Search

While the literature is abundant on hand therapy assessment and treatment of nonsurgical thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) osteoarthritis (OA), clarity and uniformity are meager, making it a desirable diagnosis to establish expert consensus. This study aimed to ascertain if consensus exists for the assessment and treatment of nonsurgical management of thumb CMC OA in the hand therapy clinical setting. This was a consensus paper via the modified Delphi approach. A modified Delphi method was used to determine consensus among an expert panel, including hand therapists and hand surgeons, via two online surveys. A consensus paper steering committee (from the American Society of Hand Therapist's research division) designed the surveys and analyzed responses. Consensus was established as 75% agreement among the expert panel. Demographic information was collected from the expert panel. The expert panel included 34 hand therapists and seven hand surgeons. The survey response rates were 93.6% for the first survey and 90.2% for the second survey. Consensus recommendations were classified according to the World Health Organization categorization. These included evaluating the body structures for clinical signs/clinical testing and body functions for pain, range of motion for palmar abduction, radial abduction, opposition, and thumb metacarpal phalangeal flexion/extension, and grip and tripod pinch strength. Further consensus recommendations were for the assessment of function using a region-specific, upper extremity patient-reported outcome measure (activity and participation), environmental factors, outcome expectation, and illness perception within the patient's unique environmental and social contexts. Treatment recommendations included the use of an orthosis during painful activities, a dynamic stability program (stable C posture, release of tight adductors, and strengthening of stabilizers), patient education, joint protection techniques, adaptive equipment, and functional-based intervention. The findings describe the consensus of a group of experts and provide a clinical reference tool on the hand therapy assessment and treatment of nonsurgical thumb CMC joint OA. • A consensus paper using a modified Delphi process to determine consensus on non-surgical assessment and treatment of thumb CMC OA. • Assessment recommendations: evaluate clinical signs/testing, pain, thumb range of motion grip and tripod pinch, a region-specific PROM, environmental factors, outcome expectation, and illness perception. • Treatment: orthosis during painful activities as needed, a dynamic stability program, patient education, joint protection techniques, adaptive equipment, and functional based intervention. • Findings provide a clinical reference tool on hand therapy assessment and treatment of non-surgical CMC joint OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite global efforts to improve paediatric clinical trials, significant delays continue in paediatric drug approvals. Collaboration between research networks is needed to address these delays. This paper is a first step to promote interoperability between paediatric networks from different jurisdictions by comparing drivers for, and content of, metrics about clinical trial conduct. Methods: Three paediatric networks, Institute for Advanced Clinical Trials for Children, the Maternal Infant Child and Youth Research Network and conect4children, have each developed metrics to address delays and create efficiencies. We identified the methodology by which each network identified metrics, described the metrics of each network, and mapped consistency to come to consensus about core metrics that networks could share. Results: Metric selection was driven by site quality improvement in one network (11 metrics), by network performance in one network (13 metrics), and by both in one network (five metrics). The domains of metrics were research capacity/capability, site identification/feasibility, trial start-up, and recruitment/enrolment. The network driven by site quality improvement did not have indicators for capacity/capability or identification/feasibility. Fifteen metrics for trial start up and conduct were identified. Metrics related to site approvals were found in all three networks. The themes for metrics can inform the development of 'shared' metrics. Conclusion: We found disparity in drivers, methodology and metrics. Tackling this disparity will result in a unified approach to addressing delays in paediatric drug approvals. Collaborative work to define inter-operable metrics globally is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Española de Sociología is the property of Federacion Espanola de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper studies the matrix-scaled resilient consensus problems over multi-agent networks as occurring in computer science and distributed control. Unlike existing works on consensus problems, where the states of agents converge to a common value or reach some prescribed proportions, we take a more general matrix-scaled approach to accommodate the interdependence of multi-dimensional states. We develop a unified analytical framework to deal with matrix-scaled resilient consensus of discrete-time and continuous-time dynamical agents, where the underlying communication network is modeled as a generic directed time-dependent random graph. We propose new distributed protocols to guarantee the matrix-scaled consensus of cooperative agents in the network in the presence of Byzantine agents, who have full knowledge of the system and pose a severe security threat to the collective consensus objective. The cooperative agents feature multiple input and multiple output, and the number and identities of Byzantine agents are not available to the cooperative ones. Our mathematical approach capitalizes on matrix analysis, control theory, graph theory, and martingale convergence. Some numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain is a chain of blocks where each block contains a set of transactions that are digitally signed by its verifier and stored across the distributed network so that all the legitimate stakeholders can access/verify them. Due to the attributes of Blockchain such as decentralization, immutability, auditability, transparency, and cryptographic security, it offers various benefits to different domains such as cryptocurrency, financial sectors, private/public segments, insurance, healthcare, supply chain management, Internet of Things, etc. However, the technology is in its early stage and still, there is a range of concerns that are yet to be addressed before its wide adoption. Through this paper, we intend to cover extensive study on the Blockchain that includes taxonomy, application/use-cases, consensus mechanisms, prospective research, future directions, and related technologies. This paper also aims to discuss the opportunities, benefits, and challenges of Blockchain technology and to assist the research community in understanding the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an adaptive reinforcement learning formation control method using output recurrent fuzzy broad learning systems (ORFBLSs) for cooperative consensus formation of uncertain heterogeneous omnidirectional mobile multi-robots. Having modeled any uncertain heterogeneous omnidirectional mobile robot by using a unified uncertain three-input three-output second-order state equation, we combine the actor-critic reinforcement learning, integral terminal sliding-mode control (ITSMC), and ORFBLS online learning to propose an adaptive ORFBLS-based reinforcement learning formation control, abbreviated as ORFBLS-ARLFC, method. Via Lyapunov stability theory, the ORFBLS-ARLFC method is shown to accomplish asymptotical consensus in the presence of uncertainties. One comparative simulation and one experiment are carried out to exemplify the effectiveness and merits of the proposed ORFBLS-ARLFC method on cooperative omnidirectional mobile robots with uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy debates often get polarized along binaries of environment versus economic development or conservation versus rights. Sustainability scientists and practitioners generally suggest finding common grounds as a pathway for building consensus among the diverse perspectives involved in polarized environmental policy discussions. This paper takes a critical stance towards such calls for common grounds by calling attention to the implicit assumptions that underlie these discourses. We study the case of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in India, which has polarized the forest policy discourse between conservationists and rights activists in India. We examine scientific publications on the FRA using discourse and framing analysis and show that scholarly discourses on FRA lie along a spectrum characterized by underlying epistemic and normative practices. We identify five groups of scholars based on the unique positions they have taken on FRA: a) advocacy-centric, b) welfare-centric, c) community-centric, d) dialogue-centric, and e) techno-centric scholars. We find that negative framings of the forest dweller community lead to scientific endorsement of policy prescriptions that empower socio-political institutions that are external to these communities. We argue that scholarly calls for common grounds often assume uniform or neutral framings for the stakeholders involved. We conclude that recognizing the polarization spectrum in environmental policy discourses can help us move towards pluralistic approaches to environmental governance. • Scientific polarization on Indian forest policy discourses lies along a spectrum. • Epistemic and normative practices shape scientific positions on forest policies. • Negative framings of traditional communities tend to empower external institutions. • Calls for dialogue often do not specify framings for the stakeholders involved. • Recognize the polarization spectrum for enabling pluralistic environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Družboslovne Razprave is the property of Druzboslovne Razprave and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Delphi survey techniques are a common consensus method used to collect feedback from an expert panel to inform practices, establish guidelines, and identify research priorities. Collecting respiratory therapists' (RT) expertise and experiences as part of consensus-building methodologies is one way to ensure that they align with RT practices and to better influence respiratory care practice. This narrative review aimed to report the RT representation in expert panels of Delphi studies focused on respiratory therapy practices and research priorities. The research question that guided this review is: to what extent are RTs included as expert participants among published Delphi studies relate to respiratory therapy and research topics? We conducted a structured search of the literature and identified 23 papers that reported Delphi studies related to respiratory care practices and 15 that reported on respiratory-related research priorities. Delphi studies that focused on reporting consensus on respiratory care practices included the following: (1) mechanical ventilation, (2) high-flow nasal cannula therapy, (3) COVID-19 respiratory management, (4) home oxygen therapy, (5) cardiopulmonary monitoring, and (6) disease-specific guidelines. Delphi studies that focused on establishing respiratory research priorities included the following: (1) theory and practice-orientated knowledge gaps, and (2) priority research topics for empirical investigation. The results of this review suggest that RTs were rarely included as expert participants and, when involved, were minimally represented (5% to 33%). Given RTs' diverse and relevant experience in respiratory care, incorporating their perspectives to inform future education, respiratory care practices, and research priorities would allow evidence to better align with knowledge gaps deemed important for the respiratory therapy profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing financialization identifies logics, policies and actors that treat homes as assets. However, as the institutional framework and social consensus on housing provision varies widely, the process is path-depended on local contingencies that reflect specific socio-economic and political contexts. Driving attention to relevant dynamics recently developed in the city of Athens, this research scrutinises the local specificities and financial accounting idiosyncrasies that make the case of housing financialization. The paper explores how homeownership, as constructed in this society without the mediation of credit financing, is challenged by debt obligations. It further considers the institutional framework that opposed, until recently, housing repossessions to explore the link between indebtedness, book values of Non– Performing Loan provisions and the timing of securitisation. It concludes by tendering the case of housing "sale and lease-back" financialization where homeowners transform into tenants of own homes to safeguard the book values of credit institutions at the verge of default. Housing financialization a la Griega, then constitutes a paradigm of a continuous temporal re-engineering that normalises and leads to a pacified form of housing appropriation, subordinating housing needs and power relations to financial imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, group decision-making is an everyday event, since we usually live in a community. Nevertheless, when the number of participants is large, it starts to generate a lot of information that is complex to manage, and unlike group decision-making, where the participants are usually experts, when the number of participants increases, not all of them are, which generates a conflict of interest because the value of the vote of an expert and a (non-expert) user is worth the same. Moreover, it may happen that not all participants who start a process will finish it and not all of them will be able to make all the assessments, since they do not know all the options. Therefore, to solve all the drawbacks, this paper presents a large-scale group decision-making system in a modifiable scenario environment that groups participants according to their preferred alternative and also performs knowledge differentiation, clustering them into experts and users. This allows for optimising the consensus process, as the consensus is made by comparing the clusters and the participants with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, heightened anti-Roma rhetoric became noticeable across much of Europe. This article focuses on the narrative according to which Roma communities represented a threat to public health and which will be analysed through the lens of the theoretical work on moral panics. The empirical data used in this paper was obtained in the framework of a project investigating the impact of the pandemic on Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine, between March-June 2020. Using the literature on moral panics as a framework of interpretation, this article aims to shed light on the processes leading to high levels of social consensus as to the threat to public health posed by Roma communities in these countries. To do so, it outlines the narratives disseminated in mass media, as well as the subsequent narratives and policy responses employed by public authorities, showing how the latter legitimised the alarming reports publicised by the former, engendering a strong societal response which conformed with the framework of a moral panic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the hierarchical management structure of electric power enterprises, data flow often needs to go through multiple layers of nodes for review, which makes data synchronization slow and distortion high and data reliability difficult to improve. The existing data asset management mode of electric power enterprises faces security problems such as node trustworthiness and data tampering in the process of identity mutual trust, transmission and storage, data collection and data usage. In view of this, this paper proposes a blockchain-based digital asset management framework using the decentralized, untrustworthy, and hard-to-tamper features of blockchain. In the proposed framework, we optimized security authentication mechanism, data recording and consensus process, and data storage and transmission strategy involved in blockchain data sharing applications. The framework can effectively ensure the security, integrity, operability and consistency of digital assets in the management process under the blockchain environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing clinical outcome assessments electronically in clinical studies requires the sponsor and electronic clinical outcome assessment (eCOA) provider to work closely together to implement study-specific requirements and ensure consensus-defined best practices are followed. One of the most important steps is for sponsors to conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) using an eCOA system developed by the eCOA provider. UAT provides the clinical study team including sponsor or designee an opportunity to evaluate actual software performance and ensure that the sponsor's intended requirements were communicated clearly and accurately translated into the system design, and that the system conforms to a sponsor-approved requirements document based on the study protocol. The components of an eCOA system, such as the study-specific application, customization features, study portal, and custom data transfers should be tested during UAT. While the provider will perform their own system validation, the sponsor or designee should also perform their due diligence by conducting UAT. A clear UAT plan including the necessary documentation may be requested by regulatory authorities depending on the country. This paper provides the electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) Consortium's and patient-reported outcome (PRO) Consortium's best practice recommendations for clinical study sponsors or their designee for conducting UAT with support from eCOA providers to ensure data quality and enhance operational efficiency of the eCOA system. Following these best practice recommendations and completing UAT in its entirety will support a high quality eCOA system and ensure more reliable and complete data are collected, which are essential to the success of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we address the problem of estimating a 3D human pose from a single image, which is important but difficult to solve due to reasons, such as self-occlusions, wild appearance changes, and inherent ambiguities of 3D estimation from a 2D cue. These difficulties make the problem ill-posed, which have become requiring increasingly complex estimators to enhance the performance. On the other hand, most existing methods try to handle this problem based on a single complex estimator, which might not be good solutions for 3D human pose estimation. In this paper, to resolve this issue, we propose a multiple-partial-hypothesis-based framework for the problem of estimating 3D human pose from a single image, which can be fine-tuned in an end-to-end fashion. We first select several joint groups from a human joint model using the proposed sampling scheme, and estimate the 3D pose of each joint group separately based on deep neural networks. After that, the estimated poses are aggregated to obtain the final 3D pose using the proposed robust optimization formula. The overall procedure can be fine-tuned in an end-to-end fashion, resulting in better estimation performance. In the experiments, the proposed framework shows the state-of-the-art performances on popular benchmark data sets, namely Human3.6M and HumanEva, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Highlights • A multiple-partial-hypothesis-based scheme for the single-image-based 3D human pose estimation is proposed. • A novel domain conversion layer which transforms a heatmap to corresponding 2D point coordinates is proposed. • The proposed method can be end-to-end fine-tuned to improve the overall performance. • The proposed framework provides the state-of-the-art performance for popular benchmark data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The linguistic computing model based on discrete fuzzy numbers has some good properties compared with other existing models and should be further studied, which has been proved by some researchers. However, the research of group consensus with this linguistic model is insufficient, given that group consensus is an important issue in group decision making. Therefore, this paper would concentrate on this subject. It includes two main issues: research on consensus measure and research on the method for improving group consensus in group decision making based on this linguistic computing model. For research on the consensus measure, this paper first studies on the aggregation method for discrete fuzzy numbers. Then, the index of measuring group consensus is determined. For research on improving the group consensus, considering the characteristics of discrete fuzzy numbers, we present an algorithm to improve group consensus. In addition, an illustrative example of a decision-making problem about investment is stated to show the whole solving process. It also illustrates the feasibility, rationality and validity of all the proposed methods. Finally, the comparisons between some proposals and existing studies are made, which helps point out the advantages of the proposed methods. Highlights • The linguistic model based on discrete fuzzy numbers (LM-DFN) is studied. • The method for measuring group consensus with the LM-DFN is proposed. • The method for improving group consensus with the LM-DFN is proposed. • The proposed methods have some advantages compared with the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference relations (HFLPRs) as an efficient and common tool to deal with decision-making problems have been widely used in real life. The consistency and consensus are the most two important topics for HFLPRs. In this paper, we develop a new efficient consistency–consensus framework for HFLPRs. Firstly, we transform HFLPRs into probabilistic linguistic preference relations, and develop a programming model to make the HFLPRs achieve the maximum consistency degree. Then, we propose some new rules for addition operation and weighted average operator to fuse individual preference information. After that, a maximum consensus model is developed which maximizes the consensus degree by adjusting the experts' weights. Then, a numerical case of temporary placement selection after earthquake is presented, and some comparisons with the traditional methods are conducted to verify the rationality and efficiency of our framework. Finally, we end the paper with some conclusions and future research directions. Highlights • We establish a more time-saving consistency reaching and a consensus achieving model. • We skillfully connect HFLPLs and PLPRs to establish the consistency reaching model. • We propose new addition operation rules and the WA operator for PLTSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Veritas is the property of EDIPUCRS - Editora Universitaria da PUCRS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Recent approvals for novel agents such as the small molecule Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi), combined with the advent of biosimilars has widened the gamut of available therapeutic options in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This combined with the introduction of mandatory non- medical switches to biosimilars in some jurisdictions by both public and private payors has led to a significant increase in the volume of therapeutic changes for patients. Pharmacists are well positioned to ensure effective and safe transitions, however there is a significant unmet need for objective and subjective clinical guidance around therapy as well disease state monitoring in RA that facilitates best practices throughout the patient journey. Objective: In this paper we aim to create a consensus derived monitoring algorithm for pharmacists to facilitate best practices throughout therapeutic transitions from originator biologic to other originator biologics, biosimilars, and Janus kinase inhibitors in RA. Methods: The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to understand if consensus could be found among the participants. Clinically relevant questions were developed to capture solutions to the identified unmet need. The faculty considered the questions as individuals, and privately generated answers/ideas. After discussion and consideration, the participants ranked the ideas and established a consensus. Results: Based on the outcome of the consensus discussions, an algorithm was created to help guide pharmacists through therapeutic transitions in RA. The tool covers important topics such as pre-transition considerations, avoiding the nocebo effect for biosimilars, specific considerations for each drug or class, monitoring efficacy, and when to refer. Conclusions: New classes of anti-rheumatic drugs including JAKi, along with the introduction of biosimilars are presenting more opportunity for therapeutic changes and monitoring in patients with RA. We hope our evidence-based consensus derived guidance tool will assist frontline pharmacists in supporting their patients to a successful therapeutic transition in RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are facilitating its widespread integration across various sectors, prominently within agriculture. This evolving synergy is reshaping farming practices, specifically by innovating intelligent mechanisms to monitor and combat crop diseases through intelligent decision-making. Wheat assuming particular significance on the global agricultural stage. Addressing the concerning spread of the wheat soil-borne mosaic (WSBM), this paper employs modern methodologies to gauge the severity of virus infection in wheat through quantitative evaluation. Our contribution lies in the exploration of a group consensus model method within the context of interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2FSs). Navigating the intricacies of decision makers (DMs) reaching consensus, we address the challenge of selecting a consensus degree threshold by introducing random variables. Experimentally determining an objective consensus degree threshold. Then, we combine the Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis plus the full MULTIplicative form (MULTIMOORA) method with Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence fusion theory. This result in an evidence fusion decision-making model rooted in IT2F information, offering enhanced stability. Leveraging the MULTIMOORA method for decision-making, we then fuse the outcomes through D-S evidence fusion theory, yielding stable decision results. Subsequently, we validate the feasibility of our established decision model within the context of WSBM. In conclusion, we subject it to sensitivity and comparative analyses, comparing it with other methods. This thorough evaluation aims to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of our proposed approach, providing insights into its potential applications and contributions in the realm of agricultural decision-making. • A scheme for detecting crop diseases through artificial intelligence is proposed. • A decision-making method fusing MULTIMOORA with D-S evidence theory is explored. • An agricultural group consensus decision rule in the IT2FS context is explored. • A method to optimize the consensus process by the additional adjustment is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When building consensus in group decision making (GDM) under uncertainty, an important yet rarely studied issue is to find the Pareto solutions of multi-objective optimization model. This paper reports a two-objective (2Ob) optimization driven consensus model in GDM by describing the bipolarity of judgements through intuitionistic multiplicative preference relations (IMPRs). First, it is realized that the inherent property of IMPRs is the hesitancy degree. A novel inconsistency index of IMPRs is proposed by combining the effects of hesitancy degree and inconsistency of boundary matrices. Second, the compatibility measure between two IMPRs is utilized to quantify the consensus level (CL) of decision makers. The threshold of acceptable group CL is found to decrease with the order of IMPRs for the first time. A 2Ob optimization model is constructed by minimizing group inconsistency degree and group CL, respectively. Third, the method of equipping two flexibility degrees to each expert is proposed for optimizing individual IMPRs. It is interesting to find that the constructed granularity matrix is different from interval-valued IMPRs. A multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm is adopted to obtain a set of Pareto solutions to GDM problems. Case studies are carried out to illustrate the proposed consensus reaching model. The results help to identify how to provide flexible decisions in GDM under some complexity and uncertainty of a practical problem. • The consistency degree of IMPRs is measured by proposing a novel index. • The threshold of group CL is examined to be dependent on the order of IMPRs. • Two flexibility degrees are proposed to construct a two-objective consensus model. • A MOPSO algorithm is used to derive Pareto solutions of GDM problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of International Affairs (04866096) is the property of Institute of International Politics & Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses the complex nature of multistakerholderism which has been taken for Internet Governance. In particular, it analyzes why the U.S. government has accepted this principle and what are its historical backgrounds and motivations as a foundation of Internet Governance. The paper shows that the principle of multistakerholderism is still a kind of myth, and that we have to go farther in order to implement a more desirable Internet Governance. Technical requirements of Internet Governance and many rounds of disputes over them are introduced in this paper with the history of multistakeholderism as a consensus. Also the paper investigates of historical origins and the capitalist nature of multistakerholderism, and analyzes the process of it to become a principle of Internet Governance. Political implications of multistakeholderism is to follow this story with regard to Internet Governance in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The length of time dedicated to the undergraduate surgical curriculum is decreasing. With reduced time on surgical placements, students may be underexposed to their core learning needs. The aim of this study was to reach a national consensus on the core content of the undergraduate surgical curriculum in the UK. This will support medical students and medical schools in designing curricula to meet the core learning needs of students to prepare them for clinical practice.Materials and Methods: A proposed consensus document was created, using the Royal College of Surgeons of England undergraduate curriculum as a guide. This was circulated to an external advisory group for electronic suggestions of additional content not already described. Suggestions were discussed with the steering committee prior to inclusion within document. The resulting consensus document was presented to a face-face consensus meeting of medical students and foundation doctors at the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) conference 2019 for live voting. Eighty percent agreement required to reach consensus. Any discussion of topics was transcribed to allow qualitative summary of discussion of those topics which did not reach consensus agreement.Results: Electronic suggestions yielded an extra 8 topics for inclusion into the final consensus document. A total of 52 people participated in the consensus session. The consensus discussed a total of 69 knowledge topics, practical skills and clinical examinations; of which 10 did not reach consensus agreement. Areas failing to reach consensus included knowledge topics in Ear Nose and Throat surgery, Vascular surgery and Neurosurgery as the consensus concluded that these topics were supplementary to core needs.Conclusion: This paper presents a national consensus of the undergraduate surgical curriculum. This document should be used in conjunction with the RCS of England undergraduate curriculum to ensure students have an adequate surgical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Leadership is linked to patient experience and quality of care. Some health care professions have identified leadership competencies to guide curriculum design. Yet, the physical therapy profession lacks explicit leadership competencies for the point-of-care professional. The academic community is inconsistent including leadership development within Doctor of Physical Therapy entry-level education or residency/fellowship training. This project aimed to fill this knowledge gap and inform the conversation on leadership competencies essential for new graduate physical therapists while clarifying whether expectations differ for those physical therapists with additional experience who do not hold formal leadership positions. Subjects. Delphi panel of physical therapists with content expertise in leadership Methods. A collated document of leadership competencies was circulated electronically to the Delphi panelists for 2 rounds of structured review. Each panelist rated each competency for level of importance for new graduate physical therapists and the more experienced physical therapists. Consensus threshold was set priori at 0.80. Results. The Delphi panel consisted of 14 content experts. Ten completed 2 rounds of review. Of the 76 potential leadership competencies, 37 were deemed as "very important" and 1 as "somewhat" important for all physical therapists regardless of years postlicensure. Three were "not important" for new graduate physical therapists. Consensus was not reached on 35 leadership competencies. Conclusions. Identification of leadership competencies for physical therapists is essential for role identity and to impact quality of care and the overall patient experience in physical therapy. Results of this paper provide a foundation for discussions on the adoption of a set of leadership competencies within the profession to guide leadership development within curricula for entry-level and professional development activities. Key Words: Leadership, Competencies, Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pairwise comparison is a useful tool to express decision makers' (DMs') preferences in the group decision-making (GDM) problems. However, the preferences provided by pairwise comparisons could be self-contradictory, i.e., ordinal inconsistencies exist. Therefore, before reaching consensus, the first thing is to assure the DM's judgments that are not contradictory. As the purpose of the GDM is to choose most preferred alternative, the consensus degree for each alternative of all the DMs should be measured. In the present paper, an alternative consensus model for additive preference relations (APRs) based on ordinal consistency (OC) is developed. An algorithm is applied to detect and adjust the ordinally inconsistent elements for APRs. Then the alternative rankings for each ordinally consistent APR and the aggregated APR is obtained, respectively. A model is designed to change the DMs' importance, which increases the alternative consensus degree. The proposed model does not change the DMs' preferences, aiming to make full use of the DMs' judgements. Finally, an illustrative example and comparisons with the current approaches are furnished to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consensus process plays a prominent role in decision-making problems. In traditional way, experts with low consensus degree are asked to modify their opinions according to the given advices. However, in fact, experts neither simply adopt nor completely ignore the opinions of others. In general, experts will refer to other experts' opinions to a certain extent and their opinions will evolve due to their interactions. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to propose a consensus model based on uncertain opinion evolution to model the influence between experts during the negotiation and communication process. Firstly, we construct an influence network among experts by taking both objective similarity degree and some subjective psychological traits into consideration. Secondly, a consensus model based on opinion evolution with interval fuzzy preference relations (IFPRs) is proposed. After identifying the incompatible preference with lower consensus degree, experts will modify their preferences according to the preference evolution under the influence network. Then, we prove that the reciprocity property maintains through the dynamic consensus reaching process, and a sufficient condition guaranteeing that the consensus can be reached in the influence network is derived. Furthermore, two nonlinear programming models are proposed to justify whether the IFPR satisfies the acceptable consistency and to calculate the priority vector of the IFPR, respectively. Finally, a case study and comparative analysis are made to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argumentation plays an important role in reasoning and allows the justication of opinions, especially when applied to collaborative decision making. Reaching consensus is not a trivial task where arguments exchanged in a dialogue and common knowledge are important for consensus. This paper presents a model of argumentative dialogue to support the formation of common knowledge in a group of agents that communicate by sending arguments, and proposes a semantics for consensus decision making. The output of the model is a weighted argumentation graph in which semantics is used to decide the preference of the group [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education, like clinical medicine, should be based on the most current evidence in the field. Despite the overwhelming breadth of literature in medical education, pediatric educators desire and need to incorporate best practices into their educational approaches. This article provides an overview of 18 articles from the literature in 2017 that the authors consider to be key articles in the field of pediatric medical education. The 7 authors, all medical educators with combined leadership experience and expertise across the continuum of pediatric medical education, used an iterative, staged process to review more than 1682 abstracts published in 2017. This process aimed to identify a subset of articles that were most relevant to educational practice and most applicable to pediatric medical education. In the process, pairs of authors independently reviewed and scored abstracts in 13 medical education-related journals and reached consensus to identify the abstracts that best met these criteria. Selected abstracts were discussed using different pairs to select the final articles included in this review. This paper presents summaries of the 18 articles that were selected. The results revealed a cluster of studies related to feedback, coaching, and observation; trainee progression, educator development, trainee entrustment, culture, and climate; and the medical student experience. This narrative review offers a useful tool for educators interested in keeping informed about the most relevant and valuable information in the field of medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, the problem of distributed simultaneous fault detection and leader-following consensus control (SFDLCC) in a multi-agent network is investigated. In the proposed method, instead of designing two separate units for fault detection and control objectives, a single module is used that conducts both tasks. Based on the extended linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique, an SFDLCC module is designed for each agent which utilizes both the data received from the neighboring agents as well as the available local relative measurements. The SFDLCC unit in each agent generates both the control input and the residual signal such that the effect of the unknown inputs including faults, disturbances and noises on the tracking error and the effect of disturbances and noises on the residual signal are attenuated using finite frequency H ∞ performance index. On the other hand, the effect of fault inputs on the residual signals is enhanced using the finite frequency H − performance index. Moreover, in the proposed algorithm, the group can not only isolate the faulty agent but also determine whether the fault is in the sensors or actuators. Finally, to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, a simulation study is provided. Highlights • Integrating the fault detection and control modules in multi-agent systems. • Using finite frequency H − and H ∞ performance indices for fault detection. • Determining the faulty agent and descriminating between sensor and actuator faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) is a successful algorithm in model fitting applications when there are numerous outliers within the dataset. Achieving a proper model is guaranteed through the pure exploration strategy of RANSAC. However, finding the optimum result requires exploitation. Genetic Algorithm Sample Consensus (GASAC) is an evolutionary paradigm which adds the exploitation capability to RANSAC. Although GASAC improves the results of RANSAC, it has a fixed strategy for balancing between exploration and exploitation. In this paper, a new paradigm is proposed based on genetic algorithms using an adaptive strategy. We propose an adaptive genetic operator to select the proper number of high fitness individuals as parents and mutate the rest. This operator can adjust the ratio of exploration vs. exploitation phases according to the amount of outliers. Also, a learning method is proposed for the mutation operator to gradually learn which gene is the best replacement for the mutated gene. This operator guides the exploration phase towards good solution areas and therefore produces better individuals for further exploitation. The proposed method is extensively evaluated in two sets of experiments. In all tests, our method outperformed the other methods in terms of both the number of inliers found and the speed of the algorithm. Highlights • An adaptive model fitting algorithm is proposed to handle different outlier rates. • The proposed method is an enhanced version of RANSAC which outperforms it. • A new method is presented to guide the exploration towards good solutions. • A selection operator is designed to tune the rate of exploration vs. exploitation. • A learning roulette wheel is proposed to gradually discriminate the outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mondes en Developpement is the property of De Boeck Universite and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This is the first part of a three-part paper on incommensurability. Although incommensurability between theories has been object of study during many years, there does not seem to be a clear consensus regarding the notion of meaning according to which it should be characterised. Based on the notion of incommensurability proposed here, the common ground between incommensurable theories is neither determined by the sense nor by the reference of the relevant terms, but by a given phenomenon type, which fixes the subject matter of inquiry. Phenomenon types are understood as expressions that are associated with some phenomenon and describable or understandable in some language. In this proposal, two theories can refer to a same phenomenon type even if they are mutually incommensurable about the concepts used in them to grasp it. This possibility may serve as a way of fixing the subject matter of an investigation and, thus, to characterise the common ground between incommensurable paths of inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To summarize the effects of spiritual intelligence (SI) training in several contexts and to identify the most consensual patterns in SI intervention design. The "adaptive application" of spirituality in life is called SI, the ability to use spirituality in everyday problem-solving and it is proven to relate to better clinical and spiritual care (SC) competency in healthcare professionals. Interventions aiming to increase SI have been tested in different settings with benefits that can have a significant impact on the way healthcare professionals approach SC. It included any quantitative studies that used reproducible methodology and reported on the implementation of interventions aiming to increase SI. Text, proceedings, conference or opinion papers, abstracts, reviews, mixed methods and qualitative studies were excluded from this scoping review. Scoping review of quantitative studies on "spiritual intelligence" (query term) that include SI intervention programs (inclusion criteria) conducted on PubMed Central, Scopus, Web Of Science and PsycInfo databases, using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Studies published until the 1st january 2022 were included. The studies' selection, extraction and synthesis of data was carried out by two independent reviewers. From the 10 articles/studies included, six were quasi-experimental and three experimental. Most (n=9) were conducted in Iran. The most common target samples of the studies were nurses (4 studies) and students (4 studies). SI training protocols, although based in group sessions, varied in their content between the different studies. SI interventions reported significant increase of SI levels, improvement of communications skills and reduction of anxiety, stress and depression levels. Despite the consensus among studies regarding the benefits of spiritual intelligence programs, more studies are needed to gauge long-term outcomes. There is also a need to standardize training protocols in spiritual intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the co-creation approach to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate educational interventions to promote the uptake of skin-to-skin contact. Skin-to-skin contact is beneficial to mothers and newborns, but it is rarely practised in Saudi Arabia. Co-creation involving service users to develop evidence-based resources about skin-to-skin contact relevant to the target population is an approach increasingly used to improve health outcomes. A three-step method was used to develop the educational intervention including: (1) a systematic scoping review to identify the evidence-based information for education regarding skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby post-birth; (2) Co-creation of the resources using the Knowledge to Action Framework. The resource was developed collaboratively with academic staff from Australia and health care staff from Saudi hospital; and (3) Finalisation of the educational materials through a consensus development conference and Implementation. The systematic scoping review generated useful information about the gaps in knowledge and barriers to skin-to-skin practice. Information was tailored and translated according to the needs of the Saudi population. A variety of educational materials including pamphlets, a PowerPoint presentation and a short video were co-created with the help of the stakeholders. Consensus was reached when 93% (87–100%) of the participants agreed about the mode of delivery and appropriateness of the PowerPoint and 100% agreed on the e-pamphlets and video. The skin-to-skin online educational resource was created by integrating co-creation principles and the Knowledge to Action framework with the aim of developing and customizing a culturally appropriate intervention using the best available evidence. By engaging in co-creation stakeholders gained a sense of ownership and were more willing to adopt and implement the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has provided us with a number of online collaborative environments, including platforms for open software developments and online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia. Conflicts may arise in the course of such collaboration, but despite differences of opinion consensus can be reached. By investigating the consensus-building processes, we can shed light on the dynamics of social behavior. In Wikipedia, it is not always easy for editors to agree about article content, especially considering people's different tolerance levels towards others and for whatever may be written. In this paper, we focus on how the editors' attitudes, namely being broad-minded or stubborn, affect the consensus-building process in a model of Wikipedia. We further investigate how banning editors affects the speed with which conflicts or debates can be resolved. For the analysis, we use an agent-based opinion model developed to simulate different aspects of Wikipedia. We show that, in most cases, banning agents from editing an article slows down the consensusbuilding process, and increases the system's relaxation time. We show further, and counterintuitively, that with large groups of "extremists" who hold other than the central opinion, consensus can be reached faster and the article will be less biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses posts and comments on a popular social network (Facebook) in order to investigate how web-users take advantage of participative platforms to post ideologically-driven comments, and how the exchanges create echo chambers. In particular, the study addresses populism expressed in online debates concerning migrants and used as a pretext to show group identities and ideologies. Facebook is thus taken as an example and considered a participatory platform (Boyd 2.014) of political (populist) activism and the milieu for consensus-finding. The dialogic structure of comments is studied within Conversation Analysis adapted to online written texts (Antaki et al. 2005; Giles el al. 2015) as participative writings. The content of the posts is studied according to the proximisation theory (Cap 2013; 2017), to show how political/public actors seek legitimation by addressing virtual external threats. As a result, the paper increases our understanding of the participatory framework as the ground where opposing groups interact and where people build a personal confirmation niche (Quattrociocchi and Vicini 2016), which represents a relevant barrier to a critical discourse attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a widely used management technique to identify potential failure modes in products, processes, systems, and services to assign limited resources for implementing improvement efforts. For the FMEA with a number of experts, the experts may take different influences on the decision-making process due to the difference between individual rationality and cognition and the influence of social relations. Besides, incomplete weights of risk factors are vital to capturing the fuzziness of experts' evaluation. Therefore, this paper proposes a consensus-based FMEA method to explore that how cooperative relationship network of experts, the consensus process, and incomplete weight information of risk factors in FMEA influence the decision-making process. First, a consensus reaching process considering cooperative relationships between experts, the self-confidence of experts, and minimum adjustment of expert opinion is proposed to derive a collective evaluation of group. Afterward, the stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis method is integrated with the gained and lost dominance score method to deal with incomplete weights of risk factors in the FMEA. The proposed method is employed in a case study about ranking the failure modes of stereotactic body radiation therapy for lung cancer patients. The robustness and feasibility of the proposed method are validated by comparative analysis. • We determine the weights of experts involved in FMEA by a cooperative network. • We construct a consensus reaching process considering three factors. • We improve the GLDS method by the SMAA-2 method to deal with incomplete weights. • We apply the proposed method to lung stereotactic body radiation therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores what preferences governments held in the negotiation process on the European Constitution regarding European Union (EU) institutional provisions and decision rules. Applying logistic regression and ordered probit techniques to the data collection 'Domestic Structures and European Integration' (DOSEI), and complemented by graphical and descriptive explorations, the paper reveals cleavages between governments' positions that can be discerned in the negotiation process on the European Constitution. Regarding decision rules to be used in the Council, member state preferences clearly differ according to the length of EU states' membership, with older members, in general, favoring a low decision threshold for the Council. Similarly, older EU states were stronger supporters of the application of qualified majority voting (QMV) than were newer EU member states. In addition to this, our analysis reveals that smaller EU states and those facing Euroskeptic domestic publics tended to be more supportive of a low decision threshold in the Council of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the work of eminent political scientist Gary C. Jacobson, specifically his acclaimed book A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People and his subsequent scholarship regarding public opinion during the Obama presidency. Both Bush and Obama governed a nation marked by wide partisan division among the electorate. Jacobson argues that Bush's policies, particularly the deceptive arguments employed to justify the war in Iraq, increased partisan divisions to a level unprecedented in American politics. Despite alienating the vast majority of Democrats along with political independents Bush remained popular among Republicans, particularly the party's base comprised mainly of evangelical Christians. Motivated by religious kinship with Bush, this group embraced the administration's dubious justifications for the Iraq war even when clearly contradicted by fact. Although he promised a post-partisan presidency, Barack Obama has made little progress in healing the partisan divide. More than two years into his presidency partisan divisions have reemerged approaching those of the Bush years. While Jacobson's scholarship acknowledges this, he argues that Obama, unlike Bush, bears little responsibility for failing to unite the country. Instead, Jacobson blames the arguable successor to the religious right, The Tea Party, a movement comprised of people who, he argues, are extreme, racist, and unreasonable. This paper argues that Jacobson's analysis is unfair and politically biased. Specifically, it makes the case for three propositions: 1. Like Bush, Obama has pursued policies that are highly partisan and ideological and consequently politically divisive 2. Obama's arguments justifying his policies have been no more or less truthful or demagogic than Bush's. 3. The political right has no monopoly on incendiary rhetoric or the ability to deny facts. During both the Bush and Obama presidencies, the left has proven itself capable of the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: As a set of economic activities, tourism trades on the character of special places. Conflict can emerge where local residents perceive that tourism development proposals challenge the special qualities of place, and where place meaning and attachments are compromised. A key function of government in mediating conflict is to protect public interests, yet explicit consideration of public interest in tourism development conflict is unusual. This paper argues for a reinvigoration of public interest in the mediation of tourism development conflicts. It explores the concept of public interest and how governments interpret and give meaning to it in development debates. In a case study of a cruise ship terminal proposal on the Gold Coast, Australia, the state adopted a neoliberal interpretation of public interest wherein increased global competitiveness of the destination was the overriding common good pursued. Local and diverse interests were marginalised in the debate. The paper concludes that in order to reinvigorate public interest, a public interest evaluation framework for tourism development is needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]