Comparing the monetary value of a quality-adjusted life year from the payment card and the open-ended format

Background The payment card (PC) format and the open-ended (OE) format are common methods in eliciting willingness-to-pay (WTP) of one additional quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The aim of this research is to compare these two formats in eliciting the monetary value of a QALY. Methods A contingent valuation survey was carried out using a pre-designed questionnaire with various hypothetical scenarios. The difference between the PC and the OE formats was evaluated by a two-sample equality test. Furthermore, generalized linear models were carried out to control observed heterogeneity and to test theoretical validity. Results In total, 461 individuals were involved, among whom 235 (51%) answered the PC question, while 226 (49%) answered the OE question. Excluding zero response, the mean WTP values of these two formats for different scenarios varied dramatically, which was from 13,278 to 280,177 RMB for the PC, 18,119 to 620,913 RMB for the OE. The OE format tended to elicit lower values for less serious condition and higher values for more serious condition. However, equality test of mean and median demonstrated insignificant difference of these two formats for all scenarios. For both OE and PC format, most variables were found to have significant effect on the value of WTP/QALY. Moreover, joint estimation indicated a statistically significant positive effect on the OE results. Further analysis demonstrated that the imbalanced zero response distribution caused the main difference of these two formats. Conclusions This research indicated insignificantly different WTP/QALY estimates of the PC format and OE format with the grouped data whereas significantly higher estimates of the OE format from the pooled data. These two formats were found to be valid. More research about the difference and the validity of various WTP eliciting methods would be recommended for a robust estimation of WTP/QALY.

Comparing the Monetary Value of a Quality-Adjusted Life Year from the Payment Card and the Open-ended Format

Background: The payment card (PC) format and the open-ended (OE) format are common methods in eliciting willing-to-pay (WTP) of one additional quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The aim of this research is to compare these two formats in eliciting the monetary value of a QALY.Methods: A contingent valuation survey was carried out using a pre-designed questionnaire with various hypothetical scenarios. The difference between the PC and the OE formats was evaluated by a two-sample equality test. Furthermore, regression analysis was carried out to control observed heterogeneity and to test theoretical validity.Results: In total, 461 individuals were involved, among whom 235 (51%) answered the PC question, while 226 (49%) answered the OE question. Excluding zero response and 1% top values, the mean WTP values of these two formats vary dramatically, which is 93,424 RMB (SD 117,601) for the PC, 143,347 RMB (SD 209,821) for the OE. Subgroup analysis indicated that the OE format tended to elicit lower values for less serious condition and higher values for more serious condition. Both formats were proved to be theoretically valid, whereas the OE technique was found to have a stronger association with most variables in the regression model than that of the PC format. Moreover, joint estimation indicated a significantly positive effect on the OE results.Conclusions: This research indicated that the PC format and OE format elicited different monetary value of a QALY, but both formats were proved to be theoretically valid. More research about the difference and the validity of various WTP eliciting methods would be recommendedfor a robust estimation of WTP/QALY.

Calibration Analysis and Noise Estimates of WWSSN Station ALQ (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

ABSTRACT World-Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN) records contain daily calibration pulses that can be used to retrieve the magnification as well as the response of the instrument for a given day record. We analyze a select number of long-period vertical (LPZ) records from WWSSN station ALQ (Albuquerque, New Mexico). Although we find that the response of this instrument varies widely throughout time, we show that in most cases, we are able to estimate a pole-zero response that has a root mean square error of <10%. The variability of responses in historical networks has been reported elsewhere because a large number of adjustments of the galvanometer and seismometer were necessary. Using our derived responses, we estimate noise levels for a number of 1 hr digitized traces. We find that noise levels for the LPZ ALQ records are lower than previously reported, suggesting that these records can resolve smaller amplitude signals than previously suggested. We also find that although care must be taken in the digitization and calibration analysis, we are not limited by noise introduced in the digitization process. Finally, we see that to retrieve the full secondary microseism amplitude, we must use both the LPZ and short-period components because the LPZ component is limited by system noise at periods less than ∼5 s.

Responses to Sarcasm in Three Star Trek Movies

Sarcasm has been widely studied in various disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, neurology, sociology, and even cross-cultural studies. Its aggravating nature, however, often elicits various responses by the hearer. This study attempts to investigate responses to sarcasm by the characters of three Star Trek “reboot” version movies. It aims to examine responses to sarcasm and to analyze the patterns of responses to sarcastic remarks in relation to the characters’ interpersonal relationship. The data used in this research were taken from the dialogues of the movies, which were categorized into eight classes of responses: laughter, literal, zero response, smile, nonverbal, sarcasm, topic change, and metalinguistic comment. The results show that the most frequent responses conveyed by the characters were literal responses (29.41%), whereas the least frequent responses are laughter (1.96%). There is no pattern in responding to sarcastic remarks in relation to the interpersonal relationship between the interlocutors. However, strangers tend to respond in literal, zero response, and topic change. Meanwhile, close acquaintance tend to give various responses.Keywords: interpersonal relationship; pragmatics; response; sarcasm.

Using the infrared iron lines to probe solar subsurface convection

Context. Studying the properties of solar convection using high-resolution spectropolarimetry began in the early 1990s with the focus on observations in the visible wavelength regions. Its extension to the infrared (IR) remains largely unexplored. Aims. The IR iron lines around 15 600 Å, most commonly known for their high magnetic sensitivity, also have a non-zero response to line-of-sight (LOS) velocity below log(τ) = 0.0. In this paper we explore the possibility of using these lines to measure subsurface convective velocities. Methods. By assuming a snapshot of a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation to represent the quiet Sun, we investigate how well the iron IR lines can reproduce the LOS velocity in the cube and to what depth. We use the recently developed spectropolarimetric inversion code SNAPI and discuss the optimal node placements for the retrieval of reliable results from these spectral lines. Results. We find that the IR iron lines can measure the convective velocities down to log(τ) = 0.5, below the photosphere, not only at the original resolution of the cube, but also when degraded with a reasonable spectral and spatial PSF and stray light. Instead, the commonly used Fe I 6300 Å line pair performs significantly worse. Conclusions. Our investigation reveals that the IR iron lines can probe the subsurface convection in the solar photosphere. This paper is a first step towards exploiting this diagnostic potential.

High-aspect-ratio mushroom-like silica nanopillars immersed in air: epsilon-near-zero metamaterials mediated by a phonon-polaritonic anisotropy

High-aspect-ratio mushroom-like silica nanopillars fabricated from self-assembly of block-copolymers exhibit a uniaxial epsilon-near-zero response in the mid-infrared range.