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This article aims to examine the application of the new conversion method for evaluating electronic banking services. The conversion method consists of aggregating the average ratings of the respondents. Its intuitiveness results from the data collection process; the results collected from the respondents are converted using the algorithm presented in this article into the final result. The data was collected in 2022 using the CAWI method. The results of the calculations are compared with the results obtained by the scoring method, and the differences are interpreted. The conversion method reduces the subjectivity of the test results. The results indicate that economic factors have a large impact on users’ opinions about the quality of banking services. This is additionally confirmed by research conducted among this group of customers. The main implication for researchers is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the conversion method in the analysis of electronic banking services.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic efficacy of elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the identification of breast lesions subsequent to the optimization and correction of the BI-RADS category 4 classification obtained through conventional ultrasound. The objective is to augment both the specificity and accuracy of breast lesion diagnosis, thereby establishing a reliable framework for reducing unnecessary biopsies in clinical settings. METHODS: A cohort comprising 50 cases of breast lesions classified under BI-RADS category 4 was collected during the period from November 2022 and November 2023. These cases were examined utilizing strain elastography (SE), shear wave elastography (SWE), and CEUS. Novel scoring methodologies for ultrasonic elastography (UE) and CEUS were formulated for this investigation. Subsequently, the developed UE and CEUS scoring systems were used to refine and optimize the conventional BI-RADS classification, either in isolation or in conjunction. Based on the revised classification, the benign group was classified as category 3 and the suspected malignant group was classified as category 4a and above, with pathological results serving as the definitive reference standard. The diagnostic efficacy of the optimized UE and CEUS, both independently and in combination, was meticulously scrutinized and compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, with pathological findings as the reference standard. RESULTS: Within the study group, malignancy manifested in 11 cases. Prior to the implementation of the optimization criteria, 78% (39 out of 50) of patients underwent biopsies deemed unnecessary. Following the application of optimization criteria, specifically a threshold of≥8.5 points for the UE scoring method and≥6.5 points for the CEUS scoring method, the incidence of unnecessary biopsies diminished significantly. Reduction rates were observed at 53.8% (21 out of 39) with the UE protocol, 56.4% (22 out of 39) with the CEUS protocol, and 89.7% (35 out of 39) with the combined UE and CEUS optimization protocols. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic efficacy of conventional ultrasound BI-RADS category 4 classification for breast lesions is enhanced following optimized correction using UE and CEUS, either independently or in conjunction. The application of the combined protocol demonstrates a notable reduction in the incidence of unnecessary biopsies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typical first-line management of children with intussusception is enema reduction; however, failure necessitates surgical intervention. The number of attempts varies by clinician, and predictors of failed nonoperative management are not routinely considered in practice. The purpose of this study is to create a scoring system that predicts risk of nonoperative failure and need for surgical intervention. Children diagnosed with intussusception upon presentation to the emergency department of a tertiary children's hospital between 2019 and 2022 were retrospectively identified. Univariable logistic regression identified predictors of nonoperative failure used as starting covariates for multivariable logistic regression with final model determined by backwards elimination. Regression coefficients for final predictors were used to create the scoring system and optimal cut-points were delineated. We identified 143 instances of ultrasound-documented intussusception of which 28 (19.6%) required operative intervention. Predictors of failed nonoperative management included age ≥4 y (odds ratio [OR] 32.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91-564.23), ≥1 failed enema reduction attempts (OR 189.53, 95% CI: 19.07-1884.11), presenting heart rate ≥128 (OR 3.38, 95% CI: 0.74-15.36), presenting systolic blood pressure ≥115 mmHg (OR 6.59, 95% CI: 0.93-46.66), and trapped fluid between intussuscepted loops on ultrasound (OR 17.54, 95% CI: 0.77-397.51). Employing these factors, a novel risk scoring system was developed (area under the curve 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). Scores range from 0 to 8; ≤2 have low (1.1%), 3-4 moderate (50.0%), and ≥5 high (100%) failure risk. Using known risk factors for enema failure, we produced a risk scoring system with outstanding discriminate ability for children with intussusception necessitating surgical intervention. Prospective validation is warranted prior to clinical integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the sustainability of material-based products now encompasses social sustainability, a vital aspect often overlooked. Even though the existing frameworks provide a starting point, they do not often differentiate between the assessment criteria when making comparisons within one specific material category, which has made sustainability assessments more focused on environmental and economic aspects. This study addresses this critical gap by pioneering a social assessment framework curated to help practitioners to choose the most sustainable cement type out of the standard cement types used in the industry. Utilizing the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and linear-scoring method, criteria weights were systematically assigned based on scoring by industry and academic experts. The findings highlight the importance of integrating social sustainability with environmental and economic factors in cement selection. Unlike traditional material selection, which primarily considers cost and performance, green material selection emphasizes the holistic impact of materials, including social factors. Variations in weightage decisions among experts highlight the influence of practical experience, research interests, and context. Functionality emerges as a crucial criterion. The ranking of cement types based on social scores places CEM II/B-M at the top, followed by CEM IV/A, CEM II/A-S, CEM II/A-V, CEM I, and CEM II/A-LL. The evolving nature of sustainability necessitates ongoing research to refine and expand existing frameworks for a more sustainable construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigational drug services need to be organised in a structured approach, especially for sites with a large number of ongoing clinical trials. The aim of this study was to develop a tool to assess the complexity of pharmacy involvement in a sponsored oncology clinical trial. Categorisation into ordinal complexity categories was used to assess the complexity of the clinical trials for consistent pharmacy grant applications. The 15 items of the tool were divided into three sections, and individual item scores were agreed upon among four pharmacists with experience in the conduct of clinical trials at two different centres. A final version of the tool, named Pharm-CAT, was approved. The pharmacists were instructed to use Pharm-CAT to assign a score to each new sponsored trial. To determine the cut-offs for the complexity categories, the scores were sorted in ascending order and the cut-offs corresponding to the first and third tertiles of the score distribution were selected. To verify the reproducibility of the results, Pharm-CAT was applied by two pharmacists independently for each trial. Pharm-CAT proved to be user-friendly. Sixty clinical trials were evaluated and a total of 120 scores were recorded. Low-complexity scores ranged from 0 to 19, medium-complexity scores ranged from 20 to 25, and high-complexity scores were 26 or higher. The average score recorded was 22.88 points. Prospective multicentre validation of Pharm-CAT is needed to confirm its applicability.

Protein–ligand interactions (PLIs) are essential for cellular activities and drug discovery. But due to the complexity and high cost of experimental methods, there is a great demand for computational approaches to recognize PLI patterns, such as protein–ligand docking. In recent years, more and more models based on machine learning have been developed to directly predict the root mean square deviation (RMSD) of a ligand docking pose with reference to its native binding pose. However, new scoring methods are pressingly needed in methodology for more accurate RMSD prediction. We present a new deep learning-based scoring method for RMSD prediction of protein–ligand docking poses based on a Graphormer method and Shell-like graph architecture, named GSScore. To recognize near-native conformations from a set of poses, GSScore takes atoms as nodes and then establishes the docking interface of protein–ligand into multiple bipartite graphs within different shell ranges. Benefiting from the Graphormer and Shell-like graph architecture, GSScore can effectively capture the subtle differences between energetically favorable near-native conformations and unfavorable non-native poses without extra information. GSScore was extensively evaluated on diverse test sets including a subset of PDBBind version 2019, CASF2016 as well as DUD-E, and obtained significant improvements over existing methods in terms of RMSE, |$R$| (Pearson correlation coefficient), Spearman correlation coefficient and Docking power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigational drug services need to be organised in a structured approach, especially for sites with a large number of ongoing clinical trials. The aim of this study was to develop a tool to assess the complexity of pharmacy involvement in a sponsored oncology clinical trial. Categorisation into ordinal complexity categories was used to assess the complexity of the clinical trials for consistent pharmacy grant applications. The 15 items of the tool were divided into three sections, and individual item scores were agreed upon among four pharmacists with experience in the conduct of clinical trials at two different centres. A final version of the tool, named Pharm-CAT, was approved. The pharmacists were instructed to use Pharm-CAT to assign a score to each new sponsored trial. To determine the cut-offs for the complexity categories, the scores were sorted in ascending order and the cut-offs corresponding to the first and third tertiles of the score distribution were selected. To verify the reproducibility of the results, Pharm-CAT was applied by two pharmacists independently for each trial. Pharm-CAT proved to be user-friendly. Sixty clinical trials were evaluated and a total of 120 scores were recorded. Low-complexity scores ranged from 0 to 19, medium-complexity scores ranged from 20 to 25, and high-complexity scores were 26 or higher. The average score recorded was 22.88 points. Prospective multicentre validation of Pharm-CAT is needed to confirm its applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the prognostic value of the Ryan score, Belgian Outcome of Burn Injury (BOBI) score,revised Baux (rBaux) score, and a new model (a Logit(P)-based scoring method created in 2020) for predicting mortality risk in patients with extremely severe burns and to conduct a comparative analysis. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 599 burn patients who met the inclusion criteria and were admitted to the burn unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from 2017 to 2022. Relevant information was collected, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were plotted for each of the four models in assessing mortality in these burn patients using both age-stratified and unstratified forms. The ROC curve section was further compared with the area under the curve (AUC), optimal cutoff value, as well as its sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, the quality of the AUC was assessed using the Delong test. Among the patients who met the inclusion criteria, 532 were in the survival group and 67 in the death group. Irrespective of age stratification, the novel model exhibited superior performance with an AUC of 0.868 (95% CI: 0.838–0.894) among all four models predicting mortality risk in included patients, and also demonstrated better AUC quality than other models; the calibration curves showed that the accuracy of all four models was good; the DCA curves showed that the clinical utility of the novel model and rBuax score were better. In the comparison of four scoring models across different age groups, the new model demonstrated the largest AUC in both 0–19 years (0.954, 95% CI 0.914–0.979) and 20–59 years groups (0.838, 95% CI 0.793–0.877), while rBuax score exhibited the highest AUC in ≥ 60 years group (0.708, 95% CI of 0.602–0.800). The calibration curves showed that the four models exhibited greater accuracy within the age range of 20–59 years, while the DCA curves indicated that both the novel model and rBuax score scale displayed better prediction in both the 20–59 and ≥ 60 years groups. All four models demonstrate accurate and effective prognostication for patients with severe burns. Both the novel model and rBaux score exhibit enhanced prediction utility. In terms of the model itself alone, the new model is not simpler than, for example, the rBaux score, and whether it can be applied clinicallyinvolves further study. • Compared to the other three models, the novel model has unique advantages in terms of accuracy and practicality • It is more accurate to judge a model by using ROC curves, calibration curves and DCA curves to test the model • While the novel model has better predictive efficiency, its simplicity is not better than the rBuax score [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explored the use of transthoracic lung ultrasound for evaluating COVID‐19 patients, compared it with computed tomography (CT), and examined its effectiveness using 8 and 12 lung regions. Methods: A total of 100 patients with COVID‐19 and 40 healthy volunteers were assessed using 12 regions (bilateral upper/lower regions of the anterior/lateral/posterior chest) and simplified 8 zones (bilateral upper/lower regions of the anterior/lateral chest) transthoracic lung ultrasound. The relationships between ultrasound, CT, and clinical indicators were analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasound scores in COVID‐19. Results: Increased disease severity correlated with increased 8‐ and 12‐zone ultrasound and CT scores (all p < 0.05). The modified 8‐zone method strongly correlated with the 12‐zone method (Pearson's r = 0.908, p < 0.05). The 8‐ and 12‐zone methods correlated with CT scoring (correlation = 0.568 and 0.635, respectively; p < 0.05). The intragroup correlation coefficients of the 8‐zone, 12‐zone, and CT scoring methods were highly consistent (intragroup correlation coefficient = 0.718, p < 0.01). The 8‐zone ultrasound score correlated negatively with oxygen saturation (rs = 0.306, p < 0.05) and Ca (rs = 0.224, p < 0.05) and positively with IL‐6 (rs = 0.0.335, p < 0.05), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (rs = 0.327, p < 0.05), alanine aminotransferase (rs = 0.230, p < 0.05), and aspartate aminotransferase (rs = 0.251, p < 0.05). The 12‐zone scoring method correlated negatively with oxygen saturation (rs = 0.338, p < 0.05) and Ca (rs = 0.245, p < 0.05) and positively with IL‐6 (rs = 0.354, p < 0.05) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (rs = 0.495, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Lung ultrasound scores represent the clinical severity and have high clinical value for diagnosing COVID‐19 pneumonia. The 8‐zone scoring method can improve examination efficiency and reduce secondary injuries caused by patient movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Trauma & Emergency Surgery / Ulusal Travma ve Acil Cerrahi Dergisi is the property of KARE Publishing 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 The management of patients with ureteral calculi in the emergency department (ED) remains challenging due to high revisit rates. Purpose To identify predictors of revisits among patients with ureteral calculi in the ED. Design, setting, and participants Data from patients who presented at a tertiary academic hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea, between February 2018 and December 2019, were analyzed retrospectively. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Variables, including the respiratory rate (RR), estimated glomerular fltration rate (eGFR), duration of pain, number of analgesic doses, location of ureteral calculi, and ED length of stay (LOS) were examined using logistic regression. We also examined some additional variables included in the STONE and CHOKAI scoring systems to examine their association with revisit. Results Signifcant predictors of revisits included the number of analgesic doses and the location of ureteral calculi. Patients who required multiple analgesic doses or those with proximal or mid-ureteral calculi were more likely to revisit the ED. Although the STONE and CHOKAI scores could predict uncomplicated ureteral calculi, we found that the CHOKAI score is a valuable tool for predicting the likelihood of patient revisits (p=0.021). Conclusions Efective pain management and consideration of calculi location are important for predicting patient revisits. More research is required to validate fndings, develop precise predictive models, and empower tailored care for high-risk patients. Patient summary In patients with ureteral calculi in the ED, the number of analgesics given and stone location predict return visits. Proximal ureteral calculi on CT may require early urologic intervention to prevent pain-related revisits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Architectus is the property of Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wroclawskiej 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 summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of Business sustainability. The main purpose of the research is to look at the quality of sustainability reports of Indian infrastructure firms and use scoring method from literary sources for solving the problem and the issue of Business sustainability. The relevance of this scientific problem decision is that it adds to the literature of sustainability of firms. Investigation of the topic in this paper is carried out by using the Global Reporting Index (GRI) framework viz., economic, environment and social factors Methodological tools of the research methods were scoring methods which has been used for decade by the researchers in this field of study. The object of research is the analysis of sustainability reports of Indian Infrastructure firm because this sector faces namely external business environment negativities in Indian context. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis by comparing large, medium and small firms, which showed that difference inside the large, medium, small group of companies. We find support to the earlier researches that have shown, large companies report better sustainability scores more than smaller ones on sustainability reporting. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves the resources based view of strategic management. The results of the research can be useful for policy makers who can promulgate better incentive and provide technical expertise to medium and small firms to enhance their sustainability reporting.

Failure to treat many pathogens is a concern. Identifying a priori, patients with potential failure treatment outcome of a disease could allow measures to reduce the failure rate. The objectives of this study were to use the Scoring method to identify factors associated with the tuberculosis unsuccessful treatment outcome and to predict the treatment outcome. A total of 1,529 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were randomly selected in the city of Douala, Cameroon, this sample was randomly split into two parts: one subsample of 1,200 patients (78%) used as the Development sample, and the remaining of 329 patients (22%) used as the Validation sample. Baseline characteristics associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes were investigated using logistic regression. The optimal score was based on the Youden's index. HIV positive status, active smoker and non-belief in healing were the factors significantly associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes (P<0.05). A model used to estimate the risk of unsuccessful treatment outcome was derived. The threshold probability which maximize the area under the ROC curve was 18%. Patients for whom the risk was greater than this threshold were classified as unsuccessful treatment outcome and the others as successful. HIV positive and active smoking status were associated with death; the non-belief in healing, youth and male gender associated with lost-to-follow-up, TB antecedent and not having TB contact associated with therapeutic treatment failure. To increase the tuberculosis treatment success rate, targeted follow-up could be taken during the treatment for TB patients with previous characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Determination of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression level in tumor cells and tumor-associated immune cells is critical for identifying patients eligible for immunotherapy. PD-L1 manual scoring algorithms can generally be divided into two categories: cell counting and visual estimation. Cell counting can be time-consuming and is not in sync with pathology practice, which classically uses a Gestalt approach based on pattern recognition and visual estimation. In this study, we introduce the Tumor Area Positivity (TAP) score, which is a novel, straightforward method for scoring tumor cells and immune cells together using visual estimation. Methods To demonstrate the reproducibility of TAP scoring among pathologists, between- and within-reader precision studies were performed both within (internal) and outside of (external) our organization. We also compared the TAP score to the Combined Positive Score (CPS), which is based on cell counting, for concordance and time efficacy. Results The average positive agreement, average negative agreement, and overall percent agreement between and within readers were all above 85% for both internal and combined external reader precision studies. TAP score had high concordance rate at 5% cutoff compared with CPS at cutoff 1: positive percent agreement, negative percent agreement, and overall percent agreement were all above 85%. Conclusions Our study showed the TAP scoring method to be straightforward, significantly less time-consuming, and highly reproducible with a high concordance rate between TAP score and CPS.

Abstract Background Current methods to evaluate the severity of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) lack patient-specific indexes. Herein, a novel scoring method was investigated to estimate the thrombus burden and the intracranial pressure (ICP) of CVST. Methods In this retrospective study from January 2019 through December 2021, we consecutively enrolled patients with a first-time confirmed diagnosis of CVST by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography (CE-MRV) or computed tomography venography (CTV). In these patients, a comprehensive CVST-Score was established using magnetic resonance black-blood thrombus imaging (MRBTI) to estimate the thrombus burden semi-quantitatively. The relationship between CVST-Score and ICP was explored to assess the potential of using the CVST-score to evaluate ICP noninvasively and dynamically. Results A total of 87 patients were included in the final analysis. The CVST-Scores in different ICP subgroups were as follows: 4.29±2.87 in ICP330mmH2O subgroup, respectively (p330mmH2O were 7.15 and 11.62, respectively (P

Failure to treat many pathogens is a concern. Identifying a priori, patients with potential failure treatment outcome of a disease could allow measures to reduce the failure rate. The objectives of this study were to use the Scoring method to identify factors associated with the tuberculosis unsuccessful treatment outcome and to predict the treatment outcome. A total of 1,529 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were randomly selected in the city of Douala,Cameroon, this sample was randomly split into two parts: one subsample of 1,200 patients (78%) used as the Development sample, and the remaining of 329 patients (22%) used as the Validation sample. Baseline characteristics associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes were investigated using logistic regression. The optimal score was based on the Youden's index. HIV positive status, active smoker and non‑belief in healing were the factors significantly associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes (P0.05). A model used to estimate the risk of unsuccessful treatment outcome was derived. The threshold probability which maximize the area under the ROC curve was 18%. Patients for whom the risk was greater than this threshold were classified as unsuccessful treatment outcome and the others as successful.HIV positive and active smoking status were associated with death; the non-belief in healing, youth and male gender associated with lost-to-follow-up, TB antecedent and not having TB contact associated with therapeutic treatment failure. To increase the tuberculosis treatment success rate, targeted follow-up could be taken during the treatment for TB patients with previous characteristics.

To compare manual scoring: 1) to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) auto-scoring rules. 2) to the AASM and World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) rules, and evaluate the accuracy of the AASM and WASM for respiratory event-related limb movements (RRLM) in diagnostic and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration polysomnography (PSG). We retrospectively, re-scored diagnostic and CPAP titration PSGs of 16 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), using manual re-scoring by the AASM (mAASM) and WASM (mWASM) criteria for RRLM, periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS), and limb movements (LM), which were compared to auto-scoring by the AASM (aAASM). In diagnostic PSG, significant differences were found in LMs (p < 0.05), RRLM (p = 0.009) and the mean duration of PLMS sequences (p = 0.013). In CPAP titration PSG, there was a significant difference in RRLM (p = 0.008) and PLMS with arousal index (p = 0.036). aAASM underestimated LM and RRLM, especially in severe OSA. Changes in RRLM and PLMS with arousal index between diagnostic and titration PSG were significantly different between aAASM and mAASM, but there was no significant difference between scoring by mAASM and mWASM. The ratio of PLMS and RRLM changes between diagnostic and CPAP titration PSG was 0.257 in mAASM and 0.293 in mWASM. In addition to the overestimation of RRLM by mAASM compared to aAASM, mAASM may also be more sensitive than aAASM in detecting RRLM changes in the titration PSG. Despite intuitive differences in the definition of RRLM between AASM and WASM rules, RRLM results between mAASM and mWASM were not significant and about 30% of RRLMs might be scored as PLMS by both scoring rules. • Respiratory event-related limb movements can be evaluated differently by scoring. • Manual scoring can overestimate respiratory event-related limb movements. • Manual scoring by AASM detects respiratory event-related limb movements changes well. • About 30% of respiratory event-related limb movements can be scored periodic limb movements. • Manual confirmation after validated scoring program is required to score limb movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the aging trend in society and to Human Augmentation beings for home-based activities, this paper proposes an Abnormal Movement Detection system, using the common at-home movements of standing up and hand tremors while picking up items for abnormal movement verification. This can be easily applied in ordinary homes or long-term care institutions; for those living alone with limited resources, there is no longer any need to purchase expensive monitoring equipment to achieve improved quality of life. Therefore, this research collected and built the own dataset as the first important step of the study. The proposed Abnormal Movement Detection system is implemented by designing a deep learning network. Several issues, including the network architecture, the novel method of data augmentation and the scoring method of expanding the intervals between abnormality levels, are studied. For achieving the home-based real-time detection, there are four main contributions of this paper. The first is that a training dataset was collected and established: From this, the pathognomonic movement categories are easy to observe in home activities and geometric data augmentation can be used to improve the related home activity video collection. The second is the abnormal behavior detection architecture: This architecture has several important function blocks including detecting object, detecting action, inspecting abnormal movement and reminding event, using Convolutional Neural Network combined with Long Short-Term Memory (CNN + LSTM) as the core network for abnormal motion detection. With movement abnormality evaluation based on different levels, it can judge abnormal behaviors and conduct model training, performance evaluation and architecture optimization with both public domain datasets and the movement dataset collected in this research project. The third is the proliferation of new attributes in the videos: New attributes are added to the original videos through a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), producing new training videos; the effectiveness of two different generation methods is evaluated. Finally, the algorithms developed in this paper are deployed on resource-constrained On-device Artificial Intelligence (AI). Activity videos from a total of 20 people were collected; in all, 53 videos of StandUp and 60 videos of PickUpItems were obtained to establish the training dataset. When CNN and LSTM network were added to Batch Normalization (BN), and Global Average Pooling (GAP) replaced Fully Connected (FC) layers, the accuracy rate reached 98.4%. In terms of data augmentation, geometric transformations and GAN were used to estimate the performance. The experimental results showed that the geometric transformation using brightness adjustment had the highest accuracy rate of 98.6%. Finally, the Softmax layer using Phi-Softmax–tan(⋅) function was shown to be the best method to expand the intervals between abnormality levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper describes the creation of algorithm for automated assessment of investment portfolio attractiveness. Portfolios selection procedure (algorithm) are considered. Comparison of multiple criteria evaluation methods and comparison of the prioritization ranking of different investment projects (portfolios) following changes to the requirement weights are introduced. Evolving of robo-advisor systems for portfolio management is described. Research goal is development of algorithm for automated assessment of investment attractiveness of portfolios using investment criteria. Ex-ante (predict) and ex-post (assess) evaluation are compered for project evaluation. Research methods include algorithms for assessing the investment attractiveness of portfolios using finance criteria. To integrate these criteria scoring system for selection of investment portfolios was implemented with transformation model from quantitative criteria to qualitative ones. Scoring method was applied for different investment portfolios with cryptocurrencies to choose most attractive for investors.

Background: Determination of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression level in tumor cells and tumor-associated immune cells is critical for identifying patients eligible for immunotherapy. PD-L1 manual scoring algorithms can generally be divided into two categories: cell counting and visual estimation. Cell counting can be time-consuming and is not in sync with pathology practice, which classically uses a Gestalt approach based on pattern recognition and visual estimation. In this study, we introduce the Tumor Area Positivity (TAP) score, which is a novel, straightforward method for scoring tumor cells and immune cells together using visual estimation. Methods: To demonstrate the reproducibility of TAP scoring among pathologists, between- and within-reader precision studies were performed both within (internal) and outside of (external) our organization. We also compared the TAP score to the Combined Positive Score (CPS), which is based on cell counting, for concordance and time efficacy. Results: The average positive agreement, average negative agreement, and overall percent agreement between and within readers were all above 85% for both internal and combined external reader precision studies. TAP score had high concordance rate at 5% cutoff compared with CPS at cutoff 1: positive percent agreement, negative percent agreement, and overall percent agreement were all above 85%. Conclusions: Our study showed the TAP scoring method to be straightforward, significantly less time-consuming, and highly reproducible with a high concordance rate between TAP score and CPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of Business sustainability. The main purpose of the research is to look at the quality of sustainability reports of Indian infrastructure firms and use scoring method from literary sources for solving the problem and the issue of Business sustainability. The relevance of this scientific problem decision is that it adds to the literature of sustainability of firms. Investigation of the topic in this paper is carried out by using the Global Reporting Index (GRI) framework viz., economic, environment and social factors Methodological tools of the research methods were scoring methods which has been used for decade by the researchers in this field of study. The object of research is the analysis of sustainability reports of Indian Infrastructure firm because this sector faces namely external business environment negativities in Indian context. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis by comparing large, medium and small firms, which showed that difference inside the large, medium, small group of companies. We find support to the earlier researches that have shown, large companies report better sustainability scores more than smaller ones on sustainability reporting. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves the resources based view of strategic management. The results of the research can be useful for policy makers who can promulgate better incentive and provide technical expertise to medium and small firms to enhance their sustainability reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current methods to evaluate the severity of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) lack patient-specific indexes. Herein, a novel scoring method was investigated to estimate the thrombus burden and the intracranial pressure (ICP) of CVST. Methods: In this retrospective study from January 2019 through December 2021, we consecutively enrolled patients with a first-time confirmed diagnosis of CVST by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography (CE-MRV) or computed tomography venography (CTV). In these patients, a comprehensive CVST-Score was established using magnetic resonance black-blood thrombus imaging (MRBTI) to estimate the thrombus burden semi-quantitatively. The relationship between CVST-Score and ICP was explored to assess the potential of using the CVST-score to evaluate ICP noninvasively and dynamically. Results: A total of 87 patients were included in the final analysis. The CVST-Scores in different ICP subgroups were as follows: 4.29±2.87 in ICP<250mmH2O subgroup, 11.36±3.86 in ICP =250-330mmH2O subgroup and 14.99±3.15 in ICP>330mmH2O subgroup, respectively (p<0.001). For patients with ICP ≤330mmH2O, the CVST-Score was linearly and positively correlated with ICP (R2=0.53). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed the optimal CVST-Score cut-off values to predict ICP ≥250mmH2O and >330mmH2O were 7.15 and 11.62, respectively (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated CVST-Score as an independent predictor of ICP ≥250mmH2O (odds ratio, 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.49-3.10; p<0.001). Conclusions: A simple and noninvasive CVST-Score can rapidly estimate the thrombus burden and predict the severity of intracranial hypertension in patients with CVST. The CVST-Score can aid in evaluating therapeutic responses and avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures at long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Seirei dysphagia screening questionnaire (namely, Seirei dsq) has been used to screen for oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). Some of the questions in the questionnaire are difficult for people with cognitive decline to answer. We selected 10 items from the Seirei dsq that could be assessed by others, such as care workers (named Swallow-10). This study aims to verify the validity of the scoring method used in Swallow-10. The dataset used in this study was the one used in the development of Seirei dsq : 50 patients with cerebrovascular disease who were diagnosed with OD, 145 patients with cerebrovascular disease who did not have OD, and 170 healthy subjects. Among the answer choices, “A” for severe symptom, “B” for mild symptom and “C” for no symptom were scored with 4, 1 and 0 points respectively. Factor analysis extracted two factors : one related to pharyngeal function and another related to oral function. In addition, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.84. ROC analysis indicated that optimal cutoff value was 5 points, with a sensitivity of 90.0% and a specificity of 88.5%. These results suggest that Swallow-10 may be useful as an OD screening tool for subjects with cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School is a formal educational institution recognized by the Indonesian State Education Institute, every citizen has the right to get it. In accordance with field interview observations, there is no equal distribution of junior high school locations around sub-districts in Aceh Besar and the distance of school locations from students' residences is very far. The purpose of this study is to analyze geographic information systems (GIS) on the probability of building new school in Aceh district, which are divided in 4 criterias; high, medium, low, and no probability, as well as using school spatial analysis (buffer, overlay and clip) and scoring methods to determine the probability for the location of the new school. The results show 4 criteria for the location probability; there are 11 districts with high probabilities, 21 medium probabilities, 23 low probabilities, and 23 no probabilities in each district.

Energy communities are key enablers for end-users to actively participate in the energy transition in a more consumer-centric context. This paper focuses on the expansion of existing energy communities that may need to select new members among a pool of candidates. Selection is based on heuristic methods for better explainability and to promote a transparent selection process from end-users' perspectives. The proposed methodology is further verified with an accurate optimization-based energy management strategy. The member selection is performed in an iterative process where the best potential candidate is added as a new member of the energy community before running the same procedure over successive iterations. Simulations were performed for a complete month with a real community of six houses and nine potential candidates. The proposed rule-based method achieves similar ranks among candidates for two investigated metrics and return the same results as the more accurate optimization. Furthermore, the results show a hint on how to identify the best location (i.e., member) to install new assets that can contribute best to the energy community since it can boost the value brought by the candidates to the community. In that sense, the proposed method also serves as an investment decision support tool as well as a selection strategy for inhabitants of an energy community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the Guizhou Weining to Weizhang (qian dian) highway engineering construction affects the surrounding environment, according to the nature of the construction project, scale, location, using production technology or pollution prevention and prevention measures for analysis, through the water environment, air environment, sound environment, ecological environment four evaluation factor analysis and evaluation. Through eight working area construction waste water, sewage water quality test analysis, ambient air and sound environment sensitive point 44, and construction along the 200m land, vegetation, wildlife, wood trees four aspects of the ecological environment evaluation, and the compensation method, scoring method and analysis method of the proposed project construction project environmental profit and loss has carried on the qualitative analysis. The analysis results show that the positive benefits of environmental economy generated by the proposed expressway are predominant, so the project is feasible from the perspective of environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is often assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). The HEI total score reflects overall diet quality, with all aspects equally important. Using the traditional weighting scheme for the HEI, all components are generally weighted equally in the total score. However, there is limited empirical basis for applying the traditional weighting for pregnancy specifically.Objectives: We aimed to assess associations between the 12 HEI-2010 component scores and select pregnancy outcomes.Methods: The Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be was a prospective pregnancy cohort (US multicenter, 2010-2013). Participants enrolled in the study between 6 and 13 weeks of gestation. An FFQ assessed usual dietary intake 3 months prior to pregnancy (n = 7880). Scores for the HEI-2010 components were assigned using prespecified standards based on densities (standard units per 1000 kcal) of relevant food groups for most components, a ratio (PUFAs and MUFAs to SFAs) for fatty acids, and the contribution to total energy for empty calories. Using binomial regression, we estimated risk differences between each component score and cases of small-for-gestational age (SGA) birth, preterm birth, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes, controlling for total energy and scores for the other HEI-2010 components.Results: Higher scores for greens and beans and total vegetables were associated with fewer cases of SGA birth, preterm birth, and preeclampsia. For instance, every 1-unit increase in the greens and beans score was associated with 1.2 fewer SGA infants (95% CI, 0.7-1.7), 0.7 fewer preterm births (95% CI, 0.3-1.1), and 0.7 fewer preeclampsia cases (95% CI, 0.2-1.1) per 100 deliveries. For gestational diabetes, the associations were null.Conclusions: Vegetable-rich diets were associated with fewer cases of SGA birth, preterm birth, and preeclampsia, controlling for overall diet quality. Examination of the equal weighting of the HEI components (and underlying guidance) is needed for pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives To investigate the diagnostic performance of single-source dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) based on gemstone spectral imaging technology (including Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) in patients with suspected feet/ankles gouty arthritis, and evaluate the urate deposition with a novel semi-quantitative DECT scoring system. Methods A total of 196 patients were consecutively included. Feet and ankles were evaluated in all patients by single-source DECT scan. The 2015 EULAR/ACR criteria were used as the reference for the diagnosis of gout. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of DECT for the diagnosis of gout in the early (≤1 year), middle (1–3 years), and late (> 3 years) disease durations were calculated. Besides, a novel semi-quantitative DECT scoring system was assessed for the measurement of urate deposition, and the correlation between the scores and the clinical and serological data were also evaluated. Moreover, the influences of artifacts on the diagnostic performance of DECT were also determined. Results The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of DECT in 196 patients were 38.10, 96.43%, and 0.673 in the early-stage group; 62.96, 100.00%, and 0.815 in the middle-stage group; and 77.55, 87.50%, and 0.825 in the late-stage group, respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracies in the AUC of DECT (Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) in the middle and late stages of gout were higher than that in the early stage of gout. Besides, the monosodium urate crystals were deposited on the first metatarsophalangeal joints and ankles/midfeet. Age, the presence of tophus, bone erosion, and disease duration considerably affected the total urate score. No statistical difference in the positive detection of nail artifact, skin artifact, vascular calcification, and noise artifact was found between the case and control groups. Conclusion DECT (Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) showed promising diagnostic accuracy for the detection of urate crystal deposition in gout but had limited diagnostic sensitivity for short-stage gout. Longer disease duration, the presence of tophus, and bone erosion were associated with the urate crystal score system. The artifacts do not remarkably affect the diagnostic performance of DECT in gout.

Deciding on plant species when considering planting design in landscape design studies is a complex phenomenon. Considering the planting designs implemented, especially in urban areas, it is observed that exotic species are used instead of the species that grow naturally in the region, and compositions that are not suitable in terms of design elements, principles and functions are created. For this reason, our aim in this study is to determine the effective plant characteristics in the preference of plants and to reveal which characteristics come to the fore. The plant characteristics that emerged as a result of the research were collected under five main groups: urban tolerance, landscape effect, regenerative characteristic, functional characteristic, and economic characteristic; and under 29 subgroups. In our study, the scoring method was used for selection criteria on 218 plant species grown in the Eastern Black Sea coastal areas, and the numerical data obtained from the scores were evaluated by factor and cluster analysis with the SPSS 16.0 program. Urban tolerance and landscape effect selection criteria came to the fore in the application-oriented designs of these plants growing on the Black Sea coast, and species such as Tilia rubra DC, Aesculus hippocastanum L., Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., and Juglans regia L., ecologically pleasing, and esthetically enriching the place, were found to have the highest score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, we applied and evaluated a scoring method known as comparative judgement to assess spoken-language interpreting. This methodological exploration represents an extension of previous efforts to optimise scoring methods for assessing interpreting. Essentially, comparative judgement requires judges to compare two similar objects and make a binary decision about their relative qualities. To evaluate its reliability, validity and usefulness in the assessment of interpreting, we recruited two groups of judges (novice and experienced) to assess 66 two-way English/Chinese interpretations based on a computerised comparative judgement system. Our data analysis shows that the new method produced reliable and valid results across judge types and interpreting directions. However, the judges held polarised opinions about the method's usefulness: while some considered it convenient, efficient and reliable, the opposite view was expressed by others. We discuss the results by providing an integrated analysis of the data collected, outline the perceived drawbacks and propose possible solutions to the drawbacks. We call for more evidence-based, substantive investigation into comparative judgement as a potentially useful method for assessing spoken-language interpreting in certain settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the historical and practical reform of the sports scoring method for the entrance examination to senior high school in China through historical combing and comparative analysis, and puts forward targeted improvement strategies. The research shows that: the scoring methods of China's sports entrance examination for senior high school mainly contains three forms such as qualified system (namely standard system), grade system (three system, four system, five system) and score system (plus point system and minus system), and all kinds of scoring methods appear in different periods and different regions. In 2020, the reform of sports entrance examination for senior high school entered a comprehensive deepening stage, and the score system will gradually become the mainstream, and the proportion of sports entrance examination for senior high school will be also gradually increased. In the cross background of the "double reduction" policy and physical education integration policy, the scoring method for Chinese sports entrance examination for senior high school need to deepen the reform from the test project and standard difficulty game, score evaluation and grade evaluation game, sports and other subjects weight game three dimensions, in order to improve the scientific and fairness of sports entrance examination for senior high school, effectively promote the improvement of students' physical quality, and to really play the vital role of sports in promoting the all-round development for people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Development of approaches to modernize the occupational health and safety management system in a mining company based on the introduction of a risk-based approach, which reduces the likelihood of incidents and improves the quality of working conditions of personnel. Methodology. In this study, it is advisable to use a matrix method based on score estimates of working conditions for each identifi ed hazard. To prepare the professional risk assessment map, the register of violations (incidents) over the past 10 years was carefully analyzed on the cross-section, the opinion of employees directly related to the implementation of technological operations was taken into account, third-party experts were also involved, thanks to which it was possible to structure the information obtained during the study. Findings. The main result is a map of professional risk assessment for a dragline driver compiled based on real data related to incidents, consisting of 90 dangerous situations, on the basis of which the main causes of injuries at a real mining enterprise were identifi ed, as well as measures to improve working conditions were proposed. Originality. The authors proposed a specifi c type of maps for assessing the professional risks of employees, which allows considering the general situation of exposure to harmful and hazardous production factors on employees with the possibility of classifying: sources of danger; negative events with the reasons for their manifestation; risk management measures; assessing the severity and likelihood of such events. The specifi city is that risk assessment should be carried out for all major open-pit coal operations. The proposed approach makes it possible to identify problem areas for each operation and to focus on specifi c tasks, with responsible actors. In this way, management has some recommendations to improve the quality of working conditions. Risk assessment maps are an intermediate element in the calculation of the safety index (Elmeri Index). In this way, it is possible to obtain a fi nal opinion not only on safety in the performance of specifi c technological operations, but also on safety at the enterprise as a whole. Such information is relevant for insurance companies in connection with the application of tariff coeffi cients for obtaining services, which include comprehensive enterprise protection programs, which is an integral part for mining companies. Practical value. Early identifi cation and elimination of situations that can adversely aff ect the health of an employee of the enterprise allows controlling the risk arising in the process of professional labor activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of scoring human resources capacity depending on the level of problem complexity and employment function and the level of responsibility has been presented. The complexity of professional activity is determined by the components: type of activity, variety of work, controllability of work performance, scale and complexity of management. The degree of responsibility is determined by the components: independence, initiative, commitment to the result, significance of the results of work. For each component, three characteristics have been determined, each of which is assigned a score: from 1 – minimum level, to 3 – a high level. The matrix model, formed on the basis of scoring data, with four groups of personnel has been proposed in the article: “Stars” (it is characterized by a high level of responsibility and high complexity of the labour functions perfomed), “Experts” (high complexity of work with a relatively low level of responsibility), «Soldiers» (high responsibility with a low level of complexity), «Cogs» (low level of responsibility and complexity of the work performed). Assessment of human resources capacity, determining the current state, is the basis for the development of management decisions and implementation of measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the organization through better use of human resources potential.

Aim/purpose – The main aim of this paper is to analyse and compare implementation of two methods of websites assessment: the conversion method and the scoring method. The secondary goal is to identify the best e-banking websites in Poland in 2017 from the point of view of an individual client.

Previous studies have found that promoting multiple identities can improve children's creative performance (divergent thinking). The present study employed a priming paradigm to design two experiments and investigate whether promoting a sense of multiple identities in middle school students could enhance their divergent thinking, a key component of creativity. In Experiment 1, 77 junior high school students were divided into multiple identities and physical trait condition groups. They were instructed to think about a child with multiple identities or physical traits. The results showed that there were no differences in divergent thinking (DT) scores between the two groups. In Experiment 2, we modified the priming method by asking participants to think about and write a description of the various identities or physical traits and employed a subjective top-scoring method to make up for shortcomings in the traditional scoring method when applied to originality. The results still showed no significant difference in scores between the identity and physical trait groups. Thus, the results of this study contradict those of previous research, which found that the identity group demonstrated significantly higher scores on a creativity test than did those in the physical trait group. Several potential factors affect this outcome, but it seems that priming to enhance divergent thinking is not particularly effective. Thus, the social priming effect should be pursued with caution regarding both replicability and generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have found that promoting multiple identities can improve children’s creative performance (divergent thinking). The present study employed a priming paradigm to design two experiments and investigate whether promoting a sense of multiple identities in middle school students could enhance their divergent thinking, a key component of creativity. In Experiment 1, 77 junior high school students were divided into multiple identities and physical trait condition groups. They were instructed to think about a child with multiple identities or physical traits. The results showed that there were no differences in divergent thinking (DT) scores between the two groups. In Experiment 2, we modified the priming method by asking participants to think about and write a description of the various identities or physical traits and employed a subjective top-scoring method to make up for shortcomings in the traditional scoring method when applied to originality. The results still showed no significant difference in scores between the identity and physical trait groups. Thus, the results of this study contradict those of previous research, which found that the identity group demonstrated significantly higher scores on a creativity test than did those in the physical trait group. Several potential factors affect this outcome, but it seems that priming to enhance divergent thinking is not particularly effective. Thus, the social priming effect should be pursued with caution regarding both replicability and generalizability.

Objective: Proposing a scoring tool to predict COVID-19 patients' outcomes based on initially assessed clinical and CT features. Methods: All patients, who were referred to a tertiary-university hospital respiratory triage (March 27–April 26, 2020), were highly clinically suggestive for COVID-19 and had undergone a chest CT scan were included. Those with positive rRT-PCR or highly clinically suspicious patients with typical chest CT scan pulmonary manifestations were considered confirmed COVID-19 for additional analyses. Patients, based on outcome, were categorized into outpatient, ordinary-ward admitted, intensive care unit (ICU) admitted, and deceased; their demographic, clinical, and chest CT scan parameters were compared. The pulmonary chest CT scan features were scaled with a novel semi-quantitative scoring system to assess pulmonary involvement (PI). Results: Chest CT scans of 739 patients (mean age = 49.2 ± 17.2 years old, 56.7% male) were reviewed; 491 (66.4%), 176 (23.8%), and 72 (9.7%) cases were managed outpatient, in an ordinary ward, and ICU, respectively. A total of 439 (59.6%) patients were confirmed COVID-19 cases; their most prevalent chest CT scan features were ground-glass opacity (GGO) (93.3%), pleural-based peripheral distribution (60.3%), and multi-lobar (79.7%), bilateral (76.6%), and lower lobes (RLL and/or LLL) (89.1%) involvement. Patients with lower SpO2, advanced age, RR, total PI score or PI density score, and diffuse distribution or involvement of multi-lobar, bilateral, or lower lobes were more likely to be ICU admitted/expired. After adjusting for confounders, predictive models found cutoffs of age ≥ 53, SpO2 ≤ 91, and PI score ≥ 8 (15) for ICU admission (death). A combination of all three factors showed 89.1% and 95% specificity and 81.9% and 91.4% accuracy for ICU admission and death outcomes, respectively. Solely evaluated high PI score had high sensitivity, specificity, and NPV in predicting the outcome as well. Conclusion: We strongly recommend patients with age ≥ 53, SpO2 ≤ 91, and PI score ≥ 8 or even only high PI score to be considered as high-risk patients for further managements and care plans. Key Points: • Chest CT scan is a valuable tool in prioritizing the patients in hospital triage. • A more accurate and novel 35-scale semi-quantitative scoring system was designed to predict the COVID-19 patients' outcome. • Patients with age ≥ 53, SpO2 ≤ 91, and PI score ≥ 8 or even only high PI score should be considered high-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Slovak Republic is characterized by regional disparities, which are also reflected in the labor market. The aim of our paper is to examine the development of the Slovak labor market and evaluate the level of regional labor markets on the basis of selected indicators in the years 2001-2019. We examine the situation on the labor market in the regions of the Slovak Republic on the basis of the development of economic activity, employment, unemployment, average wage and the proportion of employed with tertiary education. To evaluate regional disparities in our article, we use two methods: the scoring method and the method of a uniform normalized variable. With both methods used, the Bratislava region was best placed in 2001 and in 2019. The worst evaluation in 2001 was achieved by the Nitra region and in 2019 by the Prešov region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Musculoskeletal disorders affect 20%–33% of all the global population, and its prevalence is continually increasing. According to the World Health Organisation, persistent neck pain (NP) is currently one of the leading causes of disability. Therefore, the assessment of the effectiveness of treatment methods and severity of the disease is a necessity. However, due to the multiplicity of the clinical assessment tools used and different inconsistent scoring methods between researchers, some inaccuracies may arise. This review article is an up-to-date overview that provides an insight into the scales and questionnaires used to assess cervical spine disorders. We discuss generic outcome measures, i.e. NMQ (Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire) and VAS (Visual Analog Scale) and the tools specific for cervical pains: NDI (Neck Disability Index), NOOS (Neck Outcome Score), NPAD (Neck Pain and Disability Scale), and NPQ (Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire). Each of these measures is presented together with the information about its origin, scoring method, and interpretation. This descriptive review is designed as an introduction to the questionnaires and scales used in the assessment of neck ailments and can serve as a practical guide for beginner clinicians and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]