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The analysis of scientific works in the field of education showed that one of the problems of the educational process is the assessment of its quality. Many authors consider the qualimetric approach to be the most effective approach to the practical implementation of such an assessment. While agreeing with scientists who study the application of qualimetry to as-sess the quality of education, the authors of this article focus on the use of the re-source approach. Consider the educational process itself as a set of these resources, united by defined interactions. This approach will allow individualization of learning both at the student level. We consider the technology of constructing factor-criteria models with the involvement of specialized specialists in their development. This approach is based on the numerical interpretation of the results obtained using the method of expert assessments. We also offer the tools we have developed (either a special-ized program or a set of criteria for evaluation) to support the peer review of elec-tronic resources. We show that this toolkit, with minor changes, is applicable to the evaluation (ranking by qualitative features) of arbitrary resources of the educational process, which have such a characteristic as quality. In addition, the use of the proposed approach makes it possible to use quali-metric monitoring as a tool for the educational process. In other words, to track the dynamics of changes in the state of the resources of the educational process and, using statistical methods, to establish their impact on the final result of education.

The purpose of the study is to analyze and summarize the results of an expert assessment of the goals, needs, ways and methods of medical rehabilitation of rescuers in the emergency zone to preserve and maintain their professional health and high performance during emergency rescue operations. Materials and methods of research. The study was conducted by interviewing of 248 specialists of the All-Russian service for disaster medicine (VSMC) using three questionnaires developed by the author. The questionnaires included questions on the possibility of using and expediency of the field form of medical rehabilitation of rescuers in the emergency zone, the need for additional preparation and professional training of specialists of field teams, as well as the expected effectiveness of this form of work. The results of the research were analyzed using the STATISTICA V.8.0 application software package. Research results and their analysis. The provisions are formulated as based on the results of processing expert opinions on the possibility, significance and expediency of using modern technologies of medical rehabilitation in the emergency zone, the need to change the professional training of specialists in the field of medical rehabilitation and additional training of specialists of field teams working in the emergency zone.

The focus of this Q methodological study was to explore how professionals in the Educational Psychological Service (EPS) and schools experienced a system-based approach to expert assessment work. Forty informants from the EPS and schools sorted 60 statements about the assessment process. The following two shared viewpoints were identified: (1) teacher-focused EPS advisers and (2) principal-focused EPS advisers. While the two groups of EPS advisers seem to approach the school via either the teacher or the principal, joint collaboration on developing knowledge during the assessment process seems scarce in both viewpoints. The students’ experience with school life is the least emphasized. Challenges related to collaboration on developing expert knowledge between the EPS and the student, teacher and principal are discussed. Three practical implications for the realization of a system-based approach to expert assessment work are suggested and further linked to implications for understanding and interpreting EPS's statutory task. KEYWORDS: Educational Psychological Service, system work, inter-professional collaboration, special educational needs, school improvement, Q methodology

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of a Doppler technology highly sensitive for low-velocity flow in the antenatal imaging of the torcular herophili (TH) in the second trimester of pregnancy. Design Prospective study. Setting Referral Fetal Medicine Unit. Population Non-consecutive series of singleton pregnancies submitted to antenatal neurosonogram between 20 and 28 weeks of gestation. Methods A midsagittal section of the fetal brain was obtained by insonating through the anterior fontanelle, then the MV-Flow™ and LumiFlow™ presets were selected to visualise the TH as the posterior confluence of the superior sagittal sinus and the straight sinus. Main outcome measures Evaluation of the anatomic relationship of the TH with the 'transpalatal line' joining the upper bony palate to the fetal skull. Results A total of 99 pregnant women were recruited, including one fetus with open spina bifida, one with Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) and two with Blake's pouch cysts. In normal fetuses, the TH appeared to lie on or just below the 'transpalatal line'. In the cases of Blake's pouch cyst, the position of the TH appeared normal if compared with controls, whereas in DWM a supra-elevated position of the TH in respect of the transpalatal line was demonstrated. Finally, in the fetus with Chiari II malformation the TH was identified below the 'transpalatal plane'. Conclusions Prenatal ultrasound visualisation of the TH by means of newly developed Doppler technologies characterised by high sensitivity for low-velocity flow is feasible and allows the indirect evaluation of the insertion of cerebellar tentorium in the second trimester. Tweetable abstract Prenatal imaging of the torcular herophili using a Doppler technology highly sensitive for low-velocity flow.

This paper discusses the method of expert assessment based on the probabilistic approach of the paired comparisons method. This mathematical apparatus is the basis for special software integrated into the universal stand for prototyping the cockpit, which allows for a systematic expert assessment at this stand according to pre-selected criteria with the control of the consistency of the answers. Using this method, the task of determining the feasibility of displaying layers of synthetic and enhanced vision on the flying frame is solved, but in general, the method allows evaluating any elements of the displays and controls.

The study aims to analyze the structural, qualitative and quantitative indicators of the training effectiveness of high level billiard players, determine the place and priority types of sport preparation in the programs of training process for leading pool teams of Europe. The content of training programs to major billiards event was composed mainly of training load performance planning technical and tactical training without a differentiated approach to the development of physical qualities of highly skilled athletes. In the modern annual training plan for highly skilled billiard players, quantitative indicators of competitive loads have increased significantly in comparison with the past decades. The growth of duration and magnitude of static-dynamic loads in the competitive activity of highly skilled billiards, necessitates the intensification of the process of preparation of athletes by means of special physical training. There is an urgent need to develop a program of special physical training of high-level billiard players (pool) as an independent structural unit in the system of multi-year sport improvement, which consists of a differentiated technique taking into account the individual characteristics and reserve capabilities of athletes, the predicted dynamics of sport results, structure, orientation and content training process in the annual cycle. The program of special physical training of athletes for the main competitions of the year should include the focus of the training process on eliminating disproportion in the structure of special physical training by developing the necessary components of motor function, such as special endurance and coordination abilities.The program of physical training of athletes of the national pool team has been developed and implemented as a component of the integrated training of highly skilled billiards players for the European Championship. The effectiveness of the developed program is confirmed by the high achievements of the athletes of the national team from the pool.The survey of the best specialists in the field of billiards, the analysis of expert opinions and the objective growth of loads in the competitive activities of highly skilled billiard players in recent years, resulted in the improvement of the training program based on increasing the effectiveness of special physical training of the national team of Ukraine. The results of the study allowed to develop a program that included a differentiated load of special physical training with an emphasis on improving coordination abilities and endurance. The implementation of the developed program in the preparatory process of the national pool team has led to an increase in the performance of our athletes at the European Pool Championships.

It is known that the main factor that forms a demand for drugs for treatment of thyroid diseases is doctor. However this issue in the modern scientific literature is not properly highlighted. The aim of our study was to obtain reliable information about the range of drugs used for pharmacotherapy of thyroid diseases in Ternopil region hospitals. As experts were 35 endocrinologists from different medical institutions. The largest share were experts with practical experience of over 10 years (74.29%). The vast majority had qualification categories and the proportion of specialists who had higher and first category was 65.71%. Based on determination of coefficient competence into our formed team of experts were included questionnaires of 30 specialists. It was analyzed frequency of drugs prescription by experts for treatment and prevention of thyroid disease. We found that the largest percentage of use in practice of endocrinologists among levothyroxine sodium drugs is L-thyroxine 50 Berlin-Chemie. Among tiamazol advantage by the total number of prescriptions was equally Merkazolil Zdorovia 5 mg and Thyrozol 5 mg, but the last one is used more often. From iodine preparations (potassium iodide) 83.3% of experts prefer Yodomaryn® 200. It was determined significance of functional and other qualities of drugs. The most important feature of drugs that affect prescriptions, doctors have identified the effectiveness of drugs. Also it was identified which sources of information about drugs use in their work endocrinologists. Found that most doctors give preference to information about drugs from materials of scientific conferences and to medical representatives.

Contains fulltext : 177407.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) BACKGROUND: During their clerkships, medical students are meant to expand their clinical reasoning skills during their patient encounters. Observation of these encounters could reveal important information on the students' clinical reasoning abilities, especially during history taking. METHODS: A grounded theory approach was used to analyze what expert physicians apply as indicators in their assessment of medical students' diagnostic reasoning abilities during history taking. Twelve randomly selected clinical encounter recordings of students at the end of the internal medicine clerkships were observed by six expert assessors, who were prompted to formulate their assessment criteria in a think-aloud procedure. These formulations were then analyzed to identify the common denominators and leading principles. RESULTS: The main indicators of clinical reasoning ability were abstracted from students' observable acts during history taking in the encounter. These were: taking control, recognizing and responding to relevant information, specifying symptoms, asking specific questions that point to pathophysiological thinking, placing questions in a logical order, checking agreement with patients, summarizing and body language. In addition, patients' acts and the course, result and efficiency of the conversation were identified as indicators of clinical reasoning, whereas context, using self as a reference, and emotion/feelings were identified by the clinicians as variables in their assessment of clinical reasoning. CONCLUSIONS: In observing and assessing clinical reasoning during history taking by medical students, general and specific phenomena to be used as indicators for this process could be identified. These phenomena can be traced back to theories on the development and the process of clinical reasoning.

Background Gender differences in jobs and tasks within jobs have been identified as a major challenge when assessing exposure in occupational cancer research. Increasingly used, general population job exposure matrixes (JEM) are nevertheless limited when accounting for intra-job variability. The objective was to assess a JEM performance against an expert case by case evaluation for typically men and women jobs. Methods Data were generated by an ongoing case-only cancer study in Seine-Saint Denis, France (Giscop93). Between 2002 and 2014, 1,253 cancer patients (1,029 men and 224 women) were recruited and detailed occupational history was collected through a semi directed interview. On the corresponding 5,951 jobs (4,975 carried by men, and 976 by women), exposure to chlorinated solvents as assessed by the experts’ team (serving as standard) was compared to Matgene evaluation, a French population-based JEM. Indices of exposure (probability and intensity) were contrasted using Cohen’s κ coefficient of agreement separately for jobs traditionally held by men and those traditionally held by women. Results The prevalence of exposure to chlorinated solvents was greater for the expert assessment as compared to the JEM. Agreement in classifying exposed jobs was fair to high according to the JEM cut-off points (52-80%) for the prevalence, but rather poor when exposure intensity was taken into account. Conclusions Chlorinated solvents exposure estimates based on JEM were overall (e.g. for men and women’s jobs) consistent with the expert evaluation. Preliminary results suggest however a poor agreement beyond the binary cut-off. Further analyses are being carried on benzene and asbestos exposure.

The reliability and validity of six experts' exposure ratings were evaluated for 64 nickel-exposed and 72 chromium-exposed workers from six Shanghai electroplating plants based on airborne and urinary nickel and chromium measurements. Three industrial hygienists and three occupational physicians independently ranked the exposure intensity of each metal on an ordinal scale (1-4) for each worker's job in two rounds: the first round was based on responses to an occupational history questionnaire and the second round also included responses to an electroplating industry-specific questionnaire. The Spearman correlation (r(s)) was used to compare each rating's validity to its corresponding subject-specific arithmetic mean of four airborne or four urinary measurements. Reliability was moderately high (weighted kappa range=0.60-0.64). Validity was poor to moderate (r(s)=-0.37-0.46) for both airborne and urinary concentrations of both metals. For airborne nickel concentrations, validity differed by plant. For dichotomized metrics, sensitivity and specificity were higher based on urinary measurements (47-78%) than airborne measurements (16-50%). Few patterns were observed by metal, assessment round, or expert type. These results suggest that, for electroplating exposures, experts can achieve moderately high agreement and (reasonably) distinguish between low and high exposures when reviewing responses to in-depth questionnaires used in population-based case-control studies.

Objectives Evaluating occupational exposures in population-based case-control studies often requires exposure assessors to review each study participant's reported occupational information job-by-job to derive exposure estimates. Although such assessments likely have underlying decision rules, they usually lack transparency, are time consuming and have uncertain reliability and validity. We aimed to identify the underlying rules to enable documentation, review and future use of these expert-based exposure decisions. Methods Classification and regression trees (CART, predictions from a single tree) and random forests ( predictions from many trees) were used to identify the underlying rules from the questionnaire responses, and an expert's exposure assignments for occupational diesel exhaust exposure for several metrics: binary exposure probability and ordinal exposure probability, intensity and frequency. Data were split into training (n=10 488 jobs), testing (n=2247) and validation (n=2248) datasets. Results The CART and random forest models' predictions agreed with 92-94% of the expert's binary probability assignments. For ordinal probability, intensity and frequency metrics, the two models extracted decision rules more successfully for unexposed and highly exposed jobs (86-90% and 57-85%, respectively) than for low or medium exposed jobs (7-71%). Conclusions CART and random forest models extracted decision rules and accurately predicted an expert's exposure decisions for the majority of jobs, and identified questionnaire response patterns that would require further expert review if the rules were applied to other jobs in the same or different study. This approach makes the exposure assessment process in case-control studies more transparent, and creates a mechanism to efficiently replicate exposure decisions in future studies.

Two methods used for retrospective evaluation of occupational exposures, a case by case assessment by expert and the application of a job exposure matrix (JEM), are compared using occupational histories collected for a case-control study on sinonasal cancer. The objective was to identify the main sources of discrepancies and to contribute to an optimal use of a JEM for population-based case-control studies. Comparisons were based on job periods, and were performed separately for two substances: formaldehyde and wood-dust. Job periods were classified according to the category of exposure assigned by the matrix, and to the probability and level of exposure assessed by the study expert. The sources of discrepancies were examined for job periods probably or definitely exposed according to the JEM and unexposed for the expert, or unexposed in the JEM and probably or definitely exposed to medium or high level for the expert. Such discrepancies were observed for 8% of the job periods for formaldehyde and 3% of the job periods for wood-dust. The agreement between the two approaches was better for wood-dust than for formaldehyde. The relative importance of different sources of discrepancies was not the same for formaldehyde and wood-dust. For formaldehyde a substantial part of the discrepancies was due to disagreements between the study expert and the matrix experts, which were mostly differences in threshold limits between 'not exposed' and 'definitely exposed at a low level'. Differences between experts' opinions did not explain the discordances observed for wood-dust. The presence of additional information in the questionnaire was an important source of discrepancy for the two substances.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Self-assessment is an important aspect in the development of lifelong learning skills for medical students, crucial to maintaining a high level of competence in practice. Basic Life Support (BLS) is a skill that all health professionals must acquire and maintain competence in. This paper reports data from a study of 95 first-year graduate entry medical students at Flinders University in Australia, determining how well the students could assess their own BLS performance. These students were videotaped performing a short CPR scenario using a Resusci Anne with SkillReporter (Laerdal, Norway). Using a six-point descriptive ratings scale, students graded themselves twice: once immediately after completing the task, and again after viewing a video of their performance. A single expert assessor viewed all the video recordings and, based on International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) Guidelines, graded the students using the same scale. The hypothesis was that the intervention of viewing their performance on video would improve the correlation of their ratings with the expert assessor. The results showed that the students' assessments did not agree with the expert assessor either before (weighted kappa = 0.03) or after seeing the video (weighted kappa = 0.002). Possible reasons, including student attitudes and lack of benchmarking, are discussed. Self-assessment skills of students warrant further attention.

BACKGROUND: In a multicenter case-control study of lung cancer in central and eastern Europe and in Liverpool, exposure to occupational agents was assessed by teams of local experts. We performed an interteam agreement study to estimate the levels of exposure misclassification and the expected attenuation of the risk estimate. METHODS: Eight teams of experts and a reference rater assessed exposure to 70 putative lung carcinogens for 19 jobs. Agreement among teams was calculated through Cohen's kappa, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: Each team showed an overall fair to good agreement with the reference (kappa between 0.53 and 0.64). The agreement among teams in the presence of exposure was excellent for 9 agents, fair to good for 16, and poor for 29. For all agents the specificity was high (average 0.94), although sensitivity varied considerably. CONCLUSIONS: This study of expert exposure assessment showed a small range in reliability among teams of experts, but large differences among agents. This paper presents the range in levels of misclassification that can be expected using experts for assessing occupational exposure to different agents, and the attenuation of the odds ratio that can be expected to result from this misclassification.

Occupational assessments of chemical exposure are often inadequate because of difficulties in obtaining sufficient numbers of measurements by trained professionals (experts). The objective of this study was to determine whether workers can provide unbiased data via self-assessments of exposure facilitated by the use of simple passive monitors for personal sampling.Untrained workers obtained personal measurements of their exposures to gaseous contaminants (terpenes in sawmills and styrene in reinforced plastics factories) with passive monitors and written instructions. To study the validity of the self-assessments, an occupational hygienist performed exposure measurements on the same occupational groups after the workers had obtained two or more measurements independently. The potential bias of the self-assessments was evaluated by comparing the self-assessments with the expert assessments in mixed-effects statistical models.A total of 153 terpene (97 self and 56 expert) and 216 styrene (159 self and 57 expert) measurements were obtained from four sawmills and six reinforced plastics factories, respectively. No significant differences in the geometric mean exposures were observed between the self-assessments and the expert assessments in 3 of 4 sawmills and 5 of 6 reinforced plastics factories (P0.10). The potential bias of the self-assessments of exposure ranged from less than 0.1% to 102% and was less than 17% in 9 of the 10 groups investigated.The results indicate that untrained, unsupervised workers are able to collect consistently unbiased exposure data by employing currently available passive monitors.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the educational objectives of the revised national coaching certification theory program (NCCP) represent the important and necessary skills needed to be an effective coach in both contemporary and future Canadian society. A study sample of experts in coach education in Canada (n = 75) agreed to participate in the investigation which was based on a research protocol known as the Delphi technique. Results of the study indicate that coach education experts in Canada generally agreed with the educational objectives at each level of the program in both the present and the futures data. Further, the experts seemed to favour a socio-psychological orientation to the curriculum content at level 1 and level 2 and a balance between the biophysical and the socio-psychological sports science areas at level 3.

Artificially intelligent (AI) computer programs are emerging in several disciplines including education. This paper provides an overview of one type of AI program called, "expert systems." The potential application of expert systems to the diagnosis and assessment of special-needs chlidren is examined and existing prototype systems are reviewed. The future of this technology is discussed in relation to emerging development tools designed for the creation of expert systems by the lay public.

Purpose of the study: examine the parameters of motor performance of young professional football players as markers of the effectiveness of gaming activities and compare them with an expert assessment of the technical and tactical preparedness of professional coaches. Research methods and organization: The experiment was attended by 20 football players from a professional football academy who played two periods in 15 football matches. We used a sports GPS global positioning system, the Catapult system (Optimeye S5 Catapult Innovations of Aus- tralia, Melbourne). Professional football coaches after each official game put up an expert assessment of the implementation of technical and tacti- cal preparedness by players in points from 1-10. Results: Markers were installed: speed zone 4.5-5.5 m / s, m IMA de- cal, amount of assessment of motor performance of young athletes spe- cializing in football, which are comparable with the expert assessment of the success of the implementation of technical and tactical preparedness in the game. Statistical analysis did not reveal significant differences in markers regarding football roles - forwards, defenders, midfielders. Conclusion: An algorithm is proposed for urgent control of specialized motor activity in conjunction with an assessment of the technical and tacti- cal component of training youth football players.

To validate self-reported occupational loud noise exposure against expert evaluation of noise levels in a French case–control study on acoustic neuroma and to estimate the impact of exposure misclassification on risk estimation. Noise levels were evaluated in 1006 jobs held by 111 cases and 217 population controls by an expert. Case–control differences in self-reporting were analyzed with logistic models. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and observed agreement of the self-reports were computed relative to the expert evaluation. They were used to calibrate the odds ratio (OR) between lifetime ever occupational loud noise exposure and the risk of acoustic neuroma, without adjustment for measurement error of the expert assessments. Cases reported noise levels in individual jobs closer to the expert assessment than controls, but the case–control difference was small for lifetime exposures. For expert-rated exposure of 80 dB(A), reporting of individual jobs by cases was more sensitive (54% in cases, 37% in controls), whereas specificity (91% in cases, 93% in controls) and observed agreement (82% in cases, 81% in controls) were similar. When lifetime exposure was considered, sensitivity increased (76% in cases, 65% in controls), while cases specificity decreased (84%). When these values were used to calibrate self-reports for exposure misclassification compared to expert evaluation at 80 dB(A), the crude OR of 1.7 was reduced to 1.3. Despite the relatively accurate reporting of loud noise, the impact of the calibration on the OR was non-negligible.

The relationship between the calculated indicator functional state obtained through the diagnostic hardware complex OMEGA-SPORT (DYNAMICS, St. Petersburg) and the indicator expert assessment of a doctor, cu, determined according to a survey of sports doctors, which we attribute to the features of the training process in the annual training cycle are revealed. It is shown that a decrease in the functional state indicator is accompanied by an increase in visits to the doctor, as evidenced by an increase in the indicator expert assessment of a doctor, cu). The anticipatory decrease in the functional state indicator is a consequence of the stress of the systems that regulate the heart rhythm. The indicator functional state , based on the analysis of statistical and spectral parameters of heart rate variability and expert assessment of a doctor, cu, is fit to use for monitoring and correction of training and accompanying effects for players aged 16-17.

Background While the expert-based occupational exposure assessment approach has been considered the reference method for retrospective population-based studies, its implementation in large study samples has become prohibitive. To facilitate its application and improve upon it we developed, in the context of a Montreal population-based study of prostate cancer (PROtEuS), a hybrid approach combining job-exposure profiles (JEPs) summarizing expert evaluations from previous studies and expert review. We aim to describe the hybrid expert method and its impacts on the exposures assigned in PROtEuS compared to those from a previous study coded using the traditional expert method. Methods Applying the hybrid approach, experts evaluated semi-quantitative levels of confidence, concentration and frequency of exposure to 313 agents for 16,065 jobs held by 4005 subjects in PROtEuS. These assessments were compared to those from a different set of jobs coded in an earlier study of lung cancer, conducted on the same study base, for 90 blue-collar occupations and 203 agents. Endpoints evaluated included differences in the number of exposures and in the distribution of ratings across jobs, and the within-occupation variability in exposure. Results Compared to jobs from the lung cancer study, jobs in PROtEuS had on average 0.3 more exposures. PROtEuS exposures were more often assigned definite confidence ratings, but concentration and frequency levels tended to be lower. The within-occupation variability in ratings assigned to jobs were lower in PROtEuS jobs for all metrics. This was particularly evident for concentration, although considerable variability remained with over 40% of occupation/agent cells in PROtEuS exposed at different levels. The hybrid approach reduced coding time by half, compared to the traditional expert assessment. Conclusions The new hybrid expert approach improved on efficiency and transparency, and resulted in greater confidence in assessments, compared to the traditional expert method applied in an earlier study involving a similar set of jobs. Assigned ratings were more homogeneous with the hybrid approach, possibly reflecting clearer guidelines for coding, greater coherence between experts and/or reliance on summaries of past assessments. Nevertheless, significant within-occupation variability remained with the hybrid approach, suggesting that experts took into account job-specific factors in their assessments. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12940-019-0451-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The article considers mathematical approach to environmental quality management to improve the ecological comfort of living for the population. The problem of environmental management is described using a multi-factor model of quality of the environment with the weight coefficients of the importance of its components: atmospheric air, acoustic impact, soil, water resources, and green spaces, accessibility of natural and recreational areas. The values of weight coefficients of importance of influencing factors for environmentally comfortable living are determined by the method of expert assessment. A multi-factor model is used for detailed assessment of the ecological quality of the urban environment. The proposed quantitative approach also allows to compare the environmental comfort of the different residential districts or to study the dynamics of environmental comfort of specific urban area. Much attention is paid to scientific and methodological principles of management and the formation of the concept of «environmental quality». The strategy of environmental management with ecological foundation of various practical solution is shown. The plan of measures on organization of optimal management of quality of the environment to improve comfort of living for the population of the residential microdistrict of Tiraspol is presented. Graphical scheme of the results of integral analysis of various environmental indicators and assessments for improving the comfort of the environment is given. Realization of environmental quality management of the urban areas on the basis of a multi-factor model contributes to the gradual change of dangerous ecological conditions of environmental factors, to increase a comfort of the territory taking into account the real preferences and needs of the population.

A carefully designed set of simulators showing cervical effacement and dilatation was used to assess the error within and between observers in a group of 36 midwives and 24 obstetricians. No observer was correct in every case. There was no significant difference between the obstetricians and the midwives in assessment of effacement or overall assessment of dilatation. However, midwives were significantly more likely than obstetricians to assess dilatation inaccurately by more than 1 cm. Inaccuracy was greatest in the simulators 5-7 cm dilated. These findings have implications for labour management and teaching.

Background Silica and asbestos are recognized lung carcinogens. However, their role in carcinogenesis at other organs is less clear. Clearance of inhaled silica particles and asbestos fibers from the lungs may lead to translocation to sites such as the bladder where they may initiate carcinogenesis. We used data from a Canadian population-based case-control study to evaluate the associations between these workplace exposures and bladder cancer. Methods Data from a population-based case-control study were used to characterize associations between workplace exposure to silica and asbestos and bladder cancer among men. Bladder cancer cases (N = 658) and age-frequency matched controls (N = 1360) were recruited within the National Enhanced Cancer Surveillance System from eight Canadian provinces (1994–97). Exposure concentration, frequency and reliability for silica and asbestos were assigned to each job, based on lifetime occupational histories, using a combination of job-exposure profiles and expert review. Exposure was modeled as ever/never, highest attained concentration, duration (years), highest attained frequency (% worktime) and cumulative exposure. Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using adjusted logistic regression. Results A modest (approximately 20%) increase in bladder cancer risk was found for ever having been exposed to silica, highest attained concentration and frequency of exposure but this increase was not statistically significant. Relative to unexposed, the odds of bladder cancer were 1.41 (95%CI: 1.01–1.98) times higher among men exposed to silica at work for ≥27 years. For asbestos, relative to unexposed, an increased risk of bladder cancer was observed for those first exposed ≥20 years ago (OR:2.04, 95%CI:1.25–3.34), those with a frequency of exposure of 5–30% of worktime (OR:1.45, 95%CI:1.06–1.98), and for those with Conclusions Our results indicate a slight increase in risk of bladder cancer with exposure to silica and asbestos, suggesting that the effects of these agents are broader than currently recognized. The findings from this study inform evidence-based action to enhance cancer prevention efforts, particularly for workers in industries with regular exposure.

Predictive assessment of possible risks of FMD introduction from neighboring countries to the territory of eight RF Federal Districts was presented. The risk quantitative parameters were determined by experts, specialists in the field of FMD epidemiology. To implement the expert survey method most significant routes of infection introduction to the RF were determined. The experts performed FMD introduction risk assessment for each federal district and determined its score. As a result of statistical analysis the greatest probability was determined for the Far-Eastern Federal District. The North Caucasus and Siberian Federal Okrugs demonstrate lower probability. Basing on the obtained data the major routes of FMD introduction to the territory of the country were determined. Preventive vaccination of susceptible animal population is carried out in order to prevent FMD occurrence and spread in the zones at risk of its introduction. It is aimed at FMD outbreak prevention in the specified RF Subjects by inducing protective immunity in at least 81% of immunized cattle and at least 95% of immunized pigs.

This article considers the issues of expert research to determine a set of require-ments for the hardware and software of the key LMS services of the university. Expert questionnaires have been developed to determine categories, including in-dicators of the functioning of the University's LMS services. Based on the devel-oped questionnaires, a survey of various user groups was conducted: developers, administrators, teachers and students. Based on the processing results, the final set of requirements for the LMS reference model was determined

This paper investigates the abilities of a group of experts to produce subjective probabilities on the likelihood of their students obtaining various grades in their final-year examinations. We examine the calibration of these experts, and how their ability to forecast depends on experience and assessment procedures. We find that these well-motivated and statistically literate assessors, working in their field of expertise, still suffer from the types of assessment problems noted in previous studies on more naive subjects.

The present paper proposes a solution to the problem of improving the accuracy of cost estimation at the initiation stage of a project for the development of a software product, the main module of which is a knowledge-based mathematical module. The approach of used system modeling is described, aimed at simplifying the process of analyzing the complexity of the system and improving the accuracy of assessing labor costs. The result of the work is a validation of the proposed approach, performed on the comparison of the expert assessment, the obtained assessment after modeling the system, and actual labor costs. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. The article was prepared with the financial support of the Center of Competence "System Engineering" established within the International Scientific and Methodological Center for the Transfer of Competencies of the Digital Economy Ural Federal University, created following the Agreement dated 09.12.2019 No. 075-15-2019-1907. The team of authors also thanks ABC Solution for providing the source materials for the architectural descriptions of the system in question.

The population is nowadays increasingly threatened by events that have an immediate impact on their health and lives. One of the most endangered targets are the so-called soft targets. These are such targets that are characterized by a high population concentration, and low or even no level of security against violent or even terrorist attacks. The research carried out by the authors clearly showed that one of the important and easily vulnerable soft targets are schools. This article focuses on the safety of schools and their facilities. The authors focused on finding out the safety of schools as soft targets in the Czech Republic. The security level of schools was measured at selected nursery, elementary, and secondary schools in the city of Brno. As well as technical elements, other factors contributing to the overall safety of schools were also verified. It was found that although a large number of schools have at least basic elements of security available, systemic and organizational measures are not sufficient for technical measures to be important.

Actual nutrition state indicates a significant prevalence of polynutrient deficits in Ukraine. One of the key issues in the fight against alimentary-dependent diseases is monitoring of population’s nutrition status. Only reliable methods for assessing actual nutrition can provide reliable information about the nature of nutrition and establish a relationship with health state. Taking into account the abovementioned, the aim of our study was to compare the existing methods of studying nutrition and nutrition status of individuals or population groups to substantiate and develop a new universal, effective method for assessing nutrition and its subsequent approval. It has been found that existing methods for assessing human food consumption have its disadvantages and advantages and provide the opportunity to receive certain types of nutrition information. There is no single universal method that would allow to make comprehensive assessment of population’s nutrition, including student youth. To solve this issue, we have substantiated and developed a questionnaire for assessing the nutrition of different population groups, including student youth, which has been evaluated and approved by specialists from leading in­stitu­tions in the field of nutrition hygiene, gastroenterology and dietetics. Created survey questionnaire is a universal tool for collecting primary information and providing an opportunity to assess the social and welfare standards of respon­dents, working conditions and living conditions, the presence of hazard factors and bad habits, involvement in sports, anthropometric indicators, as well as it allows to assess the diet, drinking regime, main food product groups consumption, weight of portions, food handling methods, priority and benefits when choosing food, food intake places, which will be taken into account in the future to develop effective measures for the prevention of alimentary and alimentary-dependent diseases.

The methodology of modern social science and the humanities increasingly often employs social indicators based on aggregated quantitative assessments of different societal characteristics. The term social indicators was first used in the United States in the early 1960s. It was introduced on the initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was doing research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the 1970s, the U.S. government regularly published relevant data, and the Social Indicators Research journal was launched. International organizations undertook a similar approach. Interest in these data somewhat dropped in the 1980s but revived in the 1990s as a consequence of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Program by the international community; the program required the use of composite, rather than miscellaneous, social indicators, which would include different components of the indices (Stepashin, 2008). Social indicators are actively used by authoritative international organizations, such as the United Nations, the Statistical Office of the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, and the European Commission, and are applied by almost all European countries, as well as by the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Latin American countries, and the Republic of South Africa.Psychological components occupy an important place in the structure of social indicators. According to Osipov (2011), "The traditional approach was supplemented by the subjective one, which accounts for the psychological well-being of people; the concepts of life quality and functional abilities were formed" (p. 6). The indices of social moods, social health, social optimism, satisfaction with life, and others, which are calculated by sociologists, have a pronounced psychological component. Note that the primary components of these indices are also "psychologized" to a considerable extent. For example, the index of satisfaction with life, suggested by Balatskii (2005), includes creative self-realization and effective informal social contacts (friendship, communication, mutual understanding, sexual relations, and so on) as primary indicators. Other indices, such as, for example, a country's vitality coefficient, used by demographers (Sulakshin, 2006), and indicators of quality of life and associated phenomena--subjective well-being and so on (Biderman, 1970; Keltner, Locke, & Audrian, 1993)--also directly relate to psychology. Such indices as the happy life index, the happy planet index, and the gross national happiness index (the latter coined by Bhutan's fourth king and used in that country instead of the GDP index) make it possible to count the seemingly uncountable. These indices were generated in economic science, which, for example, developed happiness economics. In particular, "the dissatisfaction of economists with the explanatory potential of the profit maximization postulate led to posing the notion of well-being as the goal of economic activity, which replaced in this function the notion of wealth" (Osipov, 2011, p. 39). Well-being is usually understood as a state consisting of six factors: physical and psychological health, knowledge and understanding, work, material welfare, freedom and self-determination, and interpersonal relations (Lebedeva, 2000). One cannot but notice how deeply this notion, generated by economic science, is psychologized. Happiness economics largely inverts the traditional logic of economic and social assessments by shifting the focus to subjective well-being and assessing through it the quality of objective life conditions. It is believed that the main difference between "secondary" and "primary" modernization is to improve the quality of life and to satisfy people's needs for happiness and self-expression rather than merely to develop the economy to meet people's material requirements.In psychological science itself, similar approaches are used for assessing the subjective quality of life; the psychological potential of a population (Zarakovskii, 2009); and social capital, which, in essence, has a social-psychological content (Tatarko, 2011). …

International audience; The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified diesel exhaust as a carcinogen based on lung cancer evidence; however, few studies have investigated the effect of engine emissions on bladder cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between occupational exposure to diesel and gasoline emissions and bladder cancer in men using data from the Canadian National Enhanced Cancer Surveillance System; a population-based case-control study. This analysis included 658 bladder cancer cases and 1360 controls with information on lifetime occupational histories and a large number of possible cancer risk factors. A job-exposure matrix for engine emissions was supplemented by expert review to assign values for each job across three dimensions of exposure: concentration, frequency, and reliability. Odds ratios (OR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated using logistic regression. Relative to unexposed, men ever exposed to high concentrations of diesel emissions were at an increased risk of bladder cancer (OR = 1.64, 0.87-3.08), but this result was not significant, and those with >10 years of exposure to diesel emissions at high concentrations had a greater than twofold increase in risk (OR = 2.45, 1.04-5.74). Increased risk of bladder cancer was also observed with >30% of work time exposed to gasoline engine emissions (OR = 1.59, 1.04-2.43) relative to the unexposed, but only among men that had never been exposed to diesel emissions. Taken together, our findings support the hypothesis that exposure to high concentrations of diesel engine emissions may increase the risk of bladder cancer.