folk" Understandings of Quality in UK Higher Hospitality Education

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Wood, Roy

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of "folk" understandings of quality in higher hospitality education and the consequent implications of these understandings for current quality concerns in the field. Design/methodology/approach: The paper combines a historical survey of the stated topic…

Quality Management in Higher Education: Towards a Better Understanding of an Emerging Field

Science.gov (United States)

Pratasavitskaya, Halina; Stensaker, Bjorn

2010-01-01

The article analyses how quality management is understood in higher education research. By reviewing a number of academic contributions addressing quality management issues in "Quality in Higher Education" from 1995-2008, the article identifies central concepts associated with quality management, discusses whether there are commonalities to be…

Psychology and quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Jong Chul; Chung, Woong Ki [Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2004-12-15

The object of this study is to investigate sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, psychology, self-esteem and quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy and to provide useful information for therapeutic approach to cancer patients on radiation therapy. The subjects were 36 patients who had been treated with radiation therapy and 20 normal people. Sociodemographic information and clinical characteristics of cancer patients on radiation therapy were investigated, and symptom checklist-90-revised, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale for self esteem, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument for quality of life were administered to subjects. And Spearman's correlation analysis was used among these. The tendency of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility in cancer group were significantly higher than normal group. Self esteem and quality of life in cancer group were significantly lower than normal group. No significant difference was found in comparison of psychology, self esteem and quality of life according to sociodemographic variables. Among clinical characteristics, in the presence of metastasis in cancer patients, the scores of anxiety, phobia and paranoid ideation were higher. In patients with pain, the score of somatization was higher. And in case of weight loss, the score of somatization was higher. The higher score of depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower self-esteem. And higher score of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower quality of life. Understanding and management of psychological symptoms, such as somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility, and pain control are necessary to improve quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy.

Psychology and quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jong Chul; Chung, Woong Ki

2004-01-01

The object of this study is to investigate sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, psychology, self-esteem and quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy and to provide useful information for therapeutic approach to cancer patients on radiation therapy. The subjects were 36 patients who had been treated with radiation therapy and 20 normal people. Sociodemographic information and clinical characteristics of cancer patients on radiation therapy were investigated, and symptom checklist-90-revised, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale for self esteem, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument for quality of life were administered to subjects. And Spearman's correlation analysis was used among these. The tendency of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility in cancer group were significantly higher than normal group. Self esteem and quality of life in cancer group were significantly lower than normal group. No significant difference was found in comparison of psychology, self esteem and quality of life according to sociodemographic variables. Among clinical characteristics, in the presence of metastasis in cancer patients, the scores of anxiety, phobia and paranoid ideation were higher. In patients with pain, the score of somatization was higher. And in case of weight loss, the score of somatization was higher. The higher score of depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower self-esteem. And higher score of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower quality of life. Understanding and management of psychological symptoms, such as somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility, and pain control are necessary to improve quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy

The Massification of Higher Education in the UK: Aspects of Service Quality

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Giannakis, Mihalis; Bullivant, Nicola

2016-01-01

This article explores several aspects of service quality for the provision of higher education. Alongside the trend of the massification of higher education over the past two decades, higher education institutions are required to review quality across a range of outputs, besides teaching and learning. The study was undertaken within the…

Reforms, Leadership and Quality Management in Greek Higher Education

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Papadimitriou, Antigoni

2011-01-01

This article reports on research to form an understanding of how to account whether and how quality management (QM) has been adopted in Greek higher education. Greece only recently introduced quality assurance policies. In this study, I will describe governmental reforms related to QM policies until 2010. An issue that is frequently addressed…

The Image Quality of a Digital Chest X-Ray Radiography System: Comparison of Quantitative Image Quality Analysis and Radiologists' Visual Scoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nam, Ji Ho [Dept. of Radiology Oncology, Yongsan Hospital, Pusan National University College of Medicine, Yongsan (Korea, Republic of); Chung, Myung Jin [Dept. of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Darl; Kim, Won Taek; Kim, Yong Ho; Ki, Yong Kan; Kim, DFong Hyun; Lee, Ju Hee; Kim, Dong Won [Dept. of Radiology Oncology, Yongsan Hospital, Pusan National University College of Medicine, Yongsan (Korea, Republic of); Jeon, Ho Sang [Reserach Institue for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Yongsan Hospital, Pusan National University College of Medicine, Yongsan (Korea, Republic of)

2011-11-15

To evaluate the performance of imaging devices, which should be periodically monitored to maintain high quality images to the radiologists. Additionally, this evaluation may prevent patients from radiation over-exposure. The most suitable engineering standard for imaging performance evaluation of digital X-ray thoracic images was determined. IEC 62220-1 standards were used to evaluate the performance of the images. In succession, the visibilities of overall image, pneumothorax, and humerus head in anthropomorphic thoracic phantom images were used to evaluate the image qualities by radiologists. The rank correlation coefficient (p) of visual scoring by radiologists with system spatial resolution is not meaningful (p-value, p = 0.295), but is significant with image noise (p-value, p -0.9267). Finally, the noise equivalent quanta (NEQ) presents a high rank correlation for visual scoring of radiologists (p-value, p = 0.9320). Image quality evaluation of radiologists were mainly affected by imaging noise. Hence, the engineered standard for evaluating image noise is the most important index to effectively monitor the performance of X-ray images. Additionally, the NEQ can be used to evaluate the performance of radiographic systems, because it theoretically corresponds to the synthetic image quality of systems.

Validation of the Six Sigma Z-score for the quality assessment of clinical laboratory timeliness.

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Ialongo, Cristiano; Bernardini, Sergio

2018-03-28

The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine has introduced in recent times the turnaround time (TAT) as mandatory quality indicator for the postanalytical phase. Classic TAT indicators, namely, average, median, 90th percentile and proportion of acceptable test (PAT), are in use since almost 40 years and to date represent the mainstay for gauging the laboratory timeliness. In this study, we investigated the performance of the Six Sigma Z-score, which was previously introduced as a device for the quantitative assessment of timeliness. A numerical simulation was obtained modeling the actual TAT data set using the log-logistic probability density function. Five thousand replicates for each size of the artificial TAT random sample (n=20, 50, 250 and 1000) were generated, and different laboratory conditions were simulated manipulating the PDF in order to generate more or less variable data. The Z-score and the classic TAT indicators were assessed for precision (%CV), robustness toward right-tailing (precision at different sample variability), sensitivity and specificity. Z-score showed sensitivity and specificity comparable to PAT (≈80% with n≥250), but superior precision that ranged within 20% by moderately small sized samples (n≥50); furthermore, Z-score was less affected by the value of the cutoff used for setting the acceptable TAT, as well as by the sample variability that reflected into the magnitude of right-tailing. The Z-score was a valid indicator of laboratory timeliness and a suitable device to improve as well as to maintain the achieved quality level.

The health-related quality of life was not improved by targeting higher hemoglobin in the Normal Hematocrit Trial.

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Coyne, Daniel W

2012-07-01

The Normal Hematocrit Trial (NHT) was the largest trial of epoetin randomizing 1265 hemodialysis patients with cardiac disease to lower (9-11 g/dl) or higher (13-15 g/dl) hemoglobin (Hgb), hypothesizing that higher Hgb would reduce mortality, and improve survival and quality of life. The trial was terminated early, and a 1998 publication reported that targeting higher hematocrit levels led to an insignificant increase in the primary end points (death or myocardial infarct), or risk ratio 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.9-1.90, but the P-value was not given, and all-cause death risk was not reported. A higher target reportedly did not increase hospitalization rates, but did significantly improve the 'physical function' domain of quality of life. Comparing the 1996 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-filed clinical trial report to the 1998 publication, however, found several discrepancies. Among these, the 1998 article reported interim trial results with only the adjusted CI but did not state that the unadjusted CIs were 99.912th percentile, and despite being a secondary end point, reported only the association of achieved Hgb with higher quality of life score. Randomization to the higher target had actually increased the risk for the primary end point (risk ratio 1.28, 95% CI=1.06-1.56; P=0.0112; 99.92% CI=0.92-1.78), the risk of death (risk ratio 1.27, 95% CI=1.04-1.54), non-access thrombotic events (P=0.041), and hospitalization rate (P=0.04), while 'physical function' did not improve (P=0.88). Hence, disclosure of these results in the 1998 publication or access to the FDA-filed report on the NHT in the late 1990s would likely have led to earlier concerns about epoetin safety and greater doubts about its benefits.

Guiding and Modelling Quality Improvement in Higher Education Institutions

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Little, Daniel

2015-01-01

The article considers the process of creating quality improvement in higher education institutions from the point of view of current organisational theory and social-science modelling techniques. The author considers the higher education institution as a functioning complex of rules, norms and other organisational features and reviews the social…

Quality of Life Score as a Predictor of Death in Dogs with Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease.

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Strunz, Célia M C; Marcondes-Santos, Mário; Takada, Julio Yoshio; Fragata, Fernanda S; Mansur, Antônio de Pádua

2017-04-01

The knowledge of the variables predicting mortality is important in clinical practice and for therapeutic monitoring in mitral valve disease. To determine whether a quality of life score evaluated with the Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health questionnaire would predict mortality in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD). Thirty-six client-owned dogs with mitral valve disease underwent clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic evaluations at baseline and were monitored for 6 months. Cardiovascular death was the primary outcome. The 36 dogs were classified as survivors or nonsurvivors. Higher values of the following variables were obtained at baseline in the nonsurviving group (12 dogs): amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, plasma norepinephrine, heart rate, quality of life score, diastolic left ventricular internal dimension to aortic root ratio, systolic left ventricular internal dimension to aortic root ratio, and left atrium to aortic root ratio. NT-proBNP levels and quality life score were independently associated with death in the multivariable analysis. The quality life score was an independent variable for cardiac death in dogs with DMVD. This result is encouraging, as this score is easy to apply and does not require any technology, only a veterinarian and an observant owner. O conhecimento das variáveis preditoras de mortalidade é importante para a prática clínica e para o acompanhamento terapêutico na doença da valva mitral. Determinar se um escore de qualidade de vida avaliado com o Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health poderia auxiliar na predição de mortalidade em cães com doença degenerativa da valva mitral (DDVM). Trinta e seis cães de estimação com doença valvar mitral foram submetidos a avaliação clínica, laboratorial e ecocardiográfica no início do estudo e monitorizados durante 6 meses. A morte cardiovascular foi o desfecho primário. Os 36 cães foram classificados como

Meeting the Challenge: Quality Systems in Private Higher Education in Kuwait

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Al-Atiqi, Imad M.; Alharbi, Lafi M.

2009-01-01

In Kuwait, as in other rapidly-developing higher education systems, one major area of concern is ensuring the quality of education offered by private providers. This paper briefly reviews the history of the development of higher education in Kuwait since its inception in 1936. It considers various quality systems currently in place in other…

Patients' experiences of the quality of long-term care among the elderly: comparing scores over time

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Zuidgeest Marloes

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Every two years, long-term care organizations for the elderly are obliged to evaluate and publish the experiences of residents, representatives of psychogeriatric patients, and/or assisted-living clients with regard to quality of care. Our hypotheses are that publication of this quality information leads to improved performance, and that organizations with substandard performance will improve more than those whose performance is relatively good. Methods The analyses included organizational units that measured experiences twice between 2007 (t0 and 2009 (t1. Experiences with quality of care were measured with Consumer Quality Index (CQI questionnaires. Besides descriptive analyses (i.e. mean, 5th and 95th percentile, and 90% central range of the 19 CQI indicators and change scores of these indicators were calculated. Differences across five performance groups (ranging from 'worst' to 'best' were tested using an ANOVA test and effect sizes were measured with omega squared (ω2. Results At t0 experiences of residents, representatives, and assisted-living clients were positive on all indicators. Nevertheless, most CQI indicators had improved scores (up to 0.37 change score at t1. Only three indicators showed a minor decline (up to -0.08 change score. Change scores varied between indicators and questionnaires, e.g. they were more profound for the face-to-face interview questionnaire for residents in nursing homes than for the other two mail questionnaires (0.15 vs. 0.05 and 0.04, respectively, possibly due to more variation between nursing homes on the first measurement, perhaps indicating more potential for improvement. A negative relationship was found between prior performance and change, particularly with respect to the experiences of residents (ω2 = 0.16 and assisted-living clients (ω2 = 0.15. However, the relation between prior performance and improvement could also be demonstrated with respect to the experiences reported

Higher blood harmane (1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole) concentrations correlate with lower olfactory scores in essential tremor.

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Louis, Elan D; Rios, Eileen; Pellegrino, Kathryn M; Jiang, Wendy; Factor-Litvak, Pam; Zheng, Wei

2008-05-01

Harmane (1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole), a neurotoxin, may be an environmental risk factor for essential tremor (ET). Harmane and related chemicals are toxic to the cerebellum. Whether it is through this mechanism (cerebellar toxicity) that harmane leads to ET is unknown. Impaired olfaction may be a feature of cerebellar disease. To determine whether blood harmane concentrations correlate with olfactory test scores in patients with ET. Blood harmane concentrations were quantified using high performance liquid chromatography. Odor identification testing was performed with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). In 83 ET cases, higher log blood harmane concentration was correlated with lower UPSIT score (rho=-0.46, p<0.001). 25/40 (62.5%) cases with high log blood harmane concentration (based on a median split) had low UPSIT scores (based on a median split) vs. 12/43 (27.9%) ET cases with low log blood harmane concentration (adjusted odd ratios (OR) 4.04, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.42-11.50, p=0.009). When compared with the low log blood harmane tertile, the odds of olfactory dysfunction were 2.64 times higher in cases in the middle tertile and 10.95 times higher in cases in the high tertile. In 69 control subjects, higher log blood harmane concentration was not correlated with lower UPSIT score (rho=0.12, p=0.32). Blood harmane concentrations were correlated with UPSIT scores in ET cases but not controls. These analyses set the stage for postmortem studies to further explore the role of harmane as a cerebellar toxin in ET.

Financial Intelligence and the Quality of Higher Education in Africa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Financial Intelligence and the Quality of Higher Education in Africa. ... Improving the quality of curriculum development in private Universities in Africa from time to time is a task that is very essential to achieving ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Implementation and translation: from European standards and guidelines for quality assurance to education quality work in higher education institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerheijden, Donald F.; Kohoutek, Jan; Eggins, Heather

2014-01-01

The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG for short) have been part of the regulative infrastructure of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) since 2005 (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, 2009).

Quality assessment in higher education using the SERVQUALQ model

OpenAIRE

Đonlagić, Sabina; Fazlić, Samira

2015-01-01

Economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is striving towards growth and increased employment and it has been proven by empirical studies worldwide that higher education contributes to socio-economic development of a country. Universities are important for generation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge in order to contribute to socio-economic benefits of a country. Higher education institutions are being pressured to improve value for their activities and providing quality higher education s...

The quality of life and satisfaction with life of women who are childless by choice

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Agnieszka Bień

2017-05-01

A positive correlation was found between satisfaction with life and overall quality of life, general perceived health, and all quality of life domains. Higher satisfaction with life scores in childless women are correlated with a higher quality of life scores and better perceived health.

Risk scoring for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

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Karmali, Kunal N; Persell, Stephen D; Perel, Pablo; Lloyd-Jones, Donald M; Berendsen, Mark A; Huffman, Mark D

2017-03-14

The current paradigm for cardiovascular disease (CVD) emphasises absolute risk assessment to guide treatment decisions in primary prevention. Although the derivation and validation of multivariable risk assessment tools, or CVD risk scores, have attracted considerable attention, their effect on clinical outcomes is uncertain. To assess the effects of evaluating and providing CVD risk scores in adults without prevalent CVD on cardiovascular outcomes, risk factor levels, preventive medication prescribing, and health behaviours. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library (2016, Issue 2), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to March week 1 2016), Embase (embase.com) (1974 to 15 March 2016), and Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S) (1990 to 15 March 2016). We imposed no language restrictions. We searched clinical trial registers in March 2016 and handsearched reference lists of primary studies to identify additional reports. We included randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing the systematic provision of CVD risk scores by a clinician, healthcare professional, or healthcare system compared with usual care (i.e. no systematic provision of CVD risk scores) in adults without CVD. Three review authors independently selected studies, extracted data, and evaluated study quality. We used the Cochrane 'Risk of bias' tool to assess study limitations. The primary outcomes were: CVD events, change in CVD risk factor levels (total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and multivariable CVD risk), and adverse events. Secondary outcomes included: lipid-lowering and antihypertensive medication prescribing in higher-risk people. We calculated risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous data and mean differences (MD) or standardised mean differences (SMD) for continuous data using 95% confidence intervals. We used a fixed-effects model when heterogeneity (I²) was at least 50% and a random-effects model for substantial heterogeneity

Comparative assessment of image quality for coronary CT angiography with iobitridol and two contrast agents with higher iodine concentrations: iopromide and iomeprol. A multicentre randomized double-blind trial

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Achenbach, Stephan [Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Department of Cardiology, Erlangen (Germany); Paul, Jean-Francois [Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, Department of Radiology, Le Plessis Robinson (France); Laurent, Francois [University of Bordeaux, Centre de Recherche Cardio-Thoracique de Bordeaux, U1045, Bordeaux (France); CHU de Bordeaux, Service d' Imagerie Thoracique et Cardiovasculaire, Pessac (France); Becker, Hans-Christoph [University Hospital Grosshadern, Department of Clinical Radiology, Munich (Germany); Rengo, Marco [Sapienza - University of Rome, ICOT Hospital, Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Pathology, Latina (Italy); Caudron, Jerome [University Hospital of Rouen, Department of Radiology, Rouen (France); Leschka, Sebastian [Saint Gallen Hospital, Department of Radiology, Saint Gallen (Switzerland); Vignaux, Olivier [Cochin Hospital, Department of Radiology, Paris (France); Knobloch, Gesine [La Charite, Department of Radiology, Berlin (Germany); Benea, Giorgio [Ospedale del Delta, Ferrara (Italy); Schlosser, Thomas [Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Hospital, Essen (Germany); Andreu, Jordi [Hospital Vall d' Hebron, Barcelona (Spain); Cabeza, Beatriz [Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid (Spain); Jacquier, Alexis [La Timone Adult Hospital, Department of Radiology, Marseille (France); Souto, Miguel [Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Revel, Didier [Louis Pradel Hospital, Department of Radiology, Lyon (France); Qanadli, Salah Dine [University of Lausanne, Department of Radiology, Lausanne (Switzerland); Cademartiri, Filippo [Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Department of Radiology, Monastier di Treviso (Italy); Collaboration: X-ACT Study Group

2017-02-15

To demonstrate non-inferiority of iobitridol 350 for coronary CT angiography (CTA) compared to higher iodine content contrast media regarding rate of patients evaluable for the presence of coronary artery stenoses. In this multicentre trial, 452 patients were randomized to receive iobitridol 350, iopromide 370 or iomeprol 400 and underwent coronary CTA using CT systems with 64-detector rows or more. Two core lab readers assessed 18 coronary segments per patient regarding image quality (score 0 = non diagnostic to 4 = excellent quality), vascular attenuation, signal and contrast to noise ratio (SNR, CNR). Patients were considered evaluable if no segment had a score of 0. Per-patient, the rate of fully evaluable CT scans was 92.1, 95.4 and 94.6 % for iobitridol, iopromide and iomeprol, respectively. Non-inferiority of iobitridol over the best comparator was demonstrated with a 95 % CI of the difference of [-8.8 to 2.1], with a pre-specified non-inferiority margin of -10 %. Although average attenuation increased with higher iodine concentrations, average SNR and CNR did not differ between groups. With current CT technology, iobitridol 350 mg iodine/ml is not inferior to contrast media with higher iodine concentrations in terms of image quality for coronary stenosis assessment. (orig.)

Reliability and Validity of SERVQUAL Scores Used To Evaluate Perceptions of Library Service Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Bruce; Cook, Colleen

Research libraries are increasingly supplementing collection counts with perceptions of service quality as indices of status and productivity. The present study was undertaken to explore the reliability and validity of scores from the SERVQUAL measurement protocol (A. Parasuraman and others, 1991), which has previously been used in this type of…

Quality of travel health advice in higher-education establishments in the United Kingdom and its relationship to the demographic background of the provider.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, J F Hugh; Knill-Jones, Robin P

2004-01-01

The number of international trips undertaken by residents of the United Kingdom has risen dramatically over the past 50 years. Likewise, the numbers studying in higher education have also shown a huge increase. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of advice given to traveling students by higher education-based health services and to relate this to the demography and experience of the professionals involved. A postal questionnaire describing three hypothetical groups of students traveling to different parts of the world was sent to 335 doctors and nurses. These clinicians belonged to the British Association of Health Services in Higher Education. They worked in 105 practices that serve higher-educational establishments in the United Kingdom. Main outcome measures included whether appropriate immunizations were advised and given correctly through the National Health Service (NHS) or privately, and whether appropriate advice was given regarding malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and miscellaneous risks. The sources of information used to advise travelers were also asked, and the effect of demographic characteristics of the respondents on the quality of advice was investigated. Two hundred fifteen (64%) questionnaires were returned. The mean score for whether the correct immunizations were advised was 77%, and for whether these were given correctly through the NHS or privately was 79.6%. For malaria, HIV, and miscellaneous risks, the scores were lower at 65%, 38%, and 32%, respectively. The score for correct immunizations was significantly affected by sex, with females respondents scoring higher (p = .036). Previous training in travel medicine improved scores for immunizations (p = .034) and for the correct choice being given through the NHS or privately (p = .006). Age, hours worked, role, and size of practice had no influence on scores. Charts in the general practice free newspapers were the most popular source of information. Practices serving

Exploring relationships between hospital patient safety culture and Consumer Reports safety scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Scott Alan; Yount, Naomi; Sorra, Joann

2017-02-16

A number of private and public companies calculate and publish proprietary hospital patient safety scores based on publicly available quality measures initially reported by the U.S. federal government. This study examines whether patient safety culture perceptions of U.S. hospital staff in a large national survey are related to publicly reported patient safety ratings of hospitals. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS) assesses provider and staff perceptions of hospital patient safety culture. Consumer Reports (CR), a U.S. based non-profit organization, calculates and shares with its subscribers a Hospital Safety Score calculated annually from patient experience survey data and outcomes data gathered from federal databases. Linking data collected during similar time periods, we analyzed relationships between staff perceptions of patient safety culture composites and the CR Hospital Safety Score and its five components using multiple multivariate linear regressions. We analyzed data from 164 hospitals, with patient safety culture survey responses from 140,316 providers and staff, with an average of 856 completed surveys per hospital and an average response rate per hospital of 56%. Higher overall Hospital SOPS composite average scores were significantly associated with higher overall CR Hospital Safety Scores (β = 0.24, p Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score, which is a composite of patient experience and outcomes data from federal databases. As hospital managers allocate resources to improve patient safety culture within their organizations, their efforts may also indirectly improve consumer-focused, publicly reported hospital rating scores like the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score.

Factors associated with diet quality of older adults

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Tatiana Império de FREITAS

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective Evaluate the factors associated with diet quality of older adults from the city of São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 295 older adults receiving care in health care units in São Caetano do Sul. Diet quality was assessed using the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index. The associations between the diet quality mean score and the socio-demographic, economic, and anthropometric characteristics and lifestyle and health conditions were verified using multiple linear regression. Results Lower diet quality mean score were associated with the variables: marital status (widowed or separated (β=-2.02; p=0.047, retired (β=-4.24; p=0.034, and smoking (β=-8.06; p=0.001; whereas higher diet quality mean score were associated with higher education level (9 years or more (β=3.49; p=0.013. Conclusion Individuals with higher education level had better diet quality, and those who were widowed or separated, retired, and smokers had worse diet quality indicating that socio-demographic, economic, and lifestyle are factors that can influence food choice of older adults.

Functional Movement Screen: Pain versus composite score and injury risk.

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Alemany, Joseph A; Bushman, Timothy T; Grier, Tyson; Anderson, Morgan K; Canham-Chervak, Michelle; North, William J; Jones, Bruce H

2017-11-01

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS™) has been used as a screening tool to determine musculoskeletal injury risk using composite scores based on movement quality and/or pain. However, no direct comparisons between movement quality and pain have been quantified. Retrospective injury data analysis. Male Soldiers (n=2154, 25.0±1.3years; 26.2±.7kg/m 2 ) completed the FMS (scored from 0 points (pain) to 3 points (no pain and perfect movement quality)) with injury data over the following six months. The FMS is seven movements. Injury data were collected six months after FMS completion. Sensitivity, specificity, receiver operator characteristics and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for pain occurrence and low (≤14 points) composite score. Risk, risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for injury risk. Pain was associated with slightly higher injury risk (RR=1.62) than a composite score of ≤14 points (RR=1.58). When comparing injury risk between those who scored a 1, 2 or 3 on each individual movement, no differences were found (except deep squat). However, Soldiers who experienced pain on any movement had a greater injury risk than those who scored 3 points for that movement (pmovements in which pain occurrence increased, so did injury risk (p<0.01). Pain occurrence may be a stronger indicator of injury risk than a low composite score and provides a simpler method of evaluating injury risk compared to the full FMS. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Reflection on Quality Assurance System of Higher Vocational Education under Big Data Era

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Jiang Xinlan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Big data has the features like Volume, Variety, Value and Velocity. Here come the new opportunities and challenges for construction of Chinese quality assurance system of higher vocational education under big data era. There are problems in current quality assurance system of higher vocational education, such as imperfect main body, non-formation of internally and externally incorporated quality assurance system, non-scientific security standard and insufficiency in security investment. The construction of higher vocational education under big data era requires a change in the idea of quality assurance system construction to realize the multiple main bodies and multiple layers development trend for educational quality assurance system, and strengthen the construction of information platform for quality assurance system.

Sexual satisfaction, anxiety, depression and quality of life among Turkish colorectal cancer patients [Izmir Oncology Group (IZOG) study].

Science.gov (United States)

Akyol, Murat; Ulger, Eda; Alacacioglu, Ahmet; Kucukzeybek, Yuksel; Yildiz, Yasar; Bayoglu, Vedat; Gumus, Zehra; Yildiz, Ibrahim; Salman, Tarık; Varol, Umut; Ayakdas, Semra; Tarhan, Mustafa Oktay

2015-07-01

Determination of psychological problems will shed light on the terms of solution and provide support to patients about these problems will ensure the patients' coherence to the treatment and will enhance the benefits they receive from treatment. In this study, we aimed to determine these psychosocial problems and the interactions with each other in colon cancer patients. In this study, 105 patients with colorectal cancer were included. The forms consist of sociodemographic features, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Questionnaires Quality of Life-C30 and Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction questionnaires. Male patients had significantly higher European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Questionnaires Quality of Life-C30 function scales and global quality-of-life scores than female patients. Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction scores of female patients were significantly higher than that of male patients. European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Questionnaires Quality of Life-C30 function scales and global quality-of-life scores of the patients with high depression scores were significantly lower, conversely symptom scale scores of the patients with high depression scores were significantly higher than that of the patients with low depression scores. Patients with low anxiety scores had significantly higher European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Questionnaires Quality of Life-C30 function scales and global quality-of-life scores than the patients with high anxiety scores. Symptom scale scores of the patients with high anxiety scores were significantly higher than that of the patients with low anxiety scores. The scores of Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction except premature ejaculation and vaginismus were significantly higher in patients with high anxiety scores and a significant difference was determined in touch

US Accreditation in Mexico: Quality in Higher Education as Symbol, Performance and Translation

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco-Ramirez, Gerardo

2015-01-01

Quality practices in higher education involve more than mere compliance with standards and technical mandates; given the complexity of the decisions involved in quality in higher education, this concept, quality, can be analyzed as symbol and performance. This paper utilizes translation as heuristic to analyze the implementation of US…

Students' Perceptions of Higher Education Quality at Notre Dame University-Louaize in Lebanon

Science.gov (United States)

Saad, Nada

2013-01-01

Understanding how students perceive quality of education and identifying the most important quality factors from their perspectives represent a first stage for quality improvement and customer satisfaction in higher education. The purpose of this project was to investigate how higher education students in Lebanon perceived the concept of quality…

Impact Evaluation of Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Methodology and Causal Designs

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Leiber, Theodor; Stensaker, Bjørn; Harvey, Lee

2015-01-01

In this paper, the theoretical perspectives and general methodological elements of impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions are discussed, which should be a cornerstone of quality development in higher education and contribute to improving the knowledge about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of quality…

Correlation between Family APGAR scores and health-related quality of life of Filipino elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis.

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Lim, Anne T C; Manching, James; Penserga, Ester G

2012-08-01

This study aims to describe the clinical profile of Filipino patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and correlate their health-related quality of life (HrQoL) with perceived family support. This is a cross-sectional, analytical study of patients seen at the Philippine General Hospital Arthritis Clinic diagnosed with knee OA using the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. Questionnaires for the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) v.3.1 and Family APGAR (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection and Resolve) were self-administered. Pearson's correlation, analysis of variance and Bonferroni tests were applied. Ninety patients with 3 : 1 female-to-male ratio, mean age of 70.14 years qualified for the study. Mean body mass index was 23.3. Mean duration of symptoms was 5.9 years. Fifty-three considered their family to be highly functional, 28 moderately dysfunctional and nine severely dysfunctional. Analysis showed that Family APGAR is moderately and inversely correlated with pain (r = -0.3373; P = 0.0002), stiffness (r = -0.3642; P = 0.0004), function (r = -0.3646; P = 0.0004) and total WOMAC scores (r = -0.3880; P = 0.0002). Likewise, there were significant differences of total WOMAC scores in the pain, stiffness and function subscales (P = 0.0076, P = 0.0032, P = 0.0165 and P = 0.0159, respectively) between patients in highly functional and severely dysfunctional families, and between highly and moderately functional families. As Family APGAR scores increased, there was significant decrease in all WOMAC subscales. We described the clinical profile of 90 elderly patients with knee OA and the relationship of HrQoL to Family APGAR scores. This paper concludes that higher Family APGAR scores in this population correlated with better HrQoL. © 2012 The Authors International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases © 2012 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Application of Quaternion in improving the quality of global sequence alignment scores for an ambiguous sequence target in Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA

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Lestari, D.; Bustamam, A.; Novianti, T.; Ardaneswari, G.

2017-07-01

DNA sequence can be defined as a succession of letters, representing the order of nucleotides within DNA, using a permutation of four DNA base codes including adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The precise code of the sequences is determined using DNA sequencing methods and technologies, which have been developed since the 1970s and currently become highly developed, advanced and highly throughput sequencing technologies. So far, DNA sequencing has greatly accelerated biological and medical research and discovery. However, in some cases DNA sequencing could produce any ambiguous and not clear enough sequencing results that make them quite difficult to be determined whether these codes are A, T, G, or C. To solve these problems, in this study we can introduce other representation of DNA codes namely Quaternion Q = (PA, PT, PG, PC), where PA, PT, PG, PC are the probability of A, T, G, C bases that could appear in Q and PA + PT + PG + PC = 1. Furthermore, using Quaternion representations we are able to construct the improved scoring matrix for global sequence alignment processes, by applying a dot product method. Moreover, this scoring matrix produces better and higher quality of the match and mismatch score between two DNA base codes. In implementation, we applied the Needleman-Wunsch global sequence alignment algorithm using Octave, to analyze our target sequence which contains some ambiguous sequence data. The subject sequences are the DNA sequences of Streptococcus pneumoniae families obtained from the Genebank, meanwhile the target DNA sequence are received from our collaborator database. As the results we found the Quaternion representations improve the quality of the sequence alignment score and we can conclude that DNA sequence target has maximum similarity with Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The Academic Quality Handbook: Enhancing Higher Education in Universities and Further Education Colleges.

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McGhee, Patrick

This book is intended as an introduction to the management of quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, particularly in England. The text focuses on the relationship between institutional quality assurance and the auditing authority of the British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The chapters of part 1, "The Quality…

Comparing Alternative Instruments to Measure Service Quality in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Brochado, Ana

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of five alternative measures of service quality in the high education sector--service quality (SERVQUAL), importance-weighted SERVQUAL, service performance (SERVPERF), importance-weighted SERVPERF, and higher education performance (HEdPERF). Design/methodology/approach: Data were…

Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics' Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education

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Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Oonyu, Joseph

2017-01-01

Objective: Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics' perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and,…

Addressing the Wicked Problem of Quality in Higher Education: Theoretical Approaches and Implications

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Krause, Kerri-Lee

2012-01-01

This article explores the wicked problem of quality in higher education, arguing for a more robust theorising of the subject at national, institutional and local department level. The focus of the discussion rests on principles for theorising in more rigorous ways about the multidimensional issue of quality. Quality in higher education is proposed…

Does Accelerating Access to Higher Education Lower Its Quality? The Australian Experience

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Pitman, Tim; Koshy, Paul; Phillimore, John

2015-01-01

In the pursuit of mass higher education, fears are often expressed that the quality of higher education suffers as access is increased. This quantitative study considers three proxies of educational quality: (1) prior academic achievement of the student, (2) attrition and retention rates and (3) progression rates, to establish whether educational…

Association between diet-quality scores, adiposity, total cholesterol and markers of nutritional status in european adults: Findings from the Food4Me study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fallaize, R.; Livingstone, K.M.; Celis-Morales, C.; Macready, A.L.; San-Cristobal, R.; Navas-Carretero, S.; Marsaux, C.F.M.; O’Donovan, C.B.; Kolossa, S.; Moschonis, G.; Walsh, M.C.; Gibney, E.R.; Brennan, L.; Bouwman, J.; Manios, Y.; Jarosz, M.; Martinez, J.A.; Daniel, H.; Saris, W.H.M.; Gundersen, T.E.; Drevon, C.A.; Gibney, M.J.; Mathers, J.C.; Lovegrove, J.A.

2018-01-01

Diet-quality scores (DQS), which are developed across the globe, are used to define adherence to specific eating patterns and have been associated with risk of coronary heart disease and type-II diabetes. We explored the association between five diet-quality scores (Healthy Eating Index, HEI;

A new multimodal interactive way of subjective scoring of 3D video quality of experience

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Kim, Taewan; Lee, Kwanghyun; Lee, Sanghoon; Bovik, Alan C.

2014-03-01

People that watch today's 3D visual programs, such as 3D cinema, 3D TV and 3D games, experience wide and dynamically varying ranges of 3D visual immersion and 3D quality of experience (QoE). It is necessary to be able to deploy reliable methodologies that measure each viewers subjective experience. We propose a new methodology that we call Multimodal Interactive Continuous Scoring of Quality (MICSQ). MICSQ is composed of a device interaction process between the 3D display and a separate device (PC, tablet, etc.) used as an assessment tool, and a human interaction process between the subject(s) and the device. The scoring process is multimodal, using aural and tactile cues to help engage and focus the subject(s) on their tasks. Moreover, the wireless device interaction process makes it possible for multiple subjects to assess 3D QoE simultaneously in a large space such as a movie theater, and at di®erent visual angles and distances.

Characteristics of Youth Food Preparation in Low-Income, African American Homes: Associations with Healthy Eating Index Scores.

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Sattler, Melissa; Hopkins, Laura; Anderson Steeves, Elizabeth; Cristello, Angelica; Mccloskey, Morgan; Gittelsohn, Joel; Hurley, Kristen

2015-01-01

This study explores food preparation behaviors, including types of food prepared, methods of preparation, and frequency of preparation of low-income urban African American youth ages 9-15 in Baltimore City (n = 289) and analyzes a potential association to diet quality as measured through Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI) scores. Overall, the youth prepared their own food 6.7 ± 0.33 times per week without significant differences between age groups or genders as measured through pairwise comparison of means. Cereal, noodles, and sandwiches were amongst the foods prepared most frequently. Linear regression analysis found youth food preparation frequency was not significantly associated with total HEI (p = 0.59), sodium (p = 0.58), empty calories (p = 0.96), or dairy scores (p = 0.12). Younger age was associated with higher total HEI scores (p = 0.012) and higher dairy scores (p = 0.01) and female gender was associated with higher total HEI scores (p = 0.03), higher sodium scores (p = 0.03), and lower dairy scores (p = 0.008).

Access and quality in South African higher education: the twin ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

with the transformation agenda in South Africa. It is proposed that a comprehensive quality assurance framework with embedded commitment to access is likely to respond appropriately to national development prerogatives of higher education access. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 21 (3) 2007: pp. 385-399.

Investigation of Malaysian Higher Education Quality Culture and Workforce Performance

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Ali, Hairuddin Mohd; Musah, Mohammed Borhandden

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the quality culture and workforce performance in the Malaysian higher education sector. The study also aims to test and validate the psychometric properties of the quality culture and workforce performance instruments used in the study. Design/methodology/approach: A total…

Service Quality, Students' Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions in STEM and IC Higher Education Institutions

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Dunja Meštrović

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Service quality, students' satisfaction and their behavioural intentions are recognised as rather important aspects in higher education institution's strategy in a competitive higher education marketplace, which enable them to attract and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM and information-communication (IC study areas. This research aimed to study the relationship between service quality, students' satisfaction and behavioural intentions of STEM and IC students of the University of Rijeka Departments. Partial least squares structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 3.0 software was performed on student survey data, confirming a direct, positive and significant relationship between higher education service quality and students' satisfaction and between students' satisfaction and their behavioural intentions. According to indirect effects analysis, perceived higher education service quality has an an indirect, positive and significant impact on students' behavioural intentions through students' satisfaction. The results indicate that higher education service quality is an imperative for higher education sector. Based on the findings of this study, useful to policy makers in the services industry in general and in higher education sector in particular, improvements can be planned all service quality dimensions as a key factor to attract, educate and retain STEM and IC students in Croatia.

Diet Quality Scores and Prediction of All-Cause, Cardiovascular and Cancer Mortality in a Pan-European Cohort Study.

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Camille Lassale

Full Text Available Scores of overall diet quality have received increasing attention in relation to disease aetiology; however, their value in risk prediction has been little examined. The objective was to assess and compare the association and predictive performance of 10 diet quality scores on 10-year risk of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality in 451,256 healthy participants to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, followed-up for a median of 12.8y. All dietary scores studied showed significant inverse associations with all outcomes. The range of HRs (95% CI in the top vs. lowest quartile of dietary scores in a composite model including non-invasive factors (age, sex, smoking, body mass index, education, physical activity and study centre was 0.75 (0.72-0.79 to 0.88 (0.84-0.92 for all-cause, 0.76 (0.69-0.83 to 0.84 (0.76-0.92 for CVD and 0.78 (0.73-0.83 to 0.91 (0.85-0.97 for cancer mortality. Models with dietary scores alone showed low discrimination, but composite models also including age, sex and other non-invasive factors showed good discrimination and calibration, which varied little between different diet scores examined. Mean C-statistic of full models was 0.73, 0.80 and 0.71 for all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality. Dietary scores have poor predictive performance for 10-year mortality risk when used in isolation but display good predictive ability in combination with other non-invasive common risk factors.

The Zhongshan Score

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Zhou, Lin; Guo, Jianming; Wang, Hang; Wang, Guomin

2015-01-01

Abstract In the zero ischemia era of nephron-sparing surgery (NSS), a new anatomic classification system (ACS) is needed to adjust to these new surgical techniques. We devised a novel and simple ACS, and compared it with the RENAL and PADUA scores to predict the risk of NSS outcomes. We retrospectively evaluated 789 patients who underwent NSS with available imaging between January 2007 and July 2014. Demographic and clinical data were assessed. The Zhongshan (ZS) score consisted of three parameters. RENAL, PADUA, and ZS scores are divided into three groups, that is, high, moderate, and low scores. For operative time (OT), significant differences were seen between any two groups of ZS score and PADUA score (all P RENAL showed no significant difference between moderate and high complexity in OT, WIT, estimated blood loss, and increase in SCr. Compared with patients with a low score of ZS, those with a high or moderate score had 8.1-fold or 3.3-fold higher risk of surgical complications, respectively (all P RENAL score, patients with a high or moderate score had 5.7-fold or 1.9-fold higher risk of surgical complications, respectively (all P RENAL and PADUA scores. ZS score could be used to reflect the surgical complexity and predict the risk of surgical complications in patients undergoing NSS. PMID:25654399

The Quality of Educational Services- Institutional Case Study From the Romanian Higher Education

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Luminiţa NICOLESCU

2010-02-01

Full Text Available The present paper approaches the topic of the quality of educational services, emphasizing on higher education, as a field of services of large public interest that has high influences at individual, group and society level. The paper starts by looking at the influencing factors for the quality of higher education from the perspective of the regulations and practices at both European and national level. In this context, the internal evaluation of quality at institutional level is a new requirement for higher education institutions in Romania. Part of the evaluation process is represented by the requirement to develop informational data bases. The paper exemplifies the results that can be obtained by monitoring quality and collecting information, and concludes with a set of recommendations for managing quality at institutional level.

Factors associated with quality of life among hemodialysis patients in Malaysia.

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Nor Baizura Md Yusop

Full Text Available Although hemodialysis treatment has greatly increased the life expectancy of end stage renal disease patients, low quality of life among hemodialysis patients is frequently reported. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status with the mental and physical components of quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Respondents (n=90 were recruited from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and dialysis centres of the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia. Data obtained included socio-demography, medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status. Mental and physical quality of life were measured using the Mental Composite Summary (MCS and Physical Composite Summary (PCS of the Short-Form Health Survey 36-items, a generic core of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form. Two summary measures and total SF-36 was scored as 0-100, with a higher score indicating better quality of life. Approximately 26 (30% of respondents achieved the body mass index (24 kg/m(2 and more than 80% (n=77 achieved serum albumin level (>35.0 mg/dL recommended for hemodialysis patients. The majority of respondents did not meet the energy (n=72, 80% and protein (n=68,75% recommendations. The total score of SF-36 was 54.1 ± 19.2, while the score for the mental and physical components were 45.0 ± 8.6 and 39.6 ± 8.6, respectively. Factors associated with a higher MCS score were absence of diabetes mellitus (p=0.000 and lower serum calcium (p=0.004, while higher blood flow (p=0.000, higher serum creatinine (p=0.000 and lower protein intake (p=0.006 were associated with a higher PCS score. To improve the overall quality of life of hemodialysis patients, a multidisciplinary intervention that includes medical, dietetic and psychosocial strategies that address factors associated with mental and physical quality of life are warranted to reduce further health complications and to improve quality

Factors associated with quality of life among hemodialysis patients in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Md Yusop, Nor Baizura; Yoke Mun, Chan; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Beng Huat, Choo

2013-01-01

Although hemodialysis treatment has greatly increased the life expectancy of end stage renal disease patients, low quality of life among hemodialysis patients is frequently reported. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status with the mental and physical components of quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Respondents (n=90) were recruited from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and dialysis centres of the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia. Data obtained included socio-demography, medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status. Mental and physical quality of life were measured using the Mental Composite Summary (MCS) and Physical Composite Summary (PCS) of the Short-Form Health Survey 36-items, a generic core of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form. Two summary measures and total SF-36 was scored as 0-100, with a higher score indicating better quality of life. Approximately 26 (30%) of respondents achieved the body mass index (24 kg/m(2)) and more than 80% (n=77) achieved serum albumin level (>35.0 mg/dL) recommended for hemodialysis patients. The majority of respondents did not meet the energy (n=72, 80%) and protein (n=68,75%) recommendations. The total score of SF-36 was 54.1 ± 19.2, while the score for the mental and physical components were 45.0 ± 8.6 and 39.6 ± 8.6, respectively. Factors associated with a higher MCS score were absence of diabetes mellitus (p=0.000) and lower serum calcium (p=0.004), while higher blood flow (p=0.000), higher serum creatinine (p=0.000) and lower protein intake (p=0.006) were associated with a higher PCS score. To improve the overall quality of life of hemodialysis patients, a multidisciplinary intervention that includes medical, dietetic and psychosocial strategies that address factors associated with mental and physical quality of life are warranted to reduce further health complications and to improve quality of

Hong Kong men with low incomes have worse health-related quality of life as judged by SF-36 scores.

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Ko, G T C; Wai, H P S; Tsang, P C C; Chan, H C K

2006-10-01

To analyse the association between income and health-related quality of life using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) Chinese version in Hong Kong Chinese working population. Cross-sectional observation study. A commercial company in Hong Kong. All clerical and administrative staff of a commercial company was invited to participate; 876 of the 1003 staff agreed. The subjects were categorised into three income groups according to monthly income in Hong Kong dollars (low, 10,000-25,000; high, >25,000). The mean age of the 288 men and 588 women was 34.9 (standard deviation, 7.9; median, 34.0; range, 18-71) years. SF-36 scores on health-related quality of life. The distribution of income was 30% in high-, 54.8% in middle-, and 15.2% in low-income groups. Women had similar SF-36 scores among different income groups. In men, for most variables there was a significant positive linear correlation between income and SF-36 scores. Low income is associated with a worse health-related quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese men.

Formation of borrower’s bank credit scoring integrated model

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O.V. Lysenok

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article proposes the borrower’s bank credit scoring model that is of particular relevance in an unstable world and Ukrainian financial markets. The essence of this integrated model is the consistent definition of indicators, which analyze the financial and economic situation and development of scoring that allows to calculate overall index, that is, the integral factor of credit scoring level of the bank to calculate which one uses the formed set of factors characterizing riskiness, profitability and liquidity of the banking institution. The author determines the factors according to their functional purpose; the former ones are divided into four groups: capital adequacy, loan portfolio quality, profitability and liquidity. Each group consists of four indicators; each indicator is assigned thresholds to determine the appropriate credit scoring level of the bank for one or another direction. The higher is the value of the integral factor, the more efficient and less risky is the financial and economic activity of banks and the higher is their credit scoring level. The study concludes that the proposed model for bank credit scoring differs with its transparency and clarity due to use in its implementation only public information. The disadvantages include the presence of the subjective factor in assigning a certain number of points based on expert and normative methods.

Accreditation and Quality Assurance in the Egyptian Higher Education System

Science.gov (United States)

Schomaker, Rahel

2015-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the quality of the Egyptian accreditation system. With a view on the high competition in the domestic labor market as well as with regards to the international competitiveness of Egyptian graduates and the potential role of Egyptian universities in the international market for higher education, a high quality of…

Higher Prostate Weight Is Inversely Associated with Gleason Score Upgrading in Radical Prostatectomy Specimens

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Leonardo Oliveira Reis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Protective factors against Gleason upgrading and its impact on outcomes after surgery warrant better definition. Patients and Methods. Consecutive 343 patients were categorized at biopsy (BGS and prostatectomy (PGS as Gleason score, ≤6, 7, and ≥8; 94 patients (27.4% had PSA recurrence, mean followup 80.2 months (median 99. Independent predictors of Gleason upgrading (logistic regression and disease-free survival (DFS (Kaplan-Meier, log-rank were determined. Results. Gleason discordance was 45.7% (37.32% upgrading and 8.45% downgrading. Upgrading risk decreased by 2.4% for each 1 g of prostate weight increment, while it increased by 10.2% for every 1 ng/mL of PSA, 72.0% for every 0.1 unity of PSA density and was 21 times higher for those with BGS 7. Gleason upgrading showed increased clinical stage (P=0.019, higher tumor extent (P=0.009, extraprostatic extension (P=0.04, positive surgical margins (P<0.001, seminal vesicle invasion (P=0.003, less “insignificant” tumors (P<0.001, and also worse DFS, χ2=4.28, df=1, P=0.039. However, when setting the final Gleason score (BGS ≤6 to PGS 7 versus BGS 7 to PGS 7, avoiding allocation bias, DFS impact is not confirmed, χ2=0.40, df=1, P=0.530.Conclusions. Gleason upgrading is substantial and confers worse outcomes. Prostate weight is inversely related to upgrading and its protective effect warrants further evaluation.

Placements: An Underused Vehicle for Quality Enhancement in Higher Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Kettis, Asa; Ring, Lena; Gustavsson, Maria; Wallman, Andy

2013-01-01

Placements have the potential to contribute more effectively to the quality of higher education. The aim of this article is to discuss how placements can be made more worthwhile for individual students, while also contributing to the overall quality of teaching and learning at HEIs as well as to the development of workplace cultures that are…

A comparison of the nutritional quality of organic and conventional ready-to-eat breakfast cereals based on NuVal scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodbury, Nancy J; George, Valerie A

2014-07-01

To identify whether there were differences in nutritional quality between organic and conventional ready-to-eat breakfast cereals of similar types, based on NuVal scores. The current descriptive study analysed NuVal scores for 829 ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and eighteen different cereal types. ANOVA was used to compare the mean NuVal scores of 723 conventional cereals with those of 106 organic cereals. Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (n 829) with NuVal scores. Not applicable. There was no significant difference in NuVal scores between conventional (mean 28·4 (sd 13·4)) and organic (mean 30·6 (sd 13·2)) cereal types. Consumers who choose the organic version of a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal believing that nutritional quality is superior may not be making a valid assumption. Public health nutrition educators must help consumers understand that organic cereals are not necessarily more nutritious and their consumption could result in excessive intake of undesirable nutrients, such as fat, sugar and sodium.

Factors influencing quality of life of obese students in Hangzhou, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ying-Ping; Wang, Hong-Mei; Edwards, Todd C; Wang, Ting; Jiang, Xiao-Ying; Lv, Yi-Ran; Patrick, Donald L

2015-01-01

To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of overweight and obese middle or high school students and identify relevant factors influencing their QOL scores. 716 students were recruited from 6 middle or high schools in Hangzhou, China. The Chinese version of the Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Weight Module (YQOL-W) was self administered. The YQOL-W scores were compared among different BMI groups, gender, educational status, annual household income, parental education and recruitment community using t test or one-way analysis of variance. The independent association of these variables with QOL among overweight and obese students was examined using multivariable linear regression modeling. Overweight and obese students reported lower total scores, self, social and environment scores than their normal weight peers (all Pstudents was associated with BMI value, gender, educational status, parental education, and recruitment community. Girls had lower total scores, self, social and environment domain scores than boys (all Pstudents had lower total and three domain scores than middle school students (all PStudents whose fathers had higher education reported higher total scores, self and social scores than students with less educated fathers (all PStudents whose mothers had higher education reported higher environment scores than students with less educated mothers (P = 0.01). Students from migrant communities reported significantly lower total scores, self and social scores than those from rural communities (all P0.05). Students from migrant communities reported comparable environment scores with those from rural and urban communities (P>0.05). Overweight and obesity have negative effects on students' quality of life. Therefore weight specific QOL could be included in weight reduction interventions as a relevant outcome.

Protein quality and growth in malnourished children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manary, Mark; Callaghan, Meghan; Singh, Lauren

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Protein quality refers to the amounts and ratios of essential amino acids in a food. Two methods most commonly used for determining protein quality are the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) and the digestible indispensible amino acid score (DIAAS). OBJECTIVE...... in children with SAM and acute infection, and these data were reviewed with respect to protein synthesis. Eleven published treatment trials for SAM with different therapeutic foods were analyzed to examine the relationship between protein quality scores with weight gain (g/kg/d). Protein scores were...... calculated with the PDCAAS and DIAAS amino acid reference patterns. A DIAAS score adjusted for the higher weight gain expected in malnourished children was also used. Bivariate correlation analysis was used to examine this relationship. RESULTS: The protein kinetic data supported the hypothesis...

Age decreases quality of life in adolescents with intractable epilepsy

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Prastiya Indra Gunawan

2015-12-01

Intractable epileptic adolescents have higher scores for physical functioning and health perception, but lower scores for social stigmatization. Social support has extremely low scores. Increasing age decreases quality of life in adolescents with intractable epilepsy.

Engaging in Enhancement: Implications of Participatory Approaches in Higher Education Quality Assurance

Science.gov (United States)

Groen, Jovan F.

2017-01-01

Stemming from increased levels of participation and diversity of the student base and from growing scrutiny on the quality of university degrees, governments have begun establishing mechanisms to monitor and support quality in higher education. Faced with administrative quality assurance structures, academics often complain that little is…

[Association of occupational stress with quality of working life].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qin; Lan, Ya-Jia; Chen, Hong-Mei

2011-07-01

To assess occupational stress and quality of working life (QWL) and their association in workers with different jobs. The Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) and Quality of Working Life Scale (QWL7-32) were administered to 194 workers in the Liaohe Oilfield. The association between occupational stress and quality of working life was analysed by controlling job types and other confounding variables. Office workers had significantly lower scores in occupational role questionnaire (ORQ) and personal strain questionnaire (PSQ) and higher scores in personal resources questionnaire (PRQ) and QWL than physical laborers (P<0.05). The PSQ scores were positively correlated with the ORQ scores and negatively correlated with the PRQ scores. The QWL scores were negatively correlated with the ORQ and PSQ scores, and positively correlated with the PRQ scores (P<0.001). The QWL scores changed with job types. The QWL scores declined with the increase of stress levels (P<0.01). ORQ, role boundary (RB), role insufficiency (RI), physical environment (PE), PSQ, vocational strain (VS), interpersonal strain (IS) and PRQ had a significant impact on quality of working life (P<0.01). Occupational stress is associated with quality of working life. Quality of working life can be improved through control of occupational stress.

The CSIRO Healthy Diet Score: An Online Survey to Estimate Compliance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrie, Gilly A; Baird, Danielle; Golley, Rebecca K; Noakes, Manny

2017-01-09

There are few dietary assessment tools that are scientifically developed and freely available online. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Healthy Diet Score survey asks questions about the quantity, quality, and variety of foods consumed. On completion, individuals receive a personalised Diet Score-reflecting their overall compliance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Over 145,000 Australians have completed the survey since it was launched in May 2015. The average Diet Score was 58.8 out of a possible 100 (SD = 12.9). Women scored higher than men; older adults higher than younger adults; and normal weight adults higher than obese adults. It was most common to receive feedback about discretionary foods (73.8% of the sample), followed by dairy foods (55.5%) and healthy fats (47.0%). Results suggest that Australians' diets are not consistent with the recommendations in the guidelines. The combination of using technology and providing the tool free of charge has attracted a lot of traffic to the website, providing valuable insights into what Australians' report to be eating. The use of technology has also enhanced the user experience, with individuals receiving immediate and personalised feedback. This survey tool will be useful to monitor population diet quality and understand the degree to Australians' diets comply with dietary guidelines.

Does the emergency surgery score accurately predict outcomes in emergent laparotomies?

Science.gov (United States)

Peponis, Thomas; Bohnen, Jordan D; Sangji, Naveen F; Nandan, Anirudh R; Han, Kelsey; Lee, Jarone; Yeh, D Dante; de Moya, Marc A; Velmahos, George C; Chang, David C; Kaafarani, Haytham M A

2017-08-01

The emergency surgery score is a mortality-risk calculator for emergency general operation patients. We sought to examine whether the emergency surgery score predicts 30-day morbidity and mortality in a high-risk group of patients undergoing emergent laparotomy. Using the 2011-2012 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we identified all patients who underwent emergent laparotomy using (1) the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program definition of "emergent," and (2) all Current Procedural Terminology codes denoting a laparotomy, excluding aortic aneurysm rupture. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to measure the correlation (c-statistic) between the emergency surgery score and (1) 30-day mortality, and (2) 30-day morbidity after emergent laparotomy. As sensitivity analyses, the correlation between the emergency surgery score and 30-day mortality was also evaluated in prespecified subgroups based on Current Procedural Terminology codes. A total of 26,410 emergent laparotomy patients were included. Thirty-day mortality and morbidity were 10.2% and 43.8%, respectively. The emergency surgery score correlated well with mortality (c-statistic = 0.84); scores of 1, 11, and 22 correlated with mortalities of 0.4%, 39%, and 100%, respectively. Similarly, the emergency surgery score correlated well with morbidity (c-statistic = 0.74); scores of 0, 7, and 11 correlated with complication rates of 13%, 58%, and 79%, respectively. The morbidity rates plateaued for scores higher than 11. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the emergency surgery score effectively predicts mortality in patients undergoing emergent (1) splenic, (2) gastroduodenal, (3) intestinal, (4) hepatobiliary, or (5) incarcerated ventral hernia operation. The emergency surgery score accurately predicts outcomes in all types of emergent laparotomy patients and may prove valuable as a bedside decision

Higher Education Quality in Kenya: A Critical Reflection of Key Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Odhiambo, George O.

2011-01-01

This article examines the unique challenges facing Kenya's public higher education institutions. It explores the struggle to develop quality and quality assurance mechanisms against a background of rapidly diminishing income, brain drain, political interference and the negative aspects of globalisation. The challenges have consequently led to a…

Embedding Quality Culture in Higher Education in Ghana: Quality Control and Assessment in Emerging Private Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Ntim, Stephen

2014-01-01

High quality provision has been one of the key aims of the current reforms in higher educational institutions across the globe since the beginning of the century and the millennium. Consequently this has led to the increasing demand for quality assurance (QA). This report identifies those institutional processes and structures that support the…

The prevalence of poor sleep quality and its association with depression and anxiety scores in patients admitted for cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional designed study.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuda, Risa; Kohno, Takashi; Kohsaka, Shun; Fukuoka, Ryoma; Maekawa, Yuichiro; Sano, Motoaki; Takatsuki, Seiji; Fukuda, Keiichi

2017-02-01

Poor sleep quality contributes to the development of various cardiovascular conditions. However, its real-world prevalence among cardiovascular inpatients and association with psychological disturbance is unknown. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality and its association with depression and anxiety in cardiovascular patients, and explored whether sex and cardiovascular comorbidities modified these associations. A total of 1071 patients hospitalized for a broad spectrum of cardiovascular diseases at a single university hospital were assessed (790 men, mean age 64±14years). We assessed sleep quality during their index hospitalization period using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); poor sleep quality was defined as PSQI>5. Depression and anxiety were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The median PSQI score was 5.0 [3.0-7.0], and 461 inpatients (43%) had poor sleep quality. Multivariate regression analysis adjusting for patient background, medical risk factors, and laboratory data revealed that poor sleep quality was associated with higher HADS subscores for depression (HADS-depression; odds ratio [OR]: 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.15) and anxiety (HADS-anxiety; OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.11-1.24). Poor sleep quality was associated with markedly higher HADS-depression among women than men (p value for interaction: 0.008). The association between poor sleep quality and HADS-anxiety was more significant among patients without coronary artery diseases (p value for interaction: 0.017). Poor sleep quality was highly prevalent and associated with depression and anxiety in cardiovascular patients. These associations may be modified by sex and the presence of coronary artery diseases. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Empirical Investigation into the Construct of Higher Education Service Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaroslav Dado

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue of higher education service quality measurement and stresses the need of devising psychometrically as well as diagnostically sound measurement instruments, suitable to the context being investigated. The study builds upon the SERVQUAL scale, the inventory successfully tried and tested across a broad spectrum of service industries. Notwithstanding significant resemblance with the original five dimensions of service quality, research findings indicate six-dimensional structure of the construct of higher education service quality. Study performed on a sample of Engineering Management students reveals perceptions falling short of expectations across all of the determinants of service quality. The largest negative gap between students’ perceptions and expectations has been discovered concerning the potential for future career development, whereas research findings indicate the same dimension to be the most important predictor of students’ future behavioral intentions. In an attempt to inspire further interests in this field, managerial implications and directions for future research have been discussed.

Quality Management in Higher Education: Review and Perspectives

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Papanthymou, Anastasia; Darra, Maria

2017-01-01

This paper is a review which presents a summary of 52 studies from 2006 to 2016 in Quality Management (QM) within Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The aim of this paper is to submit evidence regarding the level of QM in HEIs, particularly in developing countries, and also to enhance the research in the field of QM. The findings reveal that from…

SF-36 total score as a single measure of health-related quality of life: Scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lins, Liliane; Carvalho, Fernando Martins

2016-01-01

According to the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire developers, a global measure of health-related quality of life such as the "SF-36 Total/Global/Overall Score" cannot be generated from the questionnaire. However, studies keep on reporting such measure. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency and to describe some characteristics of articles reporting the SF-36 Total/Global/Overall Score in the scientific literature. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method was adapted to a scoping review. We performed searches in PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, BVS, and Cochrane Library databases for articles using such scores. We found 172 articles published between 1997 and 2015; 110 (64.0%) of them were published from 2010 onwards; 30.0% appeared in journals with Impact Factor 3.00 or greater. Overall, 129 (75.0%) out of the 172 studies did not specify the method for calculating the "SF-36 Total Score"; 13 studies did not specify their methods but referred to the SF-36 developers' studies or others; and 30 articles used different strategies for calculating such score, the most frequent being arithmetic averaging of the eight SF-36 domains scores. We concluded that the "SF-36 Total/Global/Overall Score" has been increasingly reported in the scientific literature. Researchers should be aware of this procedure and of its possible impacts upon human health.

Marital status and optimism score among breast cancer survivors.

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Croft, Lindsay; Sorkin, John; Gallicchio, Lisa

2014-11-01

There are an increasing number of breast cancer survivors, but their psychosocial and supportive care needs are not well-understood. Recent work has found marital status, social support, and optimism to be associated with quality of life, but little research has been conducted to understand how these factors relate to one another. Survey data from 722 breast cancer survivors were analyzed to estimate the association between marital status and optimism score, as measured using the Life Orientation Test-Revised. Linear regression was used to estimate the relationship of marital status and optimism, controlling for potential confounding variables and assessing effect modification. The results showed that the association between marital status and optimism was modified by time since breast cancer diagnosis. Specifically, in those most recently diagnosed (within 5 years), married breast cancer survivors had a 1.50 higher mean optimism score than unmarried survivors (95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.37, 2.62; p = 0.009). The difference in optimism score by marital status was not present more than 5 years from breast cancer diagnosis. Findings suggest that among breast cancer survivors within 5 years since diagnosis, those who are married have higher optimism scores than their unmarried counterparts; this association was not observed among longer-term breast cancer survivors. Future research should examine whether the difference in optimism score among this subgroup of breast cancer survivors is clinically relevant.

Quality indicators to compare accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Arkaravichien, Wiwat; Wongpratat, Apichaya; Lertsinudom, Sunee

2016-08-01

Background Quality indicators determine the quality of actual practice in reference to standard criteria. The Community Pharmacy Association (Thailand), with technical support from the International Pharmaceutical Federation, developed a tool for quality assessment and quality improvement at community pharmacies. This tool has passed validity and reliability tests, but has not yet had feasibility testing. Objective (1) To test whether this quality tool could be used in routine settings. (2) To compare quality scores between accredited independent and accredited chain pharmacies. Setting Accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies in the north eastern region of Thailand. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in 34 accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies. Quality scores were assessed by observation and by interviewing the responsible pharmacists. Data were collected and analyzed by independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate. Results were plotted by histogram and spider chart. Main outcome measure Domain's assessable scores, possible maximum scores, mean and median of measured scores. Results Domain's assessable scores were close to domain's possible maximum scores. This meant that most indicators could be assessed in most pharmacies. The spider chart revealed that measured scores in the personnel, drug inventory and stocking, and patient satisfaction and health promotion domains of chain pharmacies were significantly higher than those of independent pharmacies (p pharmacies and chain pharmacies in the premise and facility or dispensing and patient care domains. Conclusion Quality indicators developed by the Community Pharmacy Association (Thailand) could be used to assess quality of practice in pharmacies in routine settings. It is revealed that the quality scores of chain pharmacies were higher than those of independent pharmacies.

Predicting performance and injury resilience from movement quality and fitness scores in a basketball team over 2 years.

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McGill, Stuart M; Andersen, Jordan T; Horne, Arthur D

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to see if specific tests of fitness and movement quality could predict injury resilience and performance in a team of basketball players over 2 years (2 playing seasons). It was hypothesized that, in a basketball population, movement and fitness scores would predict performance scores and that movement and fitness scores would predict injury resilience. A basketball team from a major American university (N = 14) served as the test population in this longitudinal trial. Variables linked to fitness, movement ability, speed, strength, and agility were measured together with some National Basketball Association (NBA) combine tests. Dependent variables of performance indicators (such as games and minutes played, points scored, assists, rebounds, steal, and blocks) and injury reports were tracked for the subsequent 2 years. Results showed that better performance was linked with having a stiffer torso, more mobile hips, weaker left grip strength, and a longer standing long jump, to name a few. Of the 3 NBA combine tests administered here, only a faster lane agility time had significant links with performance. Some movement qualities and torso endurance were not linked. No patterns with injury emerged. These observations have implications for preseason testing and subsequent training programs in an attempt to reduce future injury and enhance playing performance.

Quality assurance in transnational higher education: a case study of the tropEd network.

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Zwanikken, Prisca A C; Peterhans, Bernadette; Dardis, Lorraine; Scherpbier, Albert

2013-03-27

Transnational or cross-border higher education has rapidly expanded since the 1980s. Together with that expansion issues on quality assurance came to the forefront. This article aims to identify key issues regarding quality assurance of transnational higher education and discusses the quality assurance of the tropEd Network for International Health in Higher Education in relation to these key issues. Literature review and review of documents. From the literature the following key issues regarding transnational quality assurance were identified and explored: comparability of quality assurance frameworks, true collaboration versus erosion of national education sovereignty, accreditation agencies and transparency. The tropEd network developed a transnational quality assurance framework for the network. The network accredits modules through a rigorous process which has been accepted by major stakeholders. This process was a participatory learning process and at the same time the process worked positive for the relations between the institutions. The development of the quality assurance framework and the process provides a potential example for others.

Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Reflection, Criticism, and Change

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Yingqiang, Zhang; Yongjian, Su

2016-01-01

Quality assurance in modern higher education is both an accountability-oriented ideology and a technological method. It has also evolved into a increasingly rationalist and professionalized power mechanism. Its advocacy of compliance, technological mythology, and imbalance between power and responsibility are inherent disadvantages of higher…

D-score: a search engine independent MD-score.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaudel, Marc; Breiter, Daniela; Beck, Florian; Rahnenführer, Jörg; Martens, Lennart; Zahedi, René P

2013-03-01

While peptides carrying PTMs are routinely identified in gel-free MS, the localization of the PTMs onto the peptide sequences remains challenging. Search engine scores of secondary peptide matches have been used in different approaches in order to infer the quality of site inference, by penalizing the localization whenever the search engine similarly scored two candidate peptides with different site assignments. In the present work, we show how the estimation of posterior error probabilities for peptide candidates allows the estimation of a PTM score called the D-score, for multiple search engine studies. We demonstrate the applicability of this score to three popular search engines: Mascot, OMSSA, and X!Tandem, and evaluate its performance using an already published high resolution data set of synthetic phosphopeptides. For those peptides with phosphorylation site inference uncertainty, the number of spectrum matches with correctly localized phosphorylation increased by up to 25.7% when compared to using Mascot alone, although the actual increase depended on the fragmentation method used. Since this method relies only on search engine scores, it can be readily applied to the scoring of the localization of virtually any modification at no additional experimental or in silico cost. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Quality of life in vitiligo patients: a report from Razi referral University Hospital in Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feizy V

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Background: This study aimed to assess the quality of life in vitiligo sufferers and its relationship with a number of variables such as age, gender, educational level, place of residence, marital status, disease duration, disease extension, visibility of lesions and skin phototype (SPT. Methods: In this study we evaluate the quality of life in patients with vitiligo attending Razi Hospital in July and August 2005. Permission from Professor Finlay was obtained to use the DLQI (Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life. One hundred patients with at least one vitiligo patch (age range= 14–57 answered the question-naire. Other survey questions about mentioned variables were also answered. Scoring was done according to Finlay`s guidelines. The higher the score, the greater the impairment of quality of life. Results: The mean DLQI score in our study was 8.16 (sd=5.423 with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 28. There were statistically significant relationships between DLQI scores and marital status, skin phototype and disease extension independently, but not between DLQI scores and other variables. The mean DLQI score was significantly higher in married compared to single patients. In fact this difference was significant in women. Married women had a statistically higher score than single women while single and married men had no significant difference. Patients with Skin Phototype IV showed a higher DLQI score than other SPTs, which was statistically notable (p=0.000. The patients with more disease extension had higher score that was statistically significant (p=0.000. Conclusions: This study shows that vitiligo has a major impact on the quality of life and indicates specific groups that are most affected by the disease. Hence, dermatologists should pay attention to the psychologic effects of this cosmetic disease and try to decrease its extension and disfiguring effects by various treatment modalities.

Accelerometer determined sedentary behavior and dietary quality among US adults.

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Shuval, Kerem; Nguyen, Binh T; Yaroch, Amy L; Drope, Jeffrey; Gabriel, Kelley Pettee

2015-09-01

Scant evidence exists pertaining to objectively measured sedentary time and dietary quality among adults. Therefore, we examined the relationships between sedentary time, physical activity, and dietary quality. Cross-sectional analyses of a 4,910 US adults from two cycles (2003-2006) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The primary independent variables were sedentary time and physical activity (continuous and categorical), while the outcomes were overall dietary quality (Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010), fruit and vegetable scores, and empty caloric intake (kcal). Multivariable analyses revealed that a 1min increase in daily sedentary behavior was associated with a 0.2kcal decrease in empty calories (-0.18, 95% CI=-0.34, -0.03); however, sedentary time was not significantly related to overall dietary quality (HEI) and fruit and vegetable intake. In comparison, a 1min increase in daily moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity was related to a 0.1 higher HEI score (0.08, 95% CI=0.04, 0.11), a 0.01 higher fruit score (0.01, 95% CI=0.01, 0.02), and conversely a 1.3kcal decrease in empty calories (-1.35, 95% CI=-2.01, -0.69). In addition, meeting physical activity guidelines was associated with a 2.8 point higher HEI score (2.82, 95% CI=1.40, 4.25), a 0.5 point higher fruit score (0.51, 95% CI=0.31-0.71), and 37.4 fewer empty calories (-37.43, 95% CI=-64.86, -9.10). Physical activity is significantly related to better overall dietary quality, while sedentary behavior is not. Findings suggest the need to promote physical activity and encourage adherence to dietary guidelines jointly, whereas sedentary behavior and overall dietary quality might need to be targeted independently. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Criteria that ensure the quality of higher education in tourism and sport management study programme

OpenAIRE

Mikalauskas, Rimantas; Jasinskas, Edmundas; Švagždienė, Biruta

2012-01-01

The quality of higher education is predominantly determined by the work of academic staff and organization of instructional process; the criteria of higher education institution’s infrastructure are of moderate importance. Professional qualities of teaching staff that are related to communication with students during lectures are important for quality assurance; effective communication with others was found to be the most important personal quality of teaching staff. Professional qualities we...

Surfing Behind a Boat: Quality and Reliability of Online Resources on Scaphoid Fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Nassiri, Mujtaba; Mohamed, Osama; Berzins, Arvids; Aljabi, Yasser; Mahmood, Talat; Chenouri, Shojaeddin; O'Grady, Paul

2016-10-01

Patients seeking information and advice on treatment of scaphoid fractures unknowingly confront longstanding medical controversies surrounding the management of this condition. However, there are no studies specifically looking into the quality and reliability of online information on scaphoid fractures. We identified 44 unique websites for evaluation using the term "scaphoid fractures". The websites were categorized by type and assessed using the DISCERN score, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria and the Health on the net (HON) code. The majority of websites were commercial (n = 13) followed by academic (n = 12). Only seven of the websites were HON certified. The mean DISCERN score was 43.8. Only 4 websites scored 63 or above representing excellent quality with minimal shortcomings but 13 websites scored 38 or below representing poor or very poor quality. The mean JAMA benchmark criteria score was 2.2. The Governmental and Non-Profit Organizations category websites had the highest mean JAMA benchmark score. The websites that displayed the HON-code seal had higher mean DISCERN scores and higher mean JAMA benchmark scores compared to websites that did not display the seal. Good quality health information is certainly available on the Internet. However, it is not possible to predict with certainty which sites are of higher quality. We suggest clinicians should have a responsibility to educate their patients regarding the unregulated nature of medical information on the internet and proactively provide patients with educational resources and thus help them make smart and informed decisions.

Effect of clinical and laboratory parameters on quality of life in celiac patients using celiac disease-specific quality of life scores.

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Lee, Jungmin; Clarke, Kofi

2017-11-01

Health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in patients with celiac disease is reduced compared to the general population. We investigated the association between HR-QOL and clinical, laboratory findings using the previously validated CD-QOL (celiac disease-specific quality of life) instrument in patients with celiac disease. To our knowledge, no study has previously explored the relationship between HR-QOL and clinical, laboratory parameters in celiac patients. Patients who received care at the Allegheny Health Network Celiac Center, Pittsburgh, PA were asked to complete the CD-QOL questionnaire. A cross sectional study with predetermined clinical and laboratory parameters was performed. Data collected included IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibody titers, iron studies, calcium, vitamin A, B12, 25 OH vitamin D, and E levels. Correlation between clinical findings and CD-QOL was also assessed. Seventy-eight out of 124 patients who completed the questionnaire was included in the analysis. Patients with concomitant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) had significantly reduced HR-QOL with CD-QOL score of 52.4 ± 11.3 vs. 44.6 ± 12.9 in those without IBS (p = .009). There was no difference in HR-QOL in relation to IgA tTG titers or vitamin D levels. Of note, there was a trend towards correlation between higher level of vitamin E and better QOL (r = -0.236, p = .074). Celiac patients with concomitant IBS have reduced HR-QOL. There was no statistically significant association between HR-QOL and laboratory parameters or levels of micronutrients.

Scenarios of Quality Assurance of Stakeholder Relationships in Finnish Higher Education Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Lyytinen, Anu; Kohtamäki, Vuokko; Kivistö, Jussi; Pekkola, Elias; Hölttä, Seppo

2017-01-01

Although the role and significance of the external stakeholders of higher education institutions has grown in recent years, quality assurance of stakeholder relationships remains a new phenomenon in the management practices of higher education institutions and in higher education research. Based on interviews and expert panel data, this article…

Russian Higher Education and European Standards of Quality Assurance

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Motova, Galina; Pykko, Ritta

2012-01-01

This article considers the relevance and implementation of European approaches to quality assurance in the context of the Russian educational system. It covers the issues of transformation of the higher education system during the post-Soviet period, specific features of the state accreditation system, the impact of the European Standards and…

Rewarding quality teaching in higher education: the evading dream ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teaching, and specifically quality teaching, has for many centuries been the defining characteristic of the academic profession. However, since the dawning of the 20th century, it seems that the very basis of the global higher education institutional reward system is the belief that working with, contributing to, and pursuing ...

Re-Scoring the Game’s Score

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gasselseder, Hans-Peter

2014-01-01

This study explores immersive presence as well as emotional valence and arousal in the context of dynamic and non-dynamic music scores in the 3rd person action-adventure video game genre while also considering relevant personality traits of the player. 60 subjects answered self-report questionnai......This study explores immersive presence as well as emotional valence and arousal in the context of dynamic and non-dynamic music scores in the 3rd person action-adventure video game genre while also considering relevant personality traits of the player. 60 subjects answered self......-temporal alignment in the resulting emotional congruency of nondiegetic music. Whereas imaginary aspects of immersive presence are systemically affected by the presentation of dynamic music, sensory spatial aspects show higher sensitivity towards the arousal potential of the music score. It is argued...

Quality Education and the Marketplace: An Exploration of Neoliberalism and its Impact on Higher Education

OpenAIRE

Mandy Frake

2008-01-01

This paper is an in attempt to open discussion about the impact of globalization and theories of neoliberalism on higher education. More specifically, viewing higher education institutions as a market place, where the more a product costs, the greater supply and quality of the product should be received; the quality of education received by university students should also reflect this. Considering the conflict between teaching and research in higher education, quality of education beco...

Assessment of Quality and Content of Online Information About Hip Arthroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellsworth, Bridget; Patel, Hiren; Kamath, Atul F

2016-10-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of information available to patients on the Internet when using popular search engines to search the term "hip arthroscopy." We analyzed the quality and content of information about hip arthroscopy (HA) on the first 50 websites returned by the search engines Google and Bing for the search term "hip arthroscopy." The sites were categorized by type, and quality and content were measured using the DISCERN score, along with an HA-specific content score. The HA-specific content score was used to assess each website for the presence or absence of 19 topics about HA determined to be important for a patient seeking information about the procedure. The Health on the Net Code (HONcode) status of each website was also noted. The mean DISCERN score for all websites analyzed was 39.5, considered "poor," while only 44.6% of sites were considered "fair" or "good." Governmental and nonprofit organization (NPO) websites had the highest average DISCERN score. The mean HA-specific content score was 8.6 (range, 2 to 16). The commercial website category had the highest average HA-specific content score, followed by the governmental and NPO category. Sites that bore the HONcode certification obtained significantly higher DISCERN scores than those without the certification (P = .0032) but did not obtain significantly higher HA-specific content scores. "Hip arthroscopy" is a fairly general term, and there is significant variability in the quality of HA information available online. The HONcode is useful to identify quality patient information websites; however, it is not commonly used in HA-specific websites and does not encompass all quality websites about HA. This study increases awareness of the quality of information on HA available online. Copyright © 2016 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mediatizing Higher Education Policies: Discourses about Quality Education in the Media

Science.gov (United States)

Cabalin, Cristian

2015-01-01

This article presents a critical-political discourse analysis of the media debate over quality assurance in higher education, which occurred in Chile after the 2011 student movement. Students criticized the privatization of higher education and the multiple flaws of this sector, which included corruption scandals during the process of quality…

Nutritional quality of major meals consumed away from home in Brazil and its association with the overall diet quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorgulho, Bartira Mendes; Fisberg, Regina Mara; Marchioni, Dirce Maria Lobo

2013-08-01

The objective of the study is to evaluate the nutritional quality of meals consumed away from home and its association with overall diet quality. Data was obtained from 834 participants of a Health Survey in São Paulo, Brazil. Food intake was measured by a 24-hour dietary recall applied telephonically using the Automated Multiple-Pass Method. Overall dietary quality was assessed by the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index Revised (B-HEIR) and the Meal Quality Index (MQI) was used to evaluate dietary quality of the main meals. The association between the B-HEIR and the MQI was assessed by linear regression analysis. The consumption of at least one of the three main meals away from home was reported for 32% of respondents (70 adolescents, 156 adults and 40 elderly). The average MQI score of lunch consumed away from home was lower than lunch consumed at home, with higher amounts of total and saturated fats. The average score of B-HEIR was 58 points and was associated with the MQI score, energy, meal consumption location and gender. Lunch consumed away from home presented the worst quality, being higher in total and saturated fat. However, the meals consumed at home also need improvement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"INTEGRATED QUALITY MANAGEMENT" AS A SUBJECT IN HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stevan Živojinović

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The importance of introduction of "Integrated quality management" into higher education curricula arises from the need for students to grasp synergetic application of new and advanced approaches to theoretical and practical management quality and process based management in particular as well as understanding a unified concept which improves conformity and linking of all levels in management hierarchy (normative, strategic and operational toward accomplishment of successful business performance. A curriculum is proposed (as a contribution to a map of necessary knowledge to be expected from prospective quality personnel with appropriate topics in accordance with studies objective and chosen up-to-date options of management concepts and methods.

Customer quality and type 2 diabetes from the patients' perspective: a cross-sectional study.

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Tabrizi, Jafar S; Wilson, Andrew J; O'Rourke, Peter K

2010-12-18

Quality in health care can be seen as having three principal dimensions: service, technical and customer quality. This study aimed to measure Customer Quality in relation to self-management of Type 2 diabetes. A cross-sectional survey of 577 Type 2 diabetes people was carried out in Australia. The 13-item Patient Activation Measure was used to evaluate Customer Quality based on self-reported knowledge, skills and confidence in four stages of self-management. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 13.0. All participants achieved scores at the level of stage 1, but ten percent did not achieve score levels consistent with stage 2 and a further 16% did not reach the actual action stage. Seventy-four percent reported capacity for taking action for self-management and 38% reported the highest Customer Quality score and ability to change the action by changing health and environment. Participants with a higher education attainment, better diabetes control status and those who maintain continuity of care reported a higher Customer Quality score, reflecting higher capacity for self-management. Specific capacity building programs for health care providers and people with Type 2 diabetes are needed to increase their knowledge and skills; and improve their confidence to self-management, to achieve improved quality of delivered care and better health outcomes.

Yellowjackets use nest-based cues to differentially exploit higher-quality resources

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Benjamin J.; Schalk, Dane R.; Jeanne, Robert L.

2010-12-01

While foraging, social insects encounter a dynamic array of food resources of varying quality and profitability. Because food acquisition influences colony growth and fitness, natural selection can be expected to favor colonies that allocate their overall foraging effort so as to maximize their intake of high-quality nutrients. Social wasps lack recruitment communication, but previous studies of vespine wasps have shown that olfactory cues influence foraging decisions. Odors associated with food brought into the nest by successful foragers prompt naive foragers to leave the nest and search for the source of those odors. Left unanswered, however, is the question of whether naive foragers take food quality into account in making their decisions about whether or not to search. In this study, two different concentrations of sucrose solutions, scented differently, were inserted directly into each of three Vespula germanica nests. At a feeder away from the nest, arriving foragers were given a choice between two 1.5 M sucrose solutions with the same scents as those in the nest. We show that wasps chose higher-quality resources in the field using information in the form of intranidal food-associated odor cues. By this simple mechanism, the colony can bias the allocation of its foraging effort toward higher-quality resources in the environment.

Student satisfaction as an element of education quality monitoring in innovative higher education institution

Science.gov (United States)

Razinkina, Elena; Pankova, Ludmila; Trostinskaya, Irina; Pozdeeva, Elena; Evseeva, Lidiya; Tanova, Anna

2018-03-01

Topicality of the research is confirmed by increasing student involvement into the educational process, when not only the academic staff and administration participate in the improvement of higher education institution's activity, but also education customers - students. This adds a new dimension to the issue of monitoring education quality and student satisfaction with higher education. This issue echoes the ideas of M. Weber about the relationship between such components as cognitive motivation, personal development and student satisfaction with higher education. Besides, it is essential to focus on the approach of R. Barnet to defining the quality of education with the emphasis on a priority of development of an educational institution as the system that meets customers' needs. Monitoring student satisfaction with education quality has become an integral part of the educational process not only in a number of European universities, which have used this monitoring for decades, but also in Russian universities, which are interested in education quality improvement. Leading universities in Russia, including Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, are implementing policies targeted at increasing student satisfaction with higher education quality. Education quality monitoring as a key element in the system of providing feedback to students contributes greatly to this process.

River Discharge and Local Scale Habitat Influence LIFE Score Macroinvertebrate LIFE Scores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dunbar, Michael J.; Pedersen, Morten Lauge; Cadman, Dan

2010-01-01

Midlands of the U.K., we describe how local-scale habitat features (indexed through River Habitat Survey or Danish Habitat Quality Survey) and changing river flow (discharge) influence the response of a macroinvertebrate community index. The approach has broad applicability in developing regional flow...... Invertebrate index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE), an average of abundance-weighted flow groups which indicate the microhabitat preferences of each taxon for higher velocities and clean gravel/cobble substrata or slow/still velocities and finer substrata. 3. For the Danish fauna, the LIFE score responded to three...... of the channel (negative). In both cases, LIFE responded negatively to features associated with historical channel modification. We suggest that there are several mechanisms for these relationships, including the narrower tolerances of taxa preferring high velocity habitat; these taxa are also continually...

Quality Assurance in Higher Education in 20 MENA Economies

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El Hassan, K.

2013-01-01

The last decades have witnessed an increased concern in higher education over accountability, quality and productivity, and a struggle to meet increasingly complex challenges. This is more so in Middle East and North African (MENA) economies that witnessed a large expansion as a result of a high social demand and massification policies adopted by…

A prospective study of diet quality and mental health in adolescents.

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Felice N Jacka

Full Text Available A number of cross-sectional and prospective studies have now been published demonstrating inverse relationships between diet quality and the common mental disorders in adults. However, there are no existing prospective studies of this association in adolescents, the onset period of most disorders, limiting inferences regarding possible causal relationships.In this study, 3040 Australian adolescents, aged 11-18 years at baseline, were measured in 2005-6 and 2007-8. Information on diet and mental health was collected by self-report and anthropometric data by trained researchers.There were cross-sectional, dose response relationships identified between measures of both healthy (positive and unhealthy (inverse diets and scores on the emotional subscale of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL, where higher scores mean better mental health, before and after adjustments for age, gender, socio-economic status, dieting behaviours, body mass index and physical activity. Higher healthy diet scores at baseline also predicted higher PedsQL scores at follow-up, while higher unhealthy diet scores at baseline predicted lower PedsQL scores at follow-up. Improvements in diet quality were mirrored by improvements in mental health over the follow-up period, while deteriorating diet quality was associated with poorer psychological functioning. Finally, results did not support the reverse causality hypothesis.This study highlights the importance of diet in adolescence and its potential role in modifying mental health over the life course. Given that the majority of common mental health problems first manifest in adolescence, intervention studies are now required to test the effectiveness of preventing the common mental disorders through dietary modification.

Bowel Endometriosis Syndrome: a new scoring system for pelvic organ dysfunction and quality of life.

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Riiskjær, M; Egekvist, A G; Hartwell, D; Forman, A; Seyer-Hansen, M; Kesmodel, U S

2017-09-01

Is it possible to develop a validated score that can identify women with Bowel Endometriosis Syndrome (BENS) and be used to monitor the effect of medical and surgical treatment? The BENS score can be used to identify women with BENS and to monitor the effect of medical and surgical treatment of women suffering from bowel endometriosis. Endometriosis is a heterogeneous disease with extensive variation in anatomical and clinical presentation, and symptoms do not always correspond to the disease burden. Current endometriosis scoring systems are mainly based on anatomical and surgical findings. The score was developed and validated from a cohort of 525 women with medically or surgically treated bowel endometriosis from Aarhus and Copenhagen University Hospitals, Denmark. Patients filled in questionnaires on pelvic pain, quality of life (QoL) and urinary, sexual and bowel function. Items were selected for the final score using clinical and statistical criteria. The chosen variables were included in a multivariate analysis. Individual score values were designated items to form the BENS score, which was divided into 'no BENS', 'minor BENS' and 'major BENS.' Internal and external validations were performed. The six most important items were 'pelvic pain', 'use of analgesics', 'dyschezia', 'straining to urinate', 'fecal urgency' and 'satisfaction with sexual life'. The range of the BENS score (0-28) was divided into 0-8 (no BENS), 9-16 (minor BENS) and 17-28 (major BENS). External validation showed a significant association between BENS score and QoL (P = 0.0001). The BENS scoring system is limited by the fact that it was developed from a single endometriosis unit in Denmark, making it susceptible to social, cultural and demographic bias. It is the first endometriosis classification system to be based directly on the symptomatology of the patient. Validation in other languages will promote comparison of treatments and results across borders. No external funding was either

Stakeholder Perception of Service Quality in Qatar Higher Education Institutions: An Application to Qatar University

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Shurair, Amal S.

2017-01-01

Managing quality of services offered by institutions of higher education is important in any country due to the inherent aim of producing quality graduates from programs offered in the university. Qatar has made substantial investments in higher education. Qatar University, being the national university of the country, the perception of stakeholders on the service quality in education becomes an important factor for developing a quality education system. Therefore, the main goal of this thesi...

Quality assurance systems of higher education - The case of european institutions: origin, evolution and trends

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Ángela Corengia

2014-11-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1983-4535.2014v7n3p61 The purpose of this research is to analyze the origin, evolution, performance and trends of higher education quality assurance systems in the following European countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and France. It also studies the performance and impact of the organizations that join the European Quality Assurance Agencies together. The main sources of data collection were in situ semi-structured interviews to members of these agencies. It was found that in higher education institutions there is a strong trend towards the development of ‘internal quality assurance systems' in response to the public policies known as 'quality audits'. This overview about what is taking place in Europe may provide innovative instruments that could be considered for higher education quality evaluation and accreditation in Latin-American countries: quality audits, disciplinary agencies, evaluation of the quality assurance agencies, among others.

Good-quality diet in the early years may have a positive effect on academic achievement.

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Nyaradi, Anett; Li, Jianghong; Foster, Jonathan K; Hickling, Siobhan; Jacques, Angela; O'Sullivan, Therese A; Oddy, Wendy H

2016-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between early diet and academic performance during childhood. Participants were from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (n = 2287). Frequency of consumption of food and beverages was collected at the one-, two- and three-year follow-ups, using a 24-hour food recall. Diet scores were developed from the number of eating occasions. The Western Australian Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (WALNA) data from grades five (age 10) and seven (age 12) were linked to the Raine study using The Western Australian Data Linkage System. The association between diet scores and WALNA scores was assessed using multivariate linear regression models. A higher (i.e. better quality) diet score at one year of age was associated with significantly higher scores in mathematics, reading, writing and spelling at both grades five and seven. Associations were observed between a higher diet score at two years and academic scores for mathematics, writing and spelling at grade seven. Higher dairy consumption at ages one, two and three, and higher fruit consumption at age one were associated with higher academic scores at all ages. Quality of early diet may be a predictor for later academic achievement. ©2015 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Applying Deming's Fourteen Points.

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Masters, Robert J.; Leiker, Linda

1992-01-01

This article presents guidelines to aid administrators of institutions of higher education in applying the 14 principles of Total Quality Management. The principles stress understanding process improvements, handling variation, fostering prediction, and using psychology to capitalize on human resources. (DB)

Reconciling Organisational Culture and External Quality Assurance in Higher Education

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Naidoo, Dhaya

2013-01-01

Organisational culture and external quality assurance have both been presented as significant drivers of effectiveness, efficiency and excellence in higher education institutions. However, these assumptions have not been critically examined given the philosophical, conceptual and methodological contestations surrounding both constructs. A…

Pedagogy, Accountability, and Perceptions of Quality by Type of Higher Education in Egypt and Jordan

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Assaad, Ragui; Badawy, Eslam; Krafft, Caroline

2016-01-01

A number of reasons have been proposed for the poor quality of higher education in the Arab world, including the poor incentive structures of public higher education institutions. The expansion of private higher education has been hailed as an important part of enhancing incentives and thus improving education quality. However, it is not clear…

Negative emotions affect postoperative scores for evaluating functional knee recovery and quality of life after total knee replacement

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A. Qi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine whether psychological factors affect health-related quality of life (HRQL and recovery of knee function in total knee replacement (TKR patients. A total of 119 TKR patients (male: 38; female: 81 completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-revised (EPQR-S, Knee Society Score (KSS, and HRQL (SF-36. At 1 and 6 months after surgery, anxiety, depression, and KSS scores in TKR patients were significantly better compared with those preoperatively (P<0.05. SF-36 scores at the sixth month after surgery were significantly improved compared with preoperative scores (P<0.001. Preoperative Physical Component Summary Scale (PCS and Mental Component Summary Scale (MCS scores were negatively associated with extraversion (E score (B=-0.986 and -0.967, respectively, both P<0.05. Postoperative PCS and State Anxiety Inventory (SAI scores were negatively associated with neuroticism (N score; B=-0.137 and -0.991, respectively, both P<0.05. Postoperative MCS, SAI, Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI, and BAI scores were also negatively associated with the N score (B=-0.367, -0.107, -0.281, and -0.851, respectively, all P<0.05. The KSS function score at the sixth month after surgery was negatively associated with TAI and N scores (B=-0.315 and -0.532, respectively, both P<0.05, but positively associated with the E score (B=0.215, P<0.05. The postoperative KSS joint score was positively associated with postoperative PCS (B=0.356, P<0.05. In conclusion, for TKR patients, the scores used for evaluating recovery of knee function and HRQL after 6 months are inversely associated with the presence of negative emotions.

Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Quality of Third-Trimester Pregnant Women.

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Tsai, Shao-Yu; Lee, Chien-Nan; Wu, Wei-Wen; Landis, Carol A

2016-02-01

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the associations of sleep hygiene and actigraphy measures of sleep with self-reported sleep quality in 197 pregnant women in northern Taiwan. Third-trimester pregnant women completed the Sleep Hygiene Practice Scale (SHPS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) as well as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and wore an actigraph for 7 consecutive days. Student's t-test was used to compare the SHPS scores and means as well as variability of actigraphy sleep variables between poor sleepers (i.e., PSQI global score >5) and good sleepers (i.e., PSQI global score ≤5). Compared to good sleepers, poor sleepers reported significantly worse sleep hygiene, with higher SHPS scores and higher sleep schedule, arousal-related behavior, and sleep environment subscale scores. Poor sleepers had significantly greater intra-individual variability of sleep onset latency, total nighttime sleep, and wake after sleep onset than good sleepers. In stepwise linear regression, older maternal age (p = .01), fewer employment hours per week (p = .01), higher CES-D total score (p hygiene intervention in women during pregnancy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Health related quality of life among myocardial infarction survivors in the United States: a propensity score matched analysis.

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Mollon, Lea; Bhattacharjee, Sandipan

2017-12-04

Little is known regarding the health-related quality of life among myocardial infarction (MI) survivors in the United States. The purpose of this population-based study was to identify differences in health-related quality of life domains between MI survivors and propensity score matched controls. This retrospective, cross-sectional matched case-control study examined differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among MI survivors of myocardial infarction compared to propensity score matched controls using data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. Propensity scores were generated via logistic regression for MI survivors and controls based on gender, race/ethnicity, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, and comorbidities. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences between MI survivors to controls for demographic variables. A multivariate analysis of HRQoL domains estimated odds ratios. Life satisfaction, sleep quality, and activity limitations were estimated using binary logistic regression. Social support, perceived general health, perceived physical health, and perceived mental health were estimated using multinomial logistic regression. Significance was set at p 15 days in the month (AOR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.46-1.83) and poor mental health >15 days in the month (AOR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.07-1.46) compared to matched controls. There was no difference in survivors compared to controls in level of emotional support (rarely/never: AOR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.48-1.18; sometimes: AOR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.41-1.28), hours of recommended sleep (AOR = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.94-1.38), or life satisfaction (AOR = 1.62, 95% CI: 0.99-2.63). MI survivors experienced lower HRQoL on domains of general health, physical health, daily activity, and mental health compared to the general population.

Quality of delivered care for people with type 2 diabetes: a new patient-centred model.

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Tabrizi, Jafar S

2009-12-28

The quality of care from the perspective of people with Type 2 diabetes using a new model (CQMH) including three dimensions of quality in health care (Technical, Service and Customer Quality) was assessed. A cross-sectional survey with a sample of 577 people with Type 2 diabetes was conducted. Measures were self-reported adherence to national guidelines for technical quality, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research questionnaire for service quality and the short form of the Patient Activation Measure for Customer Quality. There was a significant gap in technical quality between what diabetes care the patients reported receiving and what was recommended in the guideline, particularly for management and lifestyle aspects. For service quality, the lowest scores were for choice of care provider and accessibility of care. The mean Customer Quality score was 64.5 (meaning higher score indicating better quality). A positive relationship was demonstrated between higher technical, service and customer quality scores, and better diabetes control status as well as maintaining continuity of care. The average Quality Index was 70.0 of a 0-100 scale. Customer Quality appears to be a useful third dimension in conceptualising quality in health care, particularly in the context of chronic disease, where good self-management can improve the outcomes of care. A high proportion of Queensland adults with Type 2 diabetes reported receiving suboptimal care in the majority aspects of provided care services as reflected in the overall Quality Index score indicating substantial room for quality improvement.

Raising test scores vs. teaching higher order thinking (HOT): senior science teachers' views on how several concurrent policies affect classroom practices

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Zohar, Anat; Alboher Agmon, Vered

2018-04-01

This study investigates how senior science teachers viewed the effects of a Raising Test Scores policy and its implementation on instruction of higher order thinking (HOT), and on teaching thinking to students with low academic achievements.

Students’ perception of quality in higher education: An empirical investigation

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Zafrul Allam

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Students’ evaluation of quality in higher education is becoming increasingly important and widely accepted. Various researchers have reported that “high quality” education creates sustainability among students to accomplish their goals over a period of time. The intention of the present study was to explore students’ perceptions of quality in higher education in terms of curriculum content, learning and teaching experiences, institutional resources and outcome and assessment. A total of 91 students were randomly selected from the business and engineering colleges within Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to obtain accurate results pertaining to the motif of the research. The findings revealed that total institutional factors emerged as one of the most prominent predictors of the outcome and assessment within the two different aforementioned disciplines. This paper concludes with suggestions for further investigation.

Patient satisfaction and quality of surgical care in US hospitals.

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Tsai, Thomas C; Orav, E John; Jha, Ashish K

2015-01-01

The relationship between patient satisfaction and surgical quality is unclear for US hospitals. Using national data, we examined if hospitals with high patient satisfaction have lower levels of performance on accepted measures of the quality and efficiency of surgical care. Federal policymakers have made patient satisfaction a core measure for the way hospitals are evaluated and paid through the value-based purchasing program. There is broad concern that performance on patient satisfaction may have little or even a negative correlation with the quality of surgical care, leading to potential trade-offs in efforts to improve patient experience with other surgical quality measures. We used the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey data from 2010 and 2011 to assess performance on patient experience. We used national Medicare data on 6 common surgical procedures to calculate measures of surgical efficiency and quality: risk-adjusted length of stay, process score, risk-adjusted mortality rate, risk-adjusted readmission rate, and a composite z score across all 4 metrics. Multivariate models adjusting for hospital characteristics were used to assess the independent relationships between patient satisfaction and measures of surgical efficiency and quality. Of the 2953 US hospitals that perform one of these 6 procedures, the median patient satisfaction score was 69.5% (interquartile range, 63%-75.5%). Length of stay was shorter in hospitals with the highest levels of patient satisfaction (7.1 days vs 7.7 days, P patient satisfaction had the higher process of care performance (96.5 vs 95.5, P patient satisfaction also had a higher composite score for quality across all measures (P patient satisfaction provided more efficient care and were associated with higher surgical quality. Our findings suggest there need not be a trade-off between good quality of care for surgical patients and ensuring a positive patient experience.

Variety of fruit and vegetables is related to preschoolers' overall diet quality.

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Ramsay, Samantha A; Shriver, Lenka H; Taylor, Christopher A

2017-03-01

Children are encouraged to eat a specific amount of fruits and vegetables to optimize health. The purpose of this study was to assess whether consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables, respectively, was associated with a greater diet quality among preschool-aged children. Analyses were performed using a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of US children. Dietary intakes from 24-h dietary recalls of two-five year old children ( n  = 2595) in 2005-2010 NHANES were examined. Diet quality was evaluated using MyPlate equivalents and the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010). Variety categories were determined based on children's fruit, fruit juice, and vegetable consumption on the recalled day. Differences in diet quality were examined using t -tests. Variety of fruits and vegetables was linked to higher overall diet quality. Children who consumed whole fruit had better diet quality scores for total fruit, whole fruit, whole grains, dairy, seafood, refined grains, sodium, and empty calories ( P  ≤ 0.018). Significantly higher HEI-2010 scores for total fruit, whole fruit, fatty acids, sodium, and empty calories, but a lower dairy HEI-2010 score, were identified in children who drank fruit juice ( P  ≤ 0.038). Vegetable consumption was significantly associated with higher total vegetables, greens/beans, and empty calories, but a lower sodium score ( P  ≤ 0.027). Children who consumed whole fruit, fruit juice and non-starchy vegetables ( P  ≤ 0.017), but not white potatoes, had significantly higher total HEI-2010 scores. Reinforcing fruit and 100% fruit juice consumption may indirectly support healthier diets among children. However, underlying associations between fruit and vegetable intakes and overall diet quality should be examined further.

Variety of fruit and vegetables is related to preschoolers' overall diet quality

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Samantha A. Ramsay

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Children are encouraged to eat a specific amount of fruits and vegetables to optimize health. The purpose of this study was to assess whether consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables, respectively, was associated with a greater diet quality among preschool-aged children. Analyses were performed using a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of US children. Dietary intakes from 24-h dietary recalls of two-five year old children (n = 2595 in 2005–2010 NHANES were examined. Diet quality was evaluated using MyPlate equivalents and the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010. Variety categories were determined based on children's fruit, fruit juice, and vegetable consumption on the recalled day. Differences in diet quality were examined using t-tests. Variety of fruits and vegetables was linked to higher overall diet quality. Children who consumed whole fruit had better diet quality scores for total fruit, whole fruit, whole grains, dairy, seafood, refined grains, sodium, and empty calories (P ≤ 0.018. Significantly higher HEI-2010 scores for total fruit, whole fruit, fatty acids, sodium, and empty calories, but a lower dairy HEI-2010 score, were identified in children who drank fruit juice (P ≤ 0.038. Vegetable consumption was significantly associated with higher total vegetables, greens/beans, and empty calories, but a lower sodium score (P ≤ 0.027. Children who consumed whole fruit, fruit juice and non-starchy vegetables (P ≤ 0.017, but not white potatoes, had significantly higher total HEI-2010 scores. Reinforcing fruit and 100% fruit juice consumption may indirectly support healthier diets among children. However, underlying associations between fruit and vegetable intakes and overall diet quality should be examined further.

Determinants of Quality of Life for Breast Cancer Patients in Shanghai, China.

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Yan, Bei; Yang, Li-Ming; Hao, Li-Peng; Yang, Chen; Quan, Lei; Wang, Li-Hong; Wu, Zheng; Li, Xiao-Pan; Gao, Yu-Tang; Sun, Qiao; Yuan, Jian-Min

2016-01-01

To evaluate the association of social support status, health insurance and clinical factors with the quality of life of Chinese women with breast cancer. Information on demographics, clinical characteristics, and social support status was collected from 1,160 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in Shanghai, China. The Perceived Social Support Scale was used to assess different sources of social support for breast cancer patients. The quality of life was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer that consisted of five domains: breast cancer-specific, emotional, functional, physical, and social & family well-being. Multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate the associations of demographic variables, clinical characteristics, and social support status with the quality of life measures. Adequate social support from family members, friends and neighbors, and higher scores of Perceived Social Support Scale were associated with significantly improved quality of life of breast cancer patients. Higher household income, medical insurance plans with low copayment, and treatment with traditional Chinese medicine for breast cancer all were associated with higher (better) scores of quality of life measures whereas patients receiving chemotherapy had significantly lower scores of quality of life. Social support and financial aids may significantly improve the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.

Psychometric Quality of a Student Evaluation of Teaching Survey in Higher Education

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Oon, Pey-Tee; Spencer, Benson; Kam, Chester Chun Seng

2017-01-01

Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are used globally by higher education institutions for performance assessment of academic staff and evaluation of course quality. Higher education institutions commonly develop their own SETs to measure variables deemed relevant to them. However, "home-grown" SETs are rarely assessed…

Low-Quality Structural and Interaction Data Improves Binding Affinity Prediction via Random Forest.

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Li, Hongjian; Leung, Kwong-Sak; Wong, Man-Hon; Ballester, Pedro J

2015-06-12

Docking scoring functions can be used to predict the strength of protein-ligand binding. It is widely believed that training a scoring function with low-quality data is detrimental for its predictive performance. Nevertheless, there is a surprising lack of systematic validation experiments in support of this hypothesis. In this study, we investigated to which extent training a scoring function with data containing low-quality structural and binding data is detrimental for predictive performance. We actually found that low-quality data is not only non-detrimental, but beneficial for the predictive performance of machine-learning scoring functions, though the improvement is less important than that coming from high-quality data. Furthermore, we observed that classical scoring functions are not able to effectively exploit data beyond an early threshold, regardless of its quality. This demonstrates that exploiting a larger data volume is more important for the performance of machine-learning scoring functions than restricting to a smaller set of higher data quality.

Quality Education and the Marketplace: An Exploration of Neoliberalism and its Impact on Higher Education

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Mandy Frake

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is an in attempt to open discussion about the impact of globalization and theories of neoliberalism on higher education. More specifically, viewing higher education institutions as a market place, where the more a product costs, the greater supply and quality of the product should be received; the quality of education received by university students should also reflect this. Considering the conflict between teaching and research in higher education, quality of education becomes questionable. This paper explores issues of neoliberalism resulting in a greater demand for the completion of research in higher education institutions. Furthermore, the imperialism of higher education leading towards the demand for more research, the teaching versus research nexus within universities, and discussion of how these theories impact international students will be examined throughout this paper

Designing a Score-Based Method for the Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of the Gluten-Free Bakery Products and their Gluten-Containing Counterparts.

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Morreale, Federico; Angelino, Donato; Pellegrini, Nicoletta

2018-04-25

Gluten-free (GF) products are consumed both by individuals with celiac disease and by an increasing number of people with no specific medical needs. Although the technological quality of GF products has been recently improved, their nutritional quality is still scarcely addressed. Moreover, the few published studies report conflicting results, mostly because the information from product nutrition facts is the only considered factor. The aim of the present study was to develop a score-based method for the nutritional evaluation of 134 packaged Italian GF bakery products and to compare it with that of 162 matched gluten-containing (GC) food items. The score included the information from the nutrition facts and the presence/absence of some nutritionally relevant components in the ingredients list. Results indicated an overall low nutritional quality of the considered GF bakery products. Additionally, with the sole exception of GF bread substitutes, there was no difference in nutritional quality between GF and equivalent GC bakery products. Future research and development of GF bakery products may take advantage of this scoring method, as it may represent an easy approach to evaluate their nutritional quality. The present findings do not justify the consumption of packaged GF bakery products by people without any specific medical needs.

Factors that Impact Quality of E-Teaching/Learning Technologies in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Daukilas, Sigitas; Kaciniene, Irma; Vaisnoriene, Daiva; Vascila, Vytautas

2008-01-01

The article analyzes and assesses factors that have impact upon the quality of eTeaching/learning technologies in higher education; it is on their basis that the concept of eTeaching/learning quality is denied. Research data about the students' motives in choosing various teaching/learning technologies for the development of their competence are…

Quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education systems: convergence or different paths?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalpazidou Schmidt, Evanthia

2017-01-01

Because there is close cooperation on quality assurance in the Scandinavian countries, one would expect there to be convergence of quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education. Few studies have analysed these quality assurance policies and practices from a comparative...... quality assurance. The debate is compelling with regard to the Swedish case in particular, with its ‘one size fits all’ approach and exclusive focus on outcomes which has been heavily criticised by the higher education institutions and has turned out to be controversial from the European viewpoint....... viewpoint. Based on empirical evidence produced in connection with studies of recent quality reforms in Scandinavia and an approach based on linking diffusion and translation theories with institutionalist perspectives focusing on path dependency, the paper contributes to the current debate on Scandinavian...

Quality of Life and Its Related Factors Among Elderly With Diabetes

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Vahidreza Borhaninejad

2016-04-01

Conclusion: In our society, no normative standard has been set for the “quality of life.” However, the mean value of 50 with standard deviation of 10 can be an acceptable and standard score for the “quality of life” among the elderly. The mean score of “quality of life” among diabetic elderly people in this study was 46.48 which was lower than our standard. Also, in studying the 8 dimensions of “quality of life,” the mean score of all dimensions was lower than 50. Prevalence of chronic diseases like diabetes among the older people could end in lowering the mean score of physical dimensions as compared to mental dimensions of “quality of life.” Something that was mentioned in the present study, too.The lower quality of life among women could be due to gender inequality in using health system. As a result, the women are more vulnerable to problems as well as mental and physical diseases which decreases their quality of lives. There was a significant relationship between the educational level of diabetic older people and their quality of lives. Those with higher educational level enjoyed a better quality of life. The effect of higher education on the “quality of life” could be due to the people’sawareness of the importance of diet, exercise, proper medication, and control of risk factors of chronic diseases like diabetes. Furthermore,he higher education could increase quality of life through promotion of social class, increasing income, and self-esteem. Also, the people with higher education, armed with their health knowledge and using self-care methods provide the grounds for increasing their quality of lives.As regards the increasing rate of diabetic patients in ageing population and considering that chronic diseases affect and lower physical and mental aspects of “quality of life” in older people, and in line with improving the “quality of life” in these people, we suggest that policymakers and authorities pay

Impact of long term Yoga practice on sleep quality and quality of life in the elderly

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Mangesh A Bankar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Sleep disturbances and decline in the physical functionality are common conditions associated with aging. Pharmacological treatment of sleep disturbances can be associated with various adverse effects. Short term trials of Yoga on sleep have shown beneficial effects. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of long-term Yoga exercises on sleep quality and quality of life (QOL in the elderly. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which data were collected from elderly people aged 60 years or more living in Nagpur city. We employed two types of survey questionnaires: Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI and QOL Leiden-Padua (LEIPAD Questionnaire. A total of 65 elderly men and women who signed an informed consent and completed questionnaires were included in the study. Sleep quality score PSQI and QOL (LEIPAD Questionnaire score of the study group were evaluated and compared with the control group using Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Total PSQI score in Yoga group was lower than that of the control group. Also various QOL scores of the Yoga groups were higher than the control group. Conclusion: Addition of regular Yoga exercises in the daily routine of elderly people can help to achieve good sleep quality as well as improve the QOL.

Factors predicting team climate, and its relationship with quality of care in general practice

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Eccles Martin P

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. Better team working is thought to lead to higher effectiveness and quality of care. However, there is limited evidence available on what affects team functioning and its relationship with quality of care in general practice. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Methods Cross sectional survey of a convenience sample of 14 general practices and their staff in South Tyneside in the northeast of England. Team climate was measured using the short version of Team Climate Inventory (TCI questionnaire. Practice characteristics were collected during a structured interview with practice managers. Quality was measured using the practice Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF scores. Results General Practitioners (GP had a higher team climate scores compared to other professionals. Individual's gender and tenure, and number of GPs in the practice were significantly predictors of a higher team climate. There was no significant correlation between mean practice team climate scores (or subscales with QOF scores. Conclusion The absence of a relationship between a measure of team climate and quality of care in this exploratory study may be due to a number of methodological problems. Further research is required to explore how to best measure team functioning and its relationship with quality of care.

Factors predicting team climate, and its relationship with quality of care in general practice.

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Goh, Teik T; Eccles, Martin P; Steen, Nick

2009-08-04

Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. Better team working is thought to lead to higher effectiveness and quality of care. However, there is limited evidence available on what affects team functioning and its relationship with quality of care in general practice. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Cross sectional survey of a convenience sample of 14 general practices and their staff in South Tyneside in the northeast of England. Team climate was measured using the short version of Team Climate Inventory (TCI) questionnaire. Practice characteristics were collected during a structured interview with practice managers. Quality was measured using the practice Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF) scores. General Practitioners (GP) had a higher team climate scores compared to other professionals. Individual's gender and tenure, and number of GPs in the practice were significantly predictors of a higher team climate. There was no significant correlation between mean practice team climate scores (or subscales) with QOF scores. The absence of a relationship between a measure of team climate and quality of care in this exploratory study may be due to a number of methodological problems. Further research is required to explore how to best measure team functioning and its relationship with quality of care.

Higher Education Quality: Perception Differences among Internal and External Stakeholders

Science.gov (United States)

Abidin, Munirul

2015-01-01

Conceptually, education quality of higher education can be determined by evaluation of their stakeholders's satisfaction level. The purpose of this study is to describe how students as external stakeholder and lecturers as internal stakeholder, perceived their satisfaction of learning experience in the university. This study was conducted in…

Dietary Patterns and Their Associations with the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) in Korean Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Moon-Kyung; Kim, Yoo-Sun; Kim, Jung-Hyun; Kim, Sung-Hoon; Kim, Yuri

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to examine dietary pattern, nutritional intake, and diet quality of Korean pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Between October 2008 and May 2012, 166 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM completed a questionnaire and dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record. Blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentrations were measured and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Two major dietary patterns ("carbohydrate and vegetable" and "western" patterns) were identified through factor analysis. Dietary pattern scores for each dietary pattern were categorized into tertiles. The dietary quality index-international (DQI-I) was used to measure overall diet quality. Subjects with higher carbohydrate and vegetable pattern scores reported less physical activity (p pattern scores were associated with higher sodium intakes (p = 0.02), but lower intakes of fat (p = 0.002) and other micronutrients. On the other hand, higher western pattern scores were associated with higher fat intake (p = 0.0001), but lower intakes of sodium (p = 0.01) and other micronutrients. Higher scores for both dietary patterns were associated with lower scores in the moderation category of the DQI-I (p dietary pattern.

Trends in Classroom Observation Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Casabianca, Jodi M.; Lockwood, J. R.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.

2015-01-01

Observations and ratings of classroom teaching and interactions collected over time are susceptible to trends in both the quality of instruction and rater behavior. These trends have potential implications for inferences about teaching and for study design. We use scores on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary (CLASS-S) protocol from…

Quality Assurance in Higher Technical Education and the Context of Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development

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Olufunmilayo T. Iyunade, Ph.D

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Recent empirical evidences on higher technical education at a national scale focused on the relevance, student’s poor perception, low enrolment and progression rates, and the growing impact of globalization on the management of higher technical and vocational education with little or no reference point to the factor of quality assurance. This paper therefore correlates quality assurance factors in higher technical education and the context of youth empowerment for sustainable development. A survey of public technical colleges was done in Ogun State. From an estimate population of 637 final year students and 28 instructors and management staff, a simple of 376 students and 17 instructors and management staff were selected using the stratify random sampling technique. A 4-point rating scale validated questionnaires tagged: ‘Higher Technical Education, Youth Empowerment and Sustainable Development Scale (HTEYESDS (r=0.79, complemented with focus Group Discussion (FGD was used for data collection. Three research questions were raised and answered. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics of Pearson correlation, multiple regression and analysis of variance at 0.05 apha level. Results showed that poor quality assurance limits the capacity of higher technical education in the empowerment of youth for sustainable development (82.6%. Quality assurance factors significantly correlated with higher technical education in the empowerment of youth for sustainable development (r=0.188; P < 0.05. It was therefore recommended that government should neither neglect nor compromise the factors of quality assurance in higher technical education as they predicts youth empowerment drive in the system.

Balanced Scorecard: A Strategy for the Quality Improvement of Islamic Higher Education

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Ilyasin, Mukhamd; Zamroni

2017-01-01

The main issue in improving the quality of Islamic Higher Education is to increase the competence and professionalism of teachers and education personnel to achieve its vision and mission in the middle of the complexity of the demands of society and the changing times. so that the quality of education and governance of Islamic Religion clean and…

Quality assurance and evaluation system in japanese higher education

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Ana Mami Yamaguchi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this paper we aim to contribute to the debate over accountability and assessment of higher education (HE by introducing the Japanese system. We first discuss the circumstances and issues surrounding Japanese HE and then examine the historical development of the quality assurance and evaluation system. Since the 1990s, with the implementation of policies that focused on liberalization, deregulation and increased institutional autonomy, the role of the government has shifted from setting strict regulations and quality standards to organizing an evaluation system for assessing the learning outcomes and improving accountability of the HE institutions. Finally, we suggest how Japan may take hints from Brazil in organizing an evaluation system on a national level that can more efficiently support and assess HE institutions

Resident-Specific Morbidity Reduced Following ACS NSQIP Data-Driven Quality Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Turrentine, Florence E; Hanks, John B; Tracci, Megan C; Jones, R Scott; Schirmer, Bruce D; Smith, Philip W

2018-04-16

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestone Project for general surgery provided a more robust method for developing and tracking residents' competence. This framework enhanced systematic and progressive development of residents' competencies in surgical quality improvement. A 22-month interactive, educational program based on resident-specific surgical outcomes data culminated in a quality improvement project for postgraduate year 4 surgery residents. Self- assessment, quality knowledge test, and resident-specific American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Quality In-Training Initiative morbidity were compared before and after the intervention. Quality in-training initiative morbidity decreased from 25% (82/325) to 18% (93/517), p = 0.015 despite residents performing more complex cases. All participants achieved level 4 competency (4/4) within the general surgery milestones improvement of care, practice-based learning and improvement competency. Institutional American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program general surgery morbidity improved from the ninth to the sixth decile. Quality assessment and improvement self-assessment postintervention scores (M = 23.80, SD = 4.97) were not significantly higher than preintervention scores (M = 19.20, SD = 5.26), p = 0.061. Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool postintervention test scores (M = 17.4, SD = 4.88), were not significantly higher than pretest scores (M = 13.2, SD = 1.92), p = 0.12. Sharing validated resident-specific clinical data with participants was associated with improved surgical outcomes. Participating fourth year surgical residents achieved the highest score, a level 4, in the practice based learning and improvement competency of the improvement of care practice domain and observed significantly reduced surgical morbidity for cases in which they participated. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

[Evaluation of the adjusted amino acid score by digestibility for estimating the protein quality and protein available in food and diets].

Science.gov (United States)

Pak, N; Vera, G; Araya, H

1985-03-01

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the amino acid score adjusted by digestibility to estimate protein quality and utilizable protein in foods and diets, considering net protein utilization (NPU) as a biological reference method. Ten foods of vegetable origin and ten of animal origin, as well as eight mixtures of foods of vegetable and animal origin were studied. When all the foods were considered, a positive (r = 0.83) and highly significant correlation (p less than 0.001) between NPU and the amino acid score adjusted by digestibility was found. When the foods were separated according to their origin, this correlation was positive only for the foods of vegetable origin (r = 0.93) and statistically significant (p less than 0.001). Also, only in those foods were similar values found between NPU and amino acid score adjusted by digestibility, as well as in utilizable protein estimated considering both methods. Caution is required to interpret protein quality and utilizable protein values of foods of animal origin and mixtures of foods of vegetable and animal origin when the amino acid score method adjusted by digestibility, or NPU, are utilized.

Identification of the optimal donor quality scoring system and measure of early renal function in kidney transplantation.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Moore, Jason

2009-02-27

The early identification of kidney allografts at risk of later dysfunction has implications for clinical practice. Donor quality scoring systems (preoperative) and measures of early allograft function (first week postoperative) have previously shown practical utility. This study aimed to determine the optimal parameter(s) (preoperative and postoperative) with greatest predictive power for the development of subsequent allograft dysfunction.

Evaluating and Enhancing Outcomes Assessment Quality in Higher Education Programs

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Wolf, Kenneth; Goodwin, Laura

2007-01-01

Accreditation is a mark of distinction indicating that an institution has met high standards set by the profession, and an increasingly important feature of the accreditation process in higher education is "outcomes assessment." This article presents two rubrics for evaluating the quality of an institution's outcomes assessment system. One rubric…

Impact of Personality Traits, Anxiety, Depression and Hopelessness Levels on Quality of Life in the Patients with Breast Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Sarsanov, Dauren; Erdogan, Zeynep İyigün; İlgün, Ahmet Serkan; Çelebi, Esra; Alço, Gül; Kocaman, Nazmiye; Ordu, Çetin; Öztürk, Alper; Duymaz, Tomris; Pilavcı, Kezban Nur; Elbüken, Filiz; Ağaçayak, Filiz; Aktepe, Fatma; Ünveren, Gizem; Özdem, Gözdem; Eralp, Yeşim; Özmen, Vahit

2018-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of personality traits, anxiety, depression and hopelessness levels on quality of life in the patients with breast cancer. Materials and methods The study was performed on 90 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 90 healthy women. Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Collection Form designed by us, Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS), Beck Depression Scale (BDS), Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and Quality of Life Scale–Short Form (SF-36) were administered to patients and to control group. Results The patients with breast cancer were found to indicate higher levels of anxiety and depression, lower levels of quality of life, and higher scores of personality inventory subscales as compared to the healthy control group. In the patient group, it was identified that the quality of life subscale scores were found to be negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, hopelessness and neurotic personality scores; there was a positive correlation between neurotic personality scores and depression, anxiety and hopelessness scores. Conclusions It can be concluded that the breast cancer patients with extraversion personality traits have lower levels of anxiety and depression, keeping their quality of life better, whereas the patients with higher neuroticism scores may have more impaired quality of life. Therefore, the psychiatric evaluation of the breast cancer patients during and after the treatment cannot be ruled out. PMID:29774319

Impact of Personality Traits, Anxiety, Depression and Hopelessness Levels on Quality of Life in the Patients with Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

İzci, Filiz; Sarsanov, Dauren; Erdogan, Zeynep İyigün; İlgün, Ahmet Serkan; Çelebi, Esra; Alço, Gül; Kocaman, Nazmiye; Ordu, Çetin; Öztürk, Alper; Duymaz, Tomris; Pilavcı, Kezban Nur; Elbüken, Filiz; Ağaçayak, Filiz; Aktepe, Fatma; Ünveren, Gizem; Özdem, Gözdem; Eralp, Yeşim; Özmen, Vahit

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of personality traits, anxiety, depression and hopelessness levels on quality of life in the patients with breast cancer. The study was performed on 90 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 90 healthy women. Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Collection Form designed by us, Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS), Beck Depression Scale (BDS), Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and Quality of Life Scale-Short Form (SF-36) were administered to patients and to control group. The patients with breast cancer were found to indicate higher levels of anxiety and depression, lower levels of quality of life, and higher scores of personality inventory subscales as compared to the healthy control group. In the patient group, it was identified that the quality of life subscale scores were found to be negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, hopelessness and neurotic personality scores; there was a positive correlation between neurotic personality scores and depression, anxiety and hopelessness scores. It can be concluded that the breast cancer patients with extraversion personality traits have lower levels of anxiety and depression, keeping their quality of life better, whereas the patients with higher neuroticism scores may have more impaired quality of life. Therefore, the psychiatric evaluation of the breast cancer patients during and after the treatment cannot be ruled out.

Quality of higher education and the labor market in developing countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boccanfuso, Dorothée; Larouche, Alexandre; Trandafir, Mircea

2015-01-01

While many studies examine the effect of primary education quality on labor market outcomes in developing countries, little is known about the effects at higher levels. We exploit the quasi-experiment provided by a large-scale education reform launched in Senegal in 2000 to investigate how quality...... improvements at the university level affect employment. Our difference-in-difference estimates suggest that young high-skilled workers experienced a nine percentage-point employment gain relative to older workers. They are also more likely to have “better” jobs (in the service industry or government......), suggesting a reduction in the mismatch between the quality of high-skill labor demanded and supplied....

Assessment of Factors Affecting Quality of Life of Elderly Clients Coveraged Bye Health Centers of Southern of Tehran

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Hasan Eftekhar Ardebili

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The world population is aging rapidly because of rising life expectancy and deacrising fertility rate.with increasing longevity and special aging problems attention and evaluation the quality of life of elderly for health promotion would be significant importance Methods & Materials: this study is a descriptive and analytical study carried out to investigate the quality of life of elderly clients coveraged bye health centers of southern of tehran, in 2010-2011.132 elderly clients were selected by using the cluster randomised sampling from 5health centers. in this study a short form standard questionnaire (sf36was used for evaluation diverse domains of life quality scores. we also measured some other personal characteristics through demographic questionnaire. data were analyzed with descriptive and analytic statistics by spss software. Results: the mean score of physical domains of quality of life which was 54.42±24.42 and emotional domain of quality of life was 55.19±24.04. mean age was 67.97±6.86. research showed age had meaninful reverse relationship to quality of life (P=0.000, r=-0.4, men had higher quality of life scores than women.education level was directly related to all domains of life quality (P=0/000. married persons and who they lived with childerns or others had the higher quality of life scores than singles (divorced, widow (P<0.001. and physical activity was directly related to quality of life (P=0.000. but statistically significant differences were not found between the mean score of quality of life and BMI. (physical domain: P=0.59-emotional domain: P=0.127. notsmokers had higher quality of life scores than smokers. (P<0.05. Conclusion: total score of quality of life of elderly was moderate (54.81. therrefore attention and try to improving the quality of life of elderly clients is essential.

The Effectiveness of the Higher Education Quality Assessment System: Problems and Countermeasures in China

Science.gov (United States)

Guangli, Zhou

2016-01-01

The effectiveness of the higher education quality assessment system is essentially a matter of policy evaluation. On the macro level, such a system refers to external quality assessment, which includes government evaluation, quality certification, and university rankings. Depending on the degree of government intervention, the external quality…

A Risk and Standards Based Approach to Quality Assurance in Australia's Diverse Higher Education Sector

Science.gov (United States)

Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, 2015

2015-01-01

The Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency's (TEQSA's) role is to assure that quality standards are being met by all registered higher education providers. This paper explains how TEQSA's risk-based approach to assuring higher education standards is applied in broad terms to a diverse sector. This explanation is…

Positive Attitude toward Healthy Eating Predicts Higher Diet Quality at All Cost Levels of Supermarkets☆

Science.gov (United States)

Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J.; Drewnowski, Adam

2014-01-01

Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. PMID:23916974

A comparison of the quality of life of the patients undergoing hemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis and its correlation to the quality of dialysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolamir Atapour

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the number of patients requiring dialysis. However, no consensus exists between choosing either hemodialysis (HD or peritoneal dialysis (PD as the preferred method of dialysis for patients. In this study, we have compared the quality of life of the patients undergoing either HD or PD. This cross-sectional study was performed in the dialysis center of the Noor and Saint Ali Asghar University Hospital in Isfahan, Iran in 2012. Forty-six patients who underwent PD (28 males and 18 females and 46 similar patients undergoing HD (26 males and 20 females were compared. A standardized Persian version of the short form-36 (SF-36 tool was used to assess the quality of life and to assess the quality of dialysis weekly Kt/V in patients undergoing PD and single random Kt/V sampling in HD patients were assessed. Patients undergoing PD reported higher scores in physical functioning. The lowest scores in both groups were reported in mental health section. In physical functioning section, physical role functioning section and overall score of the SF-36 tool, PD patients reported significantly higher scores compared to the HD patients (P <0.05. There was no significant difference between the qualities of the dialysis in the two patient groups. Aspects of quality of life such as physical functioning, physical role functioning, bodily pain, general health perceptions, and overall score were significantly different between the two groups. If these results are substantiated by subsequent longitudinal studies, then the choice of dialysis could be better guided in patients by the quality of life issues.

Analysis of professional quality of students majored with logistics management in the higher vocational college based on AHP

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Dai Chengxia

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To strength training of the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college, and then explore an effective way to train the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college is a very necessary and urgent task. On this basis, this paper aims at investigating the situation of the professional quality of the students majored with the logistics management in the higher vocational college according to the requirements of the industry and enterprise, constructs a multi-dimensional space of the professional quality by the use of the AHP analysis method, and proposes the training method of the professional quality, in order to further improve the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college, and provide reference for the training of the students majored with the logistics management in the higher vocational college.

The expansion of higher education: A consideration of control, funding and quality

OpenAIRE

Bathmaker, A.-M.

2003-01-01

Since the Robbins Report of 1963, higher education in the UK has undergone major expansion, changing it from an elite to a mass system. This chapter explores the changing socio-economic context in which this transformation has taken place, and considers how the expansion of higher education has raised issues of control, quality and funding.

Proposal for evaluating the quality of reports of surgical interventions in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia: the Surgical Trigeminal Neuralgia Score.

Science.gov (United States)

Akram, Harith; Mirza, Bilal; Kitchen, Neil; Zakrzewska, Joanna M

2013-09-01

The aim of this study was to design a checklist with a scoring system for reporting on studies of surgical interventions for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and to validate it by a review of the recent literature. A checklist with a scoring system, the Surgical Trigeminal Neuralgia Score (STNS), was devised partially based on the validated STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) criteria and customized for TN after a literature review and then applied to a series of articles. These articles were identified using a prespecified MEDLINE and Embase search covering the period from 2008 to 2010. Of the 584 articles found, 59 were studies of interventional procedures for TN that fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 56 could be obtained in full. The STNS was then applied independently by 3 of the authors. The maximum STNS came to 30, and was reliable and reproducible when used by the 3 authors who performed the scoring. The range of scores was 6-23.5, with a mean of 14 for all the journals. The impact factor scores of the journals in which the papers were published ranged from 0 to 4.8. Twenty-four of the studies were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery or in Neurosurgery. Studies published in neurosurgical journals ranked higher on the STNS scale than those published in nonneurosurgical journals. There was no statistically significant correlation between STNS and impact factors. Stereotactic radiosurgery (n = 25) and microvascular decompression (n = 15) were the most commonly reported procedures. The diagnostic criteria were stated in 35% of the studies, and 4 studies reported subtypes of TN. An increasing number of studies (46%) used the recommended Kaplan-Meier methodology for pain survival outcomes. The follow-up period was unclear in 8 studies, and 26 reported follow-ups of more than 5 years. Complications were reported fairly consistently but the temporal course was not always indicated. Direct interview, telephone conversation

[Prognostic scores for pulmonary embolism].

Science.gov (United States)

Junod, Alain

2016-03-23

Nine prognostic scores for pulmonary embolism (PE), based on retrospective and prospective studies, published between 2000 and 2014, have been analyzed and compared. Most of them aim at identifying PE cases with a low risk to validate their ambulatory care. Important differences in the considered outcomes: global mortality, PE-specific mortality, other complications, sizes of low risk groups, exist between these scores. The most popular score appears to be the PESI and its simplified version. Few good quality studies have tested the applicability of these scores to PE outpatient care, although this approach tends to already generalize in the medical practice.

Academic goals and learning quality in higher education students.

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Antonio; Núñez, José C; Cabanach, Ramón G; González-Pienda, Julio A; Rodríguez, Susana; Rosário, Pedro; Muñoz-Cadavid, María A; Cerezo, Rebeca

2009-05-01

In this paper, the relations between academic goals and various indicators that define the quality of the learning process are analyzed. The purpose was to determine to what extent high, moderate, or low levels of academic goals were positively or negatively related to effort regulation, the value assigned to academic tasks, meta-cognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy, beliefs about learning control, and management of time and study environment. The investigation was carried out with a sample of 632 university students (70% female and 30% male) and mean age of 21.22 (SD=2.2).The results show that learning goals, or task orientation, are positively related to all the indictors of learning quality considered herein. Although for other kinds of goals-work-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals-significant relations were not found with all the indicators, there was a similar tendency of significant results in all cases; the higher the levels of these goals, the lower the levels of the indicators of learning quality.

QUASAR--scoring and ranking of sequence-structure alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Birzele, Fabian; Gewehr, Jan E; Zimmer, Ralf

2005-12-15

Sequence-structure alignments are a common means for protein structure prediction in the fields of fold recognition and homology modeling, and there is a broad variety of programs that provide such alignments based on sequence similarity, secondary structure or contact potentials. Nevertheless, finding the best sequence-structure alignment in a pool of alignments remains a difficult problem. QUASAR (quality of sequence-structure alignments ranking) provides a unifying framework for scoring sequence-structure alignments that aids finding well-performing combinations of well-known and custom-made scoring schemes. Those scoring functions can be benchmarked against widely accepted quality scores like MaxSub, TMScore, Touch and APDB, thus enabling users to test their own alignment scores against 'standard-of-truth' structure-based scores. Furthermore, individual score combinations can be optimized with respect to benchmark sets based on known structural relationships using QUASAR's in-built optimization routines.

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN RWANDAN HIGHER LEARNING EDUCATION: IS THE SYSTEM ADAPTIVE OR COMPLEX?

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Nathan Kanuma Taremwa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Developing knowledge infrastructure by massive investments in education and training are taken as a benchmark in facilitating the acceleration and possible increases in skills, capacities and competences of Rwandan people has become apriority issue in the recent years. This notion is relevant to vision 2020 where human resource development and building of a knowledge based economy are fundamental pillars. In the past years, several policy reforms have taken place in education sector. However, the overarching question is if such reforms are becoming adaptive or complex and if such reforms will not compromise the quality of education in higher learning education in Rwanda? The main objective of the study was to investigate the impact of changes in Higher Learning Institutions on the quality of education in Rwanda. This research had three hypotheses, namely; there is an impact of changes in Higher Learning Institutions on quality of education in Rwanda; the current complexity in Rwandan education system is affecting the quality of education in HLIs; Tailoring education system to the regional reforms and implementation strategies is affecting the quality of education in Rwanda. This study was carried out in 10 higher learning institutions (5 public, 5 private and 2 Ministry of Education directorates (HEC and REB. Key informants were the senior management/head of institutions, experienced academic staff, and students. The parameters considered included; the learning methods, assessment styles, workloads, language of instruction, merging of public HLIs, curriculum, and the transformation of some private higher learning institutions into company forms. Main research instruments were questionnaires and interview guides. Both qualitative and quantitative research was collected. Analyses were done using SPSS and excel packages. Major findings indicate that the system is still in transition with indicative gaps. Ample time would therefore be necessary for

Academic Staff Quality in Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of Portuguese Public Administration Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sarrico, Cláudia S.; Alves, André A.

2016-01-01

Higher education accreditation frameworks typically consider academic staff quality a key element. This article embarks on an empirical study of what academic staff quality means, how it is measured, and how different aspects of staff quality relate to each other. It draws on the relatively nascent Portuguese experience with study programme…

Student Motivations, Quality and Status in Adult Higher Education (AHE) in China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Naixia; Morgan, W. John

2009-01-01

This article examines an important and yet neglected aspect of the relationship between higher education and the labour market in contemporary China. It does this through a detailed case study of student motivations, quality and status in adult higher education (AHE) in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. This is a region which has seen major…

The CSIRO Healthy Diet Score: An Online Survey to Estimate Compliance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines

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Gilly A. Hendrie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available There are few dietary assessment tools that are scientifically developed and freely available online. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO Healthy Diet Score survey asks questions about the quantity, quality, and variety of foods consumed. On completion, individuals receive a personalised Diet Score—reflecting their overall compliance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Over 145,000 Australians have completed the survey since it was launched in May 2015. The average Diet Score was 58.8 out of a possible 100 (SD = 12.9. Women scored higher than men; older adults higher than younger adults; and normal weight adults higher than obese adults. It was most common to receive feedback about discretionary foods (73.8% of the sample, followed by dairy foods (55.5% and healthy fats (47.0%. Results suggest that Australians’ diets are not consistent with the recommendations in the guidelines. The combination of using technology and providing the tool free of charge has attracted a lot of traffic to the website, providing valuable insights into what Australians’ report to be eating. The use of technology has also enhanced the user experience, with individuals receiving immediate and personalised feedback. This survey tool will be useful to monitor population diet quality and understand the degree to Australians’ diets comply with dietary guidelines.

The Need for Context-Sensitive Measures of Educational Quality in Transnational Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Pyvis, David

2011-01-01

This paper argues that the current approach to educational quality formation in transnational higher education promotes educational imperialism, and that guidelines and practices should be altered to embrace context-sensitive measures of quality. The claims are sustained by findings from a study that investigated how academics understood and…

Incorporating Learning Characteristics into Automatic Essay Scoring Models: What Individual Differences and Linguistic Features Tell Us about Writing Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Crossley, Scott A.; Allen, Laura K.; Snow, Erica L.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

This study investigates a novel approach to automatically assessing essay quality that combines natural language processing approaches that assess text features with approaches that assess individual differences in writers such as demographic information, standardized test scores, and survey results. The results demonstrate that combining text…

Positive attitude toward healthy eating predicts higher diet quality at all cost levels of supermarkets.

Science.gov (United States)

Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J; Drewnowski, Adam

2014-02-01

Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life among adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José J. Muros

Full Text Available Abstract Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the association between body mass index, physical activity, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and health-related quality of life in a sample of Spanish adolescents. Method: The study involved 456 adolescents aged between 11 and 14 years. They completed questionnaires on the Mediterranean diet (KIDMED, physical activity (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children [PAQ-C], and quality of life (KIDSCREEN-27. Body mass index was calculated. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to determine whether health-related quality of life could be predicted by the measured variables. The variables were analyzed in a stepwise manner, with Mediterranean diet entered in the first step, body mass index in the second, and physical activity in the third. Results: Mediterranean diet accounted for 4.6% of the variance in adolescent's health-related quality of life, with higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet predicting higher health-related quality of life-scores. Body mass index accounted for a further 4.1% of the variance, with a higher body mass index predicting lower health-related quality of life scores. Finally, physical activity explained an additional 11.3% of the variance, with a higher level of physical activity being associated with higher health-related quality of life scores. Together, these variables explained 20% of the variance in the adolescents' health-related quality of life. Conclusions: Physical activity, body mass index, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet are important components to consider when targeting improvements in the health-related quality of life of adolescents, with physical activity representing the component with the greatest influence.

Psychosocial and Quality of Life in Women Receiving the 21-Gene Recurrence Score Assay: The Impact of Decision Style in Women with Intermediate RS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sulayman, N.; Spellman, E.; Graves, K. D.; Peshkin, B. N.; Isaacs, C.; Schwartz, M. D.; O’Neill, S. C.

2012-01-01

Multigene assays such as the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) quantify risk for recurrence and potential benefit from chemotherapy in early-stage, ER+ breast cancers. Few studies have assessed the impact of testing on patient-reported outcomes such as cancer-related distress or quality of life. The few studies that have assessed these outcomes do not consider potential modifiers, such as the patients’ level of involvement in the treatment decision-making process. In the current study, 81 breast cancer patients who received the RS assay completed cross-sectional surveys. We used linear multiple regression to assess whether test result, decision-making role (passive versus shared/active), and their interaction contributed to current levels of distress, quality of life, and decisional conflict. There were no associations between these variables and test result or decision-making role. However, women who received an intermediate RS and took a passive role in their care reported higher-cancer-related distress and cancer worry and lower quality of life than those who took a shared or active role. These data should be confirmed in prospective samples, as these poorer outcomes could be amenable to intervention

Psychosocial and Quality of Life in Women Receiving the 21-Gene Recurrence Score Assay: The Impact of Decision Style in Women with Intermediate RS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadiyah Sulayman

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Multigene assays such as the 21-gene recurrence score (RS quantify risk for recurrence and potential benefit from chemotherapy in early-stage, ER+ breast cancers. Few studies have assessed the impact of testing on patient-reported outcomes such as cancer-related distress or quality of life. The few studies that have assessed these outcomes do not consider potential modifiers, such as the patients’ level of involvement in the treatment decision-making process. In the current study, 81 breast cancer patients who received the RS assay completed cross-sectional surveys. We used linear multiple regression to assess whether test result, decision-making role (passive versus shared/active, and their interaction contributed to current levels of distress, quality of life, and decisional conflict. There were no associations between these variables and test result or decision-making role. However, women who received an intermediate RS and took a passive role in their care reported higher-cancer-related distress and cancer worry and lower quality of life than those who took a shared or active role. These data should be confirmed in prospective samples, as these poorer outcomes could be amenable to intervention.

Assessing Quality and Evaluating Performance in Higher Education: Worlds Apart or Complementary Views?

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Sarrico, Claudia S.; Rosa, Maria J.; Teixeira, Pedro N.; Cardoso, Margarida F.

2010-01-01

This paper reflects on quality assessment and performance evaluation in higher education, namely by analysing the insufficient link between those two aspects. We start by reviewing the current state of the art regarding different processes and mechanisms of quality assessment and performance evaluation and discuss some of the major issues…

The use of the SF-36 questionnaire in adult survivors of childhood cancer: evaluation of data quality, score reliability, and scaling assumptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winter David L

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The SF-36 has been used in a number of previous studies that have investigated the health status of childhood cancer survivors, but it never has been evaluated regarding data quality, scaling assumptions, and reliability in this population. As health status among childhood cancer survivors is being increasingly investigated, it is important that the measurement instruments are reliable, validated and appropriate for use in this population. The aim of this paper was to determine whether the SF-36 questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing self-perceived health status of adult survivors of childhood cancer. Methods We examined the SF-36 to see how it performed with respect to (1 data completeness, (2 distribution of the scale scores, (3 item-internal consistency, (4 item-discriminant validity, (5 internal consistency, and (6 scaling assumptions. For this investigation we used SF-36 data from a population-based study of 10,189 adult survivors of childhood cancer. Results Overall, missing values ranged per item from 0.5 to 2.9 percent. Ceiling effects were found to be highest in the role limitation-physical (76.7% and role limitation-emotional (76.5% scales. All correlations between items and their hypothesised scales exceeded the suggested standard of 0.40 for satisfactory item-consistency. Across all scales, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability was found to be higher than the suggested value of 0.70. Consistent across all cancer groups, the physical health related scale scores correlated strongly with the Physical Component Summary (PCS scale scores and weakly with the Mental Component Summary (MCS scale scores. Also, the mental health and role limitation-emotional scales correlated strongly with the MCS scale score and weakly with the PCS scale score. Moderate to strong correlations with both summary scores were found for the general health perception, energy/vitality, and social functioning

An approach to quality classification of deep groundwaters in Sweden and Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laaksoharju, M.; Smellie, J.; Ruotsalainen, P.; Snellman, M.

1993-11-01

The quality and representativeness of groundwaters sampled in the Swedish SKB and in the Finnish TVO nuclear waste disposal site investigations have been evaluated. By definition a high quality sample is considered to be the one which best reflects the undisturbed hydrological and geochemical in situ conditions for the sampled section. Manual (expert judgement), statistical multivariate, mixing models and quality scoring system have been used to classify the waters regarding representativity. The constructed scoring system is best suited for quality classification, although the expert judgement is always needed as a complement. The observations are scored on a continuous scale based on the response of selected quality indicating parameters. Less representative samples are not rejected but given a value indicating the confidence of the observation. Finnish data obtained 45% of the possible scores compared to 55% for the Swedish data. The quality is generally 10% higher in the Swedish samples compared to the Finnish samples. The difference in sampling procedure is the probable reason for this

Higher-Order Factor Analysis as a Score Validity Evaluation Tool: An Example with a Measure of Perceptions of Library Service Quality.

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Cook, Colleen; Thompson, Bruce

The SERVQUAL measure was developed by A. Parasuraman, L. Berry, and V. Zeithaml (1988) to measure perceptions of service quality, originally in the retailing sector. However, libraries and other educational institutions are also service providers. Librarians in particular have increasingly become interested in measuring quality of service as the…

The relationship between social capital and quality management systems in European hospitals: a quantitative study.

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Hammer, Antje; Arah, Onyebuchi A; Dersarkissian, Maral; Thompson, Caroline A; Mannion, Russell; Wagner, Cordula; Ommen, Oliver; Sunol, Rosa; Pfaff, Holger

2013-01-01

Strategic leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality improvement in hospital settings. Furthermore, the quality of leadership depends crucially on a common set of shared values and mutual trust between hospital management board members. According to the concept of social capital, these are essential requirements for successful cooperation and coordination within groups. We assume that social capital within hospital management boards is an important factor in the development of effective organizational systems for overseeing health care quality. We hypothesized that the degree of social capital within the hospital management board is associated with the effectiveness and maturity of the quality management system in European hospitals. We used a mixed-method approach to data collection and measurement in 188 hospitals in 7 European countries. For this analysis, we used responses from hospital managers. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a multilevel linear regression analysis of the association between social capital and the quality management system score at the hospital level, controlling for hospital ownership, teaching status, number of beds, number of board members, organizational culture, and country clustering. The average social capital score within a hospital management board was 3.3 (standard deviation: 0.5; range: 1-4) and the average hospital score for the quality management index was 19.2 (standard deviation: 4.5; range: 0-27). Higher social capital was associated with higher quality management system scores (regression coefficient: 1.41; standard error: 0.64, p=0.029). The results suggest that a higher degree of social capital exists in hospitals that exhibit higher maturity in their quality management systems. Although uncontrolled confounding and reverse causation cannot be completely ruled out, our new findings, along with the results of previous research, could have important implications for the work of

The Operation Mechanisms of External Quality Assurance Frameworks of Foreign Higher Education and Implications for Graduate Education

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Lin, Mengquan; Chang, Kai; Gong, Le

2016-01-01

The higher education quality evaluation and assurance frameworks and their operating mechanisms of countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and the United States show that higher education systems, traditional culture, and social background all impact quality assurance operating mechanisms. A model analysis of these higher education quality…

Regional 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Hypometabolism is Associated with Higher Apathy Scores Over Time in Early Alzheimer Disease.

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Gatchel, Jennifer R; Donovan, Nancy J; Locascio, Joseph J; Becker, J Alex; Rentz, Dorene M; Sperling, Reisa A; Johnson, Keith A; Marshall, Gad A

2017-07-01

Apathy is among the earliest and most pervasive neuropsychiatric symptoms in prodromal and mild Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia that correlates with functional impairment and disease progression. We investigated the association of apathy with regional 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) metabolism in cognitively normal, mild cognitive impairment, and AD dementia subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. 57 North American research sites. 402 community dwelling elders. Apathy was assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire. Baseline FDG metabolism in five regions implicated in the neurobiology of apathy and AD was investigated in relationship to apathy at baseline (cross-sectional general linear model) and longitudinally (mixed random/fixed effect model). Covariates included age, sex, diagnosis, apolipoprotein E genotype, premorbid intelligence, cognition, and antidepressant use. Cross-sectional analysis revealed that posterior cingulate hypometabolism, diagnosis, male sex, and antidepressant use were associated with higher apathy scores. Longitudinal analysis revealed that the interaction of supramarginal hypometabolism and time, posterior cingulate hypometabolism, and antidepressant use were associated with higher apathy scores across time; only supramarginal hypometabolism was positively related to rate of increase of apathy. Results support an association of apathy with hypometabolism in parietal regions commonly affected in early stages of AD, rather than medial frontal regions implicated in the neurobiology of apathy in later stages. Further work is needed to substantiate whether this localization is specific to apathy rather than to disease stage, and to investigate the potential role of AD proteinopathies in the pathogenesis of apathy. Copyright © 2017 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Diquafosol Ophthalmic Solution on Quality of Life in Dry Eye Assessed Using the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score Questionnaire: Effectiveness in Patients While Reading and Using Visual Display Terminals.

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Utsunomiya, Tsugiaki; Kawahara, Atsushi; Hanada, Kazuomi; Yoshida, Akitoshi

2017-08-01

Diquafosol ophthalmic solution improves objective findings in the ocular surface and subjective symptoms in patients with dry eye. The Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score (DEQS) questionnaire was developed to assess dry eye symptoms and their effects on quality of life. However, because little research using the DEQS has been reported, we evaluated the effects of diquafosol ophthalmic solution on ocular surface findings and quality of life using the DEQS in patients with dry eye. Sixty-three patients with dry eye were assigned to the control group (artificial tears) or diquafosol group. Both groups instilled 1 drop of the solution in both eyes 6 times daily and were evaluated after 2 weeks; the diquafosol group also was instructed to be examined at 1 and 3 months. We evaluated the subjective symptoms using the DEQS, fluorescein staining score, tear film breakup time (BUT), Schirmer testing, and lower tear meniscus height with anterior-segment optical coherence tomography. In the diquafosol group, the fluorescein staining score, BUT, tear meniscus height, and DEQS scores improved significantly compared with before treatment in contrast to the control group. Furthermore, in the diquafosol group, the staining score and BUT improved significantly compared with the control group. Analysis of each DEQS item indicated that diquafosol ophthalmic solution relieved foreign body sensation and problems when reading and using visual display terminals compared with the control group. Diquafosol ophthalmic solution was effective in patients with dry eye, especially those with foreign body sensation and problems when reading and using visual display terminals.

Reinterpreting Higher Education Quality in Response to Policies of Mass Education: The Australian Experience

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Pitman, Tim

2014-01-01

This article explores the relationship between mass education, higher education quality and policy development in Australia in the period 2008-2014, during which access to higher education was significantly increased. Over this time, which included a change of national government, the discursive relationship between mass higher education and…

Online self-assessment as a quality assurance tool in higher professional education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prof. Rene Butter

2014-01-01

Theme: Quality Assurance in Higher Education An online tool was developed for (potential) students to assess the congruence between the characteristics of an educational program and student preferences (Butter & Van Raalten, 2010)

The Mediterranean Diet Score Is More Strongly Associated with Favorable Cardiometabolic Risk Factors over 2 Years Than Other Diet Quality Indexes in Puerto Rican Adults.

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Mattei, Josiemer; Sotos-Prieto, Mercedes; Bigornia, Sherman J; Noel, Sabrina E; Tucker, Katherine L

2017-04-01

Background: Multiple diet quality scores have been used to evaluate adherence to specific dietary recommendations or to consumption of healthful foods and nutrients. It remains unknown which score can more strongly predict longitudinal changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Objective: We aimed to determine associations of 5 diet quality scores [AHA diet score (AHA-DS), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005, Mediterranean diet score (MeDS), and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)] with 2-y changes in cardiometabolic risk factors in adults 45-75 y old. Methods: Data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study were analyzed ( n = 1194). Diet quality scores were calculated from a baseline-validated food-frequency questionnaire. Multivariable-adjusted, repeated-subjects, mixed-effects models, adjusted for baseline measures, estimated associations between each z score and 14 individual cardiometabolic factors measured at 2 y. Results: MeDS was significantly associated with lower 2-y waist circumference (β coefficient ± SE: -0.52 ± 0.26, P = 0.048); body mass index (BMI; -0.23 ± 0.08, P = 0.005); log-insulin (-0.06 ± 0.02, P = 0.005); log-homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; -0.05 ± 0.02, P = 0.030), and log-C-reactive protein (-0.13 ± 0.03, P = 0.0002). Similar but weaker associations were observed for the AHEI with BMI, insulin, and HOMA-IR. The AHA-DS was inversely associated with BMI (-0.17 ± 0.08, P = 0.033). Neither the HEI-2005 nor DASH was significantly associated with any variable. Traditional Puerto Rican foods consumed by individuals with high MeDSs included vegetables and meats in homemade soups, orange juice, oatmeal, beans and legumes, fish, whole milk, corn oil, and beer. Conclusions: The MeDS comprises food components and scores associated with a favorable cardiometabolic profile over 2 y in Puerto Rican adults. An overall healthy diet may be particularly beneficial for

Trance, Transparency and Transformation: The Impact of External Quality Monitoring on Higher Education.

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Stensaker, Bjorn

2003-01-01

Discusses the impact of external quality monitoring (EQM) on higher education and identifies areas in which changes have taken place as a result of such external initiatives. Suggests that the lack of effects related directly to quality improvement should not be conceived as an EQM design error, but rather as a misconception of how organizational…

Assessment of sleep quality and correlates in a large cohort of Colombian women around menopause.

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Monterrosa-Castro, Alvaro; Marrugo-Flórez, Martha; Romero-Pérez, Ivette; Fernández-Alonso, Ana M; Chedraui, Peter; Pérez-López, Faustino R

2013-04-01

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between self-reported sleep quality, menopausal symptom intensity, and correlates (including ethnicity) among middle-aged women. The present cross-sectional study involved 1,078 Colombian women aged 40 to 59 years who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), and a general questionnaire exploring sociodemographic data. The median [interquartile range] age of the whole sample was 49.0 [9.0] years. Among the participants, 45.4% were postmenopausal, 57.2% had increased body mass index values, 13.9% were black, 20.7% had hypertension, 74.1% had a stable partner, and 3.8% used hormone therapy. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 57.1% (PSQI global score ≥5). Significant correlations between PSQI global scores and MRS total and subscale scores were found. Multiple linear regression analysis found that higher PSQI scores (poorer quality of sleep) correlated with higher MRS psychological and somatic subscale scores (more severe symptoms), smoking habit, and hypertension. Menopause status and black ethnicity were excluded from the final regression model. Despite study limitations, poor sleep quality is highly prevalent in this large middle-aged Colombian female sample and is related to menopausal symptom severity, tobacco use, and presence of hypertension.

The Contribution of Professional Accreditation to Quality Assurance in Higher Education

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de Paor, Cathal

2016-01-01

This article examines the extent to which the professional accreditation of professional higher education programmes can complement other quality assurance endeavours being carried out. An analysis of a sample of professional accreditation reports for pharmacy education programmes in Ireland provides insight into the priorities of the regulatory…

Relationship between body mass index, fat mass and lean mass with SF-36 quality of life scores in a group of fibromyalgia patients.

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Arranz, Laura; Canela, Miguel Angel; Rafecas, Magda

2012-11-01

Patients suffering from fibromyalgia (FM) had widespread musculoskeletal pain and stiffness, fatigue, sleep disorders, cognitive impairment and other symptoms, which seriously affects their quality of life (QoL), making it difficult to perform normal activities. Moreover, FM has been associated with a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than in the general population. Weight reduction has been beneficial in both FM and other rheumatic patients. Obesity and overweight have been pointed as playing a relevant role in FM symptoms; however, it is necessary to find out more about this relationship. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), fat mass (fM) and lean mass (lM) with quality of life in a group of FM patients. 103 women, with a mean age of 53.74 ± 7.81, and members of different FM patient associations from Spain participated in our study. Some anthropometric measures were taken like weight, height, BMI, body fat mass and lean mass. FM patients QoL was assessed by the Short-Form Health Survey, SF-36 questionnaire. Statistical reports were based on mean, standard deviation and correlation, but significance was tested by nonparametric methods. BMI, fM and lM correlated differently with the specific SF-36 scores. BMI had a high negative correlation with emotional role, fM with bodily pain and lM almost with all scores but specially with emotional role, vitality and physical role. The outcome of this study reveals some interesting relationships, which need to be further investigated to improve the management of FM patients.

The Role of Higher Education in National Quality Infrastructure Policy-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Ruso

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to raise awareness of the importance of the policy makers’ knowledge and expertise about quality infrastructure (QI for the successful policy-making. This article, which addresses the role of higher education in Serbian quality infrastructure policy-making, is an analysis of QI related contents of higher education institution curriculum. The target institutions are public faculties from whose official websites the data were collected. Depending on the keywords, the analysis was performed in order to classify the faculties into three categories. After reviewing the 307 subject titles and descriptions of undergraduate courses, the results show that the concepts of QI are widely recognized as an important and popular topic. The analysis of the QI adoption and diffusion indicates that although some of the faculties might be ‘leaders’ in a particular dimension, they still do not necessarily fall into the ‘leader’ category. JEL Classification:I21, I23, H54, L15

Quality of life in Swedish children with congenital ichthyosis

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Agneta Gånemo

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Congenital ichthyosis encompasses a large group of keratinizing disorders with widespread scaling and a variable degree of erythema. Little is known about the quality of life in children with congenital ichthyosis and the impact of the disease on their family. Fifteen children aged 5-16 years with lamellar ichthyosis, Netherton’s syndrome, epidermolytic hyperkeratosis or Harlequin ichthyosis, were investigated concerning the effect of their ichthyosis on their quality of life. This was measured with the established Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI, and the Dermatitis Family Impact questionnaire (DFI modified by substituting the word ichthyosis for eczema. The questionnaires covered the preceding seven days and each had a maximum score of 30: the higher the score, the greater the Quality of Life impairment. The median score was 9.0 (range 2-19 for the CDLQI and 9.0 (range 3-21 for DFI. There was a significant correlation between the DFI and the CDLQI scores. The item in the CDLQI questionnaire that showed the highest score was “itchy, scratchy, sore or painful skin” and the most highly scored item in the DFI questionnaire was effect on “housework, e.g. washing, cleaning”; both items related to the children’s symptoms. The results of the study clearly establish that congenital ichthyosis impairs the quality of life of the affected children and their families.

Quality of life and physical activity in a sample of Brazilian older adults.

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Guedes, Dartagnan P; Hatmann, Angélica C; Martini, Fábio Antônio N; Borges, Marcelo B; Bernardelli, Rinaldo

2012-03-01

To investigate the association between physical activity and quality of life in a sample of Brazilian older adults. The Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Older Adults Module and International Physical Activity Questionnaire was administered to 1,204 subjects (645 women and 559 men) aged ≥ 60 years. Older adults of both genders who reported to be more physically active attributed higher scores to the sensory ability, autonomy, and intimacy domains, in addition to presenting significantly higher overall quality of life, irrespectively of age, marital status, educational level, and socioeconomic status. Specifically in women, the scores obtained for the social participation domain were significantly higher in the strata of active and very active subjects when compared to sedentary subjects. The results indicate that increases in the levels of physical activity can contribute to improvements in quality of life of older adults.

Applying Total Quality Management Tools Using QFD at Higher Education Institutions in Gulf Area (Case Study: ALHOSN University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Al-Bashir

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Human power’s quality plays the key role in the growth and development of societies where the quality of human powers can be enriched with the high quality education provided by the higher education institutions. The higher education institutions are hereby an important sector of any society since it defines the overall quality of human lives. This research will investigate the application of Total Quality Management (TQM tools at the higher education institutions; specifically at ALHOSN University. In this study five tools were implemented at ALHOSN University’s engineering college including: Quality Function Deployment, Affinity Diagrams, Tree Diagrams, Pareto Charts, and Fishbone Diagrams. The research will reveal that the implementation of TQM tools has a great benefit for higher education institutions where they have uncovered many area of potential improvement as well as the main causes of some of the problems the Faculty of Engineering is facing. Also, it will show that the implementation of TQM tools on higher education institution systems will enhance the performance of such institutions.

Specific Remedy for Specific Problem: Measuring Service Quality in South African Higher Education

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de Jager, Johan; Gbadamosi, Gbolahan

2010-01-01

This study commences a process of developing a scale for the measurement of service quality in higher education in South Africa and also examines the relationship between the measures of service quality on the one hand and some other related variables such as intention to leave the university, trust in management of the university and the overall…

Quality of Life Among Dental Students: A Survey Study.

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Andre, Amanda; Pierre, Gaelle C; McAndrew, Maureen

2017-10-01

Quality of life is a complex construct that affects the overall life satisfaction, emotional well-being, and functioning of individuals. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of life of dental students at one U.S. dental school, using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF, a multi-dimensional, cross-cultural, validated, and reliable survey instrument. Of the 1,437 students invited to participate, 401 students responded, but 17 were excluded because of missing data. The final sample consisted of 384 students for an overall response rate of 27%: response rates by year were first year 32.6%, second year 16.9%, third year 26.6%, and fourth year 24.0%. The results showed that the responding students rated their overall quality of life as good. The Physical Health domain had the highest mean score, while the Psychological domain had the lowest. Females reported higher quality of life than males in the Social Relationships domain. Single students were found to have a lower perceived quality of life than married students. Older students were found to have lower perceived quality of life in the Physical Health and Environment domains. Physical Health domain scores were significantly higher for fourth-year than first-year respondents, while Psychological domain scores were significantly lower for third-year than first-year respondents. Further research is needed to explore the effect of dental school on the quality of life of dental students. Targeted programs to impact students' quality of life at various points in the curriculum may be beneficial.

Balanced Scorecard in Higher Education Institutions: Congruence and Roles to Quality Assurance Practices

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Reda, Nigusse W.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to highlight the congruence and roles of the balanced scorecard in the quality assurance practices in higher education institutions, and second, to propose a balanced scorecard model for higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive literature review was used to…

Educational attainment, perceived control and the quality of women's diets.

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Barker, Mary; Lawrence, Wendy; Crozier, Sarah; Robinson, Siân; Baird, Janis; Margetts, Barrie; Cooper, Cyrus

2009-06-01

Data from the Southampton Women's Survey have established that women of lower educational attainment have poorer quality diets than those of higher educational attainment. This relationship is strong and graded such that for every increase in level of educational qualification, there is an increase in the likelihood that a woman will have a better quality diet. It is not wholly explained by socio-economic status. Qualitative research carried out in Southampton suggests that women of lower educational attainment may have a poorer diet because they feel they lack control over the food choices they make for themselves and their families. We set out to investigate the relationship between educational attainment, perceived control and quality of diet in a sample of women from Southampton. Cross-sectional study using structured interviews in which women's diet, educational attainment and perceived control were assessed. 19 Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. 372 women, median age 28 years. Quality of diet assessed by prudent diet score produced from principal components analysis of 20-item food frequency questionnaire, and perceived control assessed by a validated questionnaire. Women of lower educational attainment tended to have lower prudent diet scores and lower perceived control scores than women of higher educational attainment. Having a lower prudent diet score was associated with consuming fewer vegetables and vegetable dishes, less wholemeal bread and vegetarian food, and more chips and roast potatoes, meat pies, Yorkshire puddings and pancakes, crisps and snacks, white bread and added sugar. In a regression model both lower educational attainment and lower perceived control were associated with lower prudent diet scores, independent of the effects of confounding factors. However there was an interaction effect such that lower perceived control was only related to prudent diet score in the group of women of lower educational attainment. Women

Higher prices, higher quality? Evidence from German nursing homes

OpenAIRE

Herr, Annika; Hottenrott, Hanna

2016-01-01

Objectives: This study investigates the relationship between prices and quality of 7,400 German nursing homes controlling for income, nursing home density, demographics, labour market characteristics, and infrastructure at the regional level. Method: We use a cross section of public quality reports for all German nursing homes, which had been evaluated between 2010 and 2013 by external institutions. Our analysis is based on multivariate regressions in a two stage least squares framework, wher...

Methodological quality of systematic reviews on influenza vaccination.

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Remschmidt, Cornelius; Wichmann, Ole; Harder, Thomas

2014-03-26

There is a growing body of evidence on the risks and benefits of influenza vaccination in various target groups. Systematic reviews are of particular importance for policy decisions. However, their methodological quality can vary considerably. To investigate the methodological quality of systematic reviews on influenza vaccination (efficacy, effectiveness, safety) and to identify influencing factors. A systematic literature search on systematic reviews on influenza vaccination was performed, using MEDLINE, EMBASE and three additional databases (1990-2013). Review characteristics were extracted and the methodological quality of the reviews was evaluated using the assessment of multiple systematic reviews (AMSTAR) tool. U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, and multivariable linear regression analysis were used to assess the influence of review characteristics on AMSTAR-score. Fourty-six systematic reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Average methodological quality was high (median AMSTAR-score: 8), but variability was large (AMSTAR range: 0-11). Quality did not differ significantly according to vaccination target group. Cochrane reviews had higher methodological quality than non-Cochrane reviews (p=0.001). Detailed analysis showed that this was due to better study selection and data extraction, inclusion of unpublished studies, and better reporting of study characteristics (all p<0.05). In the adjusted analysis, no other factor, including industry sponsorship or journal impact factor had an influence on AMSTAR score. Systematic reviews on influenza vaccination showed large differences regarding their methodological quality. Reviews conducted by the Cochrane collaboration were of higher quality than others. When using systematic reviews to guide the development of vaccination recommendations, the methodological quality of a review in addition to its content should be considered. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Student as Customer: The Discourse of "Quality" in Higher Education.

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Baldwin, Gabrielle

1994-01-01

It is argued that bringing the cultures of business, industry and advertising into higher education, in the form of quality assurance systems, goes beyond a healthy challenge to be destructive of many traditional values of university culture. Imposition, and acceptance, of the language of management reflects this phenomenon. (MSE)

Do Men Produce Higher Quality Ejaculates When Primed With Thoughts of Partner Infidelity?

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Pham, Michael N; Barbaro, Nicole; Holub, Andrew M; Holden, Christopher J; Mogilski, Justin K; Lopes, Guilherme S; Nicolas, Sylis C A; Sela, Yael; Shackelford, Todd K; Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Welling, Lisa L M

2018-01-01

Sperm competition theory can be used to generate the hypothesis that men alter the quality of their ejaculates as a function of sperm competition risk. Using a repeated measures experimental design, we investigated whether men produce a higher quality ejaculate when primed with cues to sperm competition (i.e., imagined partner infidelity) relative to a control prime. Men ( n = 45) submitted two masturbatory ejaculates-one ejaculate sample for each condition (i.e., sperm competition and control conditions). Ejaculates were assessed on 17 clinical parameters. The results did not support the hypothesis: Men did not produce higher quality ejaculates in the sperm competition condition relative to the control condition. Despite the null results of the current research, there is evidence for psychological and physiological adaptations to sperm competition in humans. We discuss methodological limitations that may have produced the null results and present methodological suggestions for research on human sperm competition.

Modified PADSS (Post Anaesthetic Discharge Scoring System) for monitoring outpatients discharge.

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Palumbo, Piergaspare; Tellan, Guglielmo; Perotti, Bruno; Pacilè, Maria Antonietta; Vietri, Francesco; Illuminati, Giulio

2013-01-01

The decision to discharge a patient undergoing day surgery is a major step in the hospitalization pathway, because it must be achieved without compromising the quality of care, thus ensuring the same assistance and wellbeing as for a long-term stay. Therefore, the use of an objective assessment for the management of a fair and safe discharge is essential. The authors propose the Post Anaesthetic Discharge Scoring System (PADSS), which considers six criteria: vital signs, ambulation, nausea/vomiting, pain, bleeding and voiding. Each criterion is given a score ranging from 0 to 2. Only patients who achieve a score of 9 or more are considered ready for discharge. Furthermore, PADSS has been modified to ensure a higher level of safety, thus the "vital signs" criteria must never score lower than 2, and none of the other five criteria must ever be equal to 0, even if the total score reaches 9. The effectiveness of PADSS was analyzed on 2432 patients, by recording the incidence of postoperative complications and the readmission to hospital. So far PADDS has proved to be an efficient system that guarantees safe discharge.

The quality of life and satisfaction with life of women who are childless by choice.

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Bień, Agnieszka; Rzońca, Ewa; Iwanowicz-Palus, Grażyna; Lecyk, Urszula; Bojar, Iwona

2017-05-11

Objective. The study attempts to identify and analyze factors affecting the quality of life and satisfaction with life of women who are childless by choice. Materials and method. The research instruments used were: the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and author's own questionnaire. Results. A better overall quality of life, perception of own health and quality of life in all the specific domains analyzed was found among childless women living in cities, college/university-educated, and with a good or very good financial standing. Conclusions. A positive correlation was found between satisfaction with life and overall quality of life, general perceived health, and all quality of life domains. Higher satisfaction with life scores in childless women are correlated with a higher quality of life scores and better perceived health.

Body condition score (BCS and metabolic status of shelter dogs

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I. Andrighetto

2010-04-01

Full Text Available A group of 147 shelter dogs were weighted and assigned a body condition score (BCS using a 9 point scale system, in order to evaluate the prevalence of obesity in the kennel. More than 60% of the animals showed a BCS³6 (overweight and obese and this condition was mainly attributed to an excess of carbohydrates and fat in the diet. In 67/147 dogs, a blood sample was drawn and the effects of BCS, age and time spent in the shelter were evaluated on biochemical parameters. Obese dogs showed significantly higher levels of triglycerides (P<0.01, while increasing BCS determined only an increasing non significant trend on cholesterol values. Age influenced creatinine (P<0.05 and the oldest dogs scoring BCS³6 registered significant higher NEFA (P<0.05 and CK (P=0.01 levels. Time spent in the shelter did not affect any parameter. The dogs’ metabolic condition reflects the need of taking more care of the quality of feed administered in the shelters to avoid the negative health effects caused by chronic obesity.

Quality Management in the Higher Education of the Republic of Moldova as a Framework for University Performance

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Prisacaru Veronica

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This investigation is focused on two objectives: 1 explaining the relationship between quality management and performance management in higher education; 2 evaluating the existing quality management systems in the higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova. In order to accomplish the first objective, a comparative theoretical analysis of the quality management and performance management was carried out in terms of common aspects and distinctive peculiarities. Consequently, it was reasoned that the performance management system of a higher education institution is created and functions on the basis of the quality management system by extending the area of the quality objectives to the level at which they will ensure performance or, in other terms, by moving towards excellence. In order to achieve the second objective, an opinion survey for the teaching and managerial staff from 6 universities was carried out. As a consequence of processing the obtained results, there were identified problems related to the functioning of the quality management systems. The investigation resulted in the formulation of a set of recommendations for the higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova in order to increase the efficiency of the quality management systems functioning and thus to ensure an efficient management.

Interobserver agreement and performance score comparison in quality control using a breast phantom: screen-film mammography vs computed radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimamoto, Kazuhiro; Ikeda, Mitsuru; Satake, Hiroko; Ishigaki, Satoko; Sawaki, Akiko; Ishigaki, Takeo

2002-01-01

Our objective was to evaluate interobserver agreement and to compare the performance score in quality control of screen-film mammography and computed radiography (CR) using a breast phantom. Eleven radiologists interpreted a breast phantom image (CIRS model X) by four viewing methods: (a) original screen-film; (b) soft-copy reading of the digitized film image; (c) hard-copy reading of CR using an imaging plate; and (d) soft-copy reading of CR. For the soft-copy reading, a 17-in. CRT monitor (1024 x 1536 x 8 bits) was used. The phantom image was evaluated using a scoring system outlined in the instruction manual, and observers judged each object using a three-point rating scale: (a) clearly seen; (b) barely seen; and (c) not seen. For statistical analysis, the kappa statistic was employed. For ''mass'' depiction, interobserver agreement using CR was significantly lower than when using screen-film (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the kappa value for detecting ''microcalcification''; however, the performance score of ''microcalcification'' on CR hard-copy was significantly lower than on the other three viewing methods (p<0.05). Viewing methods (film or CR, soft-copy or hard-copy) could affect how the phantom image is judged. Paying special attention to viewing conditions is recommended for quality control of CR mammograms. (orig.)

Quality Assurance and the Shift Towards Private Governance in Higher Education

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Hartmann, Eva

2017-01-01

This contribution focuses on quality assurance (QA) agencies in the sphere of higher education. It develops a theoretical framework that interrelates systems theory with Gramsci's theory of hegemony with a view to situating this new control of universities in the broader context of a further...... differentiation of society and emerging heterarchical modes of governance. A closer study of the emerging European market of QA agencies highlights the European dimension of this differentiation and the role of the market in advancing a variable geometry in the context of the European Higher Education Area....

The association between self-reported sleep quality and metabolic syndrome.

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Hao-Chang Hung

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Short and long sleep duration are associated with metabolic syndrome. However, there is limited research on the association between sleep quality and metabolic syndrome, and thus the aim of this study is to investigate this relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional baseline data were collected from the decoded database of the Prevention Health Center of National Cheng Kung University Hospital from 2002 to 2006. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was according to the statement of the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI. A higher global PSQI score indicates poorer sleep quality, and a global PSQI score greater than five differentiates poor from good sleepers. RESULTS: Of the 3,435 subjects recruited, 899 (26.2% had metabolic syndrome. Subjects with metabolic syndrome had higher PSQI and prevalence of poor sleepers than those without metabolic syndrome. The multivariate lineal regression analysis showed that female gender, metabolic syndrome, sleep duration, snoring, alcohol drinking, and habitual exercise were independent predictors of PSQI. When substituting metabolic syndrome with the five components, hyperglycemia and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C were positively associated with PSQI. The multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that female gender, metabolic syndrome, sleep duration, and snoring were independently associated with being poor sleepers. Of the five components, only low HDL-C was an independent predictor of being poor sleepers. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with metabolic syndrome have higher global PSQI scores and a higher risk of being poor sleepers. Of the five components of metabolic syndrome, hyperglycemia and low HDL-C are independently associated with the global PSQI scores, while low HDL-C is an independent predictor of being poor sleepers.

Surfing for mouth guards: assessing quality of online information.

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Magunacelaya, Macarena B; Glendor, Ulf

2011-10-01

The Internet is an easily accessible and commonly used source of health-related information, but evaluations of the quality of this information within the dental trauma field are still lacking. The aims of this study are (i) to present the most current scientific knowledge regarding mouth guards used in sport activities, (ii) to suggest a scoring system to evaluate the quality of information pertaining to mouth guard protection related to World Wide Web sites and (iii) to employ this scoring system when seeking reliable mouth guard-related websites. First, an Internet search using the keywords 'athletic injuries/prevention and control' and 'mouth protector' or 'mouth guards' in English was performed on PubMed, Cochrane, SvedMed+ and Web of Science to identify scientific knowledge about mouth guards. Second, an Internet search using the keywords 'consumer health information Internet', 'Internet information public health' and 'web usage-seeking behaviour' was performed on PubMed and Web of Science to obtain scientific articles seeking to evaluate the quality of health information on the Web. Based on the articles found in the second search, two scoring systems were selected. Then, an Internet search using the keywords 'mouth protector', 'mouth guards' and 'gum shields' in English was performed on the search engines Google, MSN and Yahoo. The websites selected were evaluated for reliability and accuracy. Of the 223 websites retrieved, 39 were designated valid and evaluated. Nine sites scored 22 or higher. The mean total score of the 39 websites was 14.2. Fourteen websites scored higher than the mean total score, and 25 websites scored less. The highest total score, presented by a Public Institution Web site (Health Canada), was 31 from a maximum possible score of 34, and the lowest score was 0. This study shows that there is a high amount of information about mouth guards on the Internet but that the quality of this information varies. It should be the responsibility

Customer Quality of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease In Tabriz, 1391

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Roya Hasanzadeh

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background and objectives: Customer Quality is one of the most important dimensions of quality in health care which refers to service receiver's knowledge, attitude and skills that play effective role in treatment process. This study is aimed at assessing customer quality score in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Tabriz city in 2012. Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was conducted with the participation of 94 Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients who referred to Tabriz Imam Reza Hospital and Golgasht clinic. Customer Quality was measured using a questionnaire with 19 items which its validity was confirmed by 10 experts and its reliability was reviewed using Cronbach's alpha index (α =0.78.  Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS17.   Results: The results illustrated that average score of customer quality among patients with inflammatory bowel disease is 70.63 (±9.67. All the participants achieved stage 1 scores of Customer Quality in self-management but only 11.7% reported highest customer quality score and were able to continue their self-care in high pressure circumstances such as stress and financial problems. Also, there was a significant relation between customer quality score and patient’s education (P-value=0.05, so that by having higher education level, the customer quality score was increased as well. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that customer quality status in assessed patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease is partially acceptable, but major problems in some areas are evident and require more attention of health care managers and policy makers. ​

Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Clearing the Hurdles. A Survey on Strategies for Implementing Quality Management Practices in Higher Education. A GOAL/QPC Application Report.

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Seymour, Daniel

Based on a survey of Quality Management (QM) practitioners at 21 colleges, this study presents the 10 most difficult implementation hurdles to QM in higher education and a set of hurdle-clearing strategies. The hurdles are: (1) lack of time to implement QM; (2) perception that QM is something for janitorial and housing staffs but not applicable to…

Quality Assurance Strategies of Higher Education in Iraq and Kurdistan: A Case Study

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Kaghed, Nabeel; Dezaye, Ahmed

2009-01-01

This paper reports on two different strategies that have been implemented in Iraq to improve quality assurance in the higher education sector in Iraq. One strategy has been developed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Baghdad. It involved conducting a pilot study at the University of Babylon. This pilot included…

Healthy Eating Index scores associated with symptoms of depression in Cuban-Americans with and without type 2 diabetes: a cross sectional study

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Exebio Joel C

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Low diet quality and depression symptoms are independently associated with poor glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D; however, the relationship between them is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the association between diet quality and symptoms of depression among Cuban-Americans with and without T2D living in South Florida. Methods Subjects (n = 356 were recruited from randomly selected mailing list. Diet quality was determined using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-05 score. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI. Both linear and logistic regression analyses were run to determine whether or not these two variables were related. Symptoms of depression was the dependent variable and independent variables included HEI-05, gender, age, marital status, BMI, education level, A1C, employment status, depression medication, duration of diabetes, and diabetes status. Analysis of covariance was used to test for interactions among variables. Results An interaction between diabetes status, gender and HEI-05 was found (P = 0.011. Among males with a HEI-05 score ≤ 55.6, those with T2D had a higher mean BDI score than those without T2D (11.6 vs. 6.6 respectively, P = 0.028. Among males and females with a HEI-05 score ≤ 55.6, females without T2D had a higher mean BDI score compared to males without T2D (11.0 vs. 6.6 respectively, P = 0.012 Conclusions Differences in symptoms of depression according to diabetes status and gender are found in Cuban-Americans with low diet quality.

The quality and readability of internet information regarding clavicle fractures.

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Zhang, Dafang; Schumacher, Charles; Harris, Mitchel Byron

2016-03-01

The internet has become a major source of health information for patients. However, there has been little scrutiny of health information available on the internet to the public. Our objectives were to evaluate the quality and readability of information available on the internet regarding clavicle fractures and whether they changed with academic affiliation of the website or with complexity of the search term. Through a prospective evaluation of 3 search engines using 3 different search terms of varying complexity ("broken collarbone," "collarbone fracture," and "clavicle fracture"), we evaluated 91 website hits for quality and readability. Websites were specifically analyzed by search term and by website type. Information quality was evaluated on a four-point scale, and information readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid score for reading grade level. The average quality score for our website hits was low, and the average reading grade level was far above the recommended level. Academic websites offered significantly higher quality information, whereas commercial websites offered significantly lower quality information. The use of more complex search terms yielded information of higher reading grade level but not higher quality. Current internet information regarding clavicle fractures is of low quality and low readability. Higher quality information utilizing more accessible language on clavicle fractures is needed on the internet. It is important to be aware of the information accessible to patients prior to their presentation to our clinics. Patients should be advised to visit websites with academic affiliations and to avoid commercial websites. Copyright © 2015 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In patients suffering from idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy, anxiety scores are higher than in healthy controls, but do not vary according to sex or repeated central serous chorioretinopathy.

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Bazzazi, Nooshin; Ahmadpanah, Mohammad; Akbarzadeh, Siamak; Seif Rabiei, Mohammad Ali; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Brand, Serge

2015-01-01

Idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a relatively common ophthalmic disorder characterized by the development of a serous detachment of the sensory retina. Psychophysiological factors may trigger or maintain CSCR, though, surprisingly, the association between CSCR and anxiety has yet to be studied. The aims of the present study were threefold: to determine whether 1) Iranian patients with CSCR have higher scores for anxiety, 2) anxiety is lower, if CSCR has been experienced twice, and whether 3) anxiety scores differ between sexes. A total of 30 patients with CSCR and 30 healthy age-and sex-matched controls took part in the study. A brief face-to-face interview was conducted covering demographic variables and history and occurrence of CSCR and assessing anxiety. Compared to healthy controls, anxiety was significantly higher in both first-time and second-time CSCR patients. In CSCR patients, anxiety scores did not differ between sexes. Higher anxiety scores were observed in Iranian patients with CSCR, irrespective of whether this was the first or second occurrence of CSCR. This suggests there is no psychological adaptation in terms of reduced anxiety among patients with repeated CSCR.

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment.

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Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah; Skinner, Timothy C; Haslam, Cheryl; Robinson, Sian; Inskip, Hazel; Cooper, Cyrus; Barker, Mary

2011-02-01

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH: APPLICATION OF A MODIFIED SERVQUAL MODEL

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Md. Mamun-ur-Rashid

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Progressive importance, swelling investment, and mounting national and global competition necessitate evaluation of the service quality of higher education. Quantifiable indicators such as student teacher ratio, student number, women participation, establishing new departments, and increase in the number of universities are no longer enough unless the student’s stand point is considered. This research probed the service quality of higher education in a public university in southern Bangladesh utilizing modified SERVQUAL gap model. The t-test results suggest that there is a significant service gap in all the selected service dimensions such as learning, teaching, recognition, assessment system, internet and library facilities, campus life, and non-academic administration. The results also mirror that little more than half (54.1% students are satisfied with the service quality of the selected university and almost similar proportion (52.1 % of the students have future interest in studying in the same university. Regression analysis reveals that learning and recognition are two important determinants of client’s overall satisfaction with the service of selected university. Importance Performance Analysis (IPA advocates that the university should take immediate step in improving internet and library facilities, campus life, and non-academic administration. Factor analysis output confirms that slight modification of the proposed seven set model into six set factors can be employed by the management as off-the-rack service quality measurement tool.

Comparison and Correlation Analysis of Different Swine Breeds Meat Quality

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Y. X. Li

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This study was performed to determine the influence of pig breed and gender on the ultimate pH and physicochemical properties of pork. The correlations between pH and pork quality traits directly related to carcass grade, and consumer’s preference were also evaluated. The pH and meat grading scores for cold carcasses of 215 purebred pigs (Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire from four different farms were obtained. Meat quality parameters of the pork loin were analyzed. Duroc and female animals were more affected compared to other breeds and male pigs. Duroc animals had the highest ultimate pH, carcass back fat thickness, marbling scores, yellowness, and fat content (p<0.05. Landrace pigs had the highest color lightness and cooking loss values (p<0.05. Among all trait parameters, marbling scores showed the highest significant differences when evaluating the impact of breed and gender on meat quality characteristics (p<0.001. Ultimate pH was positively correlated with carcass weight (0.20, back fat thickness (0.19, marbling score (0.17, and color score (0.16 while negatively correlated with cooking loss (−0.24 and shear force (−0.20. Therefore, pork samples with lower ultimate pH had lower cooking loss, higher lightness, and higher shear force values irrespective of breed.

Local environmental quality positively predicts breastfeeding in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study.

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Brown, Laura J; Sear, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Background and Objectives: Breastfeeding is an important form of parental investment with clear health benefits. Despite this, rates remain low in the UK; understanding variation can therefore help improve interventions. Life history theory suggests that environmental quality may pattern maternal investment, including breastfeeding. We analyse a nationally representative dataset to test two predictions: (i) higher local environmental quality predicts higher likelihood of breastfeeding initiation and longer duration; (ii) higher socioeconomic status (SES) provides a buffer against the adverse influences of low local environmental quality. Methodology: We ran factor analysis on a wide range of local-level environmental variables. Two summary measures of local environmental quality were generated by this analysis-one 'objective' (based on an independent assessor's neighbourhood scores) and one 'subjective' (based on respondent's scores). We used mixed-effects regression techniques to test our hypotheses. Results: Higher objective, but not subjective, local environmental quality predicts higher likelihood of starting and maintaining breastfeeding over and above individual SES and area-level measures of environmental quality. Higher individual SES is protective, with women from high-income households having relatively high breastfeeding initiation rates and those with high status jobs being more likely to maintain breastfeeding, even in poor environmental conditions. Conclusions and Implications: Environmental quality is often vaguely measured; here we present a thorough investigation of environmental quality at the local level, controlling for individual- and area-level measures. Our findings support a shift in focus away from individual factors and towards altering the landscape of women's decision making contexts when considering behaviours relevant to public health.

Quality of life and religious-spiritual coping in palliative cancer care patients

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Ticiane Dionizio de Sousa Matos

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objectives: to compare the quality of life and religious-spiritual coping of palliative cancer care patients with a group of healthy participants; assess whether the perceived quality of life is associated with the religious-spiritual coping strategies; identify the clinical and sociodemographic variables related to quality of life and religious-spiritual coping. Method: cross-sectional study involving 96 palliative outpatient care patient at a public hospital in the interior of the state of São Paulo and 96 healthy volunteers, using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Brief Religious-Spiritual Coping scale. Results: 192 participants were interviewed who presented good quality of life and high use of Religious-Spiritual Coping. Greater use of negative Religious-Spiritual Coping was found in Group A, as well as lesser physical and psychological wellbeing and quality of life. An association was observed between quality of life scores and Religious-Spiritual Coping (p<0.01 in both groups. Male sex, Catholic religion and the Brief Religious-Spiritual Coping score independently influenced the quality of life scores (p<0.01. Conclusion: both groups presented high quality of life and Religious-Spiritual Coping scores. Male participants who were active Catholics with higher Religious-Spiritual Coping scores presented a better perceived quality of life, suggesting that this coping strategy can be stimulated in palliative care patients.

Comparison of the Classifier Oriented Gait Score and the Gait Profile Score based on imitated gait impairments.

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Christian, Josef; Kröll, Josef; Schwameder, Hermann

2017-06-01

Common summary measures of gait quality such as the Gait Profile Score (GPS) are based on the principle of measuring a distance from the mean pattern of a healthy reference group in a gait pattern vector space. The recently introduced Classifier Oriented Gait Score (COGS) is a pathology specific score that measures this distance in a unique direction, which is indicated by a linear classifier. This approach has potentially improved the discriminatory power to detect subtle changes in gait patterns but does not incorporate a profile of interpretable sub-scores like the GPS. The main aims of this study were to extend the COGS by decomposing it into interpretable sub-scores as realized in the GPS and to compare the discriminative power of the GPS and COGS. Two types of gait impairments were imitated to enable a high level of control of the gait patterns. Imitated impairments were realized by restricting knee extension and inducing leg length discrepancy. The results showed increased discriminatory power of the COGS for differentiating diverse levels of impairment. Comparison of the GPS and COGS sub-scores and their ability to indicate changes in specific variables supports the validity of both scores. The COGS is an overall measure of gait quality with increased power to detect subtle changes in gait patterns and might be well suited for tracing the effect of a therapeutic treatment over time. The newly introduced sub-scores improved the interpretability of the COGS, which is helpful for practical applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Building Collegiate E-Loyalty: The Role of Perceived Value in the Quality-Loyalty Linkage in Online Higher Education

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Kilburn, Brandon; Kilburn, Ashley; Davis, Dexter

2016-01-01

E-service quality of online higher education reflects the student's perception of quality of online exchanges across four dimensions: fulfillment, efficiency, system availability and privacy. This study links e-service quality to intentions to remain loyal as mediated by perceived value in an online higher education environment. AMOS is used to…

Governance of Higher Education--The Role of Proximity in Teaching Quality

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Macheridis, Nikos; Paulsson, Alexander

2016-01-01

The starting point of this article is the relation between teaching quality and expectations by different governance actors in higher education. Managing a department in a public university is, to a large extent, about the coordination of governance actors, involving government authorities as well as the university and the faculty. Internally, the…

Defining the Quality of Higher Education around Ethics and Moral Values

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Prisacariu, Anca; Shah, Mahsood

2016-01-01

The context of higher education across the world currently presents evidence of university failures. These failures are evident in areas such as governance, financial and risk management, conduct of senior leaders and quality assurance issues surrounding international education. Having this in mind, the present paper argues the need to add a new…

Benchmarks and Quality Assurance for Online Course Development in Higher Education

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Wang, Hong

2008-01-01

As online education has entered the main stream of the U.S. higher education, quality assurance in online course development has become a critical topic in distance education. This short article summarizes the major benchmarks related to online course development, listing and comparing the benchmarks of the National Education Association (NEA),…

Severity scoring in the critically ill: part 2: maximizing value from outcome prediction scoring systems.

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Breslow, Michael J; Badawi, Omar

2012-02-01

Part 2 of this review of ICU scoring systems examines how scoring system data should be used to assess ICU performance. There often are two different consumers of these data: lCU clinicians and quality leaders who seek to identify opportunities to improve quality of care and operational efficiency, and regulators, payors, and consumers who want to compare performance across facilities. The former need to know how to garner maximal insight into their care practices; this includes understanding how length of stay (LOS) relates to quality, analyzing the behavior of different subpopulations, and following trends over time. Segregating patients into low-, medium-, and high-risk populations is especially helpful, because care issues and outcomes may differ across this severity continuum. Also, LOS behaves paradoxically in high-risk patients (survivors often have longer LOS than nonsurvivors); failure to examine this subgroup separately can penalize ICUs with superior outcomes. Consumers of benchmarking data often focus on a single score, the standardized mortality ratio (SMR). However, simple SMRs are disproportionately affected by outcomes in high-risk patients, and differences in population composition, even when performance is otherwise identical, can result in different SMRs. Future benchmarking must incorporate strategies to adjust for differences in population composition and report performance separately for low-, medium- and high-acuity patients. Moreover, because many ICUs lack the resources to care for high-acuity patients (predicted mortality >50%), decisions about where patients should receive care must consider both ICU performance scores and their capacity to care for different types of patients.

Assessing the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) Questionnaire in Greek Higher Education

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Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Linardakis, M.; Gregoriadis, A.; Oikonomidis, V.

2015-01-01

The aim of the current study was to provide a valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of the teaching effectiveness in the Greek higher education system. Other objectives of the study were (a) the examination of the dimensionality and the higher-order structure of the Greek version of Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ)…

Empathy among Medical Students: Is There a Relation with Quality of Life and Burnout?

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Paro, Helena B. M. S.; Silveira, Paulo S. P.; Perotta, Bruno; Gannam, Silmar; Enns, Sylvia C.; Giaxa, Renata R. B.; Bonito, Rosuita F.; Martins, Mílton A.; Tempski, Patricia Z.

2014-01-01

Background We aimed to assess medical students' empathy and its associations with gender, stage of medical school, quality of life and burnout. Method A cross-sectional, multi-centric (22 medical schools) study that employed online, validated, self-reported questionnaires on empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index), quality of life (The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment) and burnout (the Maslach Burnout Inventory) in a random sample of medical students. Results Out of a total of 1,650 randomly selected students, 1,350 (81.8%) completed all of the questionnaires. Female students exhibited higher dispositional empathic concern and experienced more personal distress than their male counterparts (p<0.05; d≥0.5). There were minor differences in the empathic dispositions of students in different stages of their medical training (p<0.05; f<0.25). Female students had slightly lower scores for physical and psychological quality of life than male students (p<0.05; d<0.5). Female students scored higher on emotional exhaustion and lower on depersonalization than male students (p<0.001; d<0.5). Students in their final stage of medical school had slightly higher scores for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment (p<0.05; f<0.25). Gender (β = 0.27; p<0.001) and perspective taking (β = 0.30; p<0.001) were significant predictors of empathic concern scores. Depersonalization was associated with lower empathic concern (β = −0.18) and perspective taking (β = −0.14) (p<0.001). Personal accomplishment was associated with higher perspective taking (β = 0.21; p<0.001) and lower personal distress (β = −0.26; p<0.001) scores. Conclusions Female students had higher empathic concern and personal distress dispositions. The differences in the empathy scores of students in different stages of medical school were small. Among all of the studied variables, personal accomplishment held the most important

Body Movement Music Score – Introduction of a newly developed model for the analysis and description of body qualities, movement and music in music therapy

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Hanna Agnieszka Skrzypek

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background In music therapy, there is a range of music therapy concepts that, in addition to music, describe and analyse the body and movement. A model that equally examines the body, movement and music has not been developed. The Body Movement Music Score (BMMS is a newly developed and evaluated music therapy model for analysing body qualities, movement, playing style of musical instruments and music and to describe body behaviour and body expression, movement behaviour and movement expression, playing behaviour and musical expression in music therapy treatment. The basis for the development of the Body Movement Music Score was the evaluation of the analytical movement model Emotorics-Emotive Body Movement Mind Paradigm (Emotorics-EBMMP by Yona Shahar Levy for the analysis and description of the emotive-motor behaviour and movement expression of schizophrenic patients in music therapy treatment. Participants and procedure The application of the Body Movement Music Score is presented in a videotaped example from the music therapy treatment of one schizophrenic patient. Results The results of applying the Body Movement Music Score are presented in the form of Body Qualities I Analysis, Body Qualities II Analysis, Movement Analysis, Playing Style Analysis and Music Analysis Profiles. Conclusions The Body Movement Music Score has been developed and evaluated for the music therapy treatment of schizophrenic patients. For the development of the model, a proof of reliability is necessary to verify the reliability and limitations of the model in practice and show that the Body Movement Music Score could be used for both practical and clinical work, for documentation purposes and to impact research in music therapy.

Premenstrual syndrome and life quality in Turkish health science students.

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İşik, Hatice; Ergöl, Şule; Aynioğlu, Öner; Şahbaz, Ahmet; Kuzu, Ayşe; Uzun, Müge

2016-04-19

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the incidence of PMS, risk factors affecting PMS symptoms, and life quality in health science students. A total of 608 volunteer female students studying at the health campus of a state university in Turkey were included in the study. The participants were asked to fill out questionnaires on sociodemographic data, PMS symptoms, and SF-36 life quality tests. The overall frequency of PMS among participants was 84.5%. The average PMS and general health SF scores were 118.34 ± 37.3 and 20.03 ± 3.72, respectively. Students who had irregular breakfast, drank ≥2 cups of coffee/day, and consumed alcohol or fast food had higher PMS scores. Irregular menstruation and family history increased PMS scores and decreased life quality (P life quality of the students significantly decreased as the severity of PMS increased (P life quality, students should be informed about the symptoms, risk factors, and management options of PMS.

Quality of life of Syrian refugees living in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

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Aziz, Izaddin A; Hutchinson, Claire V; Maltby, John

2014-01-01

The current study explores the perceived quality of life of Syrian refugees who have entered the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Two hundred and seventy participants residing in refugee camps in the Erbil region in Kurdistan completed the WHOQOL-BREF, which measures Quality of Life (QOL) within four domains; physical, psychological, social relationships and environment. Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly lower for general population norms on physical health, psychological and environment QOL, and score significantly lower for physical health and psychological QOL for refugees in the Gaza strip. However, respondents in the current sample scored significantly higher on environment QOL compared to refugees in the Gaza strip, and significantly higher on all the QOL domains than those reported for refugees in West Africa. Finally, Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly higher than general population norms for social relationships QOL. The current findings provide the first report of QOL domain scores among Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan camps and suggest that social relationships and environmental QOL circumstances are relatively satisfactory, and that further investigation might be focused on physical and psychological QOL.

The influence of nursing care integration services on nurses' work satisfaction and quality of nursing care.

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Ryu, Jeong-Im; Kim, Kisook

2018-06-20

To investigate differences in work satisfaction and quality of nursing services between nurses from the nursing care integration service and general nursing units in Korea. The nursing care integration service was recently introduced in Korea to improve patient health outcomes through the provision of high quality nursing services and to relieve the caregiving burden of patients' families. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from a convenience sample of 116 and 156 nurses working in nursing care integration service and general units, respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t tests and one-way analysis of variance. Regarding work satisfaction, nursing care integration service nurses scored higher than general unit nurses on professional status, autonomy and task requirements, but the overall scores showed no significant differences. Scores on overall quality of nursing services, responsiveness and assurance were higher for nursing care integration service nurses than for general unit nurses. Nursing care integration service nurses scored higher than general unit nurses on some aspects of work satisfaction and quality of nursing services. Further studies with larger sample sizes will contribute to improving the quality of nursing care integration service units. These findings can help to establish strategies for the implementation and efficient operation of the nursing care integration service system, for the improvement of the quality of nursing services, and for successfully implementing and expanding nursing care integration service services in other countries. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Work-Related Quality of Life Scale for Higher Education Employees

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Edwards, Julian A.; Van Laar, Darren; Easton, Simon; Kinman, Gail

2009-01-01

Previous research suggests that higher education employees experience comparatively high levels of job stress. A range of instruments, both generic and job-specific, has been used to measure stressors and strains in this occupational context. The Work-related Quality of Life (WRQoL) scale is a measure designed to capture perceptions of the working…

Sleep quality and health service utilization in Chinese general population: a cross-sectional study in Dongguan, China.

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Zhang, Hui-Shan; Mai, Yan-Bing; Li, Wei-Da; Xi, Wen-Tao; Wang, Jin-Ming; Lei, Yi-Xiong; Wang, Pei-Xi

The aims of this study were to explore the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and health service utilization in Chinese general population, to investigate the association between PSQI and health service utilization and to identify the independent contributions of social demographic variables, health related factors and PSQI to health service utilization. In a cross-sectional community-based health survey using a multi-instrument questionnaire, 4067 subjects (≥15 years old) were studied. The Chinese version of the PSQI was used to assess sleep quality. Health service utilization was measured by recent two-week physician visit and annual hospitalization rates. Higher PSQI scores were associated with more frequent health service utilization. Higher scores in subjective sleep quality were associated with higher rate of recent two-week physician visit (adjusted OR = 1.24 per SD increase, P = 0.015). Higher scores in habitual sleep efficiency (adjusted OR = 1.24 per SD increase, P = 0.038) and sleep disturbances (adjusted OR = 2.09 per SD increase, P quality predicted more frequent health service utilization. The independent contribution of PSQI on health service utilization was smaller than social demographic variables. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Menopause is associated with self-reported poor sleep quality in women without vasomotor symptoms.

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Hung, Hao-Chang; Lu, Feng-Hwa; Ou, Horng-Yih; Wu, Jin-Shang; Yang, Yi-Ching; Chang, Chih-Jen

2014-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between menopause and self-reported sleep quality in Chinese women without vasomotor symptoms. Cross-sectional data were collected from a decoded database of the National Cheng Kung University Hospital. Menopause was defined as absence of menses for at least 12 months or a history of hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Self-reported sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A higher global PSQI score indicates poorer self-reported sleep quality, and a global PSQI score greater than 5 differentiates poor sleepers from good sleepers. Of the 1,088 women recruited, 353 (32.4%) were in postmenopause status. Postmenopausal women had higher mean (SD) global PSQI scores (8.0 [3.3] vs. 6.1 [2.2], P menopause (β = 1.532; 95% CI, 1.135 to 1.949; P menopause (odds ratio, 1.453; 95% CI, 1.030 to 2.051; P menopause and snoring are associated with an increased risk of poor self-reported sleep quality independently of cardiometabolic factors and lifestyle, whereas long sleep duration is associated with a decreased risk of poor self-reported sleep quality.

FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY OF LIFE AND LEVEL OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN CANCER PATIENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayse Berivan Bakan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Background: When people face health problems, their life satisfaction levels and social relations could be ruined. When it comes to an eerie, deadly and chronic disease like cancer, the individual is much more likely to be affected by it. Objective: This descriptive study aims to identify quality of life and level of social support and the affecting factors in cancer patients. Methods: The sample included 170 patients who applied to Internal Diseases, Radiation Oncology, Thorax diseases clinics and Chemotherapy polyclinic in a university hospital in Turkey between March and August, 2005, who met the research criteria, and who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample represented 20 % of the target population. Data were collected through SF-36 Quality of Life Scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results: The patients’ Global Quality of Life mean score was found 38.67 ± 13.64, and mean score for the Perceived Social Support was found 59.19 ± 17.5. Global Quality of Life score was higher in those who underwent an operation and who received ambulatory health care. Although Global Quality of Life was not influenced by the gender variable, male patients’ level of well-being was found to be higher. Perceived Social Support total score was found to be higher in those who knew about their disease. Family support was found to be higher in those who were married and who lived in town; it was found to be low in those who had low socio-economic level and who received inpatient treatment. Friend support was found to be high in those who knew about their disease. Conclusion: There was a linear relationship between Perceived Social Support and Quality of Life. It is recommended that more studies with wider groups of participants would shed more light to the issue of identifying quality of life, social support level and the relationships between them in cancer patients.

Student Perceptions of Service Quality in a Multi-Campus Higher Education System in Spain

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Gallifa, Josep; Batalle, Pere

2010-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to present an in-depth case study with student perceptions of service quality, discussing the relevance of these perceptions for the important issue of quality improvement in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents institutional research carried out in a multi-campus system in Spain made up of…

Raising Test Scores vs. Teaching Higher Order Thinking (HOT): Senior Science Teachers' Views on How Several Concurrent Policies Affect Classroom Practices

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Zohar, Anat; Alboher Agmon, Vered

2018-01-01

Purpose: This study investigates how senior science teachers viewed the effects of a Raising Test Scores policy and its implementation on instruction of higher order thinking (HOT), and on teaching thinking to students with low academic achievements. Background: The study was conducted in the context of three concurrent policies advocating: (a)…

Chest compression quality management and return of spontaneous circulation: a matched-pair registry study.

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Lukas, Roman-Patrik; Gräsner, Jan Thorsten; Seewald, Stephan; Lefering, Rolf; Weber, Thomas Peter; Van Aken, Hugo; Fischer, Matthias; Bohn, Andreas

2012-10-01

Investigating the effects of any intervention during cardiac arrest remains difficult. The ROSC after cardiac arrest score was introduced to facilitate comparison of rates of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) between different ambulance services. To study the influence of chest compression quality management (including training, real-time feedback devices, and debriefing) in comparison with conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a matched-pair analysis was conducted using data from the German Resuscitation Registry, with the calculated ROSC after cardiac arrest score as the baseline. Matching for independent ROSC after cardiac arrest score variables yielded 319 matched cases from the study period (January 2007-March 2011). The score predicted a 45% ROSC rate for the matched pairs. The observed ROSC increased significantly with chest compression quality management, to 52% (P=0.013; 95% CI, 46-57%). No significant differences were seen in the conventional CPR group (47%; 95% CI, 42-53%). The difference between the observed ROSC rates was not statistically significant. Chest compression quality management leads to significantly higher ROSC rates than those predicted by the prognostic score (ROSC after cardiac arrest score). Matched-pair analysis shows that with conventional CPR, the observed ROSC rate was not significantly different from the predicted rate. Analysis shows a trend toward a higher ROSC rate for chest compression quality management in comparison with conventional CPR. It is unclear whether a single aspect of chest compression quality management or the combination of training, real-time feedback, and debriefing contributed to this result. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Social Capital and Quality Management Systems in European Hospitals: A Quantitative Study

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Hammer, Antje; Arah, Onyebuchi A.; DerSarkissian, Maral; Thompson, Caroline A.; Mannion, Russell; Wagner, Cordula; Ommen, Oliver; Sunol, Rosa; Pfaff, Holger

2013-01-01

Background Strategic leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality improvement in hospital settings. Furthermore, the quality of leadership depends crucially on a common set of shared values and mutual trust between hospital management board members. According to the concept of social capital, these are essential requirements for successful cooperation and coordination within groups. Objectives We assume that social capital within hospital management boards is an important factor in the development of effective organizational systems for overseeing health care quality. We hypothesized that the degree of social capital within the hospital management board is associated with the effectiveness and maturity of the quality management system in European hospitals. Methods We used a mixed-method approach to data collection and measurement in 188 hospitals in 7 European countries. For this analysis, we used responses from hospital managers. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a multilevel linear regression analysis of the association between social capital and the quality management system score at the hospital level, controlling for hospital ownership, teaching status, number of beds, number of board members, organizational culture, and country clustering. Results The average social capital score within a hospital management board was 3.3 (standard deviation: 0.5; range: 1-4) and the average hospital score for the quality management index was 19.2 (standard deviation: 4.5; range: 0-27). Higher social capital was associated with higher quality management system scores (regression coefficient: 1.41; standard error: 0.64, p=0.029). Conclusion The results suggest that a higher degree of social capital exists in hospitals that exhibit higher maturity in their quality management systems. Although uncontrolled confounding and reverse causation cannot be completely ruled out, our new findings, along with the results of previous research, could

Restless Legs Syndrome and Poor Sleep Quality in Obese Children and Adolescents

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Baran, Rıza Taner; Atar, Müge; Pirgon, Özgür; Filiz, Serkan; Filiz, Meral

2018-01-01

Objective: Adult epidemiological studies suggest that the rate of Restless Legs syndrome (RLS) in the general population may range from 5% to 15%. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of RLS in a community sample of obese adolescents aged 10-16 years and to assess the association with sleep quality and health-related glucose metabolism markers. Methods: The study group comprised 144 obese and overweight children aged 10-16 yearsand the control group consisted of 66 age-matched healthy children. The RLS Questionnaire devised by the International RLS Study and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), where a score >5 indicates poor sleep quality, was used to assess sleep quality. Results: Mean body mass index (BMI) of the overweight/obese and control groups were 30.5±0.5 and 18.7±0.2, respectively. The frequency of RLS was higher in the obese group (21.7%) than the overweight (3.4%) and control (1.5%) (p<0.001) groups. The frequency of a poor PSQI score was significantly higher (p<0.001) in the obese group (37.3%) than the control group (24.2%). The obese with RLS group also had poorer sleep quality scores than the non-RLS obese group. Many symptoms of sleep disruption were more common in obese patients with RLS and RLS was independently correlated with a high PSQI score [odds ratio (OR): 2.25, confidence interval (Cl): 0.96-5.28, p<0.001)] and an increased BMI z-score (OR: 8.87, Cl: 2.04-38.61, p<0.001). Conclusion: RLS is common in obese children and may be associated with altered sleep quality. Obese children with RLS need to be assessed since they may need support to improve their sleep quality. PMID:29175807

Acceptability of the Conceptions of Higher Education Quality to First Year Students of the Study Field of Pedagogy

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Žibeniene, Gintaute; Savickiene, Izabela

2014-01-01

The article presents which conceptions of higher education quality are most acceptable to first-year students of the study field of pedagogy. It is significant to analyse students' opinions as more than 10 years ago the EU member states agreed that higher education institutions bear responsibility for the quality of higher education. Being members…

Addressing Opioid-Associated Constipation Using Quality Oncology Practice Initiative Scores and Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles.

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Kaur, Varinder; Haider, Sajjad; Sasapu, Appalanaidu; Mehta, Paulette; Arnaoutakis, Konstantinos; Makhoul, Issam

2017-01-01

Using the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative, an affiliate program of ASCO, we outlined opioid-associated constipation (OAC) as a subject in need of quality improvement (QI) in our fellowship program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. We initiated a fellow-led QI project to advance the quality of patient care and provide a valuable avenue for QI training of young physicians. Fellows organized meetings with all stakeholders, addressed the scope of the problem, and devised strategies for OAC management. Monthly meetings were organized using Plan-Do-Study-Act principles. Mandatory check boxes were inserted into our electronic medical record templates to remind all physicians to identify patients on opioid medications and assess and address OAC. Final chart audit and patient satisfaction surveys were performed 6 months after project initiation. Assessment of OAC improved from 52% at baseline to 92% ( P < .003). This improvement corresponded with high patient satisfaction scores, with 90% of surveyed patients reporting adequate management of their constipation. In this QI initiative, we showed that participation in ASCO's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative helps identify areas in need of QI, and such fellow-led QI projects can serve as models for QI training of young physicians.

Associations of diet quality with cognition in children - the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children Study.

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Haapala, Eero A; Eloranta, Aino-Maija; Venäläinen, Taisa; Schwab, Ursula; Lindi, Virpi; Lakka, Timo A

2015-10-14

Evidence on the associations of dietary patterns with cognition in children is limited. Therefore, we investigated the associations of the Baltic Sea Diet Score (BSDS) and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score with cognition in children. The present cross-sectional study sample included 428 children aged 6-8 years (216 boys and 212 girls). The BSDS and the DASH score were calculated using data from 4 d food records, higher scores indicating better diet quality. Cognition was assessed by the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) score, a higher score indicating better cognition. Among all children, the BSDS (standardised regression coefficient β = 0·122, P =0·012) and the DASH score (β = 0·121, P =0·015) were directly associated with the Raven's CPM score. Among boys, a lower BSDS (β = 0·244, Pcognition. In conclusion, a poorer diet quality was associated with worse cognition in children, and the relationship was stronger in boys than in girls.

Paediatric early warning scores on a children's ward: a quality improvement initiative.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ennis, Linda

2014-09-09

The aim of this quality improvement initiative was to incorporate a paediatric early warning score (PEWS) and track and trigger system in the routine care of children in an acute general children\\'s ward at a regional hospital in the Republic of Ireland. In the absence of a nationally recommended specific PEWS strategy, a local plan was developed. The experience of structuring and implementing the PEWS and track and trigger system is presented in this article. Data from the first year of use were collected to evaluate the clinical utility and effectiveness of this system. In the busy acute children\\'s service, the PEWS initiative was found to benefit processes of early detection, prompt referral and timely, appropriate management of children at potential risk of clinical deterioration. Nursing staff were empowered and supported to communicate concerns immediately and to seek rapid medical review, according to an agreed PEWS escalation plan. Outcomes were significantly improved.

Diet quality and osteosarcopenic obesity in community-dwelling adults 50 years and older.

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Kim, Jinhee; Lee, Yunhwan; Kye, Seunghee; Chung, Yoon-Sok; Kim, Jae-Hyun; Chon, Doukyoung; Lee, Kyung Eun

2017-10-01

To examine the association between diet quality and osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO), low bone and muscle mass with concurrent high fat mass, in middle-aged and older adults. Data were from a cross-sectional study of 2579 men and 3550 women aged 50 years and older who completed the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey from 2008 to 2010. Data were collected using 24-h dietary recall, and diet quality was determined by the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I), on which higher scores denote better quality. Body composition was evaluated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. The association between dietary quality and the number of body composition abnormalities (including OSO) was analyzed by multinomial logistic regression, adjusting for covariates. In women, after controlling for covariates, higher scores on the DQI-I were associated with a significantly lower number of phenotypes associated with adverse body composition. Those in the highest tertile group of DQI-I were less likely to have OSO compared with those in the lowest tertile (odds ratio=0.54, 95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.92). In men, DQI-I scores were not associated with the number of body composition abnormalities. Middle-aged and older women who eat a healthier diet, as determined by a high DQI-I score, are less likely to have multiple body composition abnormalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Burnout, quality of life, motivation, and academic achievement among medical students: A person-oriented approach.

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Lyndon, Mataroria P; Henning, Marcus A; Alyami, Hussain; Krishna, Sanjeev; Zeng, Irene; Yu, Tzu-Chieh; Hill, Andrew G

2017-04-01

The aim of this study was to identify burnout and quality of life profiles of medical students and determine their associations with academic motivation and achievement on progress tests using a person-oriented approach. Medical students (n = 670) in Year 3 to Year 5 at the University of Auckland were classified into three different profiles as derived from a two-step cluster analysis using World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF scores and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory scores. The profiles were used as independent variables to assess differences in academic motivation and achievement on progress tests using a multivariate analysis of co-variance and repeated measures analysis of co-variance methods. The response rate was 47%. Three clusters were obtained: Higher Burnout Lower Quality of Life (n = 62, 20%), Moderate Burnout Moderate Quality of Life (n = 131, 41%), and Lower Burnout Higher Quality of Life (n = 124, 39%). After controlling for gender and year level, Higher Burnout Lower Quality of Life students had significantly higher test anxiety (p motivation (p students are associated with differences in academic motivation and achievement over time.

Depression, anxiety, and quality of life in paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia patients.

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Tian, Wo-Tu; Huang, Xiao-Jun; Liu, Xiao-Li; Shen, Jun-Yi; Liang, Gui-Ling; Zhu, Chen-Xi; Tang, Wei-Guo; Chen, Sheng-Di; Song, Yan-Yan; Cao, Li

2017-09-05

Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is a rare movement disorder characterized by recurrent dystonic or choreoathetoid attacks triggered by sudden voluntary movements. Under the condition of psychological burden, some patients' attacks may get worsened with longer duration and higher frequency. This study aimed to assess nonmotor symptoms and quality of life of patients with PKD in a large population. We performed a cross-sectional survey in 165 primary PKD patients from August 2008 to October 2016 in Rui Jin Hospital, using Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), World Health Organization Quality of Life-100 (WHOQoL-100), Self-Rating Depression Scale, and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. We evaluated the differences of SCL-90-R and WHOQOL-100 scores in patients and Chinese normative data (taken from literature) by using the unpaired Student's t-test. We applied multivariate linear regression to analyze the relationships between motor manifestations, mental health, and quality of life among PKD patients. Compared with Chinese normative data taken from literature, patients with PKD exhibited significantly higher (worse) scores across all SCL-90-R subscales (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism; P= 0.000 for all) and significantly lower (worse) scores of five domains in WHOQoL-100 (physical domain, psychological domain, independence domain, social relationship domain, and general quality of life; P= 0.000 for all). Nonremission of dyskinesia episodes (P = 0.011) and higher depression score (P = 0.000) were significantly associated with lower levels of quality of life. The rates of depression and anxiety in patients with PKD were 41.2% (68/165) and 26.7% (44/165), respectively. Depression, anxiety, and low levels of quality of life were prevalent in patients with PKD. Co-occurrence of depression and anxiety was common among these patients. Regular mental health

Quality Circles in Higher Education: Quality, Satisfaction, and Climate.

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Kay, Carol; Healy, Margaret

The effect of quality circles at Iowa State University on absenteeism, performance evaluation, perceptions of the organization climate, job satisfaction, and perceived opportunities for professional and personal growth was measured in this study. The process of quality circles is designed to promote job fulfillment and organizational productivity…

Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Which Pasts to Build On, What Futures to Contemplate?

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Mala

2010-01-01

The paper is a reflection on the pasts and futures of quality assurance in higher education. It poses questions about the correlation between the geographical and political spread of quality assurance on the one hand and the resulting educational benefits on the other; about the divergences between critics and practitioners on the likely impacts…

Heart valve surgery: EuroSCORE vs. EuroSCORE II vs. Society of Thoracic Surgeons score

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Sharoz Rabbani

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background This is a validation study comparing the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE II with the previous additive (AES and logistic EuroSCORE (LES and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ (STS risk prediction algorithm, for patients undergoing valve replacement with or without bypass in Pakistan. Patients and Methods Clinical data of 576 patients undergoing valve replacement surgery between 2006 and 2013 were retrospectively collected and individual expected risks of death were calculated by all four risk prediction algorithms. Performance of these risk algorithms was evaluated in terms of discrimination and calibration. Results There were 28 deaths (4.8% among 576 patients, which was lower than the predicted mortality of 5.16%, 6.96% and 4.94% by AES, LES and EuroSCORE II but was higher than 2.13% predicted by STS scoring system. For single and double valve replacement procedures, EuroSCORE II was the best predictor of mortality with highest Hosmer and Lemmeshow test (H-L p value (0.346 to 0.689 and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve (0.637 to 0.898. For valve plus concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG patients actual mortality was 1.88%. STS calculator came out to be the best predictor of mortality for this subgroup with H-L p value (0.480 to 0.884 and ROC (0.657 to 0.775. Conclusions For Pakistani population EuroSCORE II is an accurate predictor for individual operative risk in patients undergoing isolated valve surgery, whereas STS performs better in the valve plus CABG group.

Associations between nutritional quality of meals and snacks assessed by the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system and overall diet quality and adiposity measures in British children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, Kentaro

2018-05-01

This cross-sectional study examined how the nutritional quality of meals and snacks was associated with overall diet quality and adiposity measures. Based on 7-d weighed dietary record data, all eating occasions were divided into meals or snacks based on time (meals: 06:00-09:00 h, 12:00-14:00 h, and 17:00-20:00 h; snacks: others) or contribution to energy intake (meals: ≥15%; snacks: quality of meals and snacks was assessed as the arithmetical energy intake-weighted means of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) nutrient profiling system score of each food and beverage consumed, based on the contents of energy, saturated fatty acid, total sugar, sodium, fruits/vegetables/nuts, dietary fiber, and protein. Regardless of the definition of meals and snacks, higher FSA score (lower nutritional quality) of meals was inversely associated with overall diet quality assessed by the Mediterranean diet score in both children and adolescents (P quality of meals, but not snacks, assessed by the FSA score was associated with lower overall diet quality, whereas no consistent associations were observed with regard to adiposity measures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"How to Strike the Right Balance between Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Perceptions of Individual Lecturers": A Comparison of UK and Dutch Higher Education Institutions

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Teelken, Christine; Lomas, Laurie

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on the way lecturers observe, feel restrained by and cope with quality management systems that have been implemented in the higher education systems of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As two sides of the same coin, quality enhancement and quality control are of increased significance in European Higher Education…

Index admission laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis restores Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) score.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Hongyan; Chan, Esther Ern-Hwei; Lingam, Pravin; Lee, Jingwen; Woon, Winston Wei Liang; Low, Jee Keem; Shelat, Vishal G

2018-02-01

Previous studies have evaluated quality of life (QoL) in patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for cholelithiasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate QoL after index admission LC in patients diagnosed with acute cholecystitis (AC) using the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) questionnaire. Patients ≥21 years admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore for AC and who underwent index admission LC between February 2015 and January 2016 were evaluated using the GIQLI questionnaire preoperatively and 30 days postoperatively. A total of 51 patients (26 males, 25 females) with a mean age of 60 years (24-86 years) were included. Median duration of abdominal pain at presentation was 2 days (1-21 days). 45% of patients had existing comorbidities, with diabetes mellitus being most common (33%). 31% were classified as mild AC, 59% as moderate and 10% as severe AC according to Tokyo Guideline 2013 (TG13) criteria. Post-operative complications were observed in 8 patients, including retained common bile duct stone (n=1), wound infection (n=2), bile leakage (n=2), intra-abdominal collection (n=1) and atrial fibrillation (n=2). 86% patients were well at 30 days follow-up and were discharged. A significant improvement in GIQLI score was observed postoperatively, with mean total GIQLI score increasing from 106.0±16.9 (101.7-112.1) to 120.4±18.0 (114.8-125.9) ( p <0.001). Significant improvements were also observed in GIQLI subgroups of gastrointestinal symptoms, physical status, emotional status and social function status. Index admission LC restores QoL in patients with AC as measured by GIQLI questionnaire.

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah

2011-01-01

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions......, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women...... of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control...

Reporting health-related quality of life scores to physicians during routine follow-up visits of pediatric oncology patients: Is it effective?