In order to evaluate the construction accident risk, a novel method integrating principal component analysis (PCA) and the unascertained number algorithm with the synthesis weights is presented. According to humanmachine engineering, the multi-index and hierarchical system of accident risk in construction projects was built. PCA is applied to find relevant factors of the accident risk, which ar...

Much contemporary dialogue has centered on the difficulty of establishing validity criteria in qualitative research. Developing validity standards in qualitative research is challenging because of the necessity to incorporate rigor and subjectivity as well as creativity into the scientific process. This article explores the extant issues related to the science and art of qualitative research an...

We show that the controller synthesis and verification problems for Markov decision processes with qualitative PECTL∗ objectives are 2-EXPTIME complete. More precisely, the algorithms are polynomial in the size of a given Markov decision process and doubly exponential in the size of a given qualitative PECTL∗ formula. Moreover, we show that if a given qualitative PECTL∗ objective is achievable ...

BACKGROUND "Clinical ethics consultation" (CEC) is the provision of consultative services by an individual or team with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and their families grapple with difficult ethical issues arising during health care. There are almost 25,000 articles in the worldwide literature on CEC, but very few explicitly address measuring the quality of CEC. Many more ...

BACKGROUND GPs' adherence to clinical practice guidelines is variable. Barriers to guideline implementation have been identified but qualitative studies have not been synthesised to explore what underpins these attitudes. AIM To explore and synthesise qualitative research on GPs' attitudes to and experiences with clinical practice guidelines. DESIGN OF STUDY Systematic review and meta-synth...

BACKGROUND A knowledge synthesis attempts to summarize all pertinent studies on a specific question, can improve the understanding of inconsistencies in diverse evidence, and can identify gaps in research evidence to define future research agendas. Knowledge synthesis activities in healthcare have largely focused on systematic reviews of interventions. However, a wider range of synthesis method...

The present letter is to thank Drs Shaw, Larkin and Flowers for their enlightening article entitled ‘Expanding the evidence within evidence-based healthcare: thinking about the context, acceptability and feasibility of interventions’, and provide complementary information to your readership about synthesis designs and critical appraisal for systematic mixed studies reviews (ie, reviews that inc...