Increasing development like roads and houses will alter the future landscape of Vermont. Development provides important resources for people and society, but also results in consequences for wildlife and opportunities for recreation. Managing development requires information on the public's acceptability of development and how acceptability is shaped by information on various consequences. In this study, I examined three questions: 1) What is the public's acceptability of development? 2) Does wildlife information influence public acceptability of development and 3) Is the maximum amount of acceptable development influenced by views about wildlife, involvement in recreation, and demographic factors? I surveyed 9,000 households in Vermont by including a questionnaire which asked about development, wildlife, recreation, and demographics. I assessed acceptability of amount of development using social-norm curves and used parametric significance tests and mixed-effects models to examine the influence of wildlife, recreation, and demographic factors. The survey response rate was 44%. The maximum acceptable amount of development was slightly more than 32 households/km2, and not meaningfully influenced by the broader consequences of development on seven common wildlife species. The public demonstrated a strong preference for clustered development over sprawled development, which became unacceptable at 20 households per km2. Maximum acceptability of development was significantly influenced by views on some species, including bear, bobcat, and fisher, but not by others such as deer, fox, raccoon, and coyote. Similarly, those involved in common forms of outdoor recreation, including birding, ATVing, hunting, fishing and camping, were significantly less accepting of development relative to those not involved in these forms of recreation. Maximum amount of development was also affected by demographic factors, including town density, respondent age, home ownership and location of birth. The results provide a baseline measure of the public's acceptability of development, which can be used to guide decision-making about amount and pattern of development, wildlife management, and efforts to promote recreation in the state.

Le développement d’un médicament est réalisé dans le but de répondre à des objectifs thérapeutiques tout en prévenant les risques pour les patients. L’observance, qui correspond au suivi rigoureux de la prescription du médecin, est une condition primordiale de la réussite du traitement. L'acceptabilité, qui peut être définie comme la capacité et la bonne volonté du patient à utiliser, et de son donneur de soins à administrer, le médicament tel que est prévu, joue un rôle crucial dans l’observance, notamment chez les individus les plus vulnérables. L’acceptabilité d'un médicament est déterminée par ses caractéristiques et celles des utilisateurs. De ce fait, le concepteur se doit de considérer les spécificités des utilisateurs cibles pour assurer l’adéquation d’un nouveau produit avec leurs besoins et leurs attentes. Intégrer l'évaluation de l’acceptabilité au développement pharmaceutique et clinique des médicaments apparaît alors d’une importance de premier ordre. A ce jour, il n’existe aucun outil validé et reconnu internationalement permettant d’évaluer ce concept multi-dimensionnel. Cette carence s’accompagne d’un manque de connaissances sur ce phénomène complexe. Ces travaux de thèse présente la conception d’un outil, le référentiel d’acceptabilité, qui permet, d’une part, d’évaluer de manière standardisée l’acceptabilité des médicaments, et d’autre part, d’extraire des connaissances utilisables dès les phases amonts du processus de conception de nouveaux produits. La démarche développée et appliquée dans le domaine des médicaments a été formalisée pour être utilisable dans d’autres univers d’étude. / Medicine development must satisfy efficiency and safety objectives. Patient compliance with physician’s prescription is an essential condition to achieve these objectives. Patient acceptability of a medicine improves patient compliance and thus ensures drug success, in particular in paediatric and geriatric populations. Acceptability could be defined as the overall ability and willingness of the patient to use, and its care giver to administer, the medicine as intended. Acceptability is driven by the users’ and the products’ characteristics. Thus, designers have to consider the specific features of the targeted users to develop a medicine with the most adapted characteristics to reach the best acceptability. Evaluation of the acceptability should be an integral part of pharmaceutical and clinical development. Today, knowledge on this complex phenomenon is still fragmented and there are no internationally agreed methods available to assess this multidimensional concept. This document sets out the development of a validated tool, the acceptability reference framework, providing standardized medicines acceptability evaluation and relevant knowledge usable by designers from the early stage of medicine development. As this research was carried out in a medical field, we propose a formalized methodology transferable to other domains.

Thesis advisor: Barbara E. Wolfe / Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is characterized by a decline in cognitive performance following anesthesia and surgery and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the postoperative period. Moreover, studies suggest that patients who develop POCD may be at higher risk for cognitive decline later in life. POCD is of critical importance in relation to independent living, need for care, personal and economic cost, and quality of life. The majority of studies to date examine risk factors, prevalence, and complications associated with POCD. There is a lack of effective intervention strategies being developed to promote improved cognitive processing in this patient population. The primary aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a cognitive training intervention (CTI) for postoperative cardiac surgical patient. Feasibility was examined by conducting an attrition analysis to compare percent of attrition between intervention and control groups. A chi-square was conducted to answer the research question examining the difference between groups on attrition from study. Acceptability was examined by the administration of a "feasibility and acceptability" questionnaire, which was a 15-item questionnaire specific to the intervention. Fifteen one-sample t tests were used to determine acceptability of the intervention in the treatment population. The secondary purpose of the study was to investigate the preliminary effect of the CTI on cognitive outcomes following cardiac surgery. A randomized controlled, single-blind, repeated measures design was used to test the hypothesis that following cardiac surgery, patients who receive a 6-week CTI when compared with those who receive usual care will demonstrate a significantly greater improvement in cognitive status when comparing discharge scores to scores at 6 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. Collection of data from 53 patients who underwent cardiac surgery was conducted from May 2008 to January 2010 at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH. Factorial Analyses of Variance were conducted to answer the research question assessing the effectiveness of a cognitive training intervention (CTI) on cognitive outcomes following cardiac surgery. However given assumptions of ANOVA were violated and non parametric statistics including two Kruskall Wallis H tests for independent samples at each assessment period as well as two Wilcoxon's signed ranks tests for related samples for each group were conducted. The results of the chi-square were not significant, x2(1) = 0.95, p = .329, suggesting no relationship exists between withdrawn participants and group. After Bonferroni adjustment the results of the fifteen one-sample t tests on the feasibility questionnaire (Q1-Q15) for the intervention group reveal questions 2-8, 10, 14 and 15 have a larger mean compared to the neutral median value of 3.0, suggesting that participants tended toward a high level of acceptability over neutrality. Wilcoxon signed rank test on TICS scores by control group and time period (posttest vs. six week follow up and posttest vs. three month follow up) revealed a significant main effect by time period, p< .01 at both time periods. Wilcoxon signed rank test on TICS scores by experimental group and time period (posttest vs. six week follow up and posttest vs. three month follow up) revealed a significant main effect by time period, p< .01 at both time periods. Kruskall Wallis test at six week follow up and three month follow up by group (control vs. experimental) was not significant, x2 (1) = 0.01, p = .934, and x2 (1) = 0.02, p = .891 respectively suggesting no statistical difference at six week follow up by group. The Wilcoxon signed rank on TICS by group and time period (six week follow up vs. 3 month follow up) was not significant (p=.274) and the Kruskall Wallis test at three month follow up by group (control vs. experimental) was not significant, x2 (1) = 0.02, p = .891, suggesting no statistical difference at three month follow up by group. The results of this study suggest that a CTI is feasible to conduct and acceptable to patients following cardiac surgery. Results of the preliminary effect of the CTI suggest that cognitive performance improves over a six-week period following cardiac surgery independent of the CTI and there are no significant changes from the six-week to the three-month period. Preliminary findings yield further inquiry into cognitive enhancing interventions in the cardiac surgical patient. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Magister Commercii - MCom / The South African democratic government is mandated by the constitution to provide quality healthcare services to the citizens of the country. Therefore, healthcare in South Africa is considered as a basic human right. The existing healthcare system exhibits extreme inequality, which translates into inequity in health outcomes across different demographic factors. Even though quality healthcare is a basic human right, problems related to the quality of healthcare remain, which poses a major challenge for the South African government. This dissertation investigates patient perceptions of the quality of public healthcare in South Africa, using General Household Survey data (2009-2016), with the objective of determining the level and trends of patient satisfaction and complaints reported when accessing public healthcare services in South Africa and identifying the correlates of these perception. This study found that patient satisfaction with public healthcare services in South Africa has increased over time while complaints have decreased over time. This study refrains from drawing conclusion on these findings at face value, since they may be other factors that explain the observed trends. The most common complaint was long waiting time at public healthcare facilities. On average, White individuals, male household heads, individuals residing in rural areas and individuals from smaller household were more likely to report to being satisfied with healthcare services received at public healthcare facilities in South Africa. Therefore, patient satisfaction survey approach should be used in conjunction with other healthcare quality measures such as direct observation, vignettes and standardised or mystery patient.

Treatment acceptability and treatment integrity are essential constructs to consider when designing, implementing, and evaluating school-based interventions. Existing literature has described treatment acceptability and treatment integrity as separate constructs rather than investigating their interrelationships. Also, models of treatment acceptability and treatment integrity have not systematically included the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, have not addressed multiple time points in the intervention process, and have not emphasized multiple methods of data collection. This paper reviewed extant literature related to current definitions and models of treatment acceptability and treatment integrity and presented a comprehensive integrated model of these constructs that addressed the aforementioned gaps in the intervention literature. A mixed methods study exploring student, facilitator, and observer perceptions of treatment acceptability and treatment integrity of an eight-week bullying prevention intervention was conducted. The study investigated the role of cultural modifications (i.e., context-based procedural or curriculum changes employed to enhance the treatment acceptability or integrity of the intervention). Qualitative data were analyzed with an inductive-deductive approach (Nastasi et al., 2004). Deductive coding was used to illustrate components of treatment acceptability, treatment integrity, and cultural modifications salient to this research and an inductive approach was used to identify emerging themes. Consensus coding was conducted with greater than 90% interrater agreement. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed positive findings with respect to treatment acceptability and treatment integrity. Facilitator competence, behavior management, student engagement, and time management emerged as qualitative themes related to treatment integrity. Qualitative data suggested a positive relationship between student and facilitator perceptions of treatment acceptability. Qualitative findings revealed modifications to the curriculum content and delivery based on cultural factors (e.g., gender and age) to enhance treatment acceptability. Implications for school-based bullying research and applied practice were described. The results suggested that the use of mixed methods enhanced the comprehensiveness, depth, and quality of data regarding stakeholder perceptions of treatment integrity and treatment acceptability.

Given the increasing influence of technology and the explosion in data collection demands, the acceptance and assimilation of new paradigms and technologies require today’s educators, researchers, and evaluators to select appropriate tools and apply them effectively. One of these technologies—handheld computers—makes the benefits of computerized data collection more accessible to field-based researchers. Three related studies were conducted to evaluate handheld-based data collection system for use in special education settings and to highlight the acceptability factors to effectively use this emerging technology. The first study reviewed the recent literature on the dependability and willingness of teachers to adopt handheld data collection systems and emphasized five important factors: (1) perceived ease of use; (2) perceived usefulness; (3) intention to use; (4) dependability; and (5) subjective norms. The second study discussed the dependability of handheld computers used by special education teachers for collecting self-report data by addressing four dependability attributes: reliability, maintainability, availability, and safety. Data were collected from five sources: (1) self-reports of time use by 19 special education teachers using Pocket PC computers, (2) observations of time use from eight external data collectors, (3) teacher interviews, (4) technical reports prepared by the researcher, and (5) teacher satisfaction. Results indicated that data collection via handheld computers yielded accurate, complete, and timely data, and was appropriate for these four dependability attributes. The last study investigated teachers’ acceptance of handheld computer use by testing the relationship among five factors that influence intention to use this technology which was based on a modified version of the technology acceptance model using the handheld computer acceptance survey responses from 45 special education teachers. The results showed that intention to use handheld computer was directly affected by the devices’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The issue of dependability had a direct and indirect statistically significant effect on perceived ease of use and usefulness, and intention to use a handheld computer, respectively. Overall, three studies demonstrated that handheld computers can be effectively used in the direct observation of behavior in a school environment, without requirements of any settings.

Pertvarkant pirminės sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų tinklą ir optimizuojant teikiamų paslaugų spektrą, siekiama gerinti socialinių paslaugų prieinamumą ir priimtinumą, todėl aktualu periodiškai tirti pacientų/klientų požiūrį į socialinių paslaugų, teikiamų sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose, prieinamumą bei priimtinumą įvairioms socialinėms grupėms. Darbo objektas: socialinės paslaugos asmens sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose. Darbo tikslas: išanalizuoti socialinių paslaugų prieinamumo ir priimtinumo sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose ypatumus pacientų/klientų požiūriu. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Aptarti socialinių paslaugų priedermę ir teisės aktus, reglamentuojančius socialinių paslaugų teikimą. 2. Atskleisti socialinių paslaugų integravimo į sveikatos priežiūros sistemą priežastingumą ir svarbą klientų/pacientų sveikatai. 3. Empiriškai ištirti klientų/pacientų požiūrį į asmens sveikatos priežiūros įstaigos teikiamų socialinių paslaugų prieinamumo ir priimtinumo aspektus. Darbo metodai: - Mokslinės literatūros analizė. - Dokumentų analizė. - Kiekybinis tyrimo metodas. VšĮ Varėnos PSPC ir LR VRM Medicinos centro Vilniaus filiale buvo atlikta anketinė pacientų/klientų apklausa. Apklausoje dalyvavo 211 respondentų. Siekiant gerinti socialinių ir sveikatos paslaugų prieinamumą ir priimtinumą klientams/pacientams, nuolat vykdomas veiklos optimizavimas, kuriam įtaką daro Vyriausybės programos, ekonominė ir politinė šalies situacija. Visa tai galima... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Reformation of the primary healthcare network and optimization of the spectrum of the provided services are aimed at improving accessibility and acceptability of social services. For this reason, it is highly relevant to perform periodic evaluation of clients’/patients’ attitude towards accessibility and acceptability of social services provided at healthcare institutions to various social groups. The object of the study: social services at personal healthcare institutions. The aim of the study: to analyze the peculiarities of accessibility and acceptability of social services provided at healthcare institutions from the clients’/patients’ perspective. Objectives: 1. To discuss the purpose of social services and legal acts regulating provision of social services. 2. To reveal the reasons for the integration of social services into the healthcare system, and the importance of this integration for clients’/patients’ health. 3. To conduct empirical research on clients’/patients’ attitude towards various aspects of accessibility and acceptability of social services provided at healthcare institutions. Methods of the study: - Analysis of scientific literature. - Analysis of documents. - A quantitative study. A questionnaire-based inquiry of clients was performed at the public institution Varėna Primary Healthcare Center and Vilnius branch of Health Center of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Lithuania. In... [to full text]

Background: Baby boomers are placing a demand on the food industry for products that promote longevity, well-being, and contain functional ingredients for enhanced nutritional and health benefits. Objectives: Develop a pasta sauce with increased health benefits; conduct sensory and shelf-life testing; and conduct consumer acceptability tests. Methods: Study was conducted in four phases. Three sources of fibre were investigated (oat fibre, pea fibre and red lentils). Sensory analysis conducted to identify ideal level of red lentils in the pasta sauce followed by a shelf-life study. Chemical, physical and microbiological analyses were performed. Consumer acceptability testing conducted with one hundred and twenty-three baby boomers. Results: Red lentils at a concentration of 15% were identified as ideal source and amount showing no significant differences in analyses compared to other fibres, other concentrations and over 12 week storage. Participants were in favour of the color, flavour, odour and texture of the pasta sauce and willing to pay $0.34 more for a 750 ml jar compared to average commercial price. Conclusions: The pasta sauce may aid baby boomers in attaining daily recommendations of fibre and an alternative to commercial pasta sauces in offering lower sodium content.

Background: Baby boomers are placing a demand on the food industry for products that promote longevity, well-being, and contain functional ingredients for enhanced nutritional and health benefits. Objectives: Develop a pasta sauce with increased health benefits; conduct sensory and shelf-life testing; and conduct consumer acceptability tests. Methods: Study was conducted in four phases. Three sources of fibre were investigated (oat fibre, pea fibre and red lentils). Sensory analysis conducted to identify ideal level of red lentils in the pasta sauce followed by a shelf-life study. Chemical, physical and microbiological analyses were performed. Consumer acceptability testing conducted with one hundred and twenty-three baby boomers. Results: Red lentils at a concentration of 15% were identified as ideal source and amount showing no significant differences in analyses compared to other fibres, other concentrations and over 12 week storage. Participants were in favour of the color, flavour, odour and texture of the pasta sauce and willing to pay $0.34 more for a 750 ml jar compared to average commercial price. Conclusions: The pasta sauce may aid baby boomers in attaining daily recommendations of fibre and an alternative to commercial pasta sauces in offering lower sodium content.

This thesis considers various questions about acceptability judgement tasks (AJTs). In Chapter 1, we compare the prevalent informal method of syntactic enquiry, researcher introspection, to formal judgement tasks. We randomly sample 200 sentences from Linguistic Inquiry and then compare the original author judgements to online AJT ratings. Sprouse et al., 2013, provided a similar comparison, but they limited their analysis to the comparison of sentence pairs and to extreme cases. We think a comparison at large, i.e. involving all items, is more sensible. We find only a moderate match between informal author judgements and formal online ratings and argue that the formal judgements are more reliable than the informal judgements. Further, the fact that many syntactic theories rely on questionable informal data calls the adequacy of those theories into question. In Chapter 2, we test whether ratings for constructions from spoken language and constructions from written language differ if presented as speech vs as text and if presented informally vs formally. We analyse the results with an LME model and find that neither mode of presentation nor formality are significant factors. Our results suggest that a speaker's grammatical intuition is fairly robust. In Chapter 3, we quantitatively compare regular AJT data to their Z-scores and ranked data. For our analysis, we test resampled data for significant differences in statistical power. We find that Z-scores and ranked data are more powerful than raw data across most common measurement methods. Chapter 4 examines issues surrounding a common similarity test, the TOST. It has long been unclear how to set its controlling parameter d. Based on data simulations, we outline a way to objectively set d. Further results suggest that our guidelines hold for any kind of data. The thesis concludes with an appendix on non-cooperative participants in AJTs.