MASH TL-4 evaluation of the TxDOT type C2P bridge rail.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-02-01

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact performance of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Type C2P Bridge Rail according to the safety-performance evaluation guidelines included in the American Association of State Highw...

Capacity Loss Studies on High Capacity Li-ion Cells for the Orbiter Advanced Hydraulic Power System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeevarajan, Judith A.; Irlbeck, Bradley W.

2004-01-01

Contents include the following: Introduction. Physical and electrochemical characteristics. Performance evaluation. Rate performance. Internal resistance. Performance at different temperatures. Safety evaluation. Overcharge. Overdischarge. External short. Simulated internal short. Heat-to-vent. Vibration. Drop rest. Vent and burst pressure.

Instructors' Evaluation as an Instrument to Improve Performance and Determine Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laei, Soosan; Abdi, Ali; Karamaerouz, Mohamad Javad; Shirkhani, Nassim

2014-01-01

Experts in human resources management have suggested common objectives for evaluating performance of all organizations, including motivation and improvement of staff performance, identification of competence and skills, identification of educational needs and developmental contexts, etc. Achievement to these objectives is -a responsibility of…

Manufacture and evaluation of Li/BCX DD cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, S.; Takeuchi, E.

1990-01-01

This project is divided into four main tasks: cell manufacture, acceptance, and lot certification of cells, performance testing of cells, and abuse testing of cells. Lithium/bromine chloride in thionyl chloride (Li/BCX) 149 DD cells (PN 3B2085-XA) were built according to the provisions of Electrochem Industries Quality Plan 17096. Acceptance and lot certification testing was performed according to NASA JSC Document EP5-83-025, Revision B. Acceptance testing included open circuit and load voltage check, visual examination, size and weight measurements, and high temperature exposure. Lot certification tests were performed for capacity performance and for performance under conditions of thermal and electrical abuse. These tests included 149 C exposure, capacity discharge, fuse check, high temperature exposure, high rate discharge, short circuit, vibration, and overdischarge testing. A quantity of 200 cells was delivered to Johnson Space Center for life test evaluation. A parametric evaluation of the capacity discharge of Li/BCX DD cells was performed over a variety of temperatures and discharge rates. This testing served to map the performance capability of the cell. Tests were also performed over a variety of electrical and thermal abuse conditions. Abuse tests included short circuit, charging, overdischarge, high temperature exposure, shock, and vibration.

Technical Evaluation Motor No. 7 (TEM-7)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Phil

1991-01-01

The Technical Evaluation Motor No. 7 (TEM-7) test was a full-scale, full duration static test firing of a high performance motor-configuration solid rocket motor with nozzle vectoring. The final test report documents the procedures, performance, and results of the static test firing of TEM-7. All observations, discussions, conclusions, and recommendations included in the report are complete and final except for the TEM-7 fixed housing unbond investigation. A presentation and discussion of TEM-7 performance, anomalies, and test result concurrence with the objectives outlined in CTP-0107, Rev A, Space Shuttle Technical Evaluation Motor No. 7 (TEM-7) Static Fire Test Plan are included.

Evaluation methodologies for an advanced information processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schabowsky, R. S., Jr.; Gai, E.; Walker, B. K.; Lala, J. H.; Motyka, P.

1984-01-01

The system concept and requirements for an Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS) are briefly described, but the emphasis of this paper is on the evaluation methodologies being developed and utilized in the AIPS program. The evaluation tasks include hardware reliability, maintainability and availability, software reliability, performance, and performability. Hardware RMA and software reliability are addressed with Markov modeling techniques. The performance analysis for AIPS is based on queueing theory. Performability is a measure of merit which combines system reliability and performance measures. The probability laws of the performance measures are obtained from the Markov reliability models. Scalar functions of this law such as the mean and variance provide measures of merit in the AIPS performability evaluations.

Student Performance Evaluation. Physical Educators for Equity. Module 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uhlir, Ann

Guidelines are presented to aid secondary school physical education teachers in evaluating student performance in a way that avoids sex-role stereotyping and sex discrimination. Suggestions made for conducting testing in a bias-free setting include: (1) avoid sex-differentiated role tasks; (2) organize motor-performance testing procedures so that…

MEASUREMENT OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS BY THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY COMPENDIUM METHOD TO-17 - EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

EPA Science Inventory

An evaluation of performance criteria for US Environmental Protection Agency Compendium Method TO-17 for monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air has been accomplished. The method is a solid adsorbent-based sampling and analytical procedure including performance crit...

OrbView-3 Technical Performance Evaluation 2005: Modulation Transfer Function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cole, Aaron

2007-01-01

The Technical performance evaluation of OrbView-3 using the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is presented. The contents include: 1) MTF Results and Methodology; 2) Radiometric Calibration Methodology; and 3) Relative Radiometric Assessment Results

Teacher Effectiveness: An Update on Pennsylvania's Teacher Evaluation System. Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Research For Action, 2013

2013-01-01

Act 82 of 2012 established new standards for Pennsylvania's teacher evaluation system, including the incorporation of student performance measures in ratings decisions. Since 2009, approximately 35 states have amended teacher evaluation systems, with student achievement playing an increasingly prominent role. This count includes neighboring…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hart, Darren M.

Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated Geotech Smart24 data acquisition system with active Fortezza crypto card data signing and authentication. The test results included in this report were in response to static and tonal-dynamic input signals. Most test methodologies used were based on IEEE Standards 1057 for Digitizing Waveform Recorders and 1241 for Analog to Digital Converters; others were designed by Sandia specifically for infrasound application evaluation and for supplementary criteria not addressed in the IEEE standards. The objective of this work was to evaluate the overall technical performance of the Geotech Smart24 digitizer with a Fortezza PCMCIA cryptomore » card actively implementing the signing of data packets. The results of this evaluation were compared to relevant specifications provided within manufacturer's documentation notes. The tests performed were chosen to demonstrate different performance aspects of the digitizer under test. The performance aspects tested include determining noise floor, least significant bit (LSB), dynamic range, cross-talk, relative channel-to-channel timing, time-tag accuracy, analog bandwidth and calibrator performance.« less

Program for the development of high temperature electrical materials and components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neff, W. S.; Lowry, L. R.

1972-01-01

Evaluation of high temperature, space-vacuum performance of selected electrical materials and components, high temperature capacitor development, and evaluation, construction, and endurance testing of compression sealed pyrolytic boron nitride slot insulation are described. The first subject above covered the aging evaluation of electrical devices constructed from selected electrical materials. Individual materials performances were also evaluated and reported. The second subject included study of methods of improving electrical performance of pyrolytic boron nitride capacitors. The third portion was conducted to evaluate the thermal and electrical performance of pyrolytic boron nitride as stator slot liner material under varied temperature and compressive loading. Conclusions and recommendations are presented.

A New Tool for Identifying Research Standards and Evaluating Research Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacon, Donald R.; Paul, Pallab; Stewart, Kim A.; Mukhopadhyay, Kausiki

2012-01-01

Much has been written about the evaluation of faculty research productivity in promotion and tenure decisions, including many articles that seek to determine the rank of various marketing journals. Yet how faculty evaluators combine journal quality, quantity, and author contribution to form judgments of a scholar's performance is unclear. A…

Performance Evaluation of the Educational Leader (PEEL): Another Breakthrough in Competency Based Educational Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzger, Christa; Lynch, Steven B.

1974-01-01

This paper describes the Performance Evaluation of the Education Leader (PEEL) program, initiated from a study to define the competent school administrator and to develop an instrument to measure administrative competence objectively and accurately. The resulting PEEL materials include the following: (a) "Guidelines for Evaluation: The School…

Towards a Better Understanding of the Legibility Bias in Performance Assessments: The Case of Gender-Based Inferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greifeneder, Rainer; Zelt, Sarah; Seele, Tim; Bottenberg, Konstantin; Alt, Alexander

2012-01-01

Background: Handwriting legibility systematically biases evaluations in that highly legible handwriting results in more positive evaluations than less legible handwriting. Because performance assessments in educational contexts are not only based on computerized or multiple choice tests but often include the evaluation of handwritten work samples,…

Performance Evaluation of Reliable Multicast Protocol for Checkout and Launch Control Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shu, Wei Wennie; Porter, John

2000-01-01

The overall objective of this project is to study reliability and performance of Real Time Critical Network (RTCN) for checkout and launch control systems (CLCS). The major tasks include reliability and performance evaluation of Reliable Multicast (RM) package and fault tolerance analysis and design of dual redundant network architecture.

40 CFR 63.1210 - What are the notification requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... change in information already provided under § 63.9. 63.1206(b)(5)(i) Notification of changes in design...), 63.9(e) 63.9(g)(1) and (3) Notification of performance test and continuous monitoring system evaluation, including the performance test plan and CMS performance evaluation plan.1 63.1210(b) Notification...

40 CFR 63.1210 - What are the notification requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... change in information already provided under § 63.9. 63.1206(b)(5)(i) Notification of changes in design...), 63.9(e) 63.9(g)(1) and (3) Notification of performance test and continuous monitoring system evaluation, including the performance test plan and CMS performance evaluation plan.1 63.1210(b) Notification...

Managing the "Performance" in Performance Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Repinski, Marilyn; Bartsch, Maryjo

1996-01-01

Describes a five-step approach to performance management which includes (1) redefining tasks; (2) identifying skills; (3) determining what development tools are necessary; (4) prioritizing skills development; and (5) developing an action plan. Presents a hiring model that includes job analysis, job description, selection, goal setting, evaluation,…

Laser-heated rocket thruster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shoji, J. M.

1977-01-01

A space vehicle application using 5,000-kw input laser power was conceptually evaluated. A detailed design evaluation of a 10-kw experimental thruster including plasma size, chamber size, cooling, and performance analyses, was performed for 50 psia chamber pressure and using hydrogen as a propellant. The 10-kw hardware fabricated included a water cooled chamber, an uncooled copper chamber, an injector, igniters, and a thrust stand. A 10-kw optical train was designed.

Solid rocket booster performance evaluation model. Volume 1: Engineering description

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The space shuttle solid rocket booster performance evaluation model (SRB-II) is made up of analytical and functional simulation techniques linked together so that a single pass through the model will predict the performance of the propulsion elements of a space shuttle solid rocket booster. The available options allow the user to predict static test performance, predict nominal and off nominal flight performance, and reconstruct actual flight and static test performance. Options selected by the user are dependent on the data available. These can include data derived from theoretical analysis, small scale motor test data, large motor test data and motor configuration data. The user has several options for output format that include print, cards, tape and plots. Output includes all major performance parameters (Isp, thrust, flowrate, mass accounting and operating pressures) as a function of time as well as calculated single point performance data. The engineering description of SRB-II discusses the engineering and programming fundamentals used, the function of each module, and the limitations of each module.

Tools and Techniques for Evaluating the Effects of Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) in Air Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, James C.

2002-01-01

This research project was designed as part of a larger effort to help Human Factors (HF) implementers, and others in the aviation maintenance community, understand, evaluate, and validate the impact of Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) training programs, and other MRM interventions; on participant attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and ultimately on enhanced safety performance. It includes research and development of evaluation methodology as well as examination of psychological constructs and correlates of maintainer performance. In particular, during 2001, three issues were addressed. First a prototype process for measuring performance was developed and used. Second an automated calculator was developed to aid the HF implementer user in analyzing and evaluating local survey data. These results include being automatically compared with the experience from all MRM programs studied since 1991. Third the core survey (the Maintenance Resource Management Technical Operations Questionnaire, or 'MRM/TOQ') was further developed and tested to include topics of added relevance to the industry.

MSFC Skylab instrumentation and communication system mission evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adair, B. M.

1974-01-01

An evaluation of the in-orbit performance of the instrumentation and communications systems installed on Skylab is presented. Performance is compared with functional requirements and the fidelity of communications. In-orbit performance includes processing engineering, scientific, experiment, and biomedical data, implementing ground-generated commands, audio and video communication, generating rendezvous ranging information, and radio frequency transmission and reception. A history of the system evolution based on the functional requirements and a physical description of the launch configuration is included. The report affirms that the instrumentation and communication system satisfied all imposed requirements.

WE-E-217A-02: Methodologies for Evaluation of Standalone CAD System Performance.

PubMed

Sahiner, B

2012-06-01

Standalone performance evaluation of a CAD system provides information about the abnormality detection or classification performance of the computerized system alone. Although the performance of the reader with CAD is the final step in CAD system assessment, standalone performance evaluation is an important component for several reasons: First, standalone evaluation informs the reader about the performance level of the CAD system and may have an impact on how the reader uses the system. Second, it provides essential information to the system designer for algorithm optimization during system development. Third, standalone evaluation can provide a detailed description of algorithm performance (e.g., on subgroups of the population) because a larger data set with more samples from different subgroups can be included in standalone studies compared to reader studies. Proper standalone evaluation of a CAD system involves a number of key components, some of which are shared with the assessment of reader performance with CAD. These include (1) selection of a test data set that allows performance assessment with little or no bias and acceptable uncertainty; (2) a reference standard that indicates disease status as well as the location and extent of disease; (3) a clearly defined method for labeling each CAD mark as a true-positive or false-positive; and (4) a properly selected set of metrics to summarize the accuracy of the computer marks and their corresponding scores. In this lecture, we will discuss various approaches for the key components of standalone CAD performance evaluation listed above, and present some of the recommendations and opinions from the AAPM CAD subcommittee on these issues. Learning Objectives 1. Identify basic components and metrics in the assessment of standalone CAD systems 2. Understand how each component may affect the assessed performance 3. Learn about AAPM CAD subcommittee's opinions and recommendations on factors and metrics related to the evaluation of standalone CAD system performance. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Investigations into Performance and Lifetime Enhancements of OPV Devices: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-08-263

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ginley, D.

2014-06-01

To evaluate Plextronics new additives and derivatives in lithium-ion Battery Applications, Plextronics will provide to NREL, a starting point, including materials and initial data for proof of concept. The central focus of this project is to acertain the nature of the efficacy of the Plextronics additives through physical and electrical characterization, including evaluations of new derivatives, system evaluations on batteries made with Plexcore and to study long term cycling performance differences. The initial focus is to establish Plexcore mode of action to support the commercialization of the first commercial evaluations of Plexcore in Sept. 2013.

Preliminary evaluation of advanced air bag field performance using event data recorders

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-08-31

This report describes a preliminary evaluation of the field performance of occupant restraint systems designed with advanced air bag features including those specified in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 for advanced air bags, throug...

Apollo experience report: Engineering and analysis mission support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fricke, R. W., Jr.

1975-01-01

The tasks performed by the team of specialists that evaluated hardware performance during prelaunch checkout and in-flight operation are discussed. The organizational structure, operational procedures, and interfaces as well as the facilities and software required to perform these tasks are discussed. The scope of the service performed by the team and the evaluation philosophy are described. Summaries of problems and their resolution are included as appendixes.

Evaluating Web-Based Learning and Instruction (WBLI): A Case Study and Framework for Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michalski, Greg V.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach to perform relevant and useful evaluations of Web-based learning and instruction (WBLI) that will accommodate performance and keep pace with the growing capabilities of the Internet. Discussion includes the advantages of WBLI, multimedia and streaming use in WBLI, building the…

The Linear Programming to evaluate the performance of Oral Health in Primary Care.

PubMed

Colussi, Claudia Flemming; Calvo, Maria Cristina Marino; Freitas, Sergio Fernando Torres de

2013-01-01

To show the use of Linear Programming to evaluate the performance of Oral Health in Primary Care. This study used data from 19 municipalities of Santa Catarina city that participated of the state evaluation in 2009 and have more than 50,000 habitants. A total of 40 indicators were evaluated, calculated using the Microsoft Excel 2007, and converted to the interval [0, 1] in ascending order (one indicating the best situation and zero indicating the worst situation). Applying the Linear Programming technique municipalities were assessed and compared among them according to performance curve named "quality estimated frontier". Municipalities included in the frontier were classified as excellent. Indicators were gathered, and became synthetic indicators. The majority of municipalities not included in the quality frontier (values different of 1.0) had lower values than 0.5, indicating poor performance. The model applied to the municipalities of Santa Catarina city assessed municipal management and local priorities rather than the goals imposed by pre-defined parameters. In the final analysis three municipalities were included in the "perceived quality frontier". The Linear Programming technique allowed to identify gaps that must be addressed by city managers to enhance actions taken. It also enabled to observe each municipal performance and compare results among similar municipalities.

The participatory design of a performance oriented monitoring and evaluation system in an international development environment.

PubMed

Guerra-López, Ingrid; Hicks, Karen

2015-02-01

This article illustrates the application of the impact monitoring and evaluation process for the design and development of a performance monitoring and evaluation framework in the context of human and institutional capacity development. This participative process facilitated stakeholder ownership in several areas including the design, development, and use of a new monitoring and evaluation system, as well their targeted results and accomplishments through the use of timely performance data gathered through ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The process produced a performance indicator map, a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework, and data collection templates to promote the development, implementation, and sustainability of the monitoring and evaluation system of a farmer's trade union in an African country. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

48 CFR 1516.401-70 - Award term incentives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., including the evaluation criteria and performance measures, and serves as the basis for award term decisions...) The contractor has failed to achieve the performance measures for the corresponding evaluation period....401-70 Section 1516.401-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY...

Is the evaluation of risk of bias in periodontology and implant dentistry comprehensive? A systematic review.

PubMed

Faggion, Clovis Mariano; Listl, Stefan; Alarcón, Marco Antonio

2015-05-01

The objective of this study was to assess how authors of systematic reviews (SRs) with meta-analyses published in periodontology and implant dentistry evaluate risk of bias (ROB) in primary studies included in these reviews. A literature search for SRs with meta-analyses was performed in PubMed and Cochrane library databases up to July 20th 2014. The reference lists of included articles were screened for further reviews. The standards of evaluating ROB in primary studies were evaluated by using a 14-item checklist based on the Cochrane approach for evaluating ROB. Standards in ROB evaluations in Cochrane and paper-based SRs were compared using the Fisher's exact test. All searches, data extraction and evaluations were performed independently and in duplicate. Seventy SRs were included (45 paper-based and 25 Cochrane SRs, respectively). The median percentage of items addressed was 58% (interquartile range 4-100%). Cochrane SRs more frequently included ROB assessments than paper-based reviews in terms of examiner blinding (p = 0.0026), selective outcome reporting (p = 0.0207) and other bias (p = 0.0241). The ROB evaluation in primary studies currently included in SRs with meta-analyses in periodontology and implant dentistry is not sufficiently comprehensive. Cochrane SRs have more comprehensive ROB evaluation than paper-based reviews. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Precision Attitude Determination System (PADS) system design and analysis: Single-axis gimbal star tracker

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The feasibility is evaluated of an evolutionary development for use of a single-axis gimbal star tracker from prior two-axis gimbal star tracker based system applications. Detailed evaluation of the star tracker gimbal encoder is considered. A brief system description is given including the aspects of tracker evolution and encoder evaluation. System analysis includes evaluation of star availability and mounting constraints for the geosynchronous orbit application, and a covariance simulation analysis to evaluate performance potential. Star availability and covariance analysis digital computer programs are included.

Functional assessment and performance evaluation for assistive robotic manipulators: Literature review.

PubMed

Chung, Cheng-Shiu; Wang, Hongwu; Cooper, Rory A

2013-07-01

The user interface development of assistive robotic manipulators can be traced back to the 1960s. Studies include kinematic designs, cost-efficiency, user experience involvements, and performance evaluation. This paper is to review studies conducted with clinical trials using activities of daily living (ADLs) tasks to evaluate performance categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) frameworks, in order to give the scope of current research and provide suggestions for future studies. We conducted a literature search of assistive robotic manipulators from 1970 to 2012 in PubMed, Google Scholar, and University of Pittsburgh Library System - PITTCat. Twenty relevant studies were identified. Studies were separated into two broad categories: user task preferences and user-interface performance measurements of commercialized and developing assistive robotic manipulators. The outcome measures and ICF codes associated with the performance evaluations are reported. Suggestions for the future studies include (1) standardized ADL tasks for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of task efficiency and performance to build comparable measures between research groups, (2) studies relevant to the tasks from user priority lists and ICF codes, and (3) appropriate clinical functional assessment tests with consideration of constraints in assistive robotic manipulator user interfaces. In addition, these outcome measures will help physicians and therapists build standardized tools while prescribing and assessing assistive robotic manipulators.

49 CFR 192.805 - Qualification program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... include provisions to: (a) Identify covered tasks; (b) Ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are qualified; (c) Allow individuals that are not qualified pursuant to this subpart to perform a covered task if directed and observed by an individual that is qualified; (d) Evaluate...

34 CFR 645.32 - How does the Secretary evaluate prior experience?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... performance under its expiring Upward Bound grant. This information includes information derived from annual performance reports, audit reports, site visit reports, project evaluation reports, and any other verifiable... project participants have demonstrated improvement in academic skills and competencies as measured by...

Crisis Team Management in a Scarce Resource Setting: Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

PubMed

Henker, Richard Alynn; Henker, Hiroko; Eng, Hor; O'Donnell, John; Jirativanont, Tachawan

2017-01-01

A crisis team management (CTM) simulation course was developed by volunteers from Health Volunteers Overseas for physicians and nurses at Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The framework for the course was adapted from crisis resource management (1, 2), crisis team training (3), and TeamSTEPPs© models (4). The CTM course focused on teaching physicians and nurses on the development of team performance knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Challenges to providing this course at AHC included availability of simulation equipment, cultural differences in learning, and language barriers. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a CTM simulation course at AHC on attitudes and perceptions of participants on concepts related to team performance. Each of the CTM courses consisted of three lectures, including team performance concepts, communication, and debriefing followed by rotation through four simulation scenarios. The evaluation instrument used to evaluate the AHC CTM course was developed for Cambodian staff at AHC based on TeamSTEPPs© instruments evaluating attitude and perceptions of team performance (5). CTM team performance concepts included in lectures, debriefing sessions, and the evaluation instrument were: team structure, leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze pre- and post-test paired data from participants in the course. Of the 54 participants completing the three CTM courses at AHC, 27 were nurses, 6 were anesthetists, and 21 were physicians. Attitude and perception scores were found to significantly improve ( p  < 0.05) for team structure, leadership, situation monitoring, and communication. Team performance areas that improved the most were: discussion of team performance, communication, and exchange of information. Teaching of non-technical skills can be effective in a setting with scarce resources in a Southeastern Asian country.

Performance prediction evaluation of ceramic materials in point-focusing solar receivers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ewing, J.; Zwissler, J.

1979-01-01

A performance prediction was adapted to evaluate the use of ceramic materials in solar receivers for point focusing distributed applications. System requirements were determined including the receiver operating environment and system operating parameters for various engine types. Preliminary receiver designs were evolved from these system requirements. Specific receiver designs were then evaluated to determine material functional requirements.

Development of Space Station strut design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, R. R.; Bluck, R. M.; Holmes, A. M. C.; Kural, M. H.

1986-01-01

Candidate Space Station struts exhibiting high stiffness (38-40 msi modulus of elasticity) were manufactured and experimentally evaluated. One and two inch diameter aluminum-clad evaluation specimens were manufactured using a unique dry fiber resin injection process. Preliminary tests were performed on strut elements having 80 percent high-modulus graphite epoxy and 20 percent aluminum. Performed tests included modulus of elasticity, thermal cycling, and coefficient of thermal expansion. The paper describes the design approach, including an analytical assessment of strut thermal deformation behavior. The major thrust of this paper is the manufacturing process which produces aluminum-clad struts with precisely controlled properties which can be fine-tuned after fabrication. An impact test and evaluation procedure for evaluating toughness is described.

Risks Associated with Federal Construction Projects

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

awarding contracts for construction projects (USACE, 2010). BIM offers a method to effectively design a facility while maximizing work performance during...includes Requirements, Programming, Funding, Solicitation, AEC Evaluation, Award , Project Validation, Design and Construction, and Project Management...includes the Solicitation, AEC Evaluation, and Award Steps. In this Phase, BIM is only used in the Solicitation and the AEC Evaluation steps

Evaluation of modern cotton harvest systems on irrigated cotton: harvester performance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Picker and stripper harvest systems were evaluated on production-scale irrigated cotton on the High Plains of Texas over three harvest seasons. Observations on harvester performance, including time-in-motion, harvest loss, seed cotton composition, and turnout, were conducted at seven locations with...

Apollo 15 mission report, supplement 4: Descent propulsion system final flight evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avvenire, A. T.; Wood, S. C.

1972-01-01

The results of a postflight analysis of the LM-10 Descent Propulsion System (DPS) during the Apollo 15 Mission are reported. The analysis determined the steady state performance of the DPS during the descent phase of the manned lunar landing. Flight measurement discrepancies are discussed. Simulated throttle performance results are cited along with overall performance results. Evaluations of the propellant quantity gaging system, propellant loading, pressurization system, and engine are reported. Graphic illustrations of the evaluations are included.

Performance Demonstration of Mcmb-LiNiCoO2 Cells Containing Electrolytes Designed for Wide Operating Temperature Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smart, M. C.; Ratnakumar, B. V.; Whicanack, L. D.; Smith, K. A.; Santee, S.; Puglia, F. J.; Gitzendanner, R.

2009-01-01

With the intent of improving the performance of Li-ion cells over a wide operating temperature range, we have investigated the use of co-solvents to improve the properties of electrolyte formulations. In the current study, we have focused upon evaluating promising electrolytes which have been incorporated into large capacity (7 Ah) prototype Li-ion cells, fabricated by Yardney Technical Products, Inc. The electrolytes selected for performance evaluation include the use of a number of esters as co-solvents, including methyl propionate (MP), ethyl propionate (EP), ethyl butyrate (EB), propyl butyrate (PB), and 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl butyrate (TFEB). The performance of the prototype cells containing the ester-based electrolytes was compared with an extensive data base generated on cells containing previously developed all carbonate-based electrolytes. A number of performance tests were performed, including determining (i) the discharge rate capacity over a wide range of temperatures, (ii) the charge characteristics, (iii) the cycle life characteristics under various conditions, and (iv) the impedance characteristics.

Bringing a transgenic crop to market: where compositional analysis fits.

PubMed

Privalle, Laura S; Gillikin, Nancy; Wandelt, Christine

2013-09-04

In the process of developing a biotechnology product, thousands of genes and transformation events are evaluated to select the event that will be commercialized. The ideal event is identified on the basis of multiple characteristics including trait efficacy, the molecular characteristics of the insert, and agronomic performance. Once selected, the commercial event is subjected to a rigorous safety evaluation taking a multipronged approach including examination of the safety of the gene and gene product - the protein, plant performance, impact of cultivating the crop on the environment, agronomic performance, and equivalence of the crop/food to conventional crops/food - by compositional analysis. The compositional analysis is composed of a comparison of the nutrient and antinutrient composition of the crop containing the event, its parental line (variety), and other conventional lines (varieties). Different geographies have different requirements for the compositional analysis studies. Parameters that vary include the number of years (seasons) and locations (environments) to be evaluated, the appropriate comparator(s), analytes to be evaluated, and statistical analysis. Specific examples of compositional analysis results will be presented.

A System for Identifying Named Entities in Biomedical Text: how Results From two Evaluations Reflect on Both the System and the Evaluations

PubMed Central

Dingare, Shipra; Nissim, Malvina; Finkel, Jenny; Grover, Claire

2005-01-01

We present a maximum entropy-based system for identifying named entities (NEs) in biomedical abstracts and present its performance in the only two biomedical named entity recognition (NER) comparative evaluations that have been held to date, namely BioCreative and Coling BioNLP. Our system obtained an exact match F-score of 83.2% in the BioCreative evaluation and 70.1% in the BioNLP evaluation. We discuss our system in detail, including its rich use of local features, attention to correct boundary identification, innovative use of external knowledge resources, including parsing and web searches, and rapid adaptation to new NE sets. We also discuss in depth problems with data annotation in the evaluations which caused the final performance to be lower than optimal. PMID:18629295

An integrated evaluation for the performance of clinical engineering department.

PubMed

Yousry, Ahmed M; Ouda, Bassem K; Eldeib, Ayman M

2014-01-01

Performance benchmarking have become a very important component in all successful organizations nowadays that must be used by Clinical Engineering Department (CED) in hospitals. Many researchers identified essential mainstream performance indicators needed to improve the CED's performance. These studies revealed mainstream performance indicators that use the database of a CED to evaluate its performance. In this work, we believe that those indicators are insufficient for hospitals. Additional important indicators should be included to improve the evaluation accuracy. Therefore, we added new indicators: technical/maintenance indicators, economic indicators, intrinsic criticality indicators, basic hospital indicators, equipment acquisition, and safety indicators. Data is collected from 10 hospitals that cover different types of healthcare organizations. We developed a software tool that analyses collected data to provide a score for each CED under evaluation. Our results indicate that there is an average gap of 67% between the CEDs' performance and the ideal target. The reasons for the noncompliance are discussed in order to improve performance of CEDs under evaluation.

ERTS-1 flight evaluation report, 23 April - 23 July 1973

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The flight performance of the ERTS-1 satellite is analyzed for orbits 3810 to 5100. Systems analyzed include: orbital parameters, power subsystem, attitude control, telemetry, orbit adjust, thermal control, and data collection. Documents and reports related to the evaluation are also included.

Meta-analysis of the technical performance of an imaging procedure: guidelines and statistical methodology.

PubMed

Huang, Erich P; Wang, Xiao-Feng; Choudhury, Kingshuk Roy; McShane, Lisa M; Gönen, Mithat; Ye, Jingjing; Buckler, Andrew J; Kinahan, Paul E; Reeves, Anthony P; Jackson, Edward F; Guimaraes, Alexander R; Zahlmann, Gudrun

2015-02-01

Medical imaging serves many roles in patient care and the drug approval process, including assessing treatment response and guiding treatment decisions. These roles often involve a quantitative imaging biomarker, an objectively measured characteristic of the underlying anatomic structure or biochemical process derived from medical images. Before a quantitative imaging biomarker is accepted for use in such roles, the imaging procedure to acquire it must undergo evaluation of its technical performance, which entails assessment of performance metrics such as repeatability and reproducibility of the quantitative imaging biomarker. Ideally, this evaluation will involve quantitative summaries of results from multiple studies to overcome limitations due to the typically small sample sizes of technical performance studies and/or to include a broader range of clinical settings and patient populations. This paper is a review of meta-analysis procedures for such an evaluation, including identification of suitable studies, statistical methodology to evaluate and summarize the performance metrics, and complete and transparent reporting of the results. This review addresses challenges typical of meta-analyses of technical performance, particularly small study sizes, which often causes violations of assumptions underlying standard meta-analysis techniques. Alternative approaches to address these difficulties are also presented; simulation studies indicate that they outperform standard techniques when some studies are small. The meta-analysis procedures presented are also applied to actual [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) test-retest repeatability data for illustrative purposes. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Meta-analysis of the technical performance of an imaging procedure: Guidelines and statistical methodology

PubMed Central

Huang, Erich P; Wang, Xiao-Feng; Choudhury, Kingshuk Roy; McShane, Lisa M; Gönen, Mithat; Ye, Jingjing; Buckler, Andrew J; Kinahan, Paul E; Reeves, Anthony P; Jackson, Edward F; Guimaraes, Alexander R; Zahlmann, Gudrun

2017-01-01

Medical imaging serves many roles in patient care and the drug approval process, including assessing treatment response and guiding treatment decisions. These roles often involve a quantitative imaging biomarker, an objectively measured characteristic of the underlying anatomic structure or biochemical process derived from medical images. Before a quantitative imaging biomarker is accepted for use in such roles, the imaging procedure to acquire it must undergo evaluation of its technical performance, which entails assessment of performance metrics such as repeatability and reproducibility of the quantitative imaging biomarker. Ideally, this evaluation will involve quantitative summaries of results from multiple studies to overcome limitations due to the typically small sample sizes of technical performance studies and/or to include a broader range of clinical settings and patient populations. This paper is a review of meta-analysis procedures for such an evaluation, including identification of suitable studies, statistical methodology to evaluate and summarize the performance metrics, and complete and transparent reporting of the results. This review addresses challenges typical of meta-analyses of technical performance, particularly small study sizes, which often causes violations of assumptions underlying standard meta-analysis techniques. Alternative approaches to address these difficulties are also presented; simulation studies indicate that they outperform standard techniques when some studies are small. The meta-analysis procedures presented are also applied to actual [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) test–retest repeatability data for illustrative purposes. PMID:24872353

45 CFR 2522.700 - How does evaluation differ from performance measurement?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... progress, evaluation uses scientifically-based research methods to assess the effectiveness of programs by... the reading ability of students in a program over time to a similar group of students not... example, a performance measure for a literacy program may include the percentage of students receiving...

Leadership Styles of Russian Enterprise Managers: The Effect of Transactional and Transformational Behaviors on Employees' Evaluation of Managerial Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ardichvili, Alexander

2001-01-01

Identifies leadership styles of Russian enterprise managers and determines how theses styles are related to employees' subjective evaluation of managerial performance. Highlights include laissez-faire leadership, transactional leadership, and transformational leadership; international leadership research; and implications for Russian leadership…

The "Anatomy" of a Performance-Enhancing Drug Test in Sports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Werner, T. C.

2012-01-01

The components of a performance-enhancing drug (PED) test in sports include sample selection, collection, establishing sample integrity, sample pretreatment, analyte detection, data evaluation, reporting results, and action taken based on the result. Undergraduate curricula generally focus on the detection and evaluation steps of an analytical…

Evaluation of video detection systems, volume 4 : effects of adverse weather conditions in the performance of video detection systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-01

The performance of three video detection systems (VDS): Iteris, Autoscope, and Peek, was evaluated : using a side-by-side installation at a signalized intersection under various adverse weather conditions including : rain and snow in both day and nig...

Sofia Observatory Performance and Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Temi, Pasquale; Miller, Walter; Dunham, Edward; McLean, Ian; Wolf, Jurgen; Becklin, Eric; Bida, Tom; Brewster, Rick; Casey, Sean; Collins, Peter;

Performance evaluation of two black nickel and two black chrome solar collectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Losey, R.

1977-01-01

The test program was based on the evaluation of four unique solar collectors described below: (1) black nickel collector surface with a desiccant drying bed, (2) black nickel collector surface without a desiccant drying bed, (3) black chrome collector surface with a dessicant drying bed, and (4) black chrome collector surface without a desiccant drying bed. The test program included three distinct phases: Initial performance evaluation, natural environmental aging, and post-aging performance evaluation. Results of Phase III testing conclusively indicated a higher normalized efficiency for Black Chrome surfaces when compared to Black Nickel.

Performance Evaluation of Intelligent Systems at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

past few years, including performance evaluation of emergency response robots , sensor systems on unmanned ground vehicles, speech-to-speech translation...emergency response robots ; intelligent systems; mixed palletizing, testing, simulation; robotic vehicle perception systems; search and rescue robots ...ranging from autonomous vehicles to urban search and rescue robots to speech translation and manufacturing systems. The evaluations have occurred in

On the Performance Evaluation of 3D Reconstruction Techniques from a Sequence of Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eid, Ahmed; Farag, Aly

2005-12-01

The performance evaluation of 3D reconstruction techniques is not a simple problem to solve. This is not only due to the increased dimensionality of the problem but also due to the lack of standardized and widely accepted testing methodologies. This paper presents a unified framework for the performance evaluation of different 3D reconstruction techniques. This framework includes a general problem formalization, different measuring criteria, and a classification method as a first step in standardizing the evaluation process. Performance characterization of two standard 3D reconstruction techniques, stereo and space carving, is also presented. The evaluation is performed on the same data set using an image reprojection testing methodology to reduce the dimensionality of the evaluation domain. Also, different measuring strategies are presented and applied to the stereo and space carving techniques. These measuring strategies have shown consistent results in quantifying the performance of these techniques. Additional experiments are performed on the space carving technique to study the effect of the number of input images and the camera pose on its performance.

Faculty Evaluations Correlate Poorly with Medical Student Examination Performance in a Fourth-Year Emergency Medicine Clerkship.

PubMed

Dubosh, Nicole M; Fisher, Jonathan; Lewis, Jason; Ullman, Edward A

2017-06-01

Clerkship directors routinely evaluate medical students using multiple modalities, including faculty assessment of clinical performance and written examinations. Both forms of evaluation often play a prominent role in final clerkship grade. The degree to which these modalities correlate in an emergency medicine (EM) clerkship is unclear. We sought to correlate faculty clinical evaluations with medical student performance on a written, standardized EM examination of medical knowledge. This is a retrospective study of fourth-year medical students in a 4-week EM elective at one academic medical center. EM faculty performed end of shift evaluations of students via a blinded online system using a 5-point Likert scale for 8 domains: data acquisition, data interpretation, medical knowledge base, professionalism, patient care and communication, initiative/reliability/dependability, procedural skills, and overall evaluation. All students completed the National EM M4 Examination in EM. Means, medians, and standard deviations for end of shift evaluation scores were calculated, and correlations with examination scores were assessed using a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Thirty-nine medical students with 224 discrete faculty evaluations were included. The median number of evaluations completed per student was 6. The mean score (±SD) on the examination was 78.6% ± 6.1%. The examination score correlated poorly with faculty evaluations across all 8 domains (ρ 0.074-0.316). Faculty evaluations of medical students across multiple domains of competency correlate poorly with written examination performance during an EM clerkship. Educators need to consider the limitations of examination score in assessing students' ability to provide quality patient clinical care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Metrics for Performance Evaluation of Patient Exercises during Physical Therapy.

PubMed

Vakanski, Aleksandar; Ferguson, Jake M; Lee, Stephen

2017-06-01

The article proposes a set of metrics for evaluation of patient performance in physical therapy exercises. Taxonomy is employed that classifies the metrics into quantitative and qualitative categories, based on the level of abstraction of the captured motion sequences. Further, the quantitative metrics are classified into model-less and model-based metrics, in reference to whether the evaluation employs the raw measurements of patient performed motions, or whether the evaluation is based on a mathematical model of the motions. The reviewed metrics include root-mean square distance, Kullback Leibler divergence, log-likelihood, heuristic consistency, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and similar. The metrics are evaluated for a set of five human motions captured with a Kinect sensor. The metrics can potentially be integrated into a system that employs machine learning for modelling and assessment of the consistency of patient performance in home-based therapy setting. Automated performance evaluation can overcome the inherent subjectivity in human performed therapy assessment, and it can increase the adherence to prescribed therapy plans, and reduce healthcare costs.

A Standard Psychophysiological Preparation for Evaluating the Effects of Environmental Vibration Stress. Phase I. Development.

DTIC Science & Technology

A Standard Psychophysiological Preparation (SPP) for the evaluation of the physiological and biomechanical mechanisms responsible for performance...consumption, biomechanical parameters and performance level. The results of pilot tests (including 6-hours exposure to vibration while performing a...tracking task) verify the applicability and utility of the SPP and demonstrate that high quality, quantitative physiological and biomechanical data can

48 CFR 42.1502 - Policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... single-agency task order and delivery order contracts, the contracting officer may require performance... ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT SERVICES Contractor Performance Information 42.1502 Policy. (a) Past performance... orders with a period of performance, including options, exceeding one year. These evaluations are...

UNIX-based operating systems robustness evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Yu-Ming

1996-01-01

Robust operating systems are required for reliable computing. Techniques for robustness evaluation of operating systems not only enhance the understanding of the reliability of computer systems, but also provide valuable feed- back to system designers. This thesis presents results from robustness evaluation experiments on five UNIX-based operating systems, which include Digital Equipment's OSF/l, Hewlett Packard's HP-UX, Sun Microsystems' Solaris and SunOS, and Silicon Graphics' IRIX. Three sets of experiments were performed. The methodology for evaluation tested (1) the exception handling mechanism, (2) system resource management, and (3) system capacity under high workload stress. An exception generator was used to evaluate the exception handling mechanism of the operating systems. Results included exit status of the exception generator and the system state. Resource management techniques used by individual operating systems were tested using programs designed to usurp system resources such as physical memory and process slots. Finally, the workload stress testing evaluated the effect of the workload on system performance by running a synthetic workload and recording the response time of local and remote user requests. Moderate to severe performance degradations were observed on the systems under stress.

Developments in REDES: The rocket engine design expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidian, Kenneth O.

1990-01-01

The Rocket Engine Design Expert System (REDES) is being developed at the NASA-Lewis to collect, automate, and perpetuate the existing expertise of performing a comprehensive rocket engine analysis and design. Currently, REDES uses the rigorous JANNAF methodology to analyze the performance of the thrust chamber and perform computational studies of liquid rocket engine problems. The following computer codes were included in REDES: a gas properties program named GASP, a nozzle design program named RAO, a regenerative cooling channel performance evaluation code named RTE, and the JANNAF standard liquid rocket engine performance prediction code TDK (including performance evaluation modules ODE, ODK, TDE, TDK, and BLM). Computational analyses are being conducted by REDES to provide solutions to liquid rocket engine thrust chamber problems. REDES is built in the Knowledge Engineering Environment (KEE) expert system shell and runs on a Sun 4/110 computer.

Developments in REDES: The Rocket Engine Design Expert System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidian, Kenneth O.

1990-01-01

The Rocket Engine Design Expert System (REDES) was developed at NASA-Lewis to collect, automate, and perpetuate the existing expertise of performing a comprehensive rocket engine analysis and design. Currently, REDES uses the rigorous JANNAF methodology to analyze the performance of the thrust chamber and perform computational studies of liquid rocket engine problems. The following computer codes were included in REDES: a gas properties program named GASP; a nozzle design program named RAO; a regenerative cooling channel performance evaluation code named RTE; and the JANNAF standard liquid rocket engine performance prediction code TDK (including performance evaluation modules ODE, ODK, TDE, TDK, and BLM). Computational analyses are being conducted by REDES to provide solutions to liquid rocket engine thrust chamber problems. REDES was built in the Knowledge Engineering Environment (KEE) expert system shell and runs on a Sun 4/110 computer.

Performance-Based Assessment Resource Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Judith C.; Burger, Patricia

This resource guide reviews a variety of performance-based student assessment strategies, and provides examples of, and references for, the strategies. Strategies include anecdotal records, interviews, peer report and group evaluations, and portfolios. Materials in the guide include: (1) a resource guide update form for teachers; (2) department…

Associations of medical student personality and health/wellness characteristics with their medical school performance across the curriculum.

PubMed

Haight, Scott J; Chibnall, John T; Schindler, Debra L; Slavin, Stuart J

2012-04-01

To assess the relationships of cognitive and noncognitive performance predictors to medical student preclinical and clinical performance indicators across medical school years 1 to 3 and to evaluate the association of psychological health/wellness factors with performance. In 2010, the authors conducted a cross-sectional, correlational, retrospective study of all 175 students at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine who had just completed their third (first clinical) year. Students were asked to complete assessments of personality, stress, anxiety, depression, social support, and community cohesion. Performance measures included total Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score, preclinical academic grades, National Board of Medical Examiners subject exam scores, United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 score, clinical evaluations, and Humanism in Medicine Honor Society nominations. A total of 152 students (87%) participated. MCAT scores predicted cognitive performance indicators (academic tests), whereas personality variables (conscientiousness, extraversion, empathy) predicted noncognitive indicators (clinical evaluations, humanism nominations). Conscientiousness predicted all clinical skills, extraversion predicted clinical skills reflecting interpersonal behavior, and empathy predicted motivation. Health/wellness variables had limited associations with performance. In multivariate analyses that included control for shelf exam scores, conscientiousness predicted clinical evaluations, and extraversion and empathy predicted humanism nominations. This study identified two sets of skills (cognitive, noncognitive) used during medical school, with minimal overlap across the types of performance (e.g., exam performance versus clinical interpersonal skills) they predict. Medical school admission and evaluation efforts may need to be modified to reflect the importance of personality and other noncognitive factors.

Improving Primary Care Residents' Proficiency in the Diagnosis of Skin Cancer

PubMed Central

Gerbert, Barbara; Bronstone, Amy; Wolff, Mimi; Maurer, Toby; Berger, Timothy; Pantilat, Steven; McPhee, Stephen J

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVE To determine whether a brief, multicomponent intervention could improve the skin cancer diagnosis and evaluation planning performance of primary care residents to a level equivalent to that of dermatologists. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-two primary care residents (26 in the control group and 26 in the intervention group) and 13 dermatologists completed a pretest and posttest. DESIGN A randomized, controlled trial with pretest and posttest measurements of residents' ability to diagnose and make evaluation plans for lesions indicative of skin cancer. INTERVENTION The intervention included face-to-face feedback sessions focusing on residents' performance deficiencies; an interactive seminar including slide presentations, case examples, and live demonstrations; and the Melanoma Prevention Kit including a booklet, magnifying tool, measuring tool, and skin color guide. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We compared the abilities of a control and an intervention group of primary care residents, and a group of dermatologists to diagnose and make evaluation plans for six categories of skin lesions including three types of skin cancer—malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinoma. At posttest, both the intervention and control group demonstrated improved performance, with the intervention group revealing significantly larger gains. The intervention group showed greater improvement than the control group across all six diagnostic categories (a gain of 13 percentage points vs 5, p < .05), and in evaluation planning for malignant melanoma (a gain of 46 percentage points vs 36, p < .05) and squamous cell carcinoma (a gain of 42 percentage points vs 21, p < .01). The intervention group performed as well as the dermatologists on five of the six skin cancer diagnosis and evaluation planning scores with the exception of the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS Primary care residents can diagnose and make evaluation plans for cancerous skin lesions, including malignant melanoma, at a level equivalent to that of dermatologists if they receive relevant, targeted education. PMID:9502368

Influence of socioeconomic status on trauma center performance evaluations in a Canadian trauma system.

PubMed

Moore, Lynne; Turgeon, Alexis F; Sirois, Marie-Josée; Murat, Valérie; Lavoie, André

2011-09-01

Trauma center performance evaluations generally include adjustment for injury severity, age, and comorbidity. However, disparities across trauma centers may be due to other differences in source populations that are not accounted for, such as socioeconomic status (SES). We aimed to evaluate whether SES influences trauma center performance evaluations in an inclusive trauma system with universal access to health care. The study was based on data collected between 1999 and 2006 in a Canadian trauma system. Patient SES was quantified using an ecologic index of social and material deprivation. Performance evaluations were based on mortality adjusted using the Trauma Risk Adjustment Model. Agreement between performance results with and without additional adjustment for SES was evaluated with correlation coefficients. The study sample comprised a total of 71,784 patients from 48 trauma centers, including 3,828 deaths within 30 days (4.5%) and 5,549 deaths within 6 months (7.7%). The proportion of patients in the highest quintile of social and material deprivation varied from 3% to 43% and from 11% to 90% across hospitals, respectively. The correlation between performance results with or without adjustment for SES was almost perfect (r = 0.997; 95% CI 0.995-0.998) and the same hospital outliers were identified. We observed an important variation in SES across trauma centers but no change in risk-adjusted mortality estimates when SES was added to adjustment models. Results suggest that after adjustment for injury severity, age, comorbidity, and transfer status, disparities in SES across trauma center source populations do not influence trauma center performance evaluations in a system offering universal health coverage. Copyright © 2011 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Functional assessment and performance evaluation for assistive robotic manipulators: Literature review

PubMed Central

Chung, Cheng-Shiu; Wang, Hongwu; Cooper, Rory A.

2013-01-01

Context The user interface development of assistive robotic manipulators can be traced back to the 1960s. Studies include kinematic designs, cost-efficiency, user experience involvements, and performance evaluation. This paper is to review studies conducted with clinical trials using activities of daily living (ADLs) tasks to evaluate performance categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) frameworks, in order to give the scope of current research and provide suggestions for future studies. Methods We conducted a literature search of assistive robotic manipulators from 1970 to 2012 in PubMed, Google Scholar, and University of Pittsburgh Library System – PITTCat. Results Twenty relevant studies were identified. Conclusion Studies were separated into two broad categories: user task preferences and user-interface performance measurements of commercialized and developing assistive robotic manipulators. The outcome measures and ICF codes associated with the performance evaluations are reported. Suggestions for the future studies include (1) standardized ADL tasks for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of task efficiency and performance to build comparable measures between research groups, (2) studies relevant to the tasks from user priority lists and ICF codes, and (3) appropriate clinical functional assessment tests with consideration of constraints in assistive robotic manipulator user interfaces. In addition, these outcome measures will help physicians and therapists build standardized tools while prescribing and assessing assistive robotic manipulators. PMID:23820143

Evaluation of the Geotech SMART24BH 20Vpp/5Vpp data acquisition system with active fortezza crypto card data signing and authentication.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rembold, Randy Kai; Hart, Darren M.

Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated Geotech SMART24BH borehole data acquisition system with active Fortezza crypto card data signing and authentication. The test results included in this report were in response to static and tonal-dynamic input signals. Most test methodologies used were based on IEEE Standards 1057 for Digitizing Waveform Recorders and 1241 for Analog to Digital Converters; others were designed by Sandia specifically for infrasound application evaluation and for supplementary criteria not addressed in the IEEE standards. The objective of this work was to evaluate the overall technical performance of two Geotech SMART24BH digitizers with a Fortezza PCMCIAmore » crypto card actively implementing the signing of data packets. The results of this evaluation were compared to relevant specifications provided within manufacturer's documentation notes. The tests performed were chosen to demonstrate different performance aspects of the digitizer under test. The performance aspects tested include determining noise floor, least significant bit (LSB), dynamic range, cross-talk, relative channel-to-channel timing, time-tag accuracy/statistics/drift, analog bandwidth.« less

Post-Flight Analysis of GPSR Performance During Orion Exploration Flight Test 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barker, Lee; Mamich, Harvey; McGregor, John

2016-01-01

On 5 December 2014, the first test flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle executed a unique and challenging flight profile including an elevated re-entry velocity and steeper flight path angle to envelope lunar re-entry conditions. A new navigation system including a single frequency (L1) GPS receiver was evaluated for use as part of the redundant navigation system required for human space flight. The single frequency receiver was challenged by a highly dynamic flight environment including flight above low Earth orbit, as well as single frequency operation with ionospheric delay present. This paper presents a brief description of the GPS navigation system, an independent analysis of flight telemetry data, and evaluation of the GPSR performance, including evaluation of the ionospheric model employed to supplement the single frequency receiver. Lessons learned and potential improvements will be discussed.

Theory-Informed Interventions to Improve the Quality of Tuberculosis Evaluation at Ugandan Health Centers: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

PubMed

Chaisson, Lelia H; Katamba, Achilles; Haguma, Priscilla; Ochom, Emmanuel; Ayakaka, Irene; Mugabe, Frank; Miller, Cecily; Vittinghoff, Eric; Davis, J Lucian; Handley, Margaret A; Cattamanchi, Adithya

2015-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) remains under-diagnosed in many countries, in part due to poor evaluation practices at health facilities. Theory-informed strategies are needed to improve implementation of TB evaluation guidelines. We aimed to evaluate the impact of performance feedback and same-day smear microscopy on the quality of TB evaluation at 6 health centers in rural Uganda. We tested components of a multi-faceted intervention to improve adherence to the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ISTC): performance feedback and same-day smear microscopy. The strategies were selected based on a qualitative assessment guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior and the PRECEDE model. We collected patient data 6 months before and after the introduction of each intervention component, and compared ISTC adherence in the pre- and post-intervention periods for adults with cough ≥ 2 weeks' duration. The performance feedback evaluation included 1,446 adults; 838 (58%) were evaluated during the pre-intervention period and 608 (42%) during the post-intervention period. Performance feedback resulted in a 15% (95%CI +10% to +20%, p<0.001) increase in the proportion of patients receiving ISTC-adherent care. The same-day microscopy evaluation included 1,950 adults; 907 (47%) were evaluated during the pre-intervention period and 1,043 (53%) during the post-intervention period. Same-day microscopy was associated with a 14% (95%CI +10% to +18%, p<0.001) increase in the proportion of patients receiving ISTC-adherent care. Performance feedback and same-day microscopy should be considered along with ISTC training as part of a multi-faceted intervention to improve the quality of TB evaluation in other high TB burden countries.

Theory-Informed Interventions to Improve the Quality of Tuberculosis Evaluation at Ugandan Health Centers: A Quasi-Experimental Study

PubMed Central

Haguma, Priscilla; Ochom, Emmanuel; Ayakaka, Irene; Mugabe, Frank; Miller, Cecily; Vittinghoff, Eric; Davis, J. Lucian; Handley, Margaret A.; Cattamanchi, Adithya

2015-01-01

Background Tuberculosis (TB) remains under-diagnosed in many countries, in part due to poor evaluation practices at health facilities. Theory-informed strategies are needed to improve implementation of TB evaluation guidelines. We aimed to evaluate the impact of performance feedback and same-day smear microscopy on the quality of TB evaluation at 6 health centers in rural Uganda. Methods We tested components of a multi-faceted intervention to improve adherence to the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ISTC): performance feedback and same-day smear microscopy. The strategies were selected based on a qualitative assessment guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior and the PRECEDE model. We collected patient data 6 months before and after the introduction of each intervention component, and compared ISTC adherence in the pre- and post-intervention periods for adults with cough ≥ 2 weeks’ duration. Results The performance feedback evaluation included 1,446 adults; 838 (58%) were evaluated during the pre-intervention period and 608 (42%) during the post-intervention period. Performance feedback resulted in a 15% (95%CI +10% to +20%, p<0.001) increase in the proportion of patients receiving ISTC-adherent care. The same-day microscopy evaluation included 1,950 adults; 907 (47%) were evaluated during the pre-intervention period and 1,043 (53%) during the post-intervention period. Same-day microscopy was associated with a 14% (95%CI +10% to +18%, p<0.001) increase in the proportion of patients receiving ISTC-adherent care. Conclusions Performance feedback and same-day microscopy should be considered along with ISTC training as part of a multi-faceted intervention to improve the quality of TB evaluation in other high TB burden countries. PMID:26172948

High-density fuel effects. Final report, September 1985-April 1988

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rizk, N.K.; Oechsie, V.L.; Ross, P.T.

1988-08-18

The purpose of this program was to determine, by combustor rig tests and data evaluation, the effects of the high-density fuel properties on the performance and durability of the Allison T56-A-15 combustion system. Four high-density fuels in addition to baseline JP4 were evaluated in the effort. The rig-test program included: nozzle-flow bench testing, aerothermal performance and wall temperature, flame stability and ignition, injector coking and plugging, and flow-transient effect. The data-evaluation effort involved the utilization of empirical correlations in addition to analytical multidimensional tools to analyze the performance of the combustor. The modifications required to optimize the performance with high-densitymore » fuels were suggested and the expected improvement in performance was evaluated.« less

An accurate evaluation of the performance of asynchronous DS-CDMA systems with zero-correlation-zone coding in Rayleigh fading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Ernest; Chen, Xinjia; Cooper, Reginald L.

2010-04-01

An arbitrarily accurate approach is used to determine the bit-error rate (BER) performance for generalized asynchronous DS-CDMA systems, in Gaussian noise with Raleigh fading. In this paper, and the sequel, new theoretical work has been contributed which substantially enhances existing performance analysis formulations. Major contributions include: substantial computational complexity reduction, including a priori BER accuracy bounding; an analytical approach that facilitates performance evaluation for systems with arbitrary spectral spreading distributions, with non-uniform transmission delay distributions. Using prior results, augmented by these enhancements, a generalized DS-CDMA system model is constructed and used to evaluated the BER performance, in a variety of scenarios. In this paper, the generalized system modeling was used to evaluate the performance of both Walsh- Hadamard (WH) and Walsh-Hadamard-seeded zero-correlation-zone (WH-ZCZ) coding. The selection of these codes was informed by the observation that WH codes contain N spectral spreading values (0 to N - 1), one for each code sequence; while WH-ZCZ codes contain only two spectral spreading values (N/2 - 1,N/2); where N is the sequence length in chips. Since these codes span the spectral spreading range for DS-CDMA coding, by invoking an induction argument, the generalization of the system model is sufficiently supported. The results in this paper, and the sequel, support the claim that an arbitrary accurate performance analysis for DS-CDMA systems can be evaluated over the full range of binary coding, with minimal computational complexity.

21 CFR 900.5 - Evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Evaluation. 900.5 Section 900.5 Food and Drugs... STANDARDS ACT MAMMOGRAPHY Accreditation § 900.5 Evaluation. FDA shall evaluate annually the performance of each accreditation body. Such evaluation shall include an assessment of the reports of FDA or State...

Numerical simulation of turbulence flow in a Kaplan turbine -Evaluation on turbine performance prediction accuracy-

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, P.; Kurosawa, S.

2014-03-01

The understanding and accurate prediction of the flow behaviour related to cavitation and pressure fluctuation in a Kaplan turbine are important to the design work enhancing the turbine performance including the elongation of the operation life span and the improvement of turbine efficiency. In this paper, high accuracy turbine and cavitation performance prediction method based on entire flow passage for a Kaplan turbine is presented and evaluated. Two-phase flow field is predicted by solving Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations expressed by volume of fluid method tracking the free surface and combined with Reynolds Stress model. The growth and collapse of cavitation bubbles are modelled by the modified Rayleigh-Plesset equation. The prediction accuracy is evaluated by comparing with the model test results of Ns 400 Kaplan model turbine. As a result that the experimentally measured data including turbine efficiency, cavitation performance, and pressure fluctuation are accurately predicted. Furthermore, the cavitation occurrence on the runner blade surface and the influence to the hydraulic loss of the flow passage are discussed. Evaluated prediction method for the turbine flow and performance is introduced to facilitate the future design and research works on Kaplan type turbine.

Implementation of Insight Responsibilities in Process Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osborne, Deborah M.

1997-01-01

This report describes an approach for evaluating flight readiness (COFR) and contractor performance evaluation (award fee) as part of the insight role of NASA Process Engineering at Kennedy Space Center. Several evaluation methods are presented, including systems engineering evaluations and use of systems performance data. The transition from an oversight function to the insight function is described. The types of analytical tools appropriate for achieving the flight readiness and contractor performance evaluation goals are described and examples are provided. Special emphasis is placed upon short and small run statistical quality control techniques. Training requirements for system engineers are delineated. The approach described herein would be equally appropriate in other directorates at Kennedy Space Center.

Sensor Technologies on Flexible Substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koehne, Jessica

2016-01-01

NASA Ames has developed sensor technologies on flexible substrates integrated into textiles for personalized environment monitoring and human performance evaluation. Current technologies include chemical sensing for gas leak and event monitoring and biological sensors for human health and performance monitoring. Targeted integration include next generation EVA suits and flexible habitats.

Performance of a Limiting-Antigen Avidity Enzyme Immunoassay for Cross-Sectional Estimation of HIV Incidence in the United States

PubMed Central

Konikoff, Jacob; Brookmeyer, Ron; Longosz, Andrew F.; Cousins, Matthew M.; Celum, Connie; Buchbinder, Susan P.; Seage, George R.; Kirk, Gregory D.; Moore, Richard D.; Mehta, Shruti H.; Margolick, Joseph B.; Brown, Joelle; Mayer, Kenneth H.; Koblin, Beryl A.; Justman, Jessica E.; Hodder, Sally L.; Quinn, Thomas C.; Eshleman, Susan H.; Laeyendecker, Oliver

2013-01-01

Background A limiting antigen avidity enzyme immunoassay (HIV-1 LAg-Avidity assay) was recently developed for cross-sectional HIV incidence estimation. We evaluated the performance of the LAg-Avidity assay alone and in multi-assay algorithms (MAAs) that included other biomarkers. Methods and Findings Performance of testing algorithms was evaluated using 2,282 samples from individuals in the United States collected 1 month to >8 years after HIV seroconversion. The capacity of selected testing algorithms to accurately estimate incidence was evaluated in three longitudinal cohorts. When used in a single-assay format, the LAg-Avidity assay classified some individuals infected >5 years as assay positive and failed to provide reliable incidence estimates in cohorts that included individuals with long-term infections. We evaluated >500,000 testing algorithms, that included the LAg-Avidity assay alone and MAAs with other biomarkers (BED capture immunoassay [BED-CEIA], BioRad-Avidity assay, HIV viral load, CD4 cell count), varying the assays and assay cutoffs. We identified an optimized 2-assay MAA that included the LAg-Avidity and BioRad-Avidity assays, and an optimized 4-assay MAA that included those assays, as well as HIV viral load and CD4 cell count. The two optimized MAAs classified all 845 samples from individuals infected >5 years as MAA negative and estimated incidence within a year of sample collection. These two MAAs produced incidence estimates that were consistent with those from longitudinal follow-up of cohorts. A comparison of the laboratory assay costs of the MAAs was also performed, and we found that the costs associated with the optimal two assay MAA were substantially less than with the four assay MAA. Conclusions The LAg-Avidity assay did not perform well in a single-assay format, regardless of the assay cutoff. MAAs that include the LAg-Avidity and BioRad-Avidity assays, with or without viral load and CD4 cell count, provide accurate incidence estimates. PMID:24386116

Saturn 1B launch vehicle flight evaluation report, SA-206, Skylab-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The performance evaluation of the SA-206 launch vehicle for the Skylab 2 launch is presented. Flight problems are identified, the causes are determined, and recommendations are made for appropriate corrective action. Summaries of launch operations and spacecraft performance are included. The significant events, failures, and anomalies are tabulated.

Saturn 1B launch vehicle flight evaluation report-SA-207: Skylab-3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The performance evaluation of the SA-207 launch vehicle for the Skylab 3 launch is presented. Flight problems are identified, the causes are determined, and recommendations are made for appropriate corrective action. Summaries of launch operations and spacecraft performance are included. The significant events, failures, and anomalies are tabulated.

Strategies for Selecting Vendors and Evaluating Their Performance--From the Vendor's Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Born, Kathleen

1992-01-01

Presents the vendor's perspective on how libraries choose and evaluate a vendor's performance. Characteristics of vendors are described, including being profit-oriented, market-driven, and highly competitive; issues in the three basic areas of service, price, and automation are discussed; and the influence of personality is considered. (LRW)

23 CFR 636.205 - Can past performance be used as an evaluation criteria?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... used as an evaluation criteria in either phase-one or phase-two solicitations. If you elect to use past... relevant performance history. You should provide offerors an opportunity to identify past or current contracts (including Federal, State, and local government and private) for efforts similar to the current...

Remote control circuit breaker evaluation testing. [for space shuttles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bemko, L. M.

1974-01-01

Engineering evaluation tests were performed on several models/types of remote control circuit breakers marketed in an attempt to gain some insight into their potential suitability for use on the space shuttle vehicle. Tests included the measurement of several electrical and operational performance parameters under laboratory ambient, space simulation, acceleration and vibration environmental conditions.

Perceptions on evaluative and formative functions of external supervision of Rwandan primary healthcare facilities: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Schriver, Michael; Cubaka, Vincent Kalumire; Itangishaka, Sylvere; Nyirazinyoye, Laetitia; Kallestrup, Per

2018-01-01

External supervision of primary healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries often has a managerial main purpose in which the role of support for professional development is unclear. To explore how Rwandan primary healthcare supervisors and providers (supervisees) perceive evaluative and formative functions of external supervision. Qualitative, exploratory study. Focus group discussions: three with supervisors, three with providers, and one mixed (n = 31). Findings were discussed with individual and groups of supervisors and providers. Evaluative activities occupied providers' understanding of supervision, including checking, correcting, marking and performance-based financing. These were presented as sources of motivation, that in self-determination theory indicate introjected regulation. Supervisors preferred to highlight their role in formative supervision, which may mask their own and providers' uncontested accounts that systematic performance evaluations predominated supervisors' work. Providers strongly requested larger focus on formative and supportive functions, voiced as well by most supervisors. Impact of performance evaluation on motivation and professional development is discussed. While external supervisors intended to support providers' professional development, our findings indicate serious problems with this in a context of frequent evaluations and performance marking. Separating the role of supporter and evaluator does not appear as the simple solution. If external supervision is to improve health care services, it is essential that supervisors and health centre managers are competent to support providers in a way that transparently accounts for various performance pressures. This includes delivery of proper formative supervision with useful feedback, maintaining an effective supervisory relationship, as well as ensuring providers are aware of the purpose and content of evaluative and formative supervision functions.

Evaluation Program on the Implementation of Industrial Apprenticeship (Prakerin) in Electrical Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maulana, I.; Sumarto; Nurafiati, P.; Puspita, R. H.

2018-02-01

This research aims to find out the evaluation program of the Industrial apprenticeship (Prakerin) in electrical engineering. This research includes on four variables of CIPP. (1). Context (a). programme planning (b). design. (2). Input (a). readiness of students (b). performance of vocational education teachers (c). Facilities and infrastructure, (3). process (a). performance students (b). performance mentors, (4). Product (a). readiness of student work. This research is a type of program evaluation research with Stake model approach. Data collection methods used are questionnaires with closed questions and frequently asked questions.

Turbine generator evaluation for the Eesti-Energia Estonia and Baltic power plants. Export trade information

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-12-01

The report evaluates the feasibility of 200 MW turbines and generators modernization in two Estonian power plants in order to improve performance and/or availability. This is Volume 1 and it includes the following: (1) scope; (2) evaluation approach; (3) summary of major recommendations; (4) performance tests descriptions; (5) current technology -- component description; (6) recommended studies; (7) recommendations; (8) district heating; (9) description of turbine K-200-130; (10) turbine evaluation results; (11) generator; (12) estimation of modernization costs.

7 CFR 1709.16 - Performance reviews.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Performance reviews. 1709.16 Section 1709.16... AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.16 Performance reviews. Each grant agreement shall include performance criteria and RUS will regularly evaluate the progress...

The Evaluation of Hospital Performance in Iran: A Systematic Review Article

PubMed Central

BAHADORI, Mohammadkarim; IZADI, Ahmad Reza; GHARDASHI, Fatemeh; RAVANGARD, Ramin; HOSSEINI, Seyed Mojtaba

2016-01-01

Background: This research aimed to systematically study and outline the methods of hospital performance evaluation used in Iran. Methods: In this systematic review, all Persian and English-language articles published in the Iranian and non-Iranian scientific journals indexed from Sep 2004 to Sep 2014 were studied. For finding the related articles, the researchers searched the Iranian electronic databases, including SID, IranMedex, IranDoc, Magiran, as well as the non-Iranian electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar. For reviewing the selected articles, a data extraction form, developed by the researchers was used. Results: The entire review process led to the selection of 51 articles. The publication of articles on the hospital performance evaluation in Iran has increased considerably in the recent years. Besides, among these 51 articles, 38 articles (74.51%) had been published in Persian language and 13 articles (25.49%) in English language. Eight models were recognized as evaluation model for Iranian hospitals. Totally, in 15 studies, the data envelopment analysis model had been used to evaluate the hospital performance. Conclusion: Using a combination of model to integrate indicators in the hospital evaluation process is inevitable. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education should use a set of indicators such as the balanced scorecard in the process of hospital evaluation and accreditation and encourage the hospital managers to use them. PMID:27516991

The Evaluation of Hospital Performance in Iran: A Systematic Review Article.

PubMed

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Izadi, Ahmad Reza; Ghardashi, Fatemeh; Ravangard, Ramin; Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba

2016-07-01

This research aimed to systematically study and outline the methods of hospital performance evaluation used in Iran. In this systematic review, all Persian and English-language articles published in the Iranian and non-Iranian scientific journals indexed from Sep 2004 to Sep 2014 were studied. For finding the related articles, the researchers searched the Iranian electronic databases, including SID, IranMedex, IranDoc, Magiran, as well as the non-Iranian electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar. For reviewing the selected articles, a data extraction form, developed by the researchers was used. The entire review process led to the selection of 51 articles. The publication of articles on the hospital performance evaluation in Iran has increased considerably in the recent years. Besides, among these 51 articles, 38 articles (74.51%) had been published in Persian language and 13 articles (25.49%) in English language. Eight models were recognized as evaluation model for Iranian hospitals. Totally, in 15 studies, the data envelopment analysis model had been used to evaluate the hospital performance. Using a combination of model to integrate indicators in the hospital evaluation process is inevitable. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education should use a set of indicators such as the balanced scorecard in the process of hospital evaluation and accreditation and encourage the hospital managers to use them.

Performance Evaluation of an Intel Haswell- and Ivy Bridge-Based Supercomputer Using Scientific and Engineering Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saini, Subhash; Hood, Robert T.; Chang, Johnny; Baron, John

2016-01-01

We present a performance evaluation conducted on a production supercomputer of the Intel Xeon Processor E5- 2680v3, a twelve-core implementation of the fourth-generation Haswell architecture, and compare it with Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680v2, an Ivy Bridge implementation of the third-generation Sandy Bridge architecture. Several new architectural features have been incorporated in Haswell including improvements in all levels of the memory hierarchy as well as improvements to vector instructions and power management. We critically evaluate these new features of Haswell and compare with Ivy Bridge using several low-level benchmarks including subset of HPCC, HPCG and four full-scale scientific and engineering applications. We also present a model to predict the performance of HPCG and Cart3D within 5%, and Overflow within 10% accuracy.

MSFC Skylab structures and mechanical systems mission evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

A performance analysis for structural and mechanical major hardware systems and components is presented. Development background testing, modifications, and requirement adjustments are included. Functional narratives are provided for comparison purposes as are predicted design performance criterion. Each item is evaluated on an individual basis: that is, (1) history (requirements, design, manufacture, and test); (2) in-orbit performance (description and analysis); and (3) conclusions and recommendations regarding future space hardware application. Overall, the structural and mechanical performance of the Skylab hardware was outstanding.

Principals' Perceptions Regarding Their Supervision and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hvidston, David J.; Range, Bret G.; McKim, Courtney Ann

2015-01-01

This study examined the perceptions of principals concerning principal evaluation and supervisory feedback. Principals were asked two open-ended questions. Respondents included 82 principals in the Rocky Mountain region. The emerging themes were "Superintendent Performance," "Principal Evaluation Components," "Specific…

77 FR 61776 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Housing Counseling Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-11

... to evaluate grantees' performance. This collection of information includes renewal of various HUD... activities, client financial leverage data, and agency profile information. DATES: Comments Due Date... of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including...

77 FR 57103 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Housing Counseling Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

... to evaluate grantees' performance. This collection of information includes renewal of various HUD... activities, client financial leverage data, and agency profile information. DATES: Comments Due Date: October... of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including...

48 CFR 1519.204 - Small disadvantaged business participation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concerns in the performance of a resulting contract. (b) The Contracting officer... the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the performance of the contract and which included... include the provision at 1552.219-72 and will evaluate the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the...

48 CFR 1519.204 - Small disadvantaged business participation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concerns in the performance of a resulting contract. (b) The Contracting officer... the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the performance of the contract and which included... include the provision at 1552.219-72 and will evaluate the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the...

48 CFR 1519.204 - Small disadvantaged business participation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concerns in the performance of a resulting contract. (b) The Contracting officer... the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the performance of the contract and which included... include the provision at 1552.219-72 and will evaluate the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the...

48 CFR 1519.204 - Small disadvantaged business participation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concerns in the performance of a resulting contract. (b) The Contracting officer... the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the performance of the contract and which included... include the provision at 1552.219-72 and will evaluate the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the...

48 CFR 1519.204 - Small disadvantaged business participation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concerns in the performance of a resulting contract. (b) The Contracting officer... the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the performance of the contract and which included... include the provision at 1552.219-72 and will evaluate the extent of participation of SDB concerns in the...

Six degree of freedom active vibration damping for space application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haynes, Leonard S.

1993-01-01

Work performed during the period 1 Jan. - 31 Mar. 1993 on six degree of freedom active vibration damping for space application is presented. A performance and cost report is included. Topics covered include: actuator testing; mechanical amplifier design; and neural network control system development and experimental evaluation.

Domains of the Florida Performance Measurement System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida State Dept. of Education, Tallahassee.

This monograph sets forth in detail the concepts included in the five domains of teaching as identified by the Florida Coalition for the Development of a Performance Evaluation System. The first domain, planning, includes the concepts: (1) content coverage; (2) utilization of instructional materials; (3) activity structure; (4) goal focusing; and…

Congenital Heart Surgery Case Mix Across North American Centers and Impact on Performance Assessment.

PubMed

Pasquali, Sara K; Wallace, Amelia S; Gaynor, J William; Jacobs, Marshall L; O'Brien, Sean M; Hill, Kevin D; Gaies, Michael G; Romano, Jennifer C; Shahian, David M; Mayer, John E; Jacobs, Jeffrey P

2016-11-01

Performance assessment in congenital heart surgery is challenging due to the wide heterogeneity of disease. We describe current case mix across centers, evaluate methodology inclusive of all cardiac operations versus the more homogeneous subset of Society of Thoracic Surgeons benchmark operations, and describe implications regarding performance assessment. Centers (n = 119) participating in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database (2010 through 2014) were included. Index operation type and frequency across centers were described. Center performance (risk-adjusted operative mortality) was evaluated and classified when including the benchmark versus all eligible operations. Overall, 207 types of operations were performed during the study period (112,140 total cases). Few operations were performed across all centers; only 25% were performed at least once by 75% or more of centers. There was 7.9-fold variation across centers in the proportion of total cases comprising high-complexity cases (STAT 5). In contrast, the benchmark operations made up 36% of cases, and all but 2 were performed by at least 90% of centers. When evaluating performance based on benchmark versus all operations, 15% of centers changed performance classification; 85% remained unchanged. Benchmark versus all operation methodology was associated with lower power, with 35% versus 78% of centers meeting sample size thresholds. There is wide variation in congenital heart surgery case mix across centers. Metrics based on benchmark versus all operations are associated with strengths (less heterogeneity) and weaknesses (lower power), and lead to differing performance classification for some centers. These findings have implications for ongoing efforts to optimize performance assessment, including choice of target population and appropriate interpretation of reported metrics. Copyright © 2016 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance evaluation of an agent-based occupancy simulation model

DOE PAGES

Luo, Xuan; Lam, Khee Poh; Chen, Yixing; ...

2017-01-17

Occupancy is an important factor driving building performance. Static and homogeneous occupant schedules, commonly used in building performance simulation, contribute to issues such as performance gaps between simulated and measured energy use in buildings. Stochastic occupancy models have been recently developed and applied to better represent spatial and temporal diversity of occupants in buildings. However, there is very limited evaluation of the usability and accuracy of these models. This study used measured occupancy data from a real office building to evaluate the performance of an agent-based occupancy simulation model: the Occupancy Simulator. The occupancy patterns of various occupant types weremore » first derived from the measured occupant schedule data using statistical analysis. Then the performance of the simulation model was evaluated and verified based on (1) whether the distribution of observed occupancy behavior patterns follows the theoretical ones included in the Occupancy Simulator, and (2) whether the simulator can reproduce a variety of occupancy patterns accurately. Results demonstrated the feasibility of applying the Occupancy Simulator to simulate a range of occupancy presence and movement behaviors for regular types of occupants in office buildings, and to generate stochastic occupant schedules at the room and individual occupant levels for building performance simulation. For future work, model validation is recommended, which includes collecting and using detailed interval occupancy data of all spaces in an office building to validate the simulated occupant schedules from the Occupancy Simulator.« less

Performance evaluation of an agent-based occupancy simulation model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luo, Xuan; Lam, Khee Poh; Chen, Yixing

Occupancy is an important factor driving building performance. Static and homogeneous occupant schedules, commonly used in building performance simulation, contribute to issues such as performance gaps between simulated and measured energy use in buildings. Stochastic occupancy models have been recently developed and applied to better represent spatial and temporal diversity of occupants in buildings. However, there is very limited evaluation of the usability and accuracy of these models. This study used measured occupancy data from a real office building to evaluate the performance of an agent-based occupancy simulation model: the Occupancy Simulator. The occupancy patterns of various occupant types weremore » first derived from the measured occupant schedule data using statistical analysis. Then the performance of the simulation model was evaluated and verified based on (1) whether the distribution of observed occupancy behavior patterns follows the theoretical ones included in the Occupancy Simulator, and (2) whether the simulator can reproduce a variety of occupancy patterns accurately. Results demonstrated the feasibility of applying the Occupancy Simulator to simulate a range of occupancy presence and movement behaviors for regular types of occupants in office buildings, and to generate stochastic occupant schedules at the room and individual occupant levels for building performance simulation. For future work, model validation is recommended, which includes collecting and using detailed interval occupancy data of all spaces in an office building to validate the simulated occupant schedules from the Occupancy Simulator.« less

Validity and reliability of a novel measure of activity performance and participation.

PubMed

Murgatroyd, Phil; Karimi, Leila

2016-01-01

To develop and evaluate an innovative clinician-rated measure, which produces global numerical ratings of activity performance and participation. Repeated measures study with 48 community-dwelling participants investigating clinical sensibility, comprehensiveness, practicality, inter-rater reliability, responsiveness, sensitivity and concurrent validity with Barthel Index. Important clinimetric characteristics including comprehensiveness and ease of use were rated >8/10 by clinicians. Inter-rater reliability was excellent on the summary scores (intraclass correlation of 0.95-0.98). There was good evidence that the new outcome measure distinguished between known high and low functional scoring groups, including both responsiveness to change and sensitivity at the same time point in numerous tests. Concurrent validity with the Barthel Index was fair to high (Spearman Rank Order Correlation 0.32-0.85, p > 0.05). The new measure's summary scores were nearly twice as responsive to change compared with the Barthel Index. Other more detailed data could also be generated by the new measure. The Activity Performance Measure is an innovative outcome instrument that showed good clinimetric qualities in this initial study. Some of the results were strong, given the sample size, and further trial and evaluation is appropriate. Implications for Rehabilitation The Activity Performance Measure is an innovative outcome measure covering activity performance and participation. In an initial evaluation, it showed good clinimetric qualities including responsiveness to change, sensitivity, practicality, clinical sensibility, item coverage, inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity with the Barthel Index. Further trial and evaluation is appropriate.

A performance evaluation of the IBM 370/XT personal computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1984-01-01

An evaluation of the IBM 370/XT personal computer is given. This evaluation focuses primarily on the use of the 370/XT for scientific and technical applications and applications development. A measurement of the capabilities of the 370/XT was performed by means of test programs which are presented. Also included is a review of facilities provided by the operating system (VM/PC), along with comments on the IBM 370/XT hardware configuration.

Evaluating stakeholder management performance using a stakeholder report card: the next step in theory and practice.

PubMed

Malvey, Donna; Fottler, Myron D; Slovensky, Donna J

2002-01-01

In the highly competitive health care environment, the survival of an organization may depend on how well powerful stakeholders are managed. Yet, the existing strategic stakeholder management process does not include evaluation of stakeholder management performance. To address this critical gap, this paper proposes a systematic method for evaluation using a stakeholder report card. An example of a physician report card based on this methodology is presented.

Formulation and process factors influencing product quality and in vitro performance of ophthalmic ointments.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaoming; Al-Ghabeish, Manar; Rahman, Ziyaur; Krishnaiah, Yellela S R; Yerlikaya, Firat; Yang, Yang; Manda, Prashanth; Hunt, Robert L; Khan, Mansoor A

2015-09-30

Owing to its unique anatomical and physiological functions, ocular surface presents special challenges for both design and performance evaluation of the ophthalmic ointment drug products formulated with a variety of bases. The current investigation was carried out to understand and identify the appropriate in vitro methods suitable for quality and performance evaluation of ophthalmic ointment, and to study the effect of formulation and process variables on its critical quality attributes (CQA). The evaluated critical formulation variables include API initial size, drug percentage, and mineral oil percentage while the critical process parameters include mixing rate, temperature, time and cooling rate. The investigated quality and performance attributes include drug assay, content uniformity, API particle size in ointment, rheological characteristics, in vitro drug release and in vitro transcorneal drug permeation. Using design of experiments (DoE) as well as a novel principle component analysis approach, five of the quality and performance attributes (API particle size, storage modulus of ointment, high shear viscosity of ointment, in vitro drug release constant and in vitro transcorneal drug permeation rate constant) were found to be highly influenced by the formulation, in particular the strength of API, and to a lesser degree by processing variables. Correlating the ocular physiology with the physicochemical characteristics of acyclovir ophthalmic ointment suggested that in vitro quality metrics could be a valuable predictor of its in vivo performance. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Strapdown system performance optimization test evaluations (SPOT), volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blaha, R. J.; Gilmore, J. P.

1973-01-01

A three axis inertial system was packaged in an Apollo gimbal fixture for fine grain evaluation of strapdown system performance in dynamic environments. These evaluations have provided information to assess the effectiveness of real-time compensation techniques and to study system performance tradeoffs to factors such as quantization and iteration rate. The strapdown performance and tradeoff studies conducted include: (1) Compensation models and techniques for the inertial instrument first-order error terms were developed and compensation effectivity was demonstrated in four basic environments; single and multi-axis slew, and single and multi-axis oscillatory. (2) The theoretical coning bandwidth for the first-order quaternion algorithm expansion was verified. (3) Gyro loop quantization was identified to affect proportionally the system attitude uncertainty. (4) Land navigation evaluations identified the requirement for accurate initialization alignment in order to pursue fine grain navigation evaluations.

The incidence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in infants with GERD-like symptoms.

PubMed

Fishbein, Mark; Branham, Christina; Fraker, Cheryl; Walbert, Laura; Cox, Sibyl; Scarborough, Donna

2013-09-01

Symptoms of infantile gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may overlap with oropharyngeal dysphagia, but the evaluation and treatment of these conditions vary greatly. In this investigation, the incidence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in infants with GERD-like symptoms is determined. A retrospective chart review was performed on infants referred to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic for GERD-like symptoms. A feeding screen was performed in all infants. Standardized bedside swallow evaluation and modified barium swallow (MBS) studies were then performed when clinically indicated. A similarly aged cohort of normal participants also underwent a standard bedside swallow evaluation for group comparison. Study population included 67 infants. A swallow evaluation was recommended in 39 of 67 infants with abnormalities noted in all. Swallowing abnormalities were more frequent and clustered in infants with GERD-like symptoms vs controls. MBS was abnormal in 16 of 17 qualifying infants. Characteristics of at-risk infants included extreme prematurity, developmental delay, or symptoms refractory to antireflux medications. Oropharyngeal dysphagia is prominent in infants with GERD-like symptoms.

First results of the wind evaluation breadboard for ELT primary mirror design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyes García-Talavera, Marcos; Viera, Teodora; Núñez, Miguel

2010-07-01

The Wind Evaluation Breadboard (WEB) is a primary mirror and telescope simulator formed by seven aluminium segments, including position sensors, electromechanical support systems and support structures. WEB has been developed to evaluate technologies for primary mirror wavefront control and to evaluate the performance of the control of wind buffeting disturbance on ELT segmented mirrors. For this purpose WEB electro-mechanical set-up simulates the real operational constrains applied to large segmented mirrors. This paper describes the WEB assembly, integration and verification, the instrument characterisation and close loop control design, including the dynamical characterization of the instrument and the control architecture. The performance of the new technologies developed for position sensing, acting and controlling is evaluated. The integration of the instrument in the observatory and the results of the first experiments are summarised, with different wind conditions, elevation and azimuth angles of incidence. Conclusions are extracted with respect the wind rejection performance and the control strategy for an ELT. WEB has been designed and developed by IAC, ESO, ALTRAN and JUPASA, with the integration of subsystems of FOGALE and TNO.

Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (BAIHP II)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abernethy, Bob; Chandra, Subrato; Baden, Steven

2010-11-30

This report summarizes the work conducted by the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (BAIHP - www.baihp.org) during the final budget period (BP5) of our contract, January 1, 2010 to November 30, 2010. Highlights from the four previous budget periods are included for context. BAIHP is led by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) of the University of Central Florida. With over 50 Industry Partners including factory and site builders, work in BP5 was performed in six tasks areas: Building America System Research Management, Documentation and Technical Support; System Performance Evaluations; Prototype House Evaluations; Initial Community Scale Evaluations; Project Closeout, Finalmore » Review of BA Communities; and Other Research Activities.« less

Skylab experiment performance evaluation manual. Appendix K: Experiment S009 nuclear emulsion (MSFC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyers, J. E.

1972-01-01

A series of analyses are presented for Experiment S009, nuclear emulsion (MSFC), to be used for evaluating the performance of the Skylab corollary experiments under preflight, inflight, and postflight conditions. Experiment contingency plan workaround procedure and malfunction analyses are included in order to assist in making the experiment operationally successful.

Internal Consistency of Performance Evaluations as a Function of Music Expertise and Excerpt Familiarity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinney, Daryl W.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music experience and excerpt familiarity on the internal consistency of performance evaluations. Participants included nonmusic majors who had not participated in high school music ensembles, nonmusic majors who had participated in high school music ensembles, music majors, and experts…

Investing in Development: Six High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools Implement the Massachusetts Teacher Evaluation Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reinhorn, Stefanie K.; Johnson, Susan Moore; Simon, Nicole S.

2017-01-01

We studied how six high-performing, high-poverty schools in one large Massachusetts city implemented the state's new teacher evaluation policy. The sample includes traditional, turnaround, restart, and charter schools, each of which had received the state's highest accountability rating. We sought to learn how these successful schools approached…

Evaluating Multi-Input/Multi-Output Digital Control Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pototzky, Anthony S.; Wieseman, Carol D.; Hoadley, Sherwood T.; Mukhopadhyay, Vivek

1994-01-01

Controller-performance-evaluation (CPE) methodology for multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) digital control systems developed. Procedures identify potentially destabilizing controllers and confirm satisfactory performance of stabilizing ones. Methodology generic and used in many types of multi-loop digital-controller applications, including digital flight-control systems, digitally controlled spacecraft structures, and actively controlled wind-tunnel models. Also applicable to other complex, highly dynamic digital controllers, such as those in high-performance robot systems.

Teacher Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sayavedra, Melinda

2014-01-01

Accredited universities normally include a standard that addresses faculty evaluation. It may contain references to performance criteria and procedures and usually emphasizes the need for faculty evaluations to be systematic, regular, fair, objective and relevant to achieving the goals of the institution. Accredited language programs usually have…

Performance Evaluation of Public Non-Profit Hospitals Using a BP Artificial Neural Network: The Case of Hubei Province in China

PubMed Central

Li, Chunhui; Yu, Chuanhua

2013-01-01

To provide a reference for evaluating public non-profit hospitals in the new environment of medical reform, we established a performance evaluation system for public non-profit hospitals. The new “input-output” performance model for public non-profit hospitals is based on four primary indexes (input, process, output and effect) that include 11 sub-indexes and 41 items. The indicator weights were determined using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method. The BP neural network was applied to evaluate the performance of 14 level-3 public non-profit hospitals located in Hubei Province. The most stable BP neural network was produced by comparing different numbers of neurons in the hidden layer and using the “Leave-one-out” Cross Validation method. The performance evaluation system we established for public non-profit hospitals could reflect the basic goal of the new medical health system reform in China. Compared with PLSR, the result indicated that the BP neural network could be used effectively for evaluating the performance public non-profit hospitals. PMID:23955238

A Critical Ear: Analysis of Value Judgments in Reviews of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Recordings

PubMed Central

Alessandri, Elena; Williamson, Victoria J.; Eiholzer, Hubert; Williamon, Aaron

2016-01-01

What sets a great music performance apart? In this study, we addressed this question through an examination of value judgments in written criticism of recorded performance. One hundred reviews of recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas, published in the Gramophone between 1934 and 2010, were analyzed through a three-step qualitative analysis that identified the valence (positive/negative) expressed by critics' statements and the evaluation criteria that underpinned their judgments. The outcome is a model of the main evaluation criteria used by professional critics: aesthetic properties, including intensity, coherence, and complexity, and achievement-related properties, including sureness, comprehension, and endeavor. The model also emphasizes how critics consider the suitability and balance of these properties across the musical and cultural context of the performance. The findings relate directly to current discourses on the role of evaluation in music criticism and the generalizability of aesthetic principles. In particular, the perceived achievement of the performer stands out as a factor that drives appreciation of a recording. PMID:27065900

a Performance Comparison of Feature Detectors for Planetary Rover Mapping and Localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, W.; Peng, M.; Xing, Y.; Wang, Y.; Liu, Z.; Di, K.; Teng, B.; Mao, X.; Zhao, Q.; Xin, X.; Jia, M.

2017-07-01

Feature detection and matching are key techniques in computer vision and robotics, and have been successfully implemented in many fields. So far there is no performance comparison of feature detectors and matching methods for planetary mapping and rover localization using rover stereo images. In this research, we present a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of six feature detectors, including Moravec, Förstner, Harris, FAST, SIFT and SURF, aiming for optimal implementation of feature-based matching in planetary surface environment. To facilitate quantitative analysis, a series of evaluation criteria, including distribution evenness of matched points, coverage of detected points, and feature matching accuracy, are developed in the research. In order to perform exhaustive evaluation, stereo images, simulated under different baseline, pitch angle, and interval of adjacent rover locations, are taken as experimental data source. The comparison results show that SIFT offers the best overall performance, especially it is less sensitive to changes of image taken at adjacent locations.

Training evaluation final report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepulveda, Jose A.

1992-01-01

In the area of management training, 'evaluation' refers both to the specific evaluation instrument used to determine whether a training effort was considered effective, and to the procedures followed to evaluate specific training requests. This report recommends to evaluate new training requests in the same way new procurement or new projects are evaluated. This includes examining training requests from the perspective of KSC goals and objectives, and determining expected ROI of proposed training program (does training result in improved productivity, through savings of time, improved outputs, and/or personnel reduction?). To determine whether a specific training course is effective, a statement of what constitutes 'good performance' is required. The user (NOT the Training Branch) must define what is 'required level of performance'. This 'model' will be the basis for the design and development of an objective, performance-based, training evaluation instrument.

Development of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner for NIMBUS 7. Volume 2: Test and performance data, revision A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The results of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner protoflight tests are examined in detail while some of the test results are evaluated with respect to expected performance. Performance characteristics examined include spectral response, signal to noise ratio as a function of radiance input, radiance response, the modulation transfer function, and the field of view and coregistration. The results of orbital sequence tests are also included. The in orbit performance or return of radiometric data in the six spectral bands is evaluated along with the data processing sequence necessary to derive the final data products. Examples of the raw data are given and the housekeeping or diagnostic data which provides information on the day to day health or status of the instrument are discussed.

The Cassette Tape Recorder Means Versus Written and Symbolic Means of Providing Feedback of a Student's Performance on Secondary School Science Laboratory Exercises.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tauber, Robert T.; Fowler, H. Seymour

Reported is a study of the relationship between student's performance scores and teacher's means of providing evaluative feedback. The sample included 12 classes of 224 students from the tenth through the twelfth grades. The classes included the disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics including regular, advanced, traditional, PSSC, and…

The field performance of frontal air bags: a review of the literature.

PubMed

Kent, Richard; Viano, David C; Crandall, Jeff

2005-03-01

This article presents a broad review of the literature on frontal air bag field performance, starting with the initial government and industry projections of effectiveness and concluding with the most recent assessments of depowered systems. This review includes as many relevant metrics as practicable, interprets the findings, and provides references so the interested reader can further evaluate the limitations, confounders, and utility of each metric. The evaluations presented here range from the very specific (individual case studies) to the general (statistical analyses of large databases). The metrics used to evaluate air bag performance include fatality reduction or increase; serious, moderate, and minor injury reduction or increase; harm reduction or increase; and cost analyses, including insurance costs and the cost of life years saved for various air bag systems and design philosophies. The review begins with the benefits of air bags. Fatality and injury reductions attributable to the air bag are presented. Next, the negative consequences of air bag deployment are described. Injuries to adults and children and the current trends in air bag injury rates are discussed, as are the few documented instances of inadvertent deployments or non-deployment in severe crashes. In the third section, an attempt is made to quantify the influence of the many confounding factors that affect air bag performance. The negative and positive characteristics of air bags are then put into perspective within the context of societal costs and benefits. Finally, some special topics, including risk homeostasis and the performance of face bags, are discussed.

Evaluation Framework and Analyses for Thermal Energy Storage Integrated with Packaged Air Conditioning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kung, F.; Deru, M.; Bonnema, E.

2013-10-01

Few third-party guidance documents or tools are available for evaluating thermal energy storage (TES) integrated with packaged air conditioning (AC), as this type of TES is relatively new compared to TES integrated with chillers or hot water systems. To address this gap, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a project to improve the ability of potential technology adopters to evaluate TES technologies. Major project outcomes included: development of an evaluation framework to describe key metrics, methodologies, and issues to consider when assessing the performance of TES systems integrated with packaged AC; application of multiple concepts from the evaluationmore » framework to analyze performance data from four demonstration sites; and production of a new simulation capability that enables modeling of TES integrated with packaged AC in EnergyPlus. This report includes the evaluation framework and analysis results from the project.« less

Square Pegs and Round Holes: Ruminations on the Relationship between Performance Appraisal and Performance Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gravina, Nicole E.; Siers, Brian P.

2011-01-01

Models of comprehensive Performance Management systems include both employee development and evaluative components. The Organizational Behavior Management discipline focuses almost exclusively on the developmental component, while the Industrial and Organizational Psychology discipline is focused on use of performance appraisals. Performance…

7 CFR 650.5 - Environmental evaluation in planning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... alternatives that are in keeping with the Water Resources Council's Principles and Standards are considered, if appropriate. (4) To perform other related investigations and analyses as needed, including economic evaluation...

Evaluation results of xTCA equipment for HEP experiments at CERN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Cosmo, M.; Bobillier, V.; Haas, S.; Joos, M.; Mico, S.; Vasey, F.; Vichoudis, P.

2013-12-01

The MicroTCA and AdvancedTCA industry standards are candidate modular electronic platforms for the upgrade of the current generation of high energy physics experiments. The PH-ESE group at CERN launched in 2011 the xTCA evaluation project with the aim of performing technical evaluations and eventually providing support for commercially available components. Different devices from different vendors have been acquired, evaluated and interoperability tests have been performed. This paper presents the test procedures and facilities that have been developed and focuses on the evaluation results including electrical, thermal and interoperability aspects.

Perceptions on evaluative and formative functions of external supervision of Rwandan primary healthcare facilities: A qualitative study

PubMed Central

Schriver, Michael; Cubaka, Vincent Kalumire; Itangishaka, Sylvere; Nyirazinyoye, Laetitia; Kallestrup, Per

2018-01-01

Background External supervision of primary healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries often has a managerial main purpose in which the role of support for professional development is unclear. Aim To explore how Rwandan primary healthcare supervisors and providers (supervisees) perceive evaluative and formative functions of external supervision. Design Qualitative, exploratory study. Data Focus group discussions: three with supervisors, three with providers, and one mixed (n = 31). Findings were discussed with individual and groups of supervisors and providers. Results Evaluative activities occupied providers’ understanding of supervision, including checking, correcting, marking and performance-based financing. These were presented as sources of motivation, that in self-determination theory indicate introjected regulation. Supervisors preferred to highlight their role in formative supervision, which may mask their own and providers’ uncontested accounts that systematic performance evaluations predominated supervisors’ work. Providers strongly requested larger focus on formative and supportive functions, voiced as well by most supervisors. Impact of performance evaluation on motivation and professional development is discussed. Conclusion While external supervisors intended to support providers’ professional development, our findings indicate serious problems with this in a context of frequent evaluations and performance marking. Separating the role of supporter and evaluator does not appear as the simple solution. If external supervision is to improve health care services, it is essential that supervisors and health centre managers are competent to support providers in a way that transparently accounts for various performance pressures. This includes delivery of proper formative supervision with useful feedback, maintaining an effective supervisory relationship, as well as ensuring providers are aware of the purpose and content of evaluative and formative supervision functions. PMID:29462144

Physical evaluation of color and monochrome medical displays using an imaging colorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roehrig, Hans; Gu, Xiliang; Fan, Jiahua

2013-03-01

This paper presents an approach to physical evaluation of color and monochrome medical grade displays using an imaging colorimeter. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of medical display types, monochrome or color at the same maximum luminance settings, on diagnostic performance. The focus was on the measurements of physical characteristics including spatial resolution and noise performance, which we believed could affect the clinical performance. Specifically, Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) and Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) were evaluated and compared at different digital driving levels (DDL) between two EIZO displays.

EVALUATION OF SOLIDIFICATION/STABILIZATION AS A BEST DEMONSTRATED AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR CONTAMINATED SOILS

EPA Science Inventory

This project involved the evaluation of solidification/stabilization technology as a BDAT for contaminated soil. Three binding agents were used on four different synthetically contaminated soils. Performance evaluation data included unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the T...

TOXICITY TESTING, RISK ASSESSMENT, AND OPTIONS FOR DREDGED MATERIAL MANAGEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Programs for evaluating proposed discharges of dredged material into waters of the United States specify a tiered testing and evaluation protocol that includes performance of acute and chronic bioassays to assess toxicity of the dredged sediments. Although these evaluations refl...

Evaluation of Knowledge Development in a Healthcare Setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaffer, Scott P.

Healthcare organizations worldwide have recently increased efforts to improve performance, quality, and knowledge transfer using information and communication technologies. Evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of such efforts is challenging. A macro and micro-level system evaluation conducted with a 14000 member US hospital administrative services organization examined the appropriateness of a blended face-to-face and technology-enabled performance improvement and knowledge development system. Furthermore, a successful team or microsystem in a high performing hospital was studied in-depth. Several types of data methods including interview, observation, and questionnaire were used to address evaluation questions within a knowledge development framework created for the study. Results of this preliminary study focus on how this organization attempted to organize clinical improvement efforts around quality and performance improvement processes supported by networked technologies.

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Rigaku ZSX Mini II (ZSX Mini II) XRF Services x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was demon-strated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the ZSX Mini II analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the ZSX Mini II analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as spiked samples with certified element con

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Rontec PicoTAX x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the PicoTAX analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the PicoTAX analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as spiked samples with certified element concentrations. Accuracy was assessed by c

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Niton XLt 700 Series (XLt) XRF Services x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the XLt analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the XLt analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as spiked samples with certified element concentrations. Accuracy

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Oxford ED2000 x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the ED2000 analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the ED2000 analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as spiked samples with certified element concentrations. Accuracy was assessed by com

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Innov-X XT400 Series (XT400) x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the XT400 analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the XT400 analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as spiked samples with certified element concentrations. Accuracy was as

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT XRF ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Elvatech, Ltd. ElvaX (ElvaX) x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer distributed in the United States by Xcalibur XRF Services (Xcalibur), was demonstrated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The field portion of the demonstration was conducted in January 2005 at the Kennedy Athletic, Recreational and Social Park (KARS) at Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The demonstration was designed to collect reliable performance and cost data for the ElvaX analyzer and seven other commercially available XRF instruments for measuring trace elements in soil and sediment. The performance and cost data were evaluated to document the relative performance of each XRF instrument. This innovative technology verification report describes the objectives and the results of that evaluation and serves to verify the performance and cost of the ElvaX analyzer. Separate reports have been prepared for the other XRF instruments that were evaluated as part of the demonstration. The objectives of the evaluation included determining each XRF instrument’s accuracy, precision, sample throughput, and tendency for matrix effects. To fulfill these objectives, the field demonstration incorporated the analysis of 326 prepared samples of soil and sediment that contained 13 target elements. The prepared samples included blends of environmental samples from nine different sample collection sites as well as s

Performance Evaluation of Data Modems for the Aeronautical Satellite Channel.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-09-01

Several modems and satellite subsystems were tested with the aid of an aeronautical channel simulation facility. The modems tested included a high performance DPSK modem, a high performance CPSK modem, two hybird voice/data modems, and a lower perfor...

Development of performance measures for the assessment of rural planning organizations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-27

In order for the Transportation Planning Board to provide oversight and assistance to the 20 RPOs in the state, they : need effective evaluation criteria and performance measures. The existing measures, including the annual : performance report, do n...

MSFC Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount experiment systems mission evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, A. F., Jr.

1974-01-01

A detailed evaluation is presented of the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount experiments performance throughout the eight and one-half month Skylab Mission. Descriptions and the objectives of each instrument are included. The anomalies experienced, the causes, and corrective actions taken are discussed. Conclusions, based on evaluation of the performance of each instrument, are presented. Examples of the scientific data obtained, as well as a discussion of the quality and quantity of the data, are presented.

The Impact of the Perceived Purpose of Electronic Performance Monitoring on an Array of Attitudinal Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, Deborah L.; Moorman, Robert H.; Werner, Jon M.

2007-01-01

As a form of performance monitoring, electronic performance monitoring (EPM) offers the opportunity for unobtrusive and continuous performance data gathering. These strengths can also make EPM stressful and threatening. Many features of performance evaluation systems, including the organizational purposes for which they are used, can affect…

Performance evaluation of the NASA/KSC CAD/CAE and office automation LAN's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zobrist, George W.

1994-01-01

This study's objective is the performance evaluation of the existing CAD/CAE (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Engineering) network at NASA/KSC. This evaluation also includes a similar study of the Office Automation network, since it is being planned to integrate this network into the CAD/CAE network. The Microsoft mail facility which is presently on the CAD/CAE network was monitored to determine its present usage. This performance evaluation of the various networks will aid the NASA/KSC network managers in planning for the integration of future workload requirements into the CAD/CAE network and determining the effectiveness of the planned FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) migration.

Kinematic and Kinetic Evaluation of High Speed Backward Running

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-06-30

Designed using Perform Pro , WHS/DIOR, Oct 94 KINEMATIC AND KINETIC EVALUATION OF HIGH SPEED BACKWARD RUNNING by ALAN WAYNE ARATA A DISSERTATION...Project Manager, Engineering Division, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, 1983-86 AWARDS AND HONORS: All-American, 50yd Freestyle , 1979 Winner, Rocky...redirection #include <stdlib.h> // for exit #include <iomanip.h> // for set precision #include <string.h> // for string copy const int NUMPOINTS

48 CFR 307.7001 - Distinction between acquisition and assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... purposes: (1) Evaluation (including research of an evaluative nature) of the performance of Government... Government requires primarily for the conduct of its direct operations. (7) Design or development of items...

48 CFR 307.7001 - Distinction between acquisition and assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... purposes: (1) Evaluation (including research of an evaluative nature) of the performance of Government... Government requires primarily for the conduct of its direct operations. (7) Design or development of items...

48 CFR 307.7001 - Distinction between acquisition and assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... purposes: (1) Evaluation (including research of an evaluative nature) of the performance of Government... Government requires primarily for the conduct of its direct operations. (7) Design or development of items...

48 CFR 307.7001 - Distinction between acquisition and assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... purposes: (1) Evaluation (including research of an evaluative nature) of the performance of Government... Government requires primarily for the conduct of its direct operations. (7) Design or development of items...

48 CFR 307.7001 - Distinction between acquisition and assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... purposes: (1) Evaluation (including research of an evaluative nature) of the performance of Government... Government requires primarily for the conduct of its direct operations. (7) Design or development of items...

Uses and Misuses of Student Evaluations of Teaching: The Interpretation of Differences in Teaching Evaluation Means Irrespective of Statistical Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boysen, Guy A.

2015-01-01

Student evaluations of teaching are among the most accepted and important indicators of college teachers' performance. However, faculty and administrators can overinterpret small variations in mean teaching evaluations. The current research examined the effect of including statistical information on the interpretation of teaching evaluations.…

Impact of hybrid delivery of education on student academic performance and the student experience.

PubMed

Congdon, Heather Brennan; Nutter, Douglas A; Charneski, Lisa; Butko, Peter

2009-11-12

To compare student academic performance and the student experience in the first-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program between the main and newly opened satellite campuses of the University of Maryland. Student performance indicators including graded assessments, course averages, cumulative first-year grade point average (GPA), and introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) evaluations were analyzed retrospectively. Student experience indicators were obtained via an online survey instrument and included involvement in student organizations; time-budgeting practices; and stress levels and their perceived effect on performance. Graded assessments, course averages, GPA, and IPPE evaluations were indistinguishable between campuses. Students' time allocation was not different between campuses, except for time spent attending class and watching lecture videos. There was no difference between students' stress levels at each campus. The implementation of a satellite campus to expand pharmacy education yielded academic performance and student engagement comparable to those from traditional delivery methods.

Monte Carlo simulation of Ray-Scan 64 PET system and performance evaluation using GATE toolkit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Suying; Zhang, Qiushi; Vuletic, Ivan; Xie, Zhaoheng; Yang, Kun; Ren, Qiushi

2017-02-01

In this study, we aimed to develop a GATE model for the simulation of Ray-Scan 64 PET scanner and model its performance characteristics. A detailed implementation of system geometry and physical process were included in the simulation model. Then we modeled the performance characteristics of Ray-Scan 64 PET system for the first time, based on National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU-2 2007 protocols and validated the model against experimental measurement, including spatial resolution, sensitivity, counting rates and noise equivalent count rate (NECR). Moreover, an accurate dead time module was investigated to simulate the counting rate performance. Overall results showed reasonable agreement between simulation and experimental data. The validation results showed the reliability and feasibility of the GATE model to evaluate major performance of Ray-Scan 64 PET system. It provided a useful tool for a wide range of research applications.

Measured effects of coolant injection on the performance of a film cooled turbine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonel, J. D.; Eiswerth, J. E.

1977-01-01

Tests have been conducted on a 20-inch diameter single-stage air-cooled turbine designed to evaluate the effects of film cooling air on turbine aerodynamic performance. The present paper reports the results of five test configurations, including two different cooling designs and three combinations of cooled and solid airfoils. A comparison is made of the experimental results with a previously published analytical method of evaluating coolant injection effects on turbine performance.

Tracking Environmental Sustainability Performance of Public Universities in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mungai, David N.

2017-01-01

Environmental Sustainability Performance Contract (PC) targets were introduced in the 2012/13 financial year as part of the broader public sector reforms and a strategy for performance improvement in the public service that includes Kenyan public universities. However, no evaluation has been conducted to assess performance improvement and impact.…

High performance dielectric materials development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Piche, Joe; Kirchner, Ted; Jayaraj, K.

1994-01-01

The mission of polymer composites materials technology is to develop materials and processing technology to meet DoD and commercial needs. The following are outlined in this presentation: high performance capacitors, high temperature aerospace insulation, rationale for choosing Foster-Miller (the reporting industry), the approach to the development and evaluation of high temperature insulation materials, and the requirements/evaluation parameters. Supporting tables and diagrams are included.

LABORATORY EVALUATION OF SIX NEW/MODIFIED PORTABLE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETERS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF LEAD IN CHARACTERIZED PAINT FILMS AND RESEARCH MATERIAL BOARDS (TECHNICAL REPORT)

EPA Science Inventory

A laboratory study was performed in 1994-1995 to identify and estimate the influence of key characteristics for evaluating the performance of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers. Six new/modified spectrometers, including HNU SEFA-Pb, Metorex X-MET, Niton X-L, Radiat...

LABORATORY EVALUATION OF SIX NEW/MODIFIED PORTABLE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETERS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF LEAD IN CHARACTERIZED PAINT FILMS AND RESEARCH MATERIAL BOARDS (APPENDICES)

EPA Science Inventory

A laboratory study was performed in 1994-1995 to identify and estimate the influence of key characteristics for evaluating the performance of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers. Six new/modified spectrometers, including HNU SEFA-Pb, Metorex X-MET, Niton X-L, Radiat...

High performance dielectric materials development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piche, Joe; Kirchner, Ted; Jayaraj, K.

1994-09-01

The mission of polymer composites materials technology is to develop materials and processing technology to meet DoD and commercial needs. The following are outlined in this presentation: high performance capacitors, high temperature aerospace insulation, rationale for choosing Foster-Miller (the reporting industry), the approach to the development and evaluation of high temperature insulation materials, and the requirements/evaluation parameters. Supporting tables and diagrams are included.

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Next Intelligent Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

del Pobil, Angel; Madhavan, Raj; Bonsignorio, Fabio

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems presents research dedicated to the subject of performance evaluation and benchmarking of intelligent systems by drawing from the experiences and insights of leading experts gained both through theoretical development and practical implementation of intelligent systems in a variety of diverse application domains. This contributed volume offers a detailed and coherent picture of state-of-the-art, recent developments, and further research areas in intelligent systems. The chapters cover a broad range of applications, such as assistive robotics, planetary surveying, urban search and rescue, and line tracking for automotive assembly. Subsystems or components described in this bookmore » include human-robot interaction, multi-robot coordination, communications, perception, and mapping. Chapters are also devoted to simulation support and open source software for cognitive platforms, providing examples of the type of enabling underlying technologies that can help intelligent systems to propagate and increase in capabilities. Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems serves as a professional reference for researchers and practitioners in the field. This book is also applicable to advanced courses for graduate level students and robotics professionals in a wide range of engineering and related disciplines including computer science, automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and service robotics.« less

Conducting effective performance appraisals.

PubMed

2001-01-01

According to experts, performance appraisals rate just below firing someone as the least favorite thing managers do. Many factors contribute to this view--one is that current systems do a poor job of evaluating performance and in fact often impede both evaluation and performance. When used as part of an ongoing supportive process of goal setting and feedback, performance appraisals can enhance performance and morale. One alternative to traditional employee evaluation methods is full-circle or 360-degree feedback. Contained in this issue are practical suggestions for preparing employees for performance appraisals which, when followed daily, encourage employees to put their best feet forward as part of their regular routine. Also included is a template specific to assessing the performance of clinical laboratory technologists . Additionally, numerous resources are provided to help you refine appraisal systems to fit your needs. Full-circle feedback is proving to be a boon to managers. It relieves them from being the exclusive "heavies" in evaluating performance, integrates appraisal input from several sources, and incorporates increasing employee skills, competencies, and satisfaction, thus improving productivity of people and processes. And aren't integration and continuous improvement what the laboratory is all about?

Diagnostic, therapeutic and economic consequences of a positive urinary antigen test for Legionella spp. in patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia: a 7-year retrospective evaluation.

PubMed

Engel, M F; van Manen, L; Hoepelman, A I M; Thijsen, S; Oosterheert, J J

2013-09-01

A positive urinary antigen test for Legionella spp. (Legionella urinary antigen test; LUAT) allows an early switch from empiric to targeted treatment (TT) in hospitalised, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic, therapeutic and economic consequences of this frequently used test 7 years after its implementation. We retrospectively evaluated LUATs performed between 2005 and 2011 in two teaching hospitals. All tests performed in hospitalised CAP patients were used in the economic evaluation and positive tests were included in the treatment evaluation. Data on patient characteristics, admission and outcome were retrieved from the patients' files. The number of days gained by making a rapid aetiological diagnosis, the number of days TT could be provided and their costs were calculated. Of 4485 LUATs, 2504 (56%) were performed for CAP including 55 (1%) positive tests (€1041/positive test). In 26 (60%) of the 43 included positive tests, LUAT was the only test showing Legionella spp. Subsequently, earlier TT was possible in the remaining cases during 209 cumulative admission days (€274/TT day). LUAT led to detection of Legionella spp. 13 days earlier per case (€203/day) as compared with culture/serology alone. Timely LUAT use in accordance with current guidelines allows early detection and treatment of CAP caused by Legionella spp. at considerable expense.

Trends in Teacher Evaluation: What Every Special Education Teacher Should Know

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benedict, Amber E; Thomas, Rachel A.; Kimerling, Jenna; Leko, Christopher

2013-01-01

The article reflects on current methods of teacher evaluation within the context of recent accountability policy, specifically No Child Left Behind. An overview is given of the most common forms of teacher evaluation, including performance evaluations, checklists, peer review, portfolios, the CEC and InTASC standards, the Charlotte Danielson…

48 CFR 1509.170-7 - Release of ratings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Performance System will have direct access to all Reports, including those of EPA, in the National Institutes of Health's database. Information on EPA contractors' performance ratings may also be obtained by... ACQUISITION PLANNING CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS Contractor Performance Evaluations 1509.170-7 Release of...

Evaluation of the 235 U resonance parameters to fit the standard recommended values

DOE PAGES

Leal, Luiz; Noguere, Gilles; Paradela, Carlos; ...

2017-09-13

A great deal of effort has been dedicated to the revision of the standard values in connection with the neutron interaction for some actinides. While standard data compilation are available for decades nuclear data evaluations included in existing nuclear data libraries (ENDF, JEFF, JENDL, etc.) do not follow the standard recommended values. Indeed, the majority of evaluations for major actinides do not conform to the standards whatsoever. In particular, for the n + 235U interaction the only value in agreement with the standard is the thermal fission cross section. We performed a resonance re-evaluation of the n + 235U interactionmore » in order to address the issues regarding standard values in the energy range from 10-5 eV to 2250 eV. Recently, 235U fission cross-section measurements have been performed at the CERN Neutron Time-o-Flight facility (TOF), known as n_TOF, in the energy range from 0.7 eV to 10 keV. The data were normalized according to the recommended standard of the fission integral in the energy range 7.8 eV to 11 eV. As a result, the n_TOF averaged fission cross sections above 100 eV are in good agreement with the standard recommended values. The n_TOF data were included in the 235U resonance analysis that was performed with the code SAMMY. In addition to the average standard values related to the fission cross section, standard thermal values for fission, capture, and elastic cross sections were also included in the evaluation. Our paper presents the procedure used for re-evaluating the 235U resonance parameters including the recommended standard values as well as new cross section measurements.« less

Evaluation of the 235 U resonance parameters to fit the standard recommended values

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leal, Luiz; Noguere, Gilles; Paradela, Carlos

A great deal of effort has been dedicated to the revision of the standard values in connection with the neutron interaction for some actinides. While standard data compilation are available for decades nuclear data evaluations included in existing nuclear data libraries (ENDF, JEFF, JENDL, etc.) do not follow the standard recommended values. Indeed, the majority of evaluations for major actinides do not conform to the standards whatsoever. In particular, for the n + 235U interaction the only value in agreement with the standard is the thermal fission cross section. We performed a resonance re-evaluation of the n + 235U interactionmore » in order to address the issues regarding standard values in the energy range from 10-5 eV to 2250 eV. Recently, 235U fission cross-section measurements have been performed at the CERN Neutron Time-o-Flight facility (TOF), known as n_TOF, in the energy range from 0.7 eV to 10 keV. The data were normalized according to the recommended standard of the fission integral in the energy range 7.8 eV to 11 eV. As a result, the n_TOF averaged fission cross sections above 100 eV are in good agreement with the standard recommended values. The n_TOF data were included in the 235U resonance analysis that was performed with the code SAMMY. In addition to the average standard values related to the fission cross section, standard thermal values for fission, capture, and elastic cross sections were also included in the evaluation. Our paper presents the procedure used for re-evaluating the 235U resonance parameters including the recommended standard values as well as new cross section measurements.« less

Evaluation of the 235U resonance parameters to fit the standard recommended values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leal, Luiz; Noguere, Gilles; Paradela, Carlos; Durán, Ignacio; Tassan-Got, Laurent; Danon, Yaron; Jandel, Marian

2017-09-01

A great deal of effort has been dedicated to the revision of the standard values in connection with the neutron interaction for some actinides. While standard data compilation are available for decades nuclear data evaluations included in existing nuclear data libraries (ENDF, JEFF, JENDL, etc.) do not follow the standard recommended values. Indeed, the majority of evaluations for major actinides do not conform to the standards whatsoever. In particular, for the n + 235U interaction the only value in agreement with the standard is the thermal fission cross section. A resonance re-evaluation of the n + 235U interaction has been performed to address the issues regarding standard values in the energy range from 10-5 eV to 2250 eV. Recently, 235U fission cross-section measurements have been performed at the CERN Neutron Time-of-Flight facility (TOF), known as n_TOF, in the energy range from 0.7 eV to 10 keV. The data were normalized according to the recommended standard of the fission integral in the energy range 7.8 eV to 11 eV. As a result, the n_TOF averaged fission cross sections above 100 eV are in good agreement with the standard recommended values. The n_TOF data were included in the 235U resonance analysis that was performed with the code SAMMY. In addition to the average standard values related to the fission cross section, standard thermal values for fission, capture, and elastic cross sections were also included in the evaluation. This paper presents the procedure used for re-evaluating the 235U resonance parameters including the recommended standard values as well as new cross section measurements.

An evaluation of alternative reactor vessel cutting technologies for the experimental boiling water reactor at Argonne National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boing, L.E.; Henley, D.R.; Manion, W.J.

1989-12-01

Metal cutting techniques that can be used to segment the reactor pressure vessel of the Experimental Boiling Water Reactor (EBWR) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have been evaluated by Nuclear Energy Services. Twelve cutting technologies are described in terms of their ability to perform the required task, their performance characteristics, environmental and radiological impacts, and cost and schedule considerations. Specific recommendations regarding which technology should ultimately be used by ANL are included. The selection of a cutting method was the responsibility of the decommissioning staff at ANL, who included a relative weighting of the parameters described in this document inmore » their evaluation process. 73 refs., 26 figs., 69 tabs.« less

Small form factor optical fiber connector evaluation for harsh environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, Melanie N.; Thomes, W. Joe, Jr.; Chuska, Richard F.; Switzer, Robert; Blair, Diana E.

2011-09-01

For the past decade NASA programs have utilized the Diamond AVIM connector for optical fiber assemblies on space flight instrumentation. These connectors have been used in communications, sensing and LIDAR systems where repeatability and high performance are required. Recently Diamond has released a smaller form factor optical fiber connector called the "Mini-AVIM" which although more compact still includes the tight tolerances and the ratcheting feature of the heritage AVIM. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Photonics Group in the Parts, Packaging and Assembly Technologies Office has been performing evaluations of this connector to determine how it compares to the performance of the AVIM connector and to assess its feasibility for harsh environmental applications. Vibration and thermal testing were performed on the Mini-AVIM with both multi-mode and single-mode optical fiber using insitu optical transmission monitoring. Random vibration testing was performed using typical launch condition profiles for most NASA missions but extended to 35 Grms, which is much higher than most requirements. Thermal testing was performed incrementally up to a range of -55°C to +125°C. The test results include both unjacketed fiber and cabled assembly evaluations. The data presented here indicate that the Mini-AVIM provides a viable option for small form factor applications that require a high performance optical fiber connector.

NERC Policy 10: Measurement of two generation and load balancing IOS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spicer, P.J.; Galow, G.G.

1999-11-01

Policy 10 will describe specific standards and metrics for most of the reliability functions described in the Interconnected Operations Services Working Group (IOS WG) report. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, in detail, the proposed metrics for two generation and load balancing IOSs: Regulation; Load Following. For purposes of this paper, metrics include both measurement and performance evaluation. The measurement methods discussed are included in the current draft of the proposed Policy 10. The performance evaluation method discussed is offered by the authors for consideration by the IOS ITF (Implementation Task Force) for inclusion into Policy 10.

Data analysis techniques used at the Oak Ridge Y-12 plant flywheel evaluation laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steels, R. S., Jr.; Babelay, E. F., Jr.

1980-07-01

Some of the more advanced data analysis techniques applied to the problem of experimentally evaluating the performance of high performance composite flywheels are presented. Real time applications include polar plots of runout with interruptions relating to balance and relative motions between parts, radial growth measurements, and temperature of the spinning part. The technique used to measure torque applied to a containment housing during flywheel failure is also presented. The discussion of pre and post test analysis techniques includes resonant frequency determination with modal analysis, waterfall charts, and runout signals at failure.

24 CFR 1000.526 - What information will HUD use for its review?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring... monitoring of the recipient's performance, including on-site evaluation of the quality of the work performed...

24 CFR 1000.526 - What information will HUD use for its review?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring... monitoring of the recipient's performance, including on-site evaluation of the quality of the work performed...

24 CFR 1000.526 - What information will HUD use for its review?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring... monitoring of the recipient's performance, including on-site evaluation of the quality of the work performed...

24 CFR 1000.526 - What information will HUD use for its review?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring... monitoring of the recipient's performance, including on-site evaluation of the quality of the work performed...

24 CFR 1000.526 - What information will HUD use for its review?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Recipient Monitoring... monitoring of the recipient's performance, including on-site evaluation of the quality of the work performed...

23 CFR 636.205 - Can past performance be used as an evaluation criteria?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... contracts (including Federal, State, and local government and private) for efforts similar to the current... performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or...

23 CFR 636.205 - Can past performance be used as an evaluation criteria?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... contracts (including Federal, State, and local government and private) for efforts similar to the current... performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or...

23 CFR 636.205 - Can past performance be used as an evaluation criteria?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... contracts (including Federal, State, and local government and private) for efforts similar to the current... performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience, or...

Northeast corridor passenger transportation data study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-08-31

Fourteen measures of performance are recommended for use in Northeast Corridor rail system evaluation and multimodal comparisons. These include performance measures in the categories of system configuration (e.g., daily available-seat miles by vehicl...

78 FR 57168 - National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Notice of Closed Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-17

... Institute, including consideration of personnel qualifications and performance, and the competence of.... to 3:00 p.m. Agenda: To review and evaluate personal qualifications and performance, and competence...

Study to perform preliminary experiments to evaluate particle generation and characterization techniques for zero-gravity cloud physics experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Katz, U.

1982-01-01

Methods of particle generation and characterization with regard to their applicability for experiments requiring cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) of specified properties were investigated. Since aerosol characterization is a prerequisite to assessing performance of particle generation equipment, techniques for characterizing aerosol were evaluated. Aerosol generation is discussed, and atomizer and photolytic generators including preparation of hydrosols (used with atomizers) and the evaluation of a flight version of an atomizer are studied.

Saturn 5 Launch Vehicle Flight Evaluation Report-AS-512 Apollo 17 Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

An evaluation of the launch vehicle and lunar roving vehicle performance for the Apollo 17 flight is presented. The objective of the evaluation is to acquire, reduce, analyze, and report on flight data to the extent required to assure future mission success and vehicle reliability. Actual flight problems are identified, their causes are determined, and recommendations are made for corrective action. Summaries of launch operations and spacecraft performance are included. The significant events for all phases of the flight are analyzed.

Application and use of spinal immobilization devices in zero-gravity flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krupa, Debra T.; Gosbee, John; Billica, Roger; Boyce, Joey B.

1991-01-01

A KC-135 parabolic flight was performed for the purpose of evaluation of spinal immobilization techniques in microgravity. The flight followed the standard 40 parabola profile with four NASA/KRUG experimenters involved. One performed as coordinator/recorder, one as test subject, and two as the Crew Medical Officers (CMO). The flight was to evaluate the application of spinal immobilization devices and techniques in microgravity as are performed during initial stabilization or patient transport scenarios. The sequence of detail for examination of the following objectives included: attempted cervical spine immobilization with all free floating, the patient restrained to the floor, various hand positioning techniques; c-collar placement; Kendrick Extrication Device (KED) application with various restraints for patient and CMO; patient immobilization and transport using the KED; patient transported on KED and spine board. Observations for each task are included. Major conclusions and issues are also included.

Development and Evaluation of a Performance Modeling Flight Test Approach Based on Quasi Steady-State Maneuvers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yechout, T. R.; Braman, K. B.

1984-01-01

The development, implementation and flight test evaluation of a performance modeling technique which required a limited amount of quasisteady state flight test data to predict the overall one g performance characteristics of an aircraft. The concept definition phase of the program include development of: (1) the relationship for defining aerodynamic characteristics from quasi steady state maneuvers; (2) a simplified in flight thrust and airflow prediction technique; (3) a flight test maneuvering sequence which efficiently provided definition of baseline aerodynamic and engine characteristics including power effects on lift and drag; and (4) the algorithms necessary for cruise and flight trajectory predictions. Implementation of the concept include design of the overall flight test data flow, definition of instrumentation system and ground test requirements, development and verification of all applicable software and consolidation of the overall requirements in a flight test plan.

Evaluation of EIT system performance.

PubMed

Yasin, Mamatjan; Böhm, Stephan; Gaggero, Pascal O; Adler, Andy

2011-07-01

An electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system images internal conductivity from surface electrical stimulation and measurement. Such systems necessarily comprise multiple design choices from cables and hardware design to calibration and image reconstruction. In order to compare EIT systems and study the consequences of changes in system performance, this paper describes a systematic approach to evaluate the performance of the EIT systems. The system to be tested is connected to a saline phantom in which calibrated contrasting test objects are systematically positioned using a position controller. A set of evaluation parameters are proposed which characterize (i) data and image noise, (ii) data accuracy, (iii) detectability of single contrasts and distinguishability of multiple contrasts, and (iv) accuracy of reconstructed image (amplitude, resolution, position and ringing). Using this approach, we evaluate three different EIT systems and illustrate the use of these tools to evaluate and compare performance. In order to facilitate the use of this approach, all details of the phantom, test objects and position controller design are made publicly available including the source code of the evaluation and reporting software.

Validity evidence for the Simulated Colonoscopy Objective Performance Evaluation scoring system.

PubMed

Trinca, Kristen D; Cox, Tiffany C; Pearl, Jonathan P; Ritter, E Matthew

2014-02-01

Low-cost, objective systems to assess and train endoscopy skills are needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of Simulated Colonoscopy Objective Performance Evaluation to assess the skills required to perform endoscopy. Thirty-eight subjects were included in this study, all of whom performed 4 tasks. The scoring system measured performance by calculating precision and efficiency. Data analysis assessed the relationship between colonoscopy experience and performance on each task and the overall score. Endoscopic trainees' Simulated Colonoscopy Objective Performance Evaluation scores correlated significantly with total colonoscopy experience (r = .61, P = .003) and experience in the past 12 months (r = .63, P = .002). Significant differences were seen among practicing endoscopists, nonendoscopic surgeons, and trainees (P < .0001). When the 4 tasks were analyzed, each showed significant correlation with colonoscopy experience (scope manipulation, r = .44, P = .044; tool targeting, r = .45, P = .04; loop management, r = .47, P = .032; mucosal inspection, r = .65, P = .001) and significant differences in performance between the endoscopist groups, except for mucosal inspection (scope manipulation, P < .0001; tool targeting, P = .002; loop management, P = .0008; mucosal inspection, P = .27). Simulated Colonoscopy Objective Performance Evaluation objectively assesses the technical skills required to perform endoscopy and shows promise as a platform for proficiency-based skills training. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Feasibility study of solar energy utilization in modular integrated utility systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The feasibility and benefits were evaluated of solar thermal energy systems on Integrated Utility Systems. The effort included the identification of potential system concepts, evaluation of hardware status, and performance of weighted system evaluations to select promising system concepts deserving of further study.

Premature deterioration of jointed plain concrete pavements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-29

Six sections of jointed plain concrete pavements (JPCP)s throughout the state were selected as candidates for the evaluation of premature deterioration. The data used in performing the evaluation included manual and historic automated distress survey...

Premature deterioration of jointed plain concrete pavements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-29

Six sections of jointed plain concrete pavements (JPCP)s throughout the state were selected as : candidates for the evaluation of premature deterioration. The data used in performing the evaluation included manual : and historic automated distress su...

12 CFR 1808.500 - Evaluation of Qualified Issuer Applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... evaluation process will be based on established standard operating procedures, which may include interviews... Qualified Issuer over the life of the Bond to ensure it meets the performance standards over the life of the...

Using Peer Assessment to Evaluate Teamwork from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Planas-Lladó, Anna; Feliu, Lidia; Castro, Francesc; Fraguell, Rosa Maria; Arbat, Gerard; Pujol, Joan; Suñol, Joan Josep; Daunis-i-Estadella, Pepus

2018-01-01

This article analyses the use of peer evaluation as a tool for evaluating teamwork and students' perceptions of this type of evaluation. A study was conducted of six subjects included on five degree courses at the University of Girona. In all of these subjects, students carried out a team activity, evaluated the performance of the team and the…

A Perspective on Computational Human Performance Models as Design Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Patricia M.

2010-01-01

The design of interactive systems, including levels of automation, displays, and controls, is usually based on design guidelines and iterative empirical prototyping. A complementary approach is to use computational human performance models to evaluate designs. An integrated strategy of model-based and empirical test and evaluation activities is particularly attractive as a methodology for verification and validation of human-rated systems for commercial space. This talk will review several computational human performance modeling approaches and their applicability to design of display and control requirements.

Evaluation of SuperLU on multicore architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X. S.

2008-07-01

The Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) will be the basic building block for computer systems ranging from laptops to supercomputers. New software developments at all levels are needed to fully utilize these systems. In this work, we evaluate performance of different high-performance sparse LU factorization and triangular solution algorithms on several representative multicore machines. We included both Pthreads and MPI implementations in this study and found that the Pthreads implementation consistently delivers good performance and that a left-looking algorithm is usually superior.

5 CFR 430.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as defined at § 430.203 and performance management systems as defined at § 430.303. GPRA means the Government... Performance Appraisal Certification for Pay Purposes § 430.402 Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system...

Using lagging and leading indicators for the evaluation of occupational safety and health performance in industry.

PubMed

Pawłowska, Zofia

2015-01-01

Improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH) management is closely related to the development of OSH performance measurement, which should include OSH outcomes (e.g., occupational accidents), OSH inputs (including working conditions) and OSH-related activities. The indicators used to measure the OSH outcomes are often called lagging indicators, and the indicators of inputs and OSH activities are leading indicators. A study was conducted in 60 companies in order to determine what kinds of indicators were used for OSH performance measurement by companies with different levels of OSH performance. The results reveal that the indicators most commonly used in all of the companies are those related to ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements. At the same time, the leading indicators are much more often adopted in companies with a higher performance level. These companies also much more often monitor on a regular basis the indicators adopted for the evaluation of their OSH performance.

Using lagging and leading indicators for the evaluation of occupational safety and health performance in industry

PubMed Central

Pawłowska, Zofia

2015-01-01

Improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH) management is closely related to the development of OSH performance measurement, which should include OSH outcomes (e.g., occupational accidents), OSH inputs (including working conditions) and OSH-related activities. The indicators used to measure the OSH outcomes are often called lagging indicators, and the indicators of inputs and OSH activities are leading indicators. A study was conducted in 60 companies in order to determine what kinds of indicators were used for OSH performance measurement by companies with different levels of OSH performance. The results reveal that the indicators most commonly used in all of the companies are those related to ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements. At the same time, the leading indicators are much more often adopted in companies with a higher performance level. These companies also much more often monitor on a regular basis the indicators adopted for the evaluation of their OSH performance. PMID:26647949

Individual performance review in hospital practice: the development of a framework and evaluation of doctors' attitudes to its value and implementation.

PubMed

Trebble, T M; Cruickshank, L; Hockey, P M; Heyworth, N; Powell, T; Clarke, N

2013-11-01

Appraisal, or independent performance review (IPR) is used in human resources management in the commercial and public sectors to evaluate the performance of an employee against agreed local organisational expectations and objectives, and to identify their requirements for development and effective management. IPR for NHS consultants may provide essential information for job planning, contribute towards medical appraisal for revalidation, and facilitate productivity and quality improvement. To develop a framework for IPR for consultants, and to determine attitudes on its value, process and content. Information from commercial, public and voluntary sector models and published and other literature sources were used to develop an IPR framework. This was assessed through a three-cycle action research methodology involving qualitative interviews with 22 consultants (predominantly with medical management roles). The domains of the IPR framework included: (1) performance against objectives; (2) behaviour and leadership; (3) talent management; (4) agreed future objectives. A number of themes were identified from the consultant interviews including: ineffective current appraisal systems reflecting a lack of valid performance data and allotted time; a lack of empowerment of medical managers to address performance issues; IPR as a more explicit system, offering value in evaluating doctors performance; and the dependence of successful implementation on the engagement of the Trust executive. IPR may have value for performance evaluation of consultants, contributing toward job planning and complementing medical appraisal. Support by their employing organisation and engagement with medical managers in design and implementation is likely to be essential.

Herd-of-origin effect on the post-weaning performance of centrally tested Nellore beef cattle.

PubMed

de Rezende Neves, Haroldo Henrique; Polin dos Reis, Felipe; Motta Paterno, Flávia; Rocha Guarini, Aline; Carvalheiro, Roberto; da Silva, Lilian Regina; de Oliveira, João Ademir; Aidar de Queiroz, Sandra

2014-10-01

The objective of a performance test station is to evaluate the performance of potential breeding bulls earlier in order to decrease the generation interval and increase genetic gain as well. This study evaluates the herd-of-origin influence on end-of-test weight (ETW), average daily weight gain during testing (ADG), average daily weight gain during the adjustment period (ADGadj), rib eye area (REA), marbling (MARB), subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), conformation (C), early finishing (EF), muscling (M), navel (N) and temperament (T) scores, and scrotal circumference (SC) of Nellore cattle that underwent a performance test. We evaluated 664 animals that participated in the performance tests conducted at the Center for Performance CRV Lagoa between 2007 and 2012. Components of variance for each trait were estimated by an animal model (model 1), using the restricted maximum likelihood method. An alternative animal model (model 2) included, in addition to the fixed effects present in S1, the non-correlated random effect of herd-year (HY). A significant HY effect was observed on ETW, REA, SFT, ADGadj, C, and Cw (p < 0.05). The estimated heritability of all traits decreased when the HY effect was included in the model; also, the bull rank, in deciles, changed significantly for traits ETW, REA, SFT, and C. The adjustment period did not completely remove the environmental effect of herd of origin on ETW, REA, SFT, and C. It is recommended that the herd-of-origin effect should be included in the statistical models used to predict the breeding values of the participants of these performance tests.

Laboratory Performance Evaluation Report of SEL 421 Phasor Measurement Unit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhenyu; faris, Anthony J.; Martin, Kenneth E.

2007-12-01

PNNL and BPA have been in close collaboration on laboratory performance evaluation of phasor measurement units for over ten years. A series of evaluation tests are designed to confirm accuracy and determine measurement performance under a variety of conditions that may be encountered in actual use. Ultimately the testing conducted should provide parameters that can be used to adjust all measurements to a standardized basis. These tests are performed with a standard relay test set using recorded files of precisely generated test signals. The test set provides test signals at a level and in a format suitable for input tomore » a PMU that accurately reproduces the signals in both signal amplitude and timing. Test set outputs are checked to confirm the accuracy of the output signal. The recorded signals include both current and voltage waveforms and a digital timing track used to relate the PMU measured value with the test signal. Test signals include steady-state waveforms to test amplitude, phase, and frequency accuracy, modulated signals to determine measurement and rejection bands, and step tests to determine timing and response accuracy. Additional tests are included as necessary to fully describe the PMU operation. Testing is done with a BPA phasor data concentrator (PDC) which provides communication support and monitors data input for dropouts and data errors.« less

Measuring Principal Performance: How Rigorous Are Commonly Used Principal Performance Assessment Instruments? A Quality School Leadership Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Condon, Christopher; Clifford, Matthew

2010-01-01

This brief reviews the publicly available principal assessments and points superintendents and policy makers toward strong instruments to measure principal performance. Specifically, the measures included in this review are expressly intended to evaluate principal performance and have varying degrees of publicly available evidence of psychometric…

Analysis of competition performance in dressage and show jumping of Dutch Warmblood horses.

PubMed

Rovere, G; Ducro, B J; van Arendonk, J A M; Norberg, E; Madsen, P

2016-12-01

Most Warmblood horse studbooks aim to improve the performance in dressage and show jumping. The Dutch Royal Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) includes the highest score achieved in competition by a horse to evaluate its genetic ability of performance. However, the records collected during competition are associated with some aspects that might affect the quality of the genetic evaluation based on these records. These aspects include the influence of rider, censoring and preselection of the data. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of rider effect, censoring and preselection on the genetic analysis of competition data of dressage and show jumping of KWPN. Different models including rider effect were evaluated. To assess the impact of censoring, genetic parameters were estimated in data sets that differed in the degree of censoring. The effect of preselection on variance components was analysed by defining a binary trait (sport-status) depending on whether the horse has a competition record or not. This trait was included in a bivariate model with the competition trait and used all horses registered by KWPN since 1984. Results showed that performance in competition for dressage and show jumping is a heritable trait (h 2 ~ 0.11-0.13) and that it is important to account for the effect of rider in the genetic analysis. Censoring had a small effect on the genetic parameter for highest performance achieved by the horse. A moderate heritability obtained for sport-status indicates that preselection has a genetic basis, but the effect on genetic parameters was relatively small. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Transient multivariable sensor evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vilim, Richard B.; Heifetz, Alexander

A method and system for performing transient multivariable sensor evaluation. The method and system includes a computer system for identifying a model form, providing training measurement data, generating a basis vector, monitoring system data from sensor, loading the system data in a non-transient memory, performing an estimation to provide desired data and comparing the system data to the desired data and outputting an alarm for a defective sensor.

Evaluation of emergency department performance - a systematic review on recommended performance and quality-in-care measures.

PubMed

Sørup, Christian Michel; Jacobsen, Peter; Forberg, Jakob Lundager

2013-08-09

Evaluation of emergency department (ED) performance remains a difficult task due to the lack of consensus on performance measures that reflects high quality, efficiency, and sustainability. To describe, map, and critically evaluate which performance measures that the published literature regard as being most relevant in assessing overall ED performance. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review of review articles reporting accentuated ED performance measures was conducted in the databases of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Study eligibility criteria includes: 1) the main purpose was to discuss, analyse, or promote performance measures best reflecting ED performance, 2) the article was a review article, and 3) the article reported macro-level performance measures, thus reflecting an overall departmental performance level. A number of articles addresses this study's objective (n = 14 of 46 unique hits). Time intervals and patient-related measures were dominant in the identified performance measures in review articles from US, UK, Sweden and Canada. Length of stay (LOS), time between patient arrival to initial clinical assessment, and time between patient arrivals to admission were highlighted by the majority of articles. Concurrently, "patients left without being seen" (LWBS), unplanned re-attendance within a maximum of 72 hours, mortality/morbidity, and number of unintended incidents were the most highlighted performance measures that related directly to the patient. Performance measures related to employees were only stated in two of the 14 included articles. A total of 55 ED performance measures were identified. ED time intervals were the most recommended performance measures followed by patient centeredness and safety performance measures. ED employee related performance measures were rarely mentioned in the investigated literature. The study's results allow for advancement towards improved performance measurement and standardised assessment across EDs.

Expanding the scope of quality measurement in surgery to include nonoperative care: Results from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program emergency general surgery pilot.

PubMed

Wandling, Michael W; Ko, Clifford Y; Bankey, Paul E; Cribari, Chris; Cryer, H Gill; Diaz, Jose J; Duane, Therese M; Hameed, S Morad; Hutter, Matthew M; Metzler, Michael H; Regner, Justin L; Reilly, Patrick M; Reines, H David; Sperry, Jason L; Staudenmayer, Kristan L; Utter, Garth H; Crandall, Marie L; Bilimoria, Karl Y; Nathens, Avery B

2017-11-01

Patients managed nonoperatively have been excluded from risk-adjusted benchmarking programs, including the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). Consequently, optimal performance evaluation is not possible for specialties like emergency general surgery (EGS) where nonoperative management is common. We developed a multi-institutional EGS clinical data registry within ACS NSQIP that includes patients managed nonoperatively to evaluate variability in nonoperative care across hospitals and identify gaps in performance assessment that occur when only operative cases are considered. Using ACS NSQIP infrastructure and methodology, surgical consultations for acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, and small bowel obstruction (SBO) were sampled at 13 hospitals that volunteered to participate in the EGS clinical data registry. Standard NSQIP variables and 16 EGS-specific variables were abstracted with 30-day follow-up. To determine the influence of complications in nonoperative patients, rates of adverse outcomes were identified, and hospitals were ranked by performance with and then without including nonoperative cases. Two thousand ninety-one patients with EGS diagnoses were included, 46.6% with appendicitis, 24.3% with cholecystitis, and 29.1% with SBO. The overall rate of nonoperative management was 27.4%, 6.6% for appendicitis, 16.5% for cholecystitis, and 69.9% for SBO. Despite comprising only 27.4% of patients in the EGS pilot, nonoperative management accounted for 67.7% of deaths, 34.3% of serious morbidities, and 41.8% of hospital readmissions. After adjusting for patient characteristics and hospital diagnosis mix, addition of nonoperative management to hospital performance assessment resulted in 12 of 13 hospitals changing performance rank, with four hospitals changing by three or more positions. This study identifies a gap in performance evaluation when nonoperative patients are excluded from surgical quality assessment and demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating nonoperative care into existing surgical quality initiatives. Broadening the scope of hospital performance assessment to include nonoperative management creates an opportunity to improve the care of all surgical patients, not just those who have an operation. Care management, level IV; Epidemiologic, level III.

On-line evaluation of multiloop digital controller performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wieseman, Carol D.

1993-01-01

The purpose of this presentation is to inform the Guidance and Control community of capabilities which were developed by the Aeroservoelasticity Branch to evaluate the performance of multivariable control laws, on-line, during wind-tunnel testing. The capabilities are generic enough to be useful for all kinds of on-line analyses involving multivariable control in experimental testing. Consequently, it was decided to present this material at this workshop even though it has been presented elsewhere. Topics covered include: essential on-line analysis requirements; on-line analysis capabilities; on-line analysis software; frequency domain procedures; controller performance evaluation frequency-domain flutter suppression; and plant determination.

Effects of handcuffs on neuropsychological testing: Implications for criminal forensic evaluations.

PubMed

Biddle, Christine M; Fazio, Rachel L; Dyshniku, Fiona; Denney, Robert L

2018-01-01

Neuropsychological evaluations are increasingly performed in forensic contexts, including in criminal settings where security sometimes cannot be compromised to facilitate evaluation according to standardized procedures. Interpretation of nonstandardized assessment results poses significant challenges for the neuropsychologist. Research is limited in regard to the validation of neuropsychological test accommodation and modification practices that deviate from standard test administration; there is no published research regarding the effects of hand restraints upon neuropsychological evaluation results. This study provides preliminary results regarding the impact of restraints on motor functioning and common neuropsychological tests with a motor component. When restrained, performance on nearly all tests utilized was significantly impacted, including Trail Making Test A/B, a coding test, and several tests of motor functioning. Significant performance decline was observed in both raw scores and normative scores. Regression models are also provided in order to help forensic neuropsychologists adjust for the effect of hand restraints on raw scores of these tests, as the hand restraints also resulted in significant differences in normative scores; in the most striking case there was nearly a full standard deviation of discrepancy.

Using gaming simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emergency readiness education.

PubMed

Olson, Debra K; Scheller, Amy; Larson, Susan; Lindeke, Linda; Edwardson, Sandra

2010-01-01

We performed an outcome evaluation of the impact of public health preparedness training as a group comparison posttest design to determine the differences in the way individuals who had participated in training performed in a simulated emergency. The Experimental Group 1 included students who had graduated from or were currently enrolled in the bioterrorism and emergency readiness (BT/ER) curriculum at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The comparison groups included individuals who had access to the Internet and were aware of the 2006 online simulation Disaster in Franklin County: A Public Health Simulation. The evaluation process employed surveys and the gaming simulation as sources for primary data. Participants in the BT/ER curriculum (p=0.0001) and other participants completing at least 45 hours of training in the past year (p=0.0001) demonstrated higher effectiveness scores (accuracy of chosen responses within the simulation) than participants who did not report significant amounts of training. This evaluation research demonstrated that training is significantly associated with better performance in a simulated emergency using gaming technology.

Solid state Impatt Amplifiers performance data

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-12-01

Evaluation data on an 8-watt and a 16-watt Impatt Amplifier represented to concisely describe the performance of these amplifiers. The data include component specifications and photographs, TSC test set-up configuration, amplitude and phase character...

The Transformation of Evaluation into a Collaboration: A Vision of Evaluation in the 21st Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fetterman, David M.

2001-01-01

Evaluation in the 21st century will be characterized by critical and collaborative relationships, and citizens will include a basic knowledge of evaluation as part of their democratic literacy skills. Funders, program, staff, and participants will acquire the capacity to monitor and assess critical aspects of their own performance. (SLD)

Connecting Theory to Practice: Evaluating a Brain-Based Writing Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffee, Dale T.

2007-01-01

This 10 week longitudinal evaluation study evaluated a brain-based learning curriculum proposed by Smilkstein (2003) by comparing student performance in a traditional basic writing curriculum with NHLP-oriented basic writing curriculum. The study included two classes each of experimental and traditional methods. Results of the data, gathered by…

"A Desire for Growth": Online Full-Time Faculty's Perceptions of Evaluation Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeCosta, Meredith; Bergquist, Emily; Holbeck, Rick

2015-01-01

Post-secondary educational institutions use various means to evaluate the teaching performance of faculty members. There are benefits to effective faculty evaluation, including advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as improving the functionality and innovation of courses, curriculum, departments, and ultimately the broader…

Evaluation of background parenchymal enhancement on breast MRI: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Signori, Alessio; Valdora, Francesca; Rossi, Federica; Calabrese, Massimo; Durando, Manuela; Mariscotto, Giovanna; Tagliafico, Alberto

2017-01-01

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the methods used for background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) evaluation on breast MRI. Methods: Studies dealing with BPE assessment on breast MRI were retrieved from major medical libraries independently by four reviewers up to 6 October 2015. The keywords used for database searching are “background parenchymal enhancement”, “parenchymal enhancement”, “MRI” and “breast”. The studies were included if qualitative and/or quantitative methods for BPE assessment were described. Results: Of the 420 studies identified, a total of 52 articles were included in the systematic review. 28 studies performed only a qualitative assessment of BPE, 13 studies performed only a quantitative assessment and 11 studies performed both qualitative and quantitative assessments. A wide heterogeneity was found in the MRI sequences and in the quantitative methods used for BPE assessment. Conclusion: A wide variability exists in the quantitative evaluation of BPE on breast MRI. More studies focused on a reliable and comparable method for quantitative BPE assessment are needed. Advances in knowledge: More studies focused on a quantitative BPE assessment are needed. PMID:27925480

Advanced laparoscopic bariatric surgery Is safe in general surgery training.

PubMed

Kuckelman, John; Bingham, Jason; Barron, Morgan; Lallemand, Michael; Martin, Matthew; Sohn, Vance

2017-05-01

Bariatric surgery makes up an increasing percentage of general surgery training. The safety of resident involvement in these complex cases has been questioned. We evaluated patient outcomes in resident performed laparoscopic bariatric procedures. Retrospective review of patients undergoing a laparoscopic bariatric procedure over seven years at a tertiary care single center. Procedures were primarily performed by a general surgery resident and proctored by an attending surgeon. Primary outcomes included operative volume, operative time and leak rate with perioperative outcomes evaluated as secondary outcomes. A total of 1649 bariatric procedures were evaluated. Operations included laparoscopic bypass (690) and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (959). Average operating time was 136 min. Eighteen leaks (0.67%) were identified. Graduating residents performed an average of 89 laparoscopic bariatric cases during their training. There were no significant differences between resident levels with concern to operative time or leak rate (p 0.97 and p = 0.54). General surgery residents can safely perform laparoscopic bariatric surgery. When proctored by a staff surgeon, a resident's level of training does not significantly impact leak rate. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Use MACES IVA Suit for EVA Mobility Evaluations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, Richard D.

2014-01-01

The use of an Intra-Vehicular Activity (IVA) suit for a spacewalk or Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) was evaluated for mobility and usability in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) environment. The Space Shuttle Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) has been modified (MACES) to integrate with the Orion spacecraft. The first several missions of the Orion MPCV spacecraft will not have mass available to carry an EVA specific suit so any EVA required will have to be performed by the MACES. Since the MACES was not designed with EVA in mind, it was unknown what mobility the suit would be able to provide for an EVA or if a person could perform useful tasks for an extended time inside the pressurized suit. The suit was evaluated in multiple NBL runs by a variety of subjects including crewmembers with significant EVA experience. Various functional mobility tasks performed included: translation, body positioning, carrying tools, body stabilization, equipment handling, and use of tools. Hardware configurations included with and without TMG, suit with IVA gloves and suit with EVA gloves. Most tasks were completed on ISS mockups with existing EVA tools. Some limited tasks were completed with prototype tools on a simulated rocky surface. Major findings include: demonstration of the ability to weigh-out the suit, understanding the need to have subjects perform multiple runs prior to getting feedback, determination of critical sizing factors, and need for adjustment of suit work envelop. The early testing has demonstrated the feasibility of EVA's limited duration and limited scope. Further testing is required with more flight like tasking and constraints to validate these early results. If the suit is used for EVA, it will require mission specific modifications for umbilical management or PLSS integration, safety tether attachment, and tool interfaces. These evaluations are continuing through calendar year 2014.

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix G.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors : contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive : alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor ...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix F.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix E.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix D.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix B.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-02-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix C.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

A Prospective Evaluation of Duplex Ultrasound for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in High-Performance Musicians Playing Bowed String Instruments

PubMed Central

Adam, Garret; Wang, Kevin; Demaree, Christopher J.; Jiang, Jenny S.; Cheung, Mathew; Bechara, Carlos F.

2018-01-01

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a neurovascular condition involving the upper extremity, which is known to occur in individuals who perform chronic repetitive upper extremity activities. We prospectively evaluate the incidence of TOS in high-performance musicians who played bowed string musicians. Sixty-four high-performance string instrument musicians from orchestras and professional musical bands were included in the study. Fifty-two healthy volunteers formed an age-matched control group. Bilateral upper extremity duplex scanning for subclavian vessel compression was performed in all subjects. Provocative maneuvers including Elevated Arm Stress Test (EAST) and Upper Limb Tension Test (ULTT) were performed. Abnormal ultrasound finding is defined by greater than 50% subclavian vessel compression with arm abduction, diminished venous waveforms, or arterial photoplethysmography (PPG) tracing with arm abduction. Bowed string instruments performed by musicians in our study included violin (41%), viola (33%), and cello (27%). Positive EAST or ULTT test in the musician group and control group were 44%, and 3%, respectively (p = 0.03). Abnormal ultrasound scan with vascular compression was detected in 69% of musicians, in contrast to 15% of control subjects (p = 0.03). TOS is a common phenomenon among high-performance bowed string instrumentalists. Musicians who perform bowed string instruments should be aware of this condition and its associated musculoskeletal symptoms. PMID:29370085

Key Performance Indicators in the Evaluation of the Quality of Radiation Safety Programs.

PubMed

Schultz, Cheryl Culver; Shaffer, Sheila; Fink-Bennett, Darlene; Winokur, Kay

2016-08-01

Beaumont is a multiple hospital health care system with a centralized radiation safety department. The health system operates under a broad scope Nuclear Regulatory Commission license but also maintains several other limited use NRC licenses in off-site facilities and clinics. The hospital-based program is expansive including diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine (molecular imaging), interventional radiology, a comprehensive cardiovascular program, multiple forms of radiation therapy (low dose rate brachytherapy, high dose rate brachytherapy, external beam radiotherapy, and gamma knife), and the Research Institute (including basic bench top, human and animal). Each year, in the annual report, data is analyzed and then tracked and trended. While any summary report will, by nature, include items such as the number of pieces of equipment, inspections performed, staff monitored and educated and other similar parameters, not all include an objective review of the quality and effectiveness of the program. Through objective numerical data Beaumont adopted seven key performance indicators. The assertion made is that key performance indicators can be used to establish benchmarks for evaluation and comparison of the effectiveness and quality of radiation safety programs. Based on over a decade of data collection, and adoption of key performance indicators, this paper demonstrates one way to establish objective benchmarking for radiation safety programs in the health care environment.

EVA Development and Verification Testing at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jairala, Juniper; Durkin, Robert

2012-01-01

As an early step in preparing for future EVAs, astronauts perform neutral buoyancy testing to develop and verify EVA hardware and operations. To date, neutral buoyancy demonstrations at NASA JSC’s Sonny Carter Training Facility have primarily evaluated assembly and maintenance tasks associated with several elements of the ISS. With the retirement of the Space Shuttle, completion of ISS assembly, and introduction of commercial participants for human transportation into space, evaluations at the NBL will take on a new focus. In this session, Juniper Jairala briefly discussed the design of the NBL and, in more detail, described the requirements and process for performing a neutral buoyancy test, including typical hardware and support equipment requirements, personnel and administrative resource requirements, examples of ISS systems and operations that are evaluated, and typical operational objectives that are evaluated. Robert Durkin discussed the new and potential types of uses for the NBL, including those by non-NASA external customers.

EVA Development and Verification Testing at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jairala, Juniper; Durkin, Robert

2012-01-01

As an early step in preparing for future EVAs, astronauts perform neutral buoyancy testing to develop and verify EVA hardware and operations. To date, neutral buoyancy demonstrations at NASA JSC's Sonny Carter Training Facility have primarily evaluated assembly and maintenance tasks associated with several elements of the ISS. With the retirement of the Space Shuttle, completion of ISS assembly, and introduction of commercial participants for human transportation into space, evaluations at the NBL will take on a new focus. In this session, Juniper Jairala briefly discussed the design of the NBL and, in more detail, described the requirements and process for performing a neutral buoyancy test, including typical hardware and support equipment requirements, personnel and administrative resource requirements, examples of ISS systems and operations that are evaluated, and typical operational objectives that are evaluated. Robert Durkin discussed the new and potential types of uses for the NBL, including those by non-NASA external customers.

Prediction of Muscle Performance During Dynamic Repetitive Exercise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byerly, D. L.; Byerly, K. A.; Sognier, M. A.; Squires, W. G.

2002-01-01

A method for predicting human muscle performance was developed. Eight test subjects performed a repetitive dynamic exercise to failure using a Lordex spinal machine. Electromyography (EMG) data was collected from the erector spinae. Evaluation of the EMG data using a 5th order Autoregressive (AR) model and statistical regression analysis revealed that an AR parameter, the mean average magnitude of AR poles, can predict performance to failure as early as the second repetition of the exercise. Potential applications to the space program include evaluating on-orbit countermeasure effectiveness, maximizing post-flight recovery, and future real-time monitoring capability during Extravehicular Activity.

Multidimensional assessment of homework: an analysis of students with ADHD.

PubMed

Mautone, Jennifer A; Marshall, Stephen A; Costigan, Tracy E; Clarke, Angela T; Power, Thomas J

2012-10-01

Homework can have beneficial effects for students; however, it presents challenges, particularly for students with attention problems. Although effective homework interventions exist, intervention development and evaluation has been hampered by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the construct validity of the Homework Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), Parent and Teacher Versions, in a sample of children with ADHD. A secondary purpose was to examine variations in homework performance as a function of individual characteristics, such as academic achievement, quality of the family-school relationship, and child's diagnostic status. The sample included 91 children (34% female) with ADHD in Grades 2 to 6. Measures included parent and teacher ratings of homework performance and the quality of the parent-teacher relationship as well as direct assessment of child academic achievement and homework performance (i.e., samples of completed assignments). Correlational analyses were used to examine construct validity, and ANOVAs were used to evaluate group differences. Each factor of the HPQ had a significant relationship with other measures of relevant constructs. There were no significant differences in homework performance between groups for ADHD subtype, medication status, or comorbidity, with the exception of learning disability. Children with ADHD and learning disabilities had significantly lower teacher ratings of academic competence. Results of the present study suggest that HPQ scores may be used to make valid inferences about the homework performance of children with attention problems. These rating scales may be helpful in progress monitoring and evaluating intervention effectiveness.

Development, fabrication and evaluation of composite thermal engine insulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

Foil enclosure configurations of 10 variations were fabricated and evaluated. A discussion of the thermal protection system panel design includes: (1) description of 3DSX/foil concept, (2) design environment, (3) material selection, (4) fabrication enclosure, (5) structural design, (6) thermal sizing, and (7) weight analysis. The structural design study includes foil evaluation, venting pressure loads, thermomechanical behavior, and enclosure venting (burst) pressure tests. Results of experimental demonstrations of performance and reuse capabilities are given for both thermal and acoustic testing.

NASA TEERM Hexavalent Chrome Alternatives Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rothgeb, Matt

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the NASA/DOD projects to select an alternative to hexavalent chrome in the aerospace industry. The Phase I process of the project performed: (1) Evaluation and testing of non-chromated coating systems as replacements for hexavalent chrome coatings in aircraft and aerospace applications. (2) Testing of coating systems to DoD and NASA specifications for corrosion resistance and adhesion. (3) Bare corrosion resistance and atmospheric exposure will be focus areas of Phase II Testing. The description includes a chart that summarizes the 3000 hour salt fog test results. The second phase of the project includes (1) Evaluation and testing of coating systems that do not contain hexavalent chrome as replacements for aerospace applications. (2) Evaluation of coatings at Beach Test Site and Launch Complex 39B (3) Evaluation of non-chrome coatings for electronic housings (bare corrosion resistance and electrical impedance) is a part of this round of testing. This project was performed for the Technology Evaluation for Environmental Risk Mitigation (TEERM)

Development and Evaluation of a Sandia Cooler-based Refrigerator Condenser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Terry A.; Kariya, Harumichi Arthur; Leick, Michael T.

This report describes the first design of a refrigerator condenser using the Sandia Cooler, i.e. air - bearing supported rotating heat - sink impeller. The project included ba seline performance testing of a residential refrigerator, analysis and design development of a Sandia Cooler condenser assembly including a spiral channel baseplate, and performance measurement and validation of this condenser system as incorporated into the residential refrigerator. Comparable performance was achieved in a 60% smaller volume package. The improved modeling parameters can now be used to guide more optimized designs and more accurately predict performance.

75 FR 28667 - Market Structure Roundtable

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-21

... views of investors, issuers, exchanges, alternative trading systems, financial services firms, high... roundtable will focus on market structure performance, including the events of May 6, metrics for evaluating market structure performance, high frequency trading, and undisplayed liquidity. The roundtable...

5 CFR 1330.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system means the policies, practices, and procedures an agency... authority, for planning, monitoring, developing, evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as defined at § 430.203 and performance management...

Configuration study for a 30 GHz monolithic receive array, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nester, W. H.; Cleaveland, B.; Edward, B.; Gotkis, S.; Hesserbacker, G.; Loh, J.; Mitchell, B.

1984-01-01

Gregorian, Cassegrain, and single reflector systems were analyzed in configuration studies for communications satellite receive antennas. Parametric design and performance curves were generated. A preliminary design of each reflector/feed system was derived including radiating elements, beam-former network, beamsteering system, and MMIC module architecture. Performance estimates and component requirements were developed for each design. A recommended design was selected for both the scanning beam and the fixed beam case. Detailed design and performance analysis results are presented for the selected Cassegrain configurations. The final design point is characterized in detail and performance measures evaluated in terms of gain, sidelobe level, noise figure, carrier-to-interference ratio, prime power, and beamsteering. The effects of mutual coupling and excitation errors (including phase and amplitude quantization errors) are evaluated. Mechanical assembly drawings are given for the final design point. Thermal design requirements are addressed in the mechanical design.

A simplified flight-test method for determining aircraft takeoff performance that includes effects of pilot technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larson, T. J.; Schweikhard, W. G.

1974-01-01

A method for evaluating aircraft takeoff performance from brake release to air-phase height that requires fewer tests than conventionally required is evaluated with data for the XB-70 airplane. The method defines the effects of pilot technique on takeoff performance quantitatively, including the decrease in acceleration from drag due to lift. For a given takeoff weight and throttle setting, a single takeoff provides enough data to establish a standardizing relationship for the distance from brake release to any point where velocity is appropriate to rotation. The lower rotation rates penalized takeoff performance in terms of ground roll distance; the lowest observed rotation rate required a ground roll distance that was 19 percent longer than the highest. Rotations at the minimum rate also resulted in lift-off velocities that were approximately 5 knots lower than the highest rotation rate at any given lift-off distance.

User manual of the CATSS system (version 1.0) communication analysis tool for space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsang, C. S.; Su, Y. T.; Lindsey, W. C.

1983-01-01

The Communication Analysis Tool for the Space Station (CATSS) is a FORTRAN language software package capable of predicting the communications links performance for the Space Station (SS) communication and tracking (C & T) system. An interactive software package was currently developed to run on the DEC/VAX computers. The CATSS models and evaluates the various C & T links of the SS, which includes the modulation schemes such as Binary-Phase-Shift-Keying (BPSK), BPSK with Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (PN/BPSK), and M-ary Frequency-Shift-Keying with Frequency Hopping (FH/MFSK). Optical Space Communication link is also included. CATSS is a C & T system engineering tool used to predict and analyze the system performance for different link environment. Identification of system weaknesses is achieved through evaluation of performance with varying system parameters. System tradeoff for different values of system parameters are made based on the performance prediction.

EVALUATION OF REGISTRATION, COMPRESSION AND CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHMS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jayroe, R. R.

1994-01-01

Several types of algorithms are generally used to process digital imagery such as Landsat data. The most commonly used algorithms perform the task of registration, compression, and classification. Because there are different techniques available for performing registration, compression, and classification, imagery data users need a rationale for selecting a particular approach to meet their particular needs. This collection of registration, compression, and classification algorithms was developed so that different approaches could be evaluated and the best approach for a particular application determined. Routines are included for six registration algorithms, six compression algorithms, and two classification algorithms. The package also includes routines for evaluating the effects of processing on the image data. This collection of routines should be useful to anyone using or developing image processing software. Registration of image data involves the geometrical alteration of the imagery. Registration routines available in the evaluation package include image magnification, mapping functions, partitioning, map overlay, and data interpolation. The compression of image data involves reducing the volume of data needed for a given image. Compression routines available in the package include adaptive differential pulse code modulation, two-dimensional transforms, clustering, vector reduction, and picture segmentation. Classification of image data involves analyzing the uncompressed or compressed image data to produce inventories and maps of areas of similar spectral properties within a scene. The classification routines available include a sequential linear technique and a maximum likelihood technique. The choice of the appropriate evaluation criteria is quite important in evaluating the image processing functions. The user is therefore given a choice of evaluation criteria with which to investigate the available image processing functions. All of the available evaluation criteria basically compare the observed results with the expected results. For the image reconstruction processes of registration and compression, the expected results are usually the original data or some selected characteristics of the original data. For classification processes the expected result is the ground truth of the scene. Thus, the comparison process consists of determining what changes occur in processing, where the changes occur, how much change occurs, and the amplitude of the change. The package includes evaluation routines for performing such comparisons as average uncertainty, average information transfer, chi-square statistics, multidimensional histograms, and computation of contingency matrices. This collection of routines is written in FORTRAN IV for batch execution and has been implemented on an IBM 360 computer with a central memory requirement of approximately 662K of 8 bit bytes. This collection of image processing and evaluation routines was developed in 1979.

Solar Energy system performance evaluation: El Toro, California, March 1981-November 1981

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pakkala, P.A.

The El Toro Library is a public library facility in California with an active solar energy system designed to supply 97% of the heating load and 60% of the cooling load. The system is equipped with 1427 square feet of evacuated tube collectors, a 1500-gallon steel storage tank, and an auxiliary natural-gas-fired heating unit. During the period from March 1981 through November 1981 the system supplied only 16% of the space cooling load, far short of the 60% design value. Problems are reported related to control of a valve and of collection, low absorption chiller coefficient of performance during partmore » of the period, and small collector area. Performance data are reported for the system, including solar savings ratio, conventional fuel savings, system performance factor, system coefficient of performance, solar energy utilization, and system operation. Subsystem performance data are also given for the collector, storage, and space cooling subsystems and absorption chiller. The system is briefly described along with performance evaluation techniques and sensors, and typical data are presented for one month. Some weather data are also included. (LEW)« less

78 FR 46779 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-69; Introduction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-01

... Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81). Expanding the definition to include responding to a...) This rule amends FAR part 42 to provide Governmentwide standardized past performance evaluation factors and performance ratings, and to require all past performance information be entered into the...

42 CFR 457.710 - State plan requirements: Strategic objectives and performance goals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

.... The State's strategic objectives, performance goals and performance measures must include a common... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false State plan requirements: Strategic objectives and...) ALLOTMENTS AND GRANTS TO STATES Strategic Planning, Reporting, and Evaluation § 457.710 State plan...

The need for psycho-oncological support for melanoma patients: Central role of patients' self-evaluation.

PubMed

Mayer, Simone; Teufel, Martin; Schaeffeler, Norbert; Keim, Ulrike; Garbe, Claus; Eigentler, Thomas Kurt; Zipfel, Stephan; Forschner, Andrea

2017-09-01

Despite an increasing number of promising treatment options, only a limited number of studies concerning melanoma patients' psycho-oncological distress have been carried out. However, multiple screening tools are in use to assess the need for psycho-oncological support. This study aimed first to identify parameters in melanoma patients that are associated with a higher risk for being psycho-oncologically distressed and second to compare patients' self-evaluation concerning the need for psycho-oncological support with the results of established screening tools.We performed a cross-sectional study including 254 melanoma patients from the Center for Dermatooncology at the University of Tuebingen. The study was performed between June 2010 and February 2013. Several screening instruments were included: the Distress Thermometer (DT), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the patients' subjective evaluation concerning psycho-oncological support. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors that indicate the need for psycho-oncological support.Patients' subjective evaluation concerning the need for psycho-oncological support, female gender, and psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment at present or in the past had the highest impact on values above threshold in the DT. The odds ratio of patients' self-evaluation (9.89) was even higher than somatic factors like female gender (1.85), duration of illness (0.99), or increasing age (0.97). Patients' self-evaluation concerning the need for psycho-oncological support indicated a moderate correlation with the results of the screening tools included.In addition to the results obtained by screening tools like the DT, we could demonstrate that patients' self-evaluation is an important instrument to identify patients who need psycho-oncological support.

Procedures for evaluating corrosion-inhibiting admixtures for structural concrete

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-06-01

The objectives of this research were to (1) develop procedures for evaluating and qualifying corrosion-inhibiting admixtures (CIAs) and (2) recommend performance criteria for their acceptance. Phase I work included a literature review of CIAs, the re...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix A, part 1.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix A, part 3.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress : appendix A, part 2.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-02

An evaluation of cores sampled from six concrete pavements was performed. Factors contributing to pavement distress observed in the field were determined, including expansive alkali-silica reactivity and freeze-thaw deterioration related to poor entr...

A computer program for condensing heat exchanger performance in the presence of noncondensable gases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yendler, Boris

1994-01-01

A computer model has been developed which evaluates the performance of a heat exchanger. This model is general enough to be used to evaluate many heat exchanger geometries and a number of different operating conditions. The film approach is used to describe condensation in the presence of noncondensables. The model is also easily expanded to include other effects like fog formation or suction.

System Development and Evaluation Technology: State of the Art of Manned System Measurement

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-02-01

considered " applicable to the assessment of training effectiveness. They include the classic *-: Solomon four - group design; iterative adaptation to...evaluate the performance of infantrymen using small arms weapons (Klein, 1969) were grouped into four areas for purposes of thisevauaton:accuracy...developed for i four naval ratings. This checklist was a detailed comprehensive checklist of the * tasks performed in that rating. For this study

A Look at How Agencies Can Utilize Outcome and Performance Data To Enhance Service Delivery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Resources for Welfare Decisions, 2002

2002-01-01

This issue focuses on a variety of performance measurement and outcome data resources as they relate to evaluating service delivery performance in areas that include employment (welfare-to-work and performance bonuses for work participation) and child welfare, as well as some general Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program areas. It also…

Anchorage School District Profile of Performance, 1998-1999. Assessment and Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Ray

The "Profile of Performance" is the Anchorage School District, Alaska, report card to the School Board and community on academic achievement. Part 1 of the report provides a summary of performance across the entire district on a variety of indicators of achievement. It includes an overview of district performance and an examination of…

Battery testing at Argonne National Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deluca, W. H.; Gillie, K. R.; Kulaga, J. E.; Smaga, J. A.; Tummillo, A. F.; Webster, C. E.

1993-03-01

Argonne National Laboratory's Analysis & Diagnostic Laboratory (ADL) tests advanced batteries under simulated electric and hybrid vehicle operating conditions. The ADL facilities also include a post-test analysis laboratory to determine, in a protected atmosphere if needed, component compositional changes and failure mechanisms. The ADL provides a common basis for battery performance characterization and life evaluations with unbiased application of tests and analyses. The battery evaluations and post-test examinations help identify factors that limit system performance and life and the most-promising R&D approaches for overcoming these limitations. Since 1991, performance characterizations and/or life evaluations have been conducted on eight battery technologies: Na/S, Li/S, Zn/Br, Ni/MH, Ni/Zn, Ni/Cd, Ni/Fe, and lead-acid. These evaluations were performed for the Department of Energy's. Office of Transportation Technologies, Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division (DOE/OTT/EHP), and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Transportation Program. The results obtained are discussed.

Design and evaluation of a hybrid storage system in HEP environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Qi; Cheng, Yaodong; Chen, Gang

2017-10-01

Nowadays, the High Energy Physics experiments produce a large amount of data. These data are stored in mass storage systems which need to balance the cost, performance and manageability. In this paper, a hybrid storage system including SSDs (Solid-state Drive) and HDDs (Hard Disk Drive) is designed to accelerate data analysis and maintain a low cost. The performance of accessing files is a decisive factor for the HEP computing system. A new deployment model of Hybrid Storage System in High Energy Physics is proposed which is proved to have higher I/O performance. The detailed evaluation methods and the evaluations about SSD/HDD ratio, and the size of the logic block are also given. In all evaluations, sequential-read, sequential-write, random-read and random-write are all tested to get the comprehensive results. The results show the Hybrid Storage System has good performance in some fields such as accessing big files in HEP.

Nonparametric EROC analysis for observer performance evaluation on joint detection and estimation tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderlich, Adam; Goossens, Bart

2014-03-01

The majority of the literature on task-based image quality assessment has focused on lesion detection tasks, using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, or related variants, to measure performance. However, since many clinical image evaluation tasks involve both detection and estimation (e.g., estimation of kidney stone composition, estimation of tumor size), there is a growing interest in performance evaluation for joint detection and estimation tasks. To evaluate observer performance on such tasks, Clarkson introduced the estimation ROC (EROC) curve, and the area under the EROC curve as a summary figure of merit. In the present work, we propose nonparametric estimators for practical EROC analysis from experimental data, including estimators for the area under the EROC curve and its variance. The estimators are illustrated with a practical example comparing MRI images reconstructed from different k-space sampling trajectories.

A framework for evaluating the formation, implementation, and performance of accountable care organizations.

PubMed

Fisher, Elliott S; Shortell, Stephen M; Kreindler, Sara A; Van Citters, Aricca D; Larson, Bridget K

2012-11-01

The implementation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), a new health care payment and delivery model designed to improve care and lower costs, is proceeding rapidly. We build on our experience tracking early ACOs to identify the major factors-such as contract characteristics; structure, capabilities, and activities; and local context-that would be likely to influence ACO formation, implementation, and performance. We then propose how an ACO evaluation program could be structured to guide policy makers and payers in improving the design of ACO contracts, while providing insights for providers on approaches to care transformation that are most likely to be successful in different contexts. We also propose key activities to support evaluation of ACOs in the near term, including tracking their formation, developing a set of performance measures across all ACOs and payers, aggregating those performance data, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, and coordinating different evaluation activities.

Evaluation of the infrared test method for the olympus thermal balance tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donato, M.; Stpierre, D.; Green, J.; Reeves, M.

1986-01-01

The performance of the infrared (IR) rig used for the thermal balance testing of the Olympus S/C thermal model is discussed. Included in this evaluation are the rig effects themselves, the IRFLUX computer code used to predict the radiation inputs, the Monitored Background Radiometers (MBR's) developed to measure the absorbed radiation flux intensity, the Uniform Temperature Reference (UTR) based temperature measurement system and the data acquisition system. A preliminary set of verification tests were performed on a 1 m x 1 m zone to assess the performance of the IR lamps, calrods, MBR's and aluminized baffles. The results were used, in part, to obtain some empirical data required for the IRFLUX code. This data included lamp and calrod characteristics, the absorptance function for various surface types, and the baffle reflectivities.

The scope of costs in alcohol studies: Cost-of-illness studies differ from economic evaluations.

PubMed

van Gils, Paul F; Hamberg-van Reenen, Heleen H; van den Berg, Matthijs; Tariq, Luqman; de Wit, G Ardine

2010-07-06

Alcohol abuse results in problems on various levels in society. In terms of health, alcohol abuse is not only an important risk factor for chronic disease, but it is also related to injuries. Social harms which can be related to drinking include interpersonal problems, work problems, violent and other crimes. The scope of societal costs related to alcohol abuse in principle should be the same for both economic evaluations and cost-of-illness studies. In general, economic evaluations report a small part of all societal costs. To determine the cost- effectiveness of an intervention it is necessary that all costs and benefits are included. The purpose of this study is to describe and quantify the difference in societal costs incorporated in economic evaluations and cost-of-illness studies on alcohol abuse. To investigate the economic costs attributable to alcohol in cost-of-illness studies we used the results of a recent systematic review (June 2009). We performed a PubMed search to identify economic evaluations on alcohol interventions. Only economic evaluations in which two or more interventions were compared from a societal perspective were included. The proportion of health care costs and the proportion of societal costs were estimated in both type of studies. The proportion of healthcare costs in cost-of-illness studies was 17% and the proportion of societal costs 83%. In economic evaluations, the proportion of healthcare costs was 57%, and the proportion of societal costs was 43%. The costs included in economic evaluations performed from a societal perspective do not correspond with those included in cost-of-illness studies. Economic evaluations on alcohol abuse underreport true societal cost of alcohol abuse. When considering implementation of alcohol abuse interventions, policy makers should take into account that economic evaluations from the societal perspective might underestimate the total effects and costs of interventions.

Esophageal abnormalities in gastroesophageal reflux disease.

PubMed

Levine, Marc S; Carucci, Laura R

2018-06-01

Fluoroscopic esophagography is a widely available, safe, and inexpensive test for detecting gastroesophageal reflux disease. In this article, we review the technique for performing a high-quality esophagram, including upright, double-contrast views of the esophagus and cardia with high-density barium; prone, single-contrast views of the esophagus with low-density barium; and evaluation of gastroesophageal reflux. We then discuss the radiographic findings associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease, including esophageal dysmotility, reflux esophagitis, peptic strictures, and Barrett's esophagus. Finally, we consider the differential diagnosis for the various radiographic findings associated with this condition. When carefully performed and interpreted, the esophagram is a useful test for evaluating gastroesophageal reflux disease and its complications.

Collection, processing and dissemination of data for the national solar demonstration program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Day, R. E.; Murphy, L. J.; Smok, J. T.

1978-01-01

A national solar data system developed for the DOE by IBM provides for automatic gathering, conversion, transfer, and analysis of demonstration site data. NASA requirements for this system include providing solar site hardware, engineering, data collection, and analysis. The specific tasks include: (1) solar energy system design/integration; (2) developing a site data acquisition subsystem; (3) developing a central data processing system; (4) operating the test facility at Marshall Space Flight Center; (5) collecting and analyzing data. The systematic analysis and evaluation of the data from the National Solar Data System is reflected in a monthly performance report and a solar energy system performance evaluation report.

Evaluating Administrators with Portfolios: Principals Report Mostly Positive Experiences when Used as Part of a Performance Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Alexander

2004-01-01

Simple checklists, one-shot interviews, brief site visits and narrative evaluations remain widespread as the tools of assessment. In many school districts, the evaluation includes little or no face-to-face contact, and the principal simply gets his or her evaluation in the mail, leading one researcher to describe them as "infrequent, late,…

Evaluation of impairment of the upper extremity.

PubMed

Blair, S J; McCormick, E; Bear-Lehman, J; Fess, E E; Rader, E

1987-08-01

Evaluation of impairment of the upper extremity is the product of a team effort by the physician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and rehabilitation counselor. A careful recording of the anatomic impairment should be made because this is critical in determining the subsequent functional activities of the extremity. The measurement criteria for clinical and functional evaluation includes condition assessment instruments. Some assess the neurovascular system, others assess movements including the monitoring of articular motion and musculotendinous function. Sensibility assessment instruments measure sympathetic response and detect single joint stimulus, discrimination, quantification, and recognition abilities. A detailed description of each assessment is recorded and physical capacity evaluation is only one component of the entire vocational evaluation. This evaluation answers questions regarding the injured worker's ability to return to his previous job. The work simulator is a useful instrument that allows rehabilitation and testing of the injured upper extremity. Job site evaluation includes assessment criteria for work performance, work behavior, and work environment.

[Balanced scorecard for performance measurement of a nursing organization in a Korean hospital].

PubMed

Hong, Yoonmi; Hwang, Kyung Ja; Kim, Mi Ja; Park, Chang Gi

2008-02-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a balanced scorecard (BSC) for performance measurement of a Korean hospital nursing organization and to evaluate the validity and reliability of performance measurement indicators. Two hundred fifty-nine nurses in a Korean hospital participated in a survey questionnaire that included 29-item performance evaluation indicators developed by investigators of this study based on the Kaplan and Norton's BSC (1992). Cronbach's alpha was used to test the reliability of the BSC. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with a structure equation model (SEM) was applied to assess the construct validity of the BSC. Cronbach's alpha of 29 items was .948. Factor analysis of the BSC showed 5 principal components (eigen value >1.0) which explained 62.7% of the total variance, and it included a new one, community service. The SEM analysis results showed that 5 components were significant for the hospital BSC tool. High degree of reliability and validity of this BSC suggests that it may be used for performance measurements of a Korean hospital nursing organization. Future studies may consider including a balanced number of nurse managers and staff nurses in the study. Further data analysis on the relationships among factors is recommended.

Technical Evaluation Motor No. 10 (TEM-10)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Technical Evaluation Motor No. 10 (TEM-10) was static fired on 27 Apr. 1993 at the Thiokol Corporation full-scale motor static test bay, T-24. This final test report documents the procedures, performance, and results of the static test firing of TEM-10. All observations, discussions, conclusions, and recommendations contained are final. Included is a presentation and discussion of TEM-10 performance, anomalies, and test results in concurrence with the objectives outlined in CTP-0110, Revision D, Space Shuttle Technical Evaluation Motor No. 10 (TEM-10) Static Fire Test Plan.

Impact of Hybrid Delivery of Education on Student Academic Performance and the Student Experience

PubMed Central

Nutter, Douglas A.; Charneski, Lisa; Butko, Peter

2009-01-01

Objectives To compare student academic performance and the student experience in the first-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program between the main and newly opened satellite campuses of the University of Maryland. Methods Student performance indicators including graded assessments, course averages, cumulative first-year grade point average (GPA), and introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) evaluations were analyzed retrospectively. Student experience indicators were obtained via an online survey instrument and included involvement in student organizations; time-budgeting practices; and stress levels and their perceived effect on performance. Results Graded assessments, course averages, GPA, and IPPE evaluations were indistinguishable between campuses. Students' time allocation was not different between campuses, except for time spent attending class and watching lecture videos. There was no difference between students' stress levels at each campus. Conclusions The implementation of a satellite campus to expand pharmacy education yielded academic performance and student engagement comparable to those from traditional delivery methods. PMID:19960080

Teamwork Assessment Tools in Obstetric Emergencies: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Onwochei, Desire N; Halpern, Stephen; Balki, Mrinalini

2017-06-01

Team-based training and simulation can improve patient safety, by improving communication, decision making, and performance of team members. Currently, there is no general consensus on whether or not a specific assessment tool is better adapted to evaluate teamwork in obstetric emergencies. The purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to find the tools available to assess team effectiveness in obstetric emergencies. We searched Embase, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Google Scholar for prospective studies that evaluated nontechnical skills in multidisciplinary teams involving obstetric emergencies. The search included studies from 1944 until January 11, 2016. Data on reliability and validity measures were collected and used for interpretation. A descriptive analysis was performed on the data. Thirteen studies were included in the final qualitative synthesis. All the studies assessed teams in the context of obstetric simulation scenarios, but only six included anesthetists in the simulations. One study evaluated their teamwork tool using just validity measures, five using just reliability measures, and one used both. The most reliable tools identified were the Clinical Teamwork Scale, the Global Assessment of Obstetric Team Performance, and the Global Rating Scale of performance. However, they were still lacking in terms of quality and validity. More work needs to be conducted to establish the validity of teamwork tools for nontechnical skills, and the development of an ideal tool is warranted. Further studies are required to assess how outcomes, such as performance and patient safety, are influenced when using these tools.

MiBLSi Program Evaluation of Participatory Elementary Schools from 2003-2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Marvin

2012-01-01

This dissertation details the use of the Program Evaluations Metaevaluation Checklist (PEMC), Stufflebeam, 1999, which is for performing final, summative metaevaluations. It is organized according to the Joint Committee Program Evaluation Standards. For each of the 30 standards the checklist includes 6 checkpoints drawn from the substance of the…

77 FR 52318 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development; Study...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-29

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Planning, Evaluation and..., including technical assistance to improve the quality of evaluations and performance reporting; and how to.... Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 20202-4537. Copies of the proposed...

77 FR 52707 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development; Study...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-30

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Office of Planning, Evaluation and..., including technical assistance to improve the quality of evaluations and performance reporting; and how to.... Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, LBJ, Washington, DC 20202-4537. Copies of the proposed...

A Desire for Growth: Online Full-Time Faculty's Perceptions of Evaluation Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeCosta, Meredith; Bergquist, Emily; Holbeck, Rick; Greenberger, Scott

2016-01-01

College and universities evaluate the teaching performance of faculty members in a variety of ways. Benefits to effective faculty evaluation include advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as improving the functionality and innovation of courses, curriculum, departments, and ultimately the broader community (Boyer, 1990;…

Use of Accountability Indicators to Evaluate Elementary School Principal Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byun-Kitayama, Chiae

2012-01-01

Recently, the federal government has pressured states to add student growth data as a part of the evaluation system. State legislatures in New York and Colorado have passed legislation to revamp teacher and principal evaluation to include student growth data. Numerous researchers acknowledged the critical impact of school principals on student…

The Effects of Preexercise Caffeinated Coffee Ingestion on Endurance Performance: An Evidence-Based Review.

PubMed

Higgins, Simon; Straight, Chad R; Lewis, Richard D

2016-06-01

Endurance athletes commonly ingest caffeine as a means to enhance training intensity and competitive performance. A widely-used source of caffeine is coffee, however conflicting evidence exists regarding the efficacy of coffee in improving endurance performance. In this context, the aims of this evidence-based review were threefold: 1) to evaluate the effects of preexercise coffee on endurance performance, 2) to evaluate the effects of coffee on perceived exertion during endurance performance, and 3) to translate the research into usable information for athletes to make an informed decision regarding the intake of caffeine via coffee as a potential ergogenic aid. Searches of three major databases were performed using terms caffeine and coffee, or coffee-caffeine, and endurance, or aerobic. Included studies (n = 9) evaluated the effects of caffeinated coffee on human subjects, provided the caffeine dose administered, administered caffeine ≥ 45 min before testing, and included a measure of endurance performance (e.g., time trial). Significant improvements in endurance performance were observed in five of nine studies, which were on average 24.2% over controls for time to exhaustion trials, and 3.1% for time to completion trials. Three of six studies found that coffee reduced perceived exertion during performance measures significantly more than control conditions (p < .05). Based on the reviewed studies there is moderate evidence supporting the use of coffee as an ergogenic aid to improve performance in endurance cycling and running. Coffee providing 3-8.1 mg/kg (1.36-3.68 mg/lb) of caffeine may be used as a safe alternative to anhydrous caffeine to improve endurance performance.

Development of new methodologies for evaluating the energy performance of new commercial buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Suwon

The concept of Measurement and Verification (M&V) of a new building continues to become more important because efficient design alone is often not sufficient to deliver an efficient building. Simulation models that are calibrated to measured data can be used to evaluate the energy performance of new buildings if they are compared to energy baselines such as similar buildings, energy codes, and design standards. Unfortunately, there is a lack of detailed M&V methods and analysis methods to measure energy savings from new buildings that would have hypothetical energy baselines. Therefore, this study developed and demonstrated several new methodologies for evaluating the energy performance of new commercial buildings using a case-study building in Austin, Texas. First, three new M&V methods were developed to enhance the previous generic M&V framework for new buildings, including: (1) The development of a method to synthesize weather-normalized cooling energy use from a correlation of Motor Control Center (MCC) electricity use when chilled water use is unavailable, (2) The development of an improved method to analyze measured solar transmittance against incidence angle for sample glazing using different solar sensor types, including Eppley PSP and Li-Cor sensors, and (3) The development of an improved method to analyze chiller efficiency and operation at part-load conditions. Second, three new calibration methods were developed and analyzed, including: (1) A new percentile analysis added to the previous signature method for use with a DOE-2 calibration, (2) A new analysis to account for undocumented exhaust air in DOE-2 calibration, and (3) An analysis of the impact of synthesized direct normal solar radiation using the Erbs correlation on DOE-2 simulation. Third, an analysis of the actual energy savings compared to three different energy baselines was performed, including: (1) Energy Use Index (EUI) comparisons with sub-metered data, (2) New comparisons against Standards 90.1-1989 and 90.1-2001, and (3) A new evaluation of the performance of selected Energy Conservation Design Measures (ECDMs). Finally, potential energy savings were also simulated from selected improvements, including: minimum supply air flow, undocumented exhaust air, and daylighting.

Rule based design of conceptual models for formative evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.; Chang, Kai; Hale, Joseph P.; Bester, Terri; Rix, Thomas; Wang, Yaowen

1994-01-01

A Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Prototyping Environment with embedded evaluation capability has been investigated. This environment will be valuable in developing and refining HCI standards and evaluating program/project interface development, especially Space Station Freedom on-board displays for payload operations. This environment, which allows for rapid prototyping and evaluation of graphical interfaces, includes the following four components: (1) a HCI development tool; (2) a low fidelity simulator development tool; (3) a dynamic, interactive interface between the HCI and the simulator; and (4) an embedded evaluator that evaluates the adequacy of a HCI based on a user's performance. The embedded evaluation tool collects data while the user is interacting with the system and evaluates the adequacy of an interface based on a user's performance. This paper describes the design of conceptual models for the embedded evaluation system using a rule-based approach.

Rule based design of conceptual models for formative evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.; Chang, Kai; Hale, Joseph P.; Bester, Terri; Rix, Thomas; Wang, Yaowen

1994-01-01

A Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Prototyping Environment with embedded evaluation capability has been investigated. This environment will be valuable in developing and refining HCI standards and evaluating program/project interface development, especially Space Station Freedom on-board displays for payload operations. This environment, which allows for rapid prototyping and evaluation of graphical interfaces, includes the following four components: (1) a HCI development tool, (2) a low fidelity simulator development tool, (3) a dynamic, interactive interface between the HCI and the simulator, and (4) an embedded evaluator that evaluates the adequacy of a HCI based on a user's performance. The embedded evaluation tool collects data while the user is interacting with the system and evaluates the adequacy of an interface based on a user's performance. This paper describes the design of conceptual models for the embedded evaluation system using a rule-based approach.

Liquid cooled data center design selection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chainer, Timothy J.; Iyengar, Madhusudan K.; Parida, Pritish R.

Input data, specifying aspects of a thermal design of a liquid cooled data center, is obtained. The input data includes data indicative of ambient outdoor temperature for a location of the data center; and/or data representing workload power dissipation for the data center. The input data is evaluated to obtain performance of the data center thermal design. The performance includes cooling energy usage; and/or one pertinent temperature associated with the data center. The performance of the data center thermal design is output.

42 CFR 403.740 - Condition of participation: Staffing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...: Education, training, and performance evaluation. (1) The RNHCI must ensure that staff (including contractors and other individuals working under arrangement) have the necessary education and training concerning... to, training related to the individual job description, performance expectations, applicable...

Performance and cost effectiveness of permeable friction course (PFC) pavements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-02-01

In this project, the research team evaluated the performance of Permeable Friction Courses (PFC) over time and compared it against other types of wearing surface pavement layers. Several pavement sections including Asphalt Rubber (AR) PFCs, Performan...

SIMS prototype system 4 - performance test report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A self-contained, preassembled air type solar system, designed for installation remote from the dwelling, to provide space heating and hot water was evaluated. Data analysis is included which documents the system performance and verifies its suitability for field installation.

Effects of Heavy Vehicle Characteristics on Pavement Response and Performance---Phase II

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1991-12-31

The objective of this research was to analyze and evaluate the interaction between heavy vehicle characteristics and pavement performance for application in pavement management. Heavy vehicle (truck and bus) characteristics include tire types (bias p...

Roles and methods of performance evaluation of hospital academic leadership.

PubMed

Zhou, Ying; Yuan, Huikang; Li, Yang; Zhao, Xia; Yi, Lihua

2016-01-01

The rapidly advancing implementation of public hospital reform urgently requires the identification and classification of a pool of exceptional medical specialists, corresponding with incentives to attract and retain them, providing a nucleus of distinguished expertise to ensure public hospital preeminence. This paper examines the significance of academic leadership, from a strategic management perspective, including various tools, methods and mechanisms used in the theory and practice of performance evaluation, and employed in the selection, training and appointment of academic leaders. Objective methods of assessing leadership performance are also provided for reference.

Off-design performance analysis of MHD generator channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, D. R.; Williams, T. S.

1980-01-01

A computer code for performing parametric design point calculations, and evaluating the off-design performance of MHD generators has been developed. The program is capable of analyzing Faraday, Hall, and DCW channels, including the effect of electrical shorting in the gas boundary layers and coal slag layers. Direct integration of the electrode voltage drops is included. The program can be run in either the design or off-design mode. Details of the computer code, together with results of a study of the design and off-design performance of the proposed ETF MHD generator are presented. Design point variations of pre-heat and stoichiometry were analyzed. The off-design study included variations in mass flow rate and oxygen enrichment.

Performance Evaluation of 14 Neural Network Architectures Used for Predicting Heat Transfer Characteristics of Engine Oils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Ajmi, R. M.; Abou-Ziyan, H. Z.; Mahmoud, M. A.

2012-01-01

This paper reports the results of a comprehensive study that aimed at identifying best neural network architecture and parameters to predict subcooled boiling characteristics of engine oils. A total of 57 different neural networks (NNs) that were derived from 14 different NN architectures were evaluated for four different prediction cases. The NNs were trained on experimental datasets performed on five engine oils of different chemical compositions. The performance of each NN was evaluated using a rigorous statistical analysis as well as careful examination of smoothness of predicted boiling curves. One NN, out of the 57 evaluated, correctly predicted the boiling curves for all cases considered either for individual oils or for all oils taken together. It was found that the pattern selection and weight update techniques strongly affect the performance of the NNs. It was also revealed that the use of descriptive statistical analysis such as R2, mean error, standard deviation, and T and slope tests, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for evaluating NN performance. The performance criteria should also include inspection of the smoothness of the predicted curves either visually or by plotting the slopes of these curves.

On Applying the Prognostic Performance Metrics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saxena, Abhinav; Celaya, Jose; Saha, Bhaskar; Saha, Sankalita; Goebel, Kai

2009-01-01

Prognostics performance evaluation has gained significant attention in the past few years. As prognostics technology matures and more sophisticated methods for prognostic uncertainty management are developed, a standardized methodology for performance evaluation becomes extremely important to guide improvement efforts in a constructive manner. This paper is in continuation of previous efforts where several new evaluation metrics tailored for prognostics were introduced and were shown to effectively evaluate various algorithms as compared to other conventional metrics. Specifically, this paper presents a detailed discussion on how these metrics should be interpreted and used. Several shortcomings identified, while applying these metrics to a variety of real applications, are also summarized along with discussions that attempt to alleviate these problems. Further, these metrics have been enhanced to include the capability of incorporating probability distribution information from prognostic algorithms as opposed to evaluation based on point estimates only. Several methods have been suggested and guidelines have been provided to help choose one method over another based on probability distribution characteristics. These approaches also offer a convenient and intuitive visualization of algorithm performance with respect to some of these new metrics like prognostic horizon and alpha-lambda performance, and also quantify the corresponding performance while incorporating the uncertainty information.

Evaluation of Sc-Bearing Aluminum Alloy C557 for Aerospace Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Domack, Marcia S.; Dicus, Dennis L.

2002-01-01

The performance of the Al-Mg-Sc alloy C557 was evaluated to assess its potential for a broad range of aerospace applications, including airframe and launch vehicle structures. Of specific interest were mechanical properties at anticipated service temperatures and thermal stability of the alloy. Performance was compared with conventional airframe aluminum alloys and with other emerging aluminum alloys developed for specific service environments. Mechanical properties and metallurgical structure were evaluated for commercially rolled sheet in the as-received H116 condition and after thermal exposures at 107 C. Metallurgical analyses were performed to de.ne grain morphology and texture, strengthening precipitates, and to assess the effect of thermal exposure.

Finite difference methods for reducing numerical diffusion in TEACH-type calculations. [Teaching Elliptic Axisymmetric Characteristics Heuristically

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Syed, S. A.; Chiappetta, L. M.

1985-01-01

A methodological evaluation for two-finite differencing schemes for computer-aided gas turbine design is presented. The two computational schemes include; a Bounded Skewed Finite Differencing Scheme (BSUDS); and a Quadratic Upwind Differencing Scheme (QSDS). In the evaluation, the derivations of the schemes were incorporated into two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions of the Teaching Axisymmetric Characteristics Heuristically (TEACH) computer code. Assessments were made according to performance criteria for the solution of problems of turbulent, laminar, and coannular turbulent flow. The specific performance criteria used in the evaluation were simplicity, accuracy, and computational economy. It is found that the BSUDS scheme performed better with respect to the criteria than the QUDS. Some of the reasons for the more successful performance BSUDS are discussed.

A comprehensive health service evaluation and monitoring framework.

PubMed

Reeve, Carole; Humphreys, John; Wakerman, John

2015-12-01

To develop a framework for evaluating and monitoring a primary health care service, integrating hospital and community services. A targeted literature review of primary health service evaluation frameworks was performed to inform the development of the framework specifically for remote communities. Key principles underlying primary health care evaluation were determined and sentinel indicators developed to operationalise the evaluation framework. This framework was then validated with key stakeholders. The framework includes Donabedian's three seminal domains of structure, process and outcomes to determine health service performance. These in turn are dependent on sustainability, quality of patient care and the determinants of health to provide a comprehensive health service evaluation framework. The principles underpinning primary health service evaluation were pertinent to health services in remote contexts. Sentinel indicators were developed to fit the demographic characteristics and health needs of the population. Consultation with key stakeholders confirmed that the evaluation framework was applicable. Data collected routinely by health services can be used to operationalise the proposed health service evaluation framework. Use of an evaluation framework which links policy and health service performance to health outcomes will assist health services to improve performance as part of a continuous quality improvement cycle. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Statewide intelligent transportation systems earmark evaluation. Part B, final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-11-01

As a recipient of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Integration Program funds, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is required to perform a self-evaluation on each program supported by the funds. The report includes the results of that e...

Skylab mission report, second visit. [postflight analysis of engineering, experimentation, and medical aspects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

An evaluation is presented of the operational and engineering aspects of the second Skylab flight. Other areas described include: the performance of experimental hardware; the crew's evaluation of the flight; medical aspects; and hardware anomalies.

Quality of Care for PTSD and Depression in the Military Health System

DTIC Science & Technology

evaluate the receipt of recommended assessments and treatments. These measures draw on multiple data sources including administrative encounter data...services are effective in reducing symptoms. When comparing performance between 20122013 and 20132014, most measures demonstrated slight improvement ...in 20132014 for over 38,000 active-component service members with PTSD or depression. The assessment includes performance on 30 quality measures to

Evaluative-feedback stimuli selectively activate the self-related brain area: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Pan, Xiaohong; Hu, Yang; Li, Lei; Li, Jianqi

2009-11-06

Evaluative-feedback, occurring in our daily life, generally contains subjective appraisal of one's specific abilities and personality characteristics besides objective right-or-wrong information. Traditional psychological researches have proved it to be important in building up one's self-concept; however, the neural basis underlying its cognitive processing remains unclear. The present neuroimaging study revealed the mechanism of evaluative-feedback processing at the neural level. 19 healthy Chinese subjects participated in this experiment, and completed the time-estimation task to better their performance according to four types of feedback, namely positive evaluative- and performance-feedback as well as negative evaluative- and performance-feedback. Neuroimaging findings showed that evaluative- rather than performance-feedback can induce increased activities mainly distributed in the cortical midline structures (CMS), including medial prefrontal cortex (BA 8/9)/anterior cigulate cortex (ACC, BA 20), precuneus (BA 7/31) adjacent to posterior cingulate gyrus (PCC, BA 23) of both hemispheres, as well as right inferior lobule (BA 40). This phenomenon can provide evidence that evaluative-feedback may significantly elicit the self-related processing in our brain. In addition, our results also revealed that more brain areas, particularly some self-related neural substrates were activated by the positive evaluative-feedback, in comparative with the negative one. In sum, this study suggested that evaluative-feedback was closely correlated with the self-concept processing, which distinguished it from the performance-feedback.

Accurate monitoring leads to effective control and greater learning of patient education materials.

PubMed

Rawson, Katherine A; O'Neil, Rochelle; Dunlosky, John

2011-09-01

Effective management of chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes) can depend on the extent to which patients can learn and remember disease-relevant information. In two experiments, we explored a technique motivated by theories of self-regulated learning for improving people's learning of information relevant to managing a chronic disease. Materials were passages from patient education booklets on diabetes from NIDDK. Session 1 included an initial study trial, Session 2 included self-regulated restudy, and Session 3 included a final memory test. The key manipulation concerned the kind of support provided for self-regulated learning during Session 2. In Experiment 1, participants either were prompted to self-test and then evaluate their learning before selecting passages to restudy, were shown the prompt questions but did not overtly self-test or evaluate learning prior to selecting passages, or were not shown any prompts and were simply given the menu for selecting passages to restudy. Participants who self-tested and evaluated learning during Session 2 had a small but significant advantage over the other groups on the final test. Secondary analyses provided evidence that the performance advantage may have been modest because of inaccurate monitoring. Experiment 2 included a group who also self-tested but who evaluated their learning using idea-unit judgments (i.e., by checking their responses against a list of key ideas from the correct response). Participants who self-tested and made idea-unit judgments exhibited a sizable advantage on final test performance. Secondary analyses indicated that the performance advantage was attributable in part to more accurate monitoring and more effective self-regulated learning. An important practical implication is that learning of patient education materials can be enhanced by including appropriate support for learners' self-regulatory processes. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Improving Learner Handovers in Medical Education.

PubMed

Warm, Eric J; Englander, Robert; Pereira, Anne; Barach, Paul

2017-07-01

Multiple studies have demonstrated that the information included in the Medical Student Performance Evaluation fails to reliably predict medical students' future performance. This faulty transfer of information can lead to harm when poorly prepared students fail out of residency or, worse, are shuttled through the medical education system without an honest accounting of their performance. Such poor learner handovers likely arise from two root causes: (1) the absence of agreed-on outcomes of training and/or accepted assessments of those outcomes, and (2) the lack of standardized ways to communicate the results of those assessments. To improve the current learner handover situation, an authentic, shared mental model of competency is needed; high-quality tools to assess that competency must be developed and tested; and transparent, reliable, and safe ways to communicate this information must be created.To achieve these goals, the authors propose using a learner handover process modeled after a patient handover process. The CLASS model includes a description of the learner's Competency attainment, a summary of the Learner's performance, an Action list and statement of Situational awareness, and Synthesis by the receiving program. This model also includes coaching oriented towards improvement along the continuum of education and care. Just as studies have evaluated patient handover models using metrics that matter most to patients, studies must evaluate this learner handover model using metrics that matter most to providers, patients, and learners.

Aviation Engine Test Facilities (AETF) fire protection study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beller, R. C.; Burns, R. E.; Leonard, J. T.

1989-07-01

An analysis is presented to the effectiveness of various types of fire fighting agents in extinguishing the kinds of fires anticipated in Aviation Engine Test Facilities (AETF), otherwise known as Hush Houses. The agents considered include Aqueous Film-Forming Foam, Halon 1301, Halon 1211 and water. Previous test work has shown the rapidity with which aircraft, especially high performance aircraft, can be damaged by fire. Based on this, tentative criteria for this evaluation included a maximum time of 20 s from fire detection to extinguishment and a period of 30 min in which the agent would prevent reignition. Other issues examined included: toxicity, corrosivity, ease of personnel egress, system reliability, and cost effectiveness. The agents were evaluated for their performance in several fire scenarios, including: under frame fire, major engine fire, engine disintegration fire, high-volume pool fire with simultaneous spill fire, internal electrical fire, and runaway engine fire.

A numerical algorithm with preference statements to evaluate the performance of scientists.

PubMed

Ricker, Martin

Academic evaluation committees have been increasingly receptive for using the number of published indexed articles, as well as citations, to evaluate the performance of scientists. It is, however, impossible to develop a stand-alone, objective numerical algorithm for the evaluation of academic activities, because any evaluation necessarily includes subjective preference statements. In a market, the market prices represent preference statements, but scientists work largely in a non-market context. I propose a numerical algorithm that serves to determine the distribution of reward money in Mexico's evaluation system, which uses relative prices of scientific goods and services as input. The relative prices would be determined by an evaluation committee. In this way, large evaluation systems (like Mexico's Sistema Nacional de Investigadores ) could work semi-automatically, but not arbitrarily or superficially, to determine quantitatively the academic performance of scientists every few years. Data of 73 scientists from the Biology Institute of Mexico's National University are analyzed, and it is shown that the reward assignation and academic priorities depend heavily on those preferences. A maximum number of products or activities to be evaluated is recommended, to encourage quality over quantity.

FCS Technology Investigation Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Budinger, James; Gilbert, Tricia

2007-01-01

This working paper provides an overview of the Future Communication Study (FCS) technology investigation progress. It includes a description of the methodology applied to technology evaluation; evaluation criteria; and technology screening (down select) results. A comparison of screening results with other similar technology screening activities is provided. Additional information included in this working paper is a description of in-depth studies (including characterization of the L-band aeronautical channel; L-band deployment cost assessment; and performance assessments of candidate technologies in the applicable aeronautical channel) that have been conducted to support technology evaluations. The paper concludes with a description on-going activities leading to conclusion of the technology investigation and the development of technology recommendations.

Predicting Resident Performance from Preresidency Factors: A Systematic Review and Applicability to Neurosurgical Training.

PubMed

Zuckerman, Scott L; Kelly, Patrick D; Dewan, Michael C; Morone, Peter J; Yengo-Kahn, Aaron M; Magarik, Jordan A; Baticulon, Ronnie E; Zusman, Edie E; Solomon, Gary S; Wellons, John C

2018-02-01

Neurosurgical educators strive to identify the best applicants, yet formal study of resident selection has proved difficult. We conducted a systematic review to answer the following question: What objective and subjective preresidency factors predict resident success? PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, and the CINAHL databases were queried from 1952 to 2015 for literature reporting the impact of preresidency factors (PRFs) on outcomes of residency success (RS), among neurosurgery and all surgical subspecialties. Due to heterogeneity of specialties and outcomes, a qualitative summary and heat map of significant findings were constructed. From 1489 studies, 21 articles met inclusion criteria, which evaluated 1276 resident applicants across five surgical subspecialties. No neurosurgical studies met the inclusion criteria. Common objective PRFs included standardized testing (76%), medical school performance (48%), and Alpha Omega Alpha (43%). Common subjective PRFs included aggregate rank scores (57%), letters of recommendation (38%), research (33%), interviews (19%), and athletic or musical talent (19%). Outcomes of RS included faculty evaluations, in-training/board exams, chief resident status, and research productivity. Among objective factors, standardized test scores correlated well with in-training/board examinations but poorly correlated with faculty evaluations. Among subjective factors, aggregate rank scores, letters of recommendation, and athletic or musical talent demonstrated moderate correlation with faculty evaluations. Standardized testing most strongly correlated with future examination performance but correlated poorly with faculty evaluations. Moderate predictors of faculty evaluations were aggregate rank scores, letters of recommendation, and athletic or musical talent. The ability to predict success of neurosurgical residents using an evidence-based approach is limited, and few factors have correlated with future resident performance. Given the importance of recruitment to the greater field of neurosurgery, these data provide support for a national, prospective effort to improve the study of neurosurgery resident selection. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determining and Communicating the Value of the Special Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Joseph R.

2003-01-01

Discusses performance measures for libraries that will indicate the goodness of the library and its services. Highlights include a general evaluation model that includes input, process, output, and outcome measures; balanced scorecard approach that includes financial perspectives; focusing on strategy; strategies for change; user criteria for…

FBI fingerprint identification automation study. AIDS 3 evaluation report. Volume 4: Economic feasibility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mulhall, B. D. L.

1980-01-01

The results of the economic analysis of the AIDS 3 system design are presented. AIDS 3 evaluated a set of economic feasibility measures including life cycle cost, implementation cost, annual operating expenditures and annual capital expenditures. The economic feasibility of AIDS 3 was determined by comparing the evaluated measures with the same measures, where applicable, evaluated for the current system. A set of future work load scenarios was constructed using JPL's environmental evaluation study of the fingerprint identification system. AIDS 3 and the current system were evaluated for each of the economic feasibility measures for each of the work load scenarios. They were compared for a set of performance measures, including response time and accuracy, and for a set of cost/benefit ratios, including cost per transaction and cost per technical search. Benefit measures related to the economic feasibility of the system are also presented, including the required number of employees and the required employee skill mix.

Advanced blade tip seal system, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zelahy, J. W.; Fairbanks, N. P.

1982-01-01

The results of the endurance and performance engine tests conducted on monocrystal/abrasive-tipped CF6-50 Stage 1 HPT blades fabricated in Task VII of MATE Project 3 are presented. Two engine tests are conducted. The endurance engine test is conducted for 1000 C cycles. The performance engine test is conducted on a variable cycle core engine. Posttest evaluation and analyses of the blades and shrouds included visual, dimensional, and destructive evaluations.

Thermal performance evaluation of the infrared telescope dewar subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Urban, E. W.

1986-01-01

Thermal performance evaluations (TPE) were conducted with the superfluid helium dewar of the Infrared Telescope (IRT) experiment from November 1981 to August 1982. Test included measuring key operating parameters, simulating operations with an attached instrument cryostat and validating servicing, operating and safety procedures. Test activities and results are summarized. All objectives are satisfied except for those involving transfer of low pressure liquid helium (LHe) from a supply dewar into the dewar subsystem.

Affective Change at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute: Studies of Assessment and of Symbolic Racism

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-30

the symbolic racism research has directly assessed value attributions or measured their relation - ship to attitudes or behavior , which seems to be a...of attitude , evaluation, or emotion, while others involve the abil- ity to make complex Judgments, perform complex behaviors , or be characterized by a...adequate choice of the proper behavior to perform. Attitudes , values. Attitudes are evaluations of things, including people, objects, or behaviors

Conceptual Design Optimization of an Augmented Stability Aircraft Incorporating Dynamic Response Performance Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welstead, Jason

2014-01-01

This research focused on incorporating stability and control into a multidisciplinary de- sign optimization on a Boeing 737-class advanced concept called the D8.2b. A new method of evaluating the aircraft handling performance using quantitative evaluation of the sys- tem to disturbances, including perturbations, continuous turbulence, and discrete gusts, is presented. A multidisciplinary design optimization was performed using the D8.2b transport air- craft concept. The con guration was optimized for minimum fuel burn using a design range of 3,000 nautical miles. Optimization cases were run using xed tail volume coecients, static trim constraints, and static trim and dynamic response constraints. A Cessna 182T model was used to test the various dynamic analysis components, ensuring the analysis was behaving as expected. Results of the optimizations show that including stability and con- trol in the design process drastically alters the optimal design, indicating that stability and control should be included in conceptual design to avoid system level penalties later in the design process.

The development of an augmentor wing jet STOL research aircraft (modified C-8A). Volume 2: Analysis of contractor's flight test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skavdahl, H.; Patterson, D. H.

1972-01-01

The initial flight test phase of the modified C-8A airplane was conducted. The primary objective of the testing was to establish the basic airworthiness of the research vehicle. This included verification of the structural design and evaluation of the aircraft's systems. Only a minimum amount of performance testing was scheduled; this has been used to provide a preliminary indication of the airplane's performance and flight characteristics for future flight planning. The testing included flutter and loads investigations up to the maximum design speed. The operational characteristics of all systems were assessed including hydraulics, environmental control system, air ducts, the vectoring conical nozzles, and the stability augmentation system (SAS). Approaches to stall were made at three primary flap settings: up, 30 deg and 65 deg, but full stalls were not scheduled. Minimum control speeds and maneuver margins were checked. All takeoffs and landings were conventional, and STOL performance was not scheduled during this phase of the evaluation.

Performance management excellence among the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners in Health Care.

PubMed

Duarte, Neville T; Goodson, Jane R; Arnold, Edwin W

2013-01-01

When carefully constructed, performance management systems can help health care organizations direct their efforts toward strategic goals, high performance, and continuous improvement needed to ensure high-quality patient care and cost control. The effective management of performance is an integral component in hospital and health care systems that are recognized for excellence by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in Health Care. Using the framework in the 2011-2012 Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence, this article identifies the best practices in performance management demonstrated by 15 Baldrige recipients. The results show that all of the recipients base their performance management systems on strategic goals, outcomes, or competencies that cascade from the organizational to the individual level. At the individual level, each hospital or health system reinforces the strategic direction with performance evaluations of leaders and employees, including the governing board, based on key outcomes and competencies. Leader evaluations consistently include feedback from internal and external stakeholders, creating a culture of information sharing and performance improvement. The hospitals or health care systems also align their reward systems to promote high performance by emphasizing merit and recognition for contributions. Best practices can provide a guide for leaders in other health systems in developing high-performance work systems.

Performance-Based Compensation: Focus on Special Education Teachers. inForum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdette, Paula

2011-01-01

The purpose of this document is to describe states' work in the area of performance-based compensation with a focus on special educators, including how teacher evaluation informs compensation decisions, support given to local education agencies (LEAs), variables used to make compensation decisions and how performance-based compensation is funded.…

Learning Capability and Business Performance: A Non-Financial and Financial Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma Prieto, Isabel; Revilla, Elena

2006-01-01

Purpose: There has been little research that includes reliable deductions about the positive influence of learning capability on business performance. For this reason, the main objective of the present study is to empirically explore the link between learning capability in organizations and business performance evaluated in both financial and…

Electronic prescribing: criteria for evaluating handheld prescribing systems and an evaluation of a new, handheld, wireless wide area network (WWAN) prescribing system.

PubMed

Goldblum, O M

2001-02-01

The objectives of this study were: 1) to establish criteria for evaluating handheld computerized prescribing systems; and 2) to evaluate out-of-box performance and features of a new, Palm Operating System (OS)-based, handheld, wireless wide area network (WWAN) prescribing system. The system consisted of a Palm Vx handheld organizer, a Novatel Minstrel V wireless modem, OmniSky wireless internet access and ePhysician ePad 1.1, the Palm OS electronic prescribing software program. A dermatologist familiar with healthcare information technology conducted an evaluation of the performance and features of a new, handheld, WWAN electronic prescribing system in an office practice during a three-month period in 2000. System performance, defined as transmission success rate, was determined from data collected during the three-month trial. Evaluation criteria consisted of an analysis of features found in electronic prescribing systems. All prescriptions written for all patients seen during a three-month period (August - November, 2000) were eligible for inclusion. Prescriptions written for patients who intended to fill them at pharmacies without known facsimile receiving capabilities were excluded from the study. The performance of the system was evaluated using data collected during the study. Criteria for evaluating features of electronic prescribing systems were developed and used to analyze the system employed in this study. During this three-month trial, 200 electronic prescriptions were generated for 132 patients included in the study. Of these prescriptions, 92.5 percent were successfully transmitted to pharmacies. Transmission failures resulted from incorrect facsimile numbers and non-functioning facsimile machines. Criteria established for evaluation of electronic prescribing systems included System (Hardware & Software), Costs, System Features, Printing & Transmission, Formulary & Insurance, Customization, Drug Safety and Security. This study is the first effort to establish comprehensive criteria for evaluating handheld prescribing systems and to evaluate the performance and features of a handheld, electronic prescribing system. The results demonstrated that the evaluated system: 1) was simple to install; 2) successfully interfaced with a commonly used practice management system; 3) was user-friendly and easy to operate; 4) offered a robust variety of standard features; and, 5) resulted in a high rate of success for transmitting electronic prescriptions. The criteria established for the evaluation of features of an electronic prescribing system can be used to critically evaluate the performance and features of other handheld and personal computer-based electronic prescribing systems.

Evaluating Cross-Cutting Approaches to Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: Developing a Comprehensive Evaluation

PubMed Central

Jernigan, Jan; Barnes, Seraphine Pitt; Shea, Pat; Davis, Rachel; Rutledge, Stephanie

2017-01-01

We provide an overview of the comprehensive evaluation of State Public Health Actions to Prevent and Control Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity and Associated Risk Factors and Promote School Health (State Public Health Actions). State Public Health Actions is a program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support the statewide implementation of cross-cutting approaches to promote health and prevent and control chronic diseases. The evaluation addresses the relevance, quality, and impact of the program by using 4 components: a national evaluation, performance measures, state evaluations, and evaluation technical assistance to states. Challenges of the evaluation included assessing the extent to which the program contributed to changes in the outcomes of interest and the variability in the states’ capacity to conduct evaluations and track performance measures. Given the investment in implementing collaborative approaches at both the state and national level, achieving meaningful findings from the evaluation is critical. PMID:29215974

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

5 CFR 430.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..., evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as..., as determined by the application of a certified appraisal system. Senior employee means a senior... Performance Appraisal Certification for Pay Purposes § 430.402 Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system...

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

5 CFR 430.303 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..., including customers and employees. Critical element means a key component of an executive's work that.... Performance management system means the framework of policies and practices that an agency establishes under..., developing, evaluating, and rewarding both individual and organizational performance and for using resulting...

5 CFR 430.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..., evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as..., as determined by the application of a certified appraisal system. Senior employee means a senior... Performance Appraisal Certification for Pay Purposes § 430.402 Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system...

5 CFR 430.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as..., as determined by the application of a certified appraisal system. Senior employee means a senior... Performance Appraisal Certification for Pay Purposes § 430.402 Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system...

5 CFR 430.402 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

..., evaluating, and rewarding employee performance. This includes appraisal systems and appraisal programs as..., as determined by the application of a certified appraisal system. Senior employee means a senior... Performance Appraisal Certification for Pay Purposes § 430.402 Definitions. In this subpart— Appraisal system...

48 CFR 36.303-1 - Phase One.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Two-Phase Design-Build Selection... competence; (B) Capability to perform; (C) Past performance of the offeror's team (including the architect... purposes and objectives of two-phase design-build contracting). (b) After evaluating phase-one proposals...

48 CFR 36.303-1 - Phase One.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Two-Phase Design-Build Selection... competence; (B) Capability to perform; (C) Past performance of the offeror's team (including the architect... purposes and objectives of two-phase design-build contracting). (b) After evaluating phase-one proposals...

48 CFR 36.303-1 - Phase One.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Two-Phase Design-Build Selection... competence; (B) Capability to perform; (C) Past performance of the offeror's team (including the architect... purposes and objectives of two-phase design-build contracting). (b) After evaluating phase-one proposals...

48 CFR 36.303-1 - Phase One.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Two-Phase Design-Build Selection... competence; (B) Capability to perform; (C) Past performance of the offeror's team (including the architect... purposes and objectives of two-phase design-build contracting). (b) After evaluating phase-one proposals...

48 CFR 36.303-1 - Phase One.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Two-Phase Design-Build Selection... competence; (B) Capability to perform; (C) Past performance of the offeror's team (including the architect... purposes and objectives of two-phase design-build contracting). (b) After evaluating phase-one proposals...

40 CFR 63.1571 - How and when do I conduct a performance test or other initial compliance demonstration?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... performance evaluation or test for a semi-regenerative catalytic reforming unit catalyst regenerator vent, you... properties. Examples of analytical methods include, but are not limited to: (i) Use of material balances...

40 CFR 63.1571 - How and when do I conduct a performance test or other initial compliance demonstration?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... performance evaluation or test for a semi-regenerative catalytic reforming unit catalyst regenerator vent, you... properties. Examples of analytical methods include, but are not limited to: (i) Use of material balances...

40 CFR 63.1571 - How and when do I conduct a performance test or other initial compliance demonstration?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... performance evaluation or test for a semi-regenerative catalytic reforming unit catalyst regenerator vent, you... properties. Examples of analytical methods include, but are not limited to: (i) Use of material balances...

Statistical Process Control: A Quality Tool for a Venous Thromboembolic Disease Registry.

PubMed

Posadas-Martinez, Maria Lourdes; Rojas, Liliana Paloma; Vazquez, Fernando Javier; De Quiros, Fernan Bernaldo; Waisman, Gabriel Dario; Giunta, Diego Hernan

2016-01-01

We aim to describe Statistical Control Process as a quality tool for the Institutional Registry of Venous Thromboembolic Disease (IRTD), a registry developed in a community-care tertiary hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The IRTD is a prospective cohort. The process of data acquisition began with the creation of a computerized alert generated whenever physicians requested imaging or laboratory study to diagnose venous thromboembolism, which defined eligible patients. The process then followed a structured methodology for patient's inclusion, evaluation, and posterior data entry. To control this process, process performance indicators were designed to be measured monthly. These included the number of eligible patients, the number of included patients, median time to patient's evaluation, and percentage of patients lost to evaluation. Control charts were graphed for each indicator. The registry was evaluated in 93 months, where 25,757 patients were reported and 6,798 patients met inclusion criteria. The median time to evaluation was 20 hours (SD, 12) and 7.7% of the total was lost to evaluation. Each indicator presented trends over time, caused by structural changes and improvement cycles, and therefore the central limit suffered inflexions. Statistical process control through process performance indicators allowed us to control the performance of the registry over time to detect systematic problems. We postulate that this approach could be reproduced for other clinical registries.

COTS Ceramic Chip Capacitors: An Evaluation of the Parts and Assurance Methodologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brusse, Jay A.; Sampson, Michael J.

2004-01-01

Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) multilayer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCCs) are continually evolving to reduce physical size and increase volumetric efficiency. Designers of high reliability aerospace and military systems are attracted to these attributes of COTS MLCCs and would like to take advantage of them while maintaining the high standards for long-term reliable operation they are accustomed io when selecting military qualified established reliability (MIL-ER) MLCCs. However, MIL-ER MLCCs are not available in the full range of small chip sizes with high capacitance as found in today's COTS MLCCs. The objectives for this evaluation were to assess the long-term performance of small case size COTS MLCCs and to identify effective, lower-cost product assurance methodologies. Fifteen (15) lots of COTS X7R dielectric MLCCs from four (4) different manufacturers and two (2) MIL-ER BX dielectric MLCCs from two (2) of the same manufacturers were evaluated. Both 0805 and 0402 chip sizes were included. Several voltage ratings were tested ranging from a high of 50 volts to a low of 6.3 volts. The evaluation consisted of a comprehensive screening and qualification test program based upon MIL-PRF-55681 (i.e., voltage conditioning, thermal shock, moisture resistance, 2000-hour life test, etc.). In addition, several lot characterization tests were performed including Destructive Physical Analysis (DPA), Highly Accelerated Life Test (HALT) and Dielectric Voltage Breakdown Strength. The data analysis included a comparison of the 2000-hour life test results (used as a metric for long-term performance) relative to the screening and characterization test results. Results of this analysis indicate that the long-term life performance of COTS MLCCs is variable -- some lots perform well, some lots perform poorly. DPA and HALT were found to be promising lot characterization tests to identify substandard COTS MLCC lots prior to conducting more expensive screening and qualification tests. The results indicate that lot- specific screening and qualification are still recommended for high reliability applications. One significant and concerning observation is that MIL- type voltage conditioning (100 hours at twice rated voltage, 125 C) was not an effective screen in removing infant mortality parts for the particular lots of COTS MLCCs evaluated.

A Study of Facilities and Infrastructure Planning, Prioritization, and Assessment at Federal Security Laboratories

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

Research , Development, Test , and Evaluation (RDT&E) Appropriations The RDT&E appropriation consists of the mission program budgets for all... research , development, test and evaluation work performed by contractors and government installations and includes an installations and activities budget...than $4,000,000. 9 f. Research , Development, Test , and Evaluation Appropriations The Research , Development, Test , and Evaluation (RDT&E

HANDBOOK ON ADVANCED PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDATION ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This handbook summarizes commercial-scale system performance and cost data for advanced photochemical oxidation (APO) treatment of contaminated water, air, and solids. Similar information from pilot- and bench-scale evaluations of APO processes is also included to supplement the commercial-scale data. Performance and cost data is summarized for various APO processes, including vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photolysis, ultraviolet (UV)/oxidation, photo-Fenton, and dye- or semiconductor-sensitized APO processes. This handbook is intended to assist engineering practitioners in evaluating the applicability of APO processes and in selecting one or more such processes for site-specific evaluation.APO has been shown to be effective in treating contaminated water and air. Regarding contaminated water treatment, UV/oxidation has been evaluated for the most contaminants, while VUV photolysis has been evaluated for the fewest. Regarding contaminated air treatment, the sensitized APO processes have been evaluated for the most contaminants, while VUV photolysis has been evaluated for the fewest.APO processes for treating contaminated solids generally involve treatment of contaminated slurry or leachate generated using an extraction process such as soil washing. APO has been shown to be effective in treating contaminated solids, primarily at the bench-scale level. Information

Are university rankings useful to improve research? A systematic review.

PubMed

Vernon, Marlo M; Balas, E Andrew; Momani, Shaher

2018-01-01

Concerns about reproducibility and impact of research urge improvement initiatives. Current university ranking systems evaluate and compare universities on measures of academic and research performance. Although often useful for marketing purposes, the value of ranking systems when examining quality and outcomes is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate usefulness of ranking systems and identify opportunities to support research quality and performance improvement. A systematic review of university ranking systems was conducted to investigate research performance and academic quality measures. Eligibility requirements included: inclusion of at least 100 doctoral granting institutions, be currently produced on an ongoing basis and include both global and US universities, publish rank calculation methodology in English and independently calculate ranks. Ranking systems must also include some measures of research outcomes. Indicators were abstracted and contrasted with basic quality improvement requirements. Exploration of aggregation methods, validity of research and academic quality indicators, and suitability for quality improvement within ranking systems were also conducted. A total of 24 ranking systems were identified and 13 eligible ranking systems were evaluated. Six of the 13 rankings are 100% focused on research performance. For those reporting weighting, 76% of the total ranks are attributed to research indicators, with 24% attributed to academic or teaching quality. Seven systems rely on reputation surveys and/or faculty and alumni awards. Rankings influence academic choice yet research performance measures are the most weighted indicators. There are no generally accepted academic quality indicators in ranking systems. No single ranking system provides a comprehensive evaluation of research and academic quality. Utilizing a combined approach of the Leiden, Thomson Reuters Most Innovative Universities, and the SCImago ranking systems may provide institutions with a more effective feedback for research improvement. Rankings which extensively rely on subjective reputation and "luxury" indicators, such as award winning faculty or alumni who are high ranking executives, are not well suited for academic or research performance improvement initiatives. Future efforts should better explore measurement of the university research performance through comprehensive and standardized indicators. This paper could serve as a general literature citation when one or more of university ranking systems are used in efforts to improve academic prominence and research performance.

Quantity and Quality of Economic Evaluations in U.S. Nursing Research, 1997-2015: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Cook, Wendy A; Morrison, Megan L; Eaton, Linda H; Theodore, Brian R; Doorenbos, Ardith Z

The United States has a complex healthcare system that is undergoing substantial reformations. There is a need for high-quality, economic evaluations of nursing practice. An updated review of completed economic evaluations relevant to the field of nursing within the U.S. healthcare system is timely and needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and describe the quantity and quality of economic evaluations in nursing-relevant research performed in the United States between 1997 and 2015. Four databases were searched. Titles, abstracts, and full-text content were reviewed to identify studies that analyzed both costs and outcomes, relevant to nursing, performed in the United States, and used the quality-adjusted life year to measure effectiveness. For included studies, data were extracted from full-text articles using criteria from U.S. Public Health Service's Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Most (n = 25, 89%) were published in the last decade of the analysis, from 2006 to 2015. Assessment of quality, based on selected items from the panel guidelines, found that the evaluations did not consistently use the recommended societal perspective, use multiple resource utilization categories, use constant dollars, discount future costs and outcomes, use a lifetime horizon, or include an indication of uncertainty in results. The only resource utilization category consistently included across studies was healthcare resources. Only 28 nursing-related studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified as meeting robust health economic evaluation methodological criteria, and most did not include all important guideline items. Despite increases in absolute numbers of published studies over the past decade, economic evaluation has been underutilized in U.S. nursing-relevant research in the past two decades.

12 CFR 614.4267 - Professional association membership; competency.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Professional association membership; competency...; competency. (a) Membership in appraisal organizations. A State certified appraiser or a State licensed...) Competency. All staff and fee evaluators, including appraisers, performing evaluations in connection with...

Protective Coatings for Metals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruggieri, D. J.; Rowe, A. P.

1986-01-01

Report evaluates protective coatings for metal structures in seashore and acid-cloud environments. Evaluation result of study of coating application characteristics, repair techniques, and field performance. Products from variety of manufacturers included in study. Also factory-coated panels and industrial galvanized panels with and without topcoats.

Design and evaluation of brushless electrical generators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, F. A.; Ellis, J. N.

1970-01-01

Ten design manuals assembled and nine computer programs are developed for evaluation of proposed designs of brushless rotating electrical generators. Design manual package provides all information required for generator design, and computer programs permit calculation of performance of specific designs including effects of materials.

Evaluation of alternative dowel bar materials and coatings.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-11-01

This study provided for a continuation of the long-term performance evaluation of 1.5-in (38-mm) diameter FRP dowels : and Type 304 stainless steel solid dowels or mortar-filled tubes compared to epoxy-coated dowels. This primarily : included an eval...

Performance assessment of geospatial simulation models of land-use change--a landscape metric-based approach.

PubMed

Sakieh, Yousef; Salmanmahiny, Abdolrassoul

2016-03-01

Performance evaluation is a critical step when developing land-use and cover change (LUCC) models. The present study proposes a spatially explicit model performance evaluation method, adopting a landscape metric-based approach. To quantify GEOMOD model performance, a set of composition- and configuration-based landscape metrics including number of patches, edge density, mean Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, largest patch index, class area, landscape shape index, and splitting index were employed. The model takes advantage of three decision rules including neighborhood effect, persistence of change direction, and urbanization suitability values. According to the results, while class area, largest patch index, and splitting indices demonstrated insignificant differences between spatial pattern of ground truth and simulated layers, there was a considerable inconsistency between simulation results and real dataset in terms of the remaining metrics. Specifically, simulation outputs were simplistic and the model tended to underestimate number of developed patches by producing a more compact landscape. Landscape-metric-based performance evaluation produces more detailed information (compared to conventional indices such as the Kappa index and overall accuracy) on the model's behavior in replicating spatial heterogeneity features of a landscape such as frequency, fragmentation, isolation, and density. Finally, as the main characteristic of the proposed method, landscape metrics employ the maximum potential of observed and simulated layers for a performance evaluation procedure, provide a basis for more robust interpretation of a calibration process, and also deepen modeler insight into the main strengths and pitfalls of a specific land-use change model when simulating a spatiotemporal phenomenon.

Model performance evaluation (validation and calibration) in model-based studies of therapeutic interventions for cardiovascular diseases : a review and suggested reporting framework.

PubMed

Haji Ali Afzali, Hossein; Gray, Jodi; Karnon, Jonathan

2013-04-01

Decision analytic models play an increasingly important role in the economic evaluation of health technologies. Given uncertainties around the assumptions used to develop such models, several guidelines have been published to identify and assess 'best practice' in the model development process, including general modelling approach (e.g., time horizon), model structure, input data and model performance evaluation. This paper focuses on model performance evaluation. In the absence of a sufficient level of detail around model performance evaluation, concerns regarding the accuracy of model outputs, and hence the credibility of such models, are frequently raised. Following presentation of its components, a review of the application and reporting of model performance evaluation is presented. Taking cardiovascular disease as an illustrative example, the review investigates the use of face validity, internal validity, external validity, and cross model validity. As a part of the performance evaluation process, model calibration is also discussed and its use in applied studies investigated. The review found that the application and reporting of model performance evaluation across 81 studies of treatment for cardiovascular disease was variable. Cross-model validation was reported in 55 % of the reviewed studies, though the level of detail provided varied considerably. We found that very few studies documented other types of validity, and only 6 % of the reviewed articles reported a calibration process. Considering the above findings, we propose a comprehensive model performance evaluation framework (checklist), informed by a review of best-practice guidelines. This framework provides a basis for more accurate and consistent documentation of model performance evaluation. This will improve the peer review process and the comparability of modelling studies. Recognising the fundamental role of decision analytic models in informing public funding decisions, the proposed framework should usefully inform guidelines for preparing submissions to reimbursement bodies.

GATEWAY Report Brief: Evaluating OLED Lighting in the Accounting Office of DeJoy, Knauf & Blood LLP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Summary of GATEWAY report evaluating a new lighting system, at the offices of the accounting firm of DeJoy, Knauf & Blood, LLP in Rochester, NY, that incorporates a number of different OLED luminaires. Evaluation of the OLED products included efficacy performance, field measurements of panel color, flicker measurements, and staff feedback.

Experimental performance evaluation of software defined networking (SDN) based data communication networks for large scale flexi-grid optical networks.

PubMed

Zhao, Yongli; He, Ruiying; Chen, Haoran; Zhang, Jie; Ji, Yuefeng; Zheng, Haomian; Lin, Yi; Wang, Xinbo

2014-04-21

Software defined networking (SDN) has become the focus in the current information and communication technology area because of its flexibility and programmability. It has been introduced into various network scenarios, such as datacenter networks, carrier networks, and wireless networks. Optical transport network is also regarded as an important application scenario for SDN, which is adopted as the enabling technology of data communication networks (DCN) instead of general multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS). However, the practical performance of SDN based DCN for large scale optical networks, which is very important for the technology selection in the future optical network deployment, has not been evaluated up to now. In this paper we have built a large scale flexi-grid optical network testbed with 1000 virtual optical transport nodes to evaluate the performance of SDN based DCN, including network scalability, DCN bandwidth limitation, and restoration time. A series of network performance parameters including blocking probability, bandwidth utilization, average lightpath provisioning time, and failure restoration time have been demonstrated under various network environments, such as with different traffic loads and different DCN bandwidths. The demonstration in this work can be taken as a proof for the future network deployment.

V-Sipal - a Virtual Laboratory for Satellite Image Processing and Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buddhiraju, K. M.; Eeti, L.; Tiwari, K. K.

2011-09-01

In this paper a virtual laboratory for the Satellite Image Processing and Analysis (v-SIPAL) being developed at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is described. v-SIPAL comprises a set of experiments that are normally carried out by students learning digital processing and analysis of satellite images using commercial software. Currently, the experiments that are available on the server include Image Viewer, Image Contrast Enhancement, Image Smoothing, Edge Enhancement, Principal Component Transform, Texture Analysis by Co-occurrence Matrix method, Image Indices, Color Coordinate Transforms, Fourier Analysis, Mathematical Morphology, Unsupervised Image Classification, Supervised Image Classification and Accuracy Assessment. The virtual laboratory includes a theory module for each option of every experiment, a description of the procedure to perform each experiment, the menu to choose and perform the experiment, a module on interpretation of results when performed with a given image and pre-specified options, bibliography, links to useful internet resources and user-feedback. The user can upload his/her own images for performing the experiments and can also reuse outputs of one experiment in another experiment where applicable. Some of the other experiments currently under development include georeferencing of images, data fusion, feature evaluation by divergence andJ-M distance, image compression, wavelet image analysis and change detection. Additions to the theory module include self-assessment quizzes, audio-video clips on selected concepts, and a discussion of elements of visual image interpretation. V-SIPAL is at the satge of internal evaluation within IIT Bombay and will soon be open to selected educational institutions in India for evaluation.

40 CFR 412.46 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Plant Air Water (SPAW) Hydrology Tool. The evaluation must include all inputs to SPAW including but not...) Provisions for upset/bypass, as provided in 40 CFR 122.41(m)-(n), apply to a new source subject to this...

Commercial Carpentry: Instructional Units.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diehl, Donald W.; Penner, Wayman R.

This manual contains instructional materials which measure student performance on commercial carpentry behavioral objectives; criterion-referenced evaluation instruments are also included. Each of the manual's eleven sections consists of one or more units of instruction. Each instructional unit includes behavioral objectives, suggested activities…

HEMISPHERIC CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

M.A. Ebadian

1999-09-30

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) demonstration of the diamond wire cutting technology on the surrogate of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), Figure 1, was performed from August 23-September 3, 1999. The plated diamond wire, Figure 2, was successful in cutting through all components of the TFTR surrogate including stainless steel, inconel and graphite. The demonstration tested three different void fill materials (mortar with sand, Rheocell-15, and foam) and three cooling systems (water, air, and liquid nitrogen). The optimum combination was determined to be the use of the low-density concrete void fill, Rheocell-15 with an average density of 52more » lbs/ft{sup 3}, using a water coolant. However, the liquid nitrogen performed better than expected with only minor problems and was considered to be a successful demonstration of the Bluegrass Concrete Cutting, Inc. proprietary liquid-nitrogen coolant system. Data from the demonstration is being calculated and a summary of the technology demonstration will be included in the October monthly report. An ITSR will be written comparing the diamond wire saw to the plasma arc (baseline) technology. The MTR Chemical Protective Suit, a proprietary new suit from Kimberly Clark, was evaluated from 8/9/99 to 8/12/99 at Beaver, WV. This particular suit was tested on subjects performing three different tasks: climbing through a horizontal confined space, vertical confined space (pit), and loading and unloading material using a wheel barrow. Multiple test subjects performed each task for 20 minutes each. Performance of the innovative suit was compared to two commonly used types of protective clothing. Vital statistics, including body temperature and heart rate, were continuously monitored and recorded by an authorized physician. A summary of the demonstration will be included in the October monthly report. Along with the MTR Chemical Protective Suit, the VitalSense{trademark} Telemetric Monitoring System from Mini Mitter Co., Inc. was evaluated. A summary of the demonstration will be included in the October monthly report. A Kool-Vest from MicroClimate Systems, Inc. was evaluated during assessment at Beaver, WV from 8/16/99 to 8/17/99. The evaluation was performed in the same manner as the MTR Chemical Protective Suit described above. A summary of the demonstration will be included in the October monthly report. A brochure announcing the new Gateway to Environmental Technology (GET) website was produced by FIU-HCET and is being distributed to the D&D community by FETC-DDFA. The website provides links to the TIS and other decision support systems developed at FIU-HCET.« less

Laser data transfer flight experiment definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merritt, J. R.

1975-01-01

A set of laser communication flight experiments to be performed between a relay satellite, ground terminals, and space shuttles were synthesized and evaluated. Results include a definition of the space terminals, NASA ground terminals, test methods, and test schedules required to perform the experiments.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sprik, Samuel; Kurtz, Jennifer M; Ainscough, Christopher D

In this presentation, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory presented aggregated analysis results on the performance of existing hydrogen stations, including performance, operation, utilization, maintenance, safety, hydrogen quality, and cost. The U.S. Department of Energy funds technology validation work at NREL through its National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center (NFCTEC).

Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minter, John; And Others

1982-01-01

The ways in which ratio analysis can help in long-range planning, budgeting, and asset management to strengthen financial performance and help avoid financial difficulties are explained. Types of ratios considered include balance sheet ratios, net operating ratios, and contribution and demand ratios. (MSE)

Balanced RAP/RAS mix design and performance evaluation for project - specific service conditions.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

This presentation summarizes Projects 0-6092/0-6614. It includes accomplishments, best practices, field performance data of RAP/RAS test sections, balanced RAP/RAS mix design for project-specific conditions, and approaches for improving RAP/RAS mix p...

Welding, V-TECS Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Charles G.; And Others

This guide provides job-related tasks, performance objectives, performance guides, resources, teaching activities, evaluation standards, and criterion-referenced measures in three units of a welding course. Through the curriculum content of the welding course, the guide helps teachers lead students through the learning process, including the…

A nationwide survey of state-mandated evaluation practices for domestic violence agencies.

PubMed

Riger, Stephanie; Staggs, Susan L

2011-01-01

Many agencies serving survivors of domestic violence are required to evaluate their services. Three possible evaluation strategies include: a) process measurement, which typically involves a frequency count of agency activities, such as the number of counseling hours given; b) outcome evaluation, which measures the impact of agency activities on clients, such as increased understanding of the dynamics of abuse; or c) performance measurement, which assesses the extent to which agencies achieve their stated goals. Findings of a telephone survey of state funders of domestic violence agencies in the United States revealed that most states (67%) require only process measurement, while fewer than 10% require performance measurement. Most (69%) funders reported satisfaction with their evaluation strategy and emphasized the need for involvement of all stakeholders, especially grantees, in developing an evaluation.

Factors affecting construction performance: exploratory factor analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soewin, E.; Chinda, T.

2018-04-01

The present work attempts to develop a multidimensional performance evaluation framework for a construction company by considering all relevant measures of performance. Based on the previous studies, this study hypothesizes nine key factors, with a total of 57 associated items. The hypothesized factors, with their associated items, are then used to develop questionnaire survey to gather data. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to the collected data which gave rise 10 factors with 57 items affecting construction performance. The findings further reveal that the items constituting ten key performance factors (KPIs) namely; 1) Time, 2) Cost, 3) Quality, 4) Safety & Health, 5) Internal Stakeholder, 6) External Stakeholder, 7) Client Satisfaction, 8) Financial Performance, 9) Environment, and 10) Information, Technology & Innovation. The analysis helps to develop multi-dimensional performance evaluation framework for an effective measurement of the construction performance. The 10 key performance factors can be broadly categorized into economic aspect, social aspect, environmental aspect, and technology aspects. It is important to understand a multi-dimension performance evaluation framework by including all key factors affecting the construction performance of a company, so that the management level can effectively plan to implement an effective performance development plan to match with the mission and vision of the company.

Evaluation of emergency department performance – a systematic review on recommended performance and quality-in-care measures

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Evaluation of emergency department (ED) performance remains a difficult task due to the lack of consensus on performance measures that reflects high quality, efficiency, and sustainability. Aim To describe, map, and critically evaluate which performance measures that the published literature regard as being most relevant in assessing overall ED performance. Methods Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review of review articles reporting accentuated ED performance measures was conducted in the databases of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Study eligibility criteria includes: 1) the main purpose was to discuss, analyse, or promote performance measures best reflecting ED performance, 2) the article was a review article, and 3) the article reported macro-level performance measures, thus reflecting an overall departmental performance level. Results A number of articles addresses this study’s objective (n = 14 of 46 unique hits). Time intervals and patient-related measures were dominant in the identified performance measures in review articles from US, UK, Sweden and Canada. Length of stay (LOS), time between patient arrival to initial clinical assessment, and time between patient arrivals to admission were highlighted by the majority of articles. Concurrently, “patients left without being seen” (LWBS), unplanned re-attendance within a maximum of 72 hours, mortality/morbidity, and number of unintended incidents were the most highlighted performance measures that related directly to the patient. Performance measures related to employees were only stated in two of the 14 included articles. Conclusions A total of 55 ED performance measures were identified. ED time intervals were the most recommended performance measures followed by patient centeredness and safety performance measures. ED employee related performance measures were rarely mentioned in the investigated literature. The study’s results allow for advancement towards improved performance measurement and standardised assessment across EDs. PMID:23938117

ART CONCEPTS - APOLLO IX

NASA Image and Video Library

1969-02-20

S69-19794 (February 1969) --- Composite of two artist's concepts illustrating key events, tasks and activities on the third day of the Apollo 9 mission, including crew transfer and Lunar Module system evaluation. The Apollo 9 mission will evaluate spacecraft lunar module systems performance during manned Earth-orbital flight.

A Compendium of Assessment Techniques.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knapp, Joan; Sharon, Amiel

A wide variety of techniques are appropriate for evaluating different types of experiential learning. This monograph includes sections on performance tests, simulations, interviews, ratings, self evaluation, and product assessment. Each section orients the reader to one of these general types of assessment and then provides brief illustrations of…

Assessment of tools for modeling aircraft noise in national parks

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-03-18

The first objective of this study was to evaluate the series of model enhancements that were included in : INM as a result of the recommendations from the GCNP MVS. Specifically, there was a desire to : evaluate the performance of the latest versions...

23 CFR 924.13 - Evaluation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) Ensure the accuracy and currency of the safety data; (ii) Identify factors that affect the priority of... HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY SAFETY HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM... reaching the performance goals identified in § 924.9(a)(3)(ii)(G). (2) Include a process to evaluate the...

Safety Evaluation Report on Tennessee Valley Authority: Browns Ferry Nuclear Performance Plan: Browns Ferry Unit 2 restart

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1989-04-01

This safety evaluation report (SER) on the information submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in its Nuclear Performance Plan, through Revision 2, for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Station and in supporting documents has been prepared by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff. The plan addresses the plant-specific concerns requiring resolution before startup of Unit 2. The staff will inspect implementation of those programs. Where systems are common to Units 1 and 2 or to Units 2 and 3, the staff safety evaluations of those systems are included herein. 3 refs.

A comprehensive evaluation of popular proteomics software workflows for label-free proteome quantification and imputation.

PubMed

Välikangas, Tommi; Suomi, Tomi; Elo, Laura L

2017-05-31

Label-free mass spectrometry (MS) has developed into an important tool applied in various fields of biological and life sciences. Several software exist to process the raw MS data into quantified protein abundances, including open source and commercial solutions. Each software includes a set of unique algorithms for different tasks of the MS data processing workflow. While many of these algorithms have been compared separately, a thorough and systematic evaluation of their overall performance is missing. Moreover, systematic information is lacking about the amount of missing values produced by the different proteomics software and the capabilities of different data imputation methods to account for them.In this study, we evaluated the performance of five popular quantitative label-free proteomics software workflows using four different spike-in data sets. Our extensive testing included the number of proteins quantified and the number of missing values produced by each workflow, the accuracy of detecting differential expression and logarithmic fold change and the effect of different imputation and filtering methods on the differential expression results. We found that the Progenesis software performed consistently well in the differential expression analysis and produced few missing values. The missing values produced by the other software decreased their performance, but this difference could be mitigated using proper data filtering or imputation methods. Among the imputation methods, we found that the local least squares (lls) regression imputation consistently increased the performance of the software in the differential expression analysis, and a combination of both data filtering and local least squares imputation increased performance the most in the tested data sets. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Energy efficient engine: Propulsion system-aircraft integration evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, R. E.

1979-01-01

Flight performance and operating economics of future commercial transports utilizing the energy efficient engine were assessed as well as the probability of meeting NASA's goals for TSFC, DOC, noise, and emissions. Results of the initial propulsion systems aircraft integration evaluation presented include estimates of engine performance, predictions of fuel burns, operating costs of the flight propulsion system installed in seven selected advanced study commercial transports, estimates of noise and emissions, considerations of thrust growth, and the achievement-probability analysis.

Performance Analysis of Live-Virtual-Constructive and Distributed Virtual Simulations: Defining Requirements in Terms of Temporal Consistency

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

events. Work associated with aperiodic tasks have the same statistical behavior and the same timing requirements. The timing deadlines are soft. • Sporadic...answers, but it is possible to calculate how precise the estimates are. Simulation-based performance analysis of a model includes a statistical ...to evaluate all pos- sible states in a timely manner. This is the principle reason for resorting to simulation and statistical analysis to evaluate

Engineering evaluation of SSME dynamic data from engine tests and SSV flights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

An engineering evaluation of dynamic data from SSME hot firing tests and SSV flights is summarized. The basic objective of the study is to provide analyses of vibration, strain and dynamic pressure measurements in support of MSFC performance and reliability improvement programs. A brief description of the SSME test program is given and a typical test evaluation cycle reviewed. Data banks generated to characterize SSME component dynamic characteristics are described and statistical analyses performed on these data base measurements are discussed. Analytical models applied to define the dynamic behavior of SSME components (such as turbopump bearing elements and the flight accelerometer safety cut-off system) are also summarized. Appendices are included to illustrate some typical tasks performed under this study.

Technical Evaluation Motor No. 7 (TEM-07)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hugh, Phil

1991-01-01

Technical Evaluation Motor Number 7 (TEM-7) was a full scale, full-duration static test firing of a high performance motor (HPM) configuration solid rocket motor (SRM) with nozzle vectoring. The static test fire occurred on 11 December 1990 at the Thiokol Corporation Static Test Bay T-97. Documented here are the procedures, performance, and results available through 22 January 1991. Critical post test hardware activities and assessment of the test data are not complete. A completed test report will be submitted 60 days after the test date. Included here is a presentation and discussion of the TEM-7 performance, anomalies, and test result concurrence with the objectives outlined in CTP-0107 Revision A, Space Shuttle Technical Evaluation Motor number 7 (TEM-07) Static Fire Test Plan.

Evaluation of alternative phase change materials for energy storage in solar dynamic applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crane, R. A.; Dustin, M. O.

1988-01-01

The performance of fluoride salt and metallic thermal energy storage materials are compared in terms of basic performance as applied to solar dynamic power generation. Specific performance considerations include uniformity of cycle inlet temperature, peak cavity temperature, TES utilization, and system weights. Also investigated were means of enhancing the thermal conductivity of the salts and its effect on the system performance.

Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana solar energy system performance evaluation, February 1981 - June 1981

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welch, K. M.

1981-09-01

The Loyola University site is a student dormitory in New Orleans, Louisiana whose active solar energy system is designed to supply 52% of the hot water demand. The system is equipped with 4590 square feet of flat-plate collectors, a 5000-gallon water tank, auxiliary water supplied at high temperature and pressure from a central heating plant with a gas-fired boiler, and a differential controller that selects from 5 operating modes. System performance data are given, including the solar fraction, solar savings ratio, conventional fuel savings, system performance factor, and system coefficient of performance. The solar fraction is well below the design goal; this is attributed to great fluctuations in demand. Insolation, temperature, operation and solar energy utilization data are also presented. The performance of the collector, storage, and domestic hot water subsystems, the system operating energy, energy savings, and weather conditions are also evaluated. Appended are a system description, performance evaluation techniques and equations, site history, sensor technology, and typical monthly data.

Sleep Interventions Designed to Improve Athletic Performance and Recovery: A Systematic Review of Current Approaches.

PubMed

Bonnar, Daniel; Bartel, Kate; Kakoschke, Naomi; Lang, Christin

2018-03-01

Athletes experience various situations and conditions that can interfere with their sleep, which is crucial for optimal psychological and physiological recovery as well as subsequent performance. Conventional sleep screening and intervention approaches may not be efficacious for athletes given their lifestyle, the demands of training and travel associated with interstate/international competition. The present systematic review aimed to summarize and evaluate sleep intervention studies targeting subsequent performance and recovery in competitive athletes. Based on the findings, a secondary aim was to outline a possible sleep intervention for athletes, including recommendations for content, mode of delivery and evaluation. A systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA guidelines in May 2016 with an update completed in September 2017. Ten studies met our inclusion criteria comprising a total of 218 participants in the age range of 18-24 years with athletes from various sports (e.g., swimming, soccer, basketball, tennis). A modified version of the quality assessment scale developed by Abernethy and Bleakley was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. The included studies implemented several sleep interventions, including sleep extension and napping, sleep hygiene, and post-exercise recovery strategies. Evidence suggests that sleep extension had the most beneficial effects on subsequent performance. Consistent with previous research, these results suggest that sleep plays an important role in some, but not all, aspects of athletes' performance and recovery. Future researchers should aim to conduct sleep interventions among different athlete populations, compare results, and further establish guidelines and intervention tools for athletes to address their specific sleep demands and disturbances.

Development of System-level Performance Measures for Evaluation of Models of Care for Inflammatory Arthritis in Canada.

PubMed

Barber, Claire E H; Marshall, Deborah A; Mosher, Dianne P; Akhavan, Pooneh; Tucker, Lori; Houghton, Kristin; Batthish, Michelle; Levy, Deborah M; Schmeling, Heinrike; Ellsworth, Janet; Tibollo, Heidi; Grant, Sean; Khodyakov, Dmitry; Lacaille, Diane

2016-03-01

To develop system-level performance measures for evaluating the care of patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. This study involved several methodological phases. Over multiple rounds, various participants were asked to help define a set of candidate measurement themes. A systematic search was conducted of existing guidelines and measures. A set of 6 performance measures was defined and presented to 50 people, including patients with IA, rheumatologists, allied health professionals, and researchers using a 3-round, online, modified Delphi process. Participants rated the validity, feasibility, relevance, and likelihood of use of the measures. Measures with median ratings ≥ 7 for validity and relevance were included in the final set. Six performance measures were developed evaluating the following aspects of care, with each measure being applied separately for each type of IA except where specified: waiting times for rheumatology consultation for patients with new onset IA, percentage of patients with IA seen by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with IA seen in yearly followup by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with RA treated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), time to DMARD therapy in RA, and number of rheumatologists per capita. The first set of system-level performance measures for IA care in Canada has been developed with broad input. The measures focus on timely access to care and initiation of appropriate treatment for patients with IA, and are likely to be of interest to other arthritis care systems internationally.

Evaluating performance in sweat testing in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia.

PubMed

Aralica, Merica; Krleza, Jasna Lenicek

2017-02-15

Sweat test has a diagnostic role in evaluation of cystic fibrosis. Its performance includes sweat stimulation, collection and analysis. All listed may be sources of inconsistencies in everyday practice. The aim of this study was an evaluation of external quality assessment (EQA) of sweat chloride measurement including sweat test performance in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia. EQA for sweat chloride measurement was provided by Croatian Centre for Quality Assessment in Laboratory Medicine (CROQALM) in five consecutive exercises to medical biochemistry laboratories (MBL) that offered sweat testing. A questionnaire regarding all phases of testing was mailed to involved MBL (N = 10). Survey results were compared to current guidelines for sweat test performance. Reported results of EQA in 2015 exercises showed coefficients of variation (CV) from 28.9%, 29.0% to 35.3%, respectively. An introduction of uniform sweat chloride measurement protocol resulted in CV of 15.5% and 14.7% reported in following two exercises in 2016. All MBL included in this study replied to the questionnaire. Results reported by MBL indicated: lack of patient information policy (7/10), use of unacceptable electrodes (6/9), misuse of minimum of acceptable sweat weight (6/9), lack of internal quality assessment (5/9) and recommended reference ranges (5/9 and 4/9). Agreements to guidelines were found in approach to unsuitable patients (9/10) and sweat collection (8/9). Presented results indicate major weak points of current practice in sweat test performance in Croatian MBL and stress the need for its standardization on a national level.

Evaluating performance in sweat testing in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia

PubMed Central

Aralica, Merica; Krleza, Jasna Lenicek

2017-01-01

Introduction Sweat test has a diagnostic role in evaluation of cystic fibrosis. Its performance includes sweat stimulation, collection and analysis. All listed may be sources of inconsistencies in everyday practice. The aim of this study was an evaluation of external quality assessment (EQA) of sweat chloride measurement including sweat test performance in medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia. Materials and methods EQA for sweat chloride measurement was provided by Croatian Centre for Quality Assessment in Laboratory Medicine (CROQALM) in five consecutive exercises to medical biochemistry laboratories (MBL) that offered sweat testing. A questionnaire regarding all phases of testing was mailed to involved MBL (N = 10). Survey results were compared to current guidelines for sweat test performance. Results Reported results of EQA in 2015 exercises showed coefficients of variation (CV) from 28.9%, 29.0% to 35.3%, respectively. An introduction of uniform sweat chloride measurement protocol resulted in CV of 15.5% and 14.7% reported in following two exercises in 2016. All MBL included in this study replied to the questionnaire. Results reported by MBL indicated: lack of patient information policy (7/10), use of unacceptable electrodes (6/9), misuse of minimum of acceptable sweat weight (6/9), lack of internal quality assessment (5/9) and recommended reference ranges (5/9 and 4/9). Agreements to guidelines were found in approach to unsuitable patients (9/10) and sweat collection (8/9). Conclusion Presented results indicate major weak points of current practice in sweat test performance in Croatian MBL and stress the need for its standardization on a national level. PMID:28392735

Battery testing at Argonne National Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deluca, W. H.; Gillie, K. R.; Kulaga, J. E.; Smaga, J. A.; Tummillo, A. F.; Webster, C. E.

Advanced battery technology evaluations are performed under simulated electric-vehicle operating conditions at the Analysis & Diagnostic Laboratory (ADL) of Argonne National Laboratory. The ADL results provide insight into those factors that limit battery performance and life. The ADL facilities include a test laboratory to conduct battery experimental evaluations under simulated application conditions and a post-test analysis laboratory to determine, in a protected atmosphere if needed, component compositional changes and failure mechanisms. This paper summarizes the performance characterizations and life evaluations conducted during FY-92 on both single cells and multi-cell modules that encompass six battery technologies (Na/S, Li/FeS, Ni/Metal-Hydride, Ni/Zn, Ni/Cd, Ni/Fe). These evaluations were performed for the Department of Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies, Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division, and the Electric Power Research Institute. The ADL provides a common basis for battery performance characterization and life evaluations with unbiased application of tests and analyses. The results help identify the most promising R&D approaches for overcoming battery limitations, and provide battery users, developers, and program managers with a measure of the progress being made in battery R&D programs, a comparison of battery technologies, and basic data for modeling.

Joining the Conversation: Predictors of Success on the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gohara, Sabry; Shapiro, Joseph I.; Jacob, Adam N.; Khuder, Sadik A.; Gandy, Robyn A.; Metting, Patricia J.; Gold, Jeffrey; Kleshinski, James; and James Kleshinski

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether models based on pre-admission testing, including performance on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), performance on required courses in the medical school curriculum, or a combination of both could accurately predict performance of medical students on the United States Medical Licensing…

Learner Characteristics Predict Performance and Confidence in E-Learning: An Analysis of User Behavior and Self-Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeske, Debora; Roßnagell, Christian Stamov; Backhaus, Joy

2014-01-01

We examined the role of learner characteristics as predictors of four aspects of e-learning performance, including knowledge test performance, learning confidence, learning efficiency, and navigational effectiveness. We used both self reports and log file records to compute the relevant statistics. Regression analyses showed that both need for…

Performance-Based Contracting in Residential Care and Treatment: Driving Policy and Practice Change through Public-Private Partnership in Illinois

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kearney, Kathleen A.; McEwen, Erwin; Bloom-Ellis, Brice; Jordan, Neil

2010-01-01

The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services selected Illinois as a demonstration site in 2007 to evaluate performance-based contracting in residential treatment services. This article discusses the first two years of project implementation including developing residential treatment performance indicators,…

Frequency Domain Evaluation of Helmet Padding Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-24

F717 [8] have been used to evaluate helmets including motorcycle, football , and hockey helmets to ensure a basic level of protection. These standards...injury, including concussion and traumatic brain injury. These topics are outside the scope of this research and will not be addressed in this paper. The...Document. [6] Moss, W. C., and King, M. J., 2011. Impact response of us army and national football league helmet pad systems. Tech. rep., DTIC Document. [7

Potential pros and cons of external healthcare performance evaluation systems: real-life perspectives on Iranian hospital evaluation and accreditation program

PubMed Central

Jaafaripooyan, Ebrahim

2014-01-01

Background: Performance evaluation is essential to quality improvement in healthcare. The current study has identified the potential pros and cons of external healthcare evaluation programs, utilizing them subsequently to look into the merits of a similar case in a developing country. Methods: A mixed method study employing both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques was adopted to achieve the study end. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and professionals were approached for two-stage process of data collection. Results: Potential advantages included greater attractiveness of high accreditation rank healthcare organizations to their customers/purchasers and boosted morale of their personnel. Downsides, as such, comprised the programs’ over-reliance on value judgment of surveyors, routinization and incurring undue cost on the organizations. In addition, the improved, standardized care processes as well as the judgmental nature of program survey were associated, as pros and cons, to the program investigated by the professionals. Conclusion: Besides rendering a tentative assessment of Iranian hospital evaluation program, the study provides those running external performance evaluations with a lens to scrutinize the virtues of their own evaluation systems through identifying the potential advantages and drawbacks of such programs. Moreover, the approach followed could be utilized for performance assessment of similar evaluation programs. PMID:25279381

Potential pros and cons of external healthcare performance evaluation systems: real-life perspectives on Iranian hospital evaluation and accreditation program.

PubMed

Jaafaripooyan, Ebrahim

2014-09-01

Performance evaluation is essential to quality improvement in healthcare. The current study has identified the potential pros and cons of external healthcare evaluation programs, utilizing them subsequently to look into the merits of a similar case in a developing country. A mixed method study employing both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques was adopted to achieve the study end. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and professionals were approached for two-stage process of data collection. Potential advantages included greater attractiveness of high accreditation rank healthcare organizations to their customers/purchasers and boosted morale of their personnel. Downsides, as such, comprised the programs' over-reliance on value judgment of surveyors, routinization and incurring undue cost on the organizations. In addition, the improved, standardized care processes as well as the judgmental nature of program survey were associated, as pros and cons, to the program investigated by the professionals. Besides rendering a tentative assessment of Iranian hospital evaluation program, the study provides those running external performance evaluations with a lens to scrutinize the virtues of their own evaluation systems through identifying the potential advantages and drawbacks of such programs. Moreover, the approach followed could be utilized for performance assessment of similar evaluation programs.

Performance study of SKIROC2/A ASIC for ILD Si-W ECAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suehara, T.; Sekiya, I.; Callier, S.; Balagura, V.; Boudry, V.; Brient, J.-C.; de la Taille, C.; Kawagoe, K.; Irles, A.; Magniette, F.; Nanni, J.; Pöschl, R.; Yoshioka, T.

2018-03-01

The ILD Si-W ECAL is a sampling calorimeter with tungsten absorber and highly segmented silicon layers for the International Large Detector (ILD), one of the two detector concepts for the International Linear Collider. SKIROC2 is an ASIC for the ILD Si-W ECAL. To investigate the issues found in prototype detectors, we prepared dedicated ASIC evaluation boards with either BGA sockets or directly soldered SKIROC2. We report a performance study with the evaluation boards, including signal-to-noise ratio and TDC performance with comparing SKIROC2 and an updated version, SKIROC2A.

Space station common module power system network topology and hardware development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landis, D. M.

1985-01-01

Candidate power system newtork topologies for the space station common module are defined and developed and the necessary hardware for test and evaluation is provided. Martin Marietta's approach to performing the proposed program is presented. Performance of the tasks described will assure systematic development and evaluation of program results, and will provide the necessary management tools, visibility, and control techniques for performance assessment. The plan is submitted in accordance with the data requirements given and includes a comprehensive task logic flow diagram, time phased manpower requirements, a program milestone schedule, and detailed descriptions of each program task.

The Effect of Training Data Set Composition on the Performance of a Neural Image Caption Generator

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

objects was compared using the Metric for Evaluation of Translation with Explicit Ordering (METEOR) and Consensus-Based Image Description Evaluation...using automated scoring systems. Many such systems exist, including Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU), Consensus-Based Image Description Evaluation...shown to be essential to automated scoring, which correlates highly with human precision.5 CIDEr uses a system of consensus among the captions and

Framework for performance evaluation of face, text, and vehicle detection and tracking in video: data, metrics, and protocol.

PubMed

Kasturi, Rangachar; Goldgof, Dmitry; Soundararajan, Padmanabhan; Manohar, Vasant; Garofolo, John; Bowers, Rachel; Boonstra, Matthew; Korzhova, Valentina; Zhang, Jing

2009-02-01

Common benchmark data sets, standardized performance metrics, and baseline algorithms have demonstrated considerable impact on research and development in a variety of application domains. These resources provide both consumers and developers of technology with a common framework to objectively compare the performance of different algorithms and algorithmic improvements. In this paper, we present such a framework for evaluating object detection and tracking in video: specifically for face, text, and vehicle objects. This framework includes the source video data, ground-truth annotations (along with guidelines for annotation), performance metrics, evaluation protocols, and tools including scoring software and baseline algorithms. For each detection and tracking task and supported domain, we developed a 50-clip training set and a 50-clip test set. Each data clip is approximately 2.5 minutes long and has been completely spatially/temporally annotated at the I-frame level. Each task/domain, therefore, has an associated annotated corpus of approximately 450,000 frames. The scope of such annotation is unprecedented and was designed to begin to support the necessary quantities of data for robust machine learning approaches, as well as a statistically significant comparison of the performance of algorithms. The goal of this work was to systematically address the challenges of object detection and tracking through a common evaluation framework that permits a meaningful objective comparison of techniques, provides the research community with sufficient data for the exploration of automatic modeling techniques, encourages the incorporation of objective evaluation into the development process, and contributes useful lasting resources of a scale and magnitude that will prove to be extremely useful to the computer vision research community for years to come.

Evaluation of a new silicone adhesive tape among clinicians caring for patients with fragile or at-risk skin.

PubMed

Manriquez, Sonia; Loperfido, Bonnie; Smith, Graham

2014-04-01

To evaluate performance of a new silicone tape among clinicians caring for patients with fragile skin. An international, multisite, 2-week-use evaluation. Caregivers (n = 217) from acute care hospitals in the United States, United Kingdom, and France who regularly use tapes on patients with fragile skin. The silicone tape was substituted for current-use gentle tapes for a 2-week trial period. Preuse and postuse questionnaires were collected. The main outcome measure was tape preference. Secondary outcomes included (1) satisfaction with current-use tapes, (2) willingness to replace current-use tapes with silicone tape, (3) performance comparisons between tapes, (4) clinician-reported problems with the silicone tape, and (5) case study information. The sample group consisted of nurses (98.1%), assistants (1.4%), and physicians (0.5%). Hospital units (n = 100) included oncology (31%), medical-surgical (14%), dialysis (12%), infusion/intravenous therapy (16%), critical care (10%), wound care (10%), and other units (7%). Overall preference was 92.0% for the silicone tape, 7.5% for current-use tapes, and 0.5% no preference. Dissatisfaction was 61.2% for current-use tapes, and most clinicians (90.2%) would change to the silicone tape. Evaluators favored (≥71.5%) the silicone tape on 10 performance attributes and on overall performance (91.6%). Most evaluators (75.1%) did not experience problems with the silicone tape, and those who did found problems related to adhesion (77.8%), gentleness (16.0%), and residue (6.2%). These results indicate that the silicone tape fills a performance-expectation gap of current acrylic tapes among users of tapes on patients with fragile or at-risk skin.

Electrical Evaluation of RCA MWS5001D Random Access Memory, Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klute, A.

1979-01-01

Electrical characterization and qualification tests were performed on the RCA MWS5001D, 1024 by 1-bit, CMOS, random access memory. Characterization tests were performed on five devices. The tests included functional tests, AC parametric worst case pattern selection test, determination of worst-case transition for setup and hold times and a series of schmoo plots. The qualification tests were performed on 32 devices and included a 2000 hour burn in with electrical tests performed at 0 hours and after 168, 1000, and 2000 hours of burn in. The tests performed included functional tests and AC and DC parametric tests. All of the tests in the characterization phase, with the exception of the worst-case transition test, were performed at ambient temperatures of 25, -55 and 125 C. The worst-case transition test was performed at 25 C. The preburn in electrical tests were performed at 25, -55, and 125 C. All burn in endpoint tests were performed at 25, -40, -55, 85, and 125 C.

hydropower biological evaluation tools

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

This software is a set of analytical tools to evaluate the physical and biological performance of existing, refurbished, or newly installed conventional hydro-turbines nationwide where fish passage is a regulatory concern. The current version is based on information collected by the Sensor Fish. Future version will include other technologies. The tool set includes data acquisition, data processing, and biological response tools with applications to various turbine designs and other passage alternatives. The associated database is centralized, and can be accessed remotely. We have demonstrated its use for various applications including both turbines and spillways

Efficiency of polymerization of bulk-fill composite resins: a systematic review.

PubMed

Reis, André Figueiredo; Vestphal, Mariana; Amaral, Roberto Cesar do; Rodrigues, José Augusto; Roulet, Jean-François; Roscoe, Marina Guimarães

2017-08-28

This systematic review assessed the literature to evaluate the efficiency of polymerization of bulk-fill composite resins at 4 mm restoration depth. PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched with no restrictions on year, publication status, or article's language. Selection criteria included studies that evaluated bulk-fill composite resin when inserted in a minimum thickness of 4 mm, followed by curing according to the manufacturers' instructions; presented sound statistical data; and comparison with a control group and/or a reference measurement of quality of polymerization. The evidence level was evaluated by qualitative scoring system and classified as high-, moderate- and low- evidence level. A total of 534 articles were retrieved in the initial search. After the review process, only 10 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria. Most articles included (80%) were classified as high evidence level. Among several techniques, microhardness was the most frequently method performed by the studies included in this systematic review. Irrespective to the "in vitro" method performed, bulk fill RBCs were partially likely to fulfill the important requirement regarding properly curing in 4 mm of cavity depth measured by depth of cure and / or degree of conversion. In general, low viscosities BFCs performed better regarding polymerization efficiency compared to the high viscosities BFCs.

Results of advanced battery technology evaluations for electric vehicle applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deluca, W. H.; Gillie, K. R.; Kulaga, J. E.; Smaga, J. A.; Tummillo, A. F.; Webster, C. E.

1992-10-01

Advanced battery technology evaluations are performed under simulated electric-vehicle operating conditions at the Analysis and Diagnostic Laboratory (ADL) of Argonne National Laboratory. The ADL results provide insight into those factors that limit battery performance and life. The ADL facilities include a test laboratory to conduct battery experimental evaluations under simulated application conditions and a post-test analysis laboratory to determine, in a protected atmosphere if needed, component compositional changes and failure mechanisms. This paper summarizes the performance characterizations and life evaluations conducted during 1991-1992 on both single cells and multi-cell modules that encompass eight battery technologies (Na/S, Li/MS (M=metal), Ni/MH, Ni/Cd, Ni/Zn, Ni/Fe, Zn/Br, and Pb-acid). These evaluations were performed for the Department of Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies, Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division, and the Electric Power Research Institute. The ADL provides a common basis for battery performance characterization and life evaluations with unbiased application of tests and analyses. The results help identify the most-promising R&D approaches for overcoming battery limitations, and provide battery users, developers, and program managers with a measure of the progress being made in battery R&D programs, a comparison of battery technologies, and basic data for modeling.

23 CFR 972.214 - Federal lands congestion management system (CMS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... management strategies; (v) Determine methods to monitor and evaluate the performance of the multi-modal... means the level at which transportation system performance is no longer acceptable due to traffic... improve existing transportation system efficiency. Approaches may include the use of alternate mode...

23 CFR 972.214 - Federal lands congestion management system (CMS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... management strategies; (v) Determine methods to monitor and evaluate the performance of the multi-modal... means the level at which transportation system performance is no longer acceptable due to traffic... improve existing transportation system efficiency. Approaches may include the use of alternate mode...

Prior experience in micro-surgery may improve the surgeon's performance in robotic surgical training.

PubMed

Perez, Manuela; Perrenot, Cyril; Tran, Nguyen; Hossu, Gabriela; Felblinger, Jacques; Hubert, Jacques

2013-09-01

Robotic surgery has witnessed a huge expansion. Robotic simulators have proved to be of major interest in training. Some authors have suggested that prior experience in micro-surgery could improve robotic surgery training. To test micro-surgery as a new approach in training, we proposed a prospective study comparing the surgical performance of micro-surgeons with that of general surgeons on a robotic simulator. 49 surgeons were enrolled; 11 in the micro-surgery group (MSG); 38 n the control group (CG). Performance was evaluated based on five dV-Trainer® exercises. MSG achieved better results for all exercises including exercises requiring visual evaluation of force feed-back, economy of motion, instrument force and position. These results show that experience in micro-surgery could significantly improve surgeons' abilities and their performance in robotic training. So, as micro-surgery practice is relatively cheap, it could be easily included in basic robotic surgery training. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Z-1 Prototype Space Suit Testing Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Amy

2013-01-01

The Advanced Space Suit team of the NASA-Johnson Space Center performed a series of test with the Z-1 prototype space suit in 2012. This paper discusses, at a summary level, the tests performed and results from those tests. The purpose of the tests were two-fold: 1) characterize the suit performance so that the data could be used in the downselection of components for the Z-2 Space Suit and 2) develop interfaces with the suitport and exploration vehicles through pressurized suit evaluations. Tests performed included isolated and functional range of motion data capture, Z-1 waist and hip testing, joint torque testing, CO2 washout testing, fit checks and subject familiarizations, an exploration vehicle aft deck and suitport controls interface evaluation, delta pressure suitport tests including pressurized suit don and doff, and gross mobility and suitport ingress and egress demonstrations in reduced gravity. Lessons learned specific to the Z-1 prototype and to suit testing techniques will be presented.

Z-1 Prototype Space Suit Testing Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Amy J.

2012-01-01

The Advanced Space Suit team of the NASA-Johnson Space Center performed a series of test with the Z-1 prototype space suit in 2012. This paper discusses, at a summary level, the tests performed and results from those tests. The purpose of the tests were two -fold: 1) characterize the suit performance so that the data could be used in the downselection of components for the Z -2 Space Suit and 2) develop interfaces with the suitport and exploration vehicles through pressurized suit evaluations. Tests performed included isolated and functional range of motion data capture, Z-1 waist and hip testing, joint torque testing, CO2 washout testing, fit checks and subject familiarizations, an exploration vehicle aft deck and suitport controls interface evaluation, delta pressure suitport tests including pressurized suit don and doff, and gross mobility and suitport ingress and egress demonstrations in reduced gravity. Lessons learned specific to the Z -1 prototype and to suit testing techniques will be presented.

Perception of premenstrual syndrome and attitude of evaluations of work performance among incoming university female students.

PubMed

Cheng, Shu Hui; Sun, Zih-Jie; Lee, I Hui; Shih, Chi-Chen; Chen, Kao Chin; Lin, Shih-Hsien; Lu, Feng-Hwa; Yang, Yi-Ching; Yang, Yen Kuang

2015-01-01

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common condition, and for 5% of women, the influence is so severe as to interfere with their mental health, interpersonal relationships, or studies. Severe PMS may result in decreased occupational productivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of perception of PMS on evaluation of work performance. A total of 1971 incoming female university students were recruited in September 2009. A simulated clinical scenario was used, with a test battery including measurement of psychological symptoms and the Chinese Premenstrual Symptom Questionnaire. When evaluating employee performance in the simulated scenario, 1565 (79.4%) students neglected the impact of PMS, while 136 (6.9%) students considered it. Multivariate logistic regression showed that perception of daily function impairment due to PMS and frequency of measuring body weight were significantly associated with consideration of the influence of PMS on evaluation of work performance. It is important to increase the awareness of functional impairments related to severe PMS.

Performance evaluation approach for the supercritical helium cold circulators of ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vaghela, H.; Sarkar, B.; Bhattacharya, R.

2014-01-29

The ITER project design foresees Supercritical Helium (SHe) forced flow cooling for the main cryogenic components, namely, the superconducting (SC) magnets and cryopumps (CP). Therefore, cold circulators have been selected to provide the required SHe mass flow rate to cope with specific operating conditions and technical requirements. Considering the availability impacts of such machines, it has been decided to perform evaluation tests of the cold circulators at operating conditions prior to the series production in order to minimize the project technical risks. A proposal has been conceptualized, evaluated and simulated to perform representative tests of the full scale SHe coldmore » circulators. The objectives of the performance tests include the validation of normal operating condition, transient and off-design operating modes as well as the efficiency measurement. A suitable process and instrumentation diagram of the test valve box (TVB) has been developed to implement the tests at the required thermodynamic conditions. The conceptual engineering design of the TVB has been developed along with the required thermal analysis for the normal operating conditions to support the performance evaluation of the SHe cold circulator.« less

IBM PC/IX operating system evaluation plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Granier, Martin; Hall, Philip P.; Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1984-01-01

An evaluation plan for the IBM PC/IX Operating System designed for IBM PC/XT computers is discussed. The evaluation plan covers the areas of performance measurement and evaluation, software facilities available, man-machine interface considerations, networking, and the suitability of PC/IX as a development environment within the University of Southwestern Louisiana NASA PC Research and Development project. In order to compare and evaluate the PC/IX system, comparisons with other available UNIX-based systems are also included.

The role of the real-time simulation facility, SIMFAC, in the design, development and performance verification of the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) with man-in-the-loop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccllough, J. R.; Sharpe, A.; Doetsch, K. H.

1980-01-01

The SIMFAC has played a vital role in the design, development, and performance verification of the shuttle remote manipulator system (SRMS) to be installed in the space shuttle orbiter. The facility provides for realistic man-in-the-loop operation of the SRMS by an operator in the operator complex, a flightlike crew station patterned after the orbiter aft flight deck with all necessary man machine interface elements, including SRMS displays and controls and simulated out-of-the-window and CCTV scenes. The characteristics of the manipulator system, including arm and joint servo dynamics and control algorithms, are simulated by a comprehensive mathematical model within the simulation subsystem of the facility. Major studies carried out using SIMFAC include: SRMS parameter sensitivity evaluations; the development, evaluation, and verification of operating procedures; and malfunction simulation and analysis of malfunction performance. Among the most important and comprehensive man-in-the-loop simulations carried out to date on SIMFAC are those which support SRMS performance verification and certification when the SRMS is part of the integrated orbiter-manipulator system.

Peri-Implant Crevicular Fluid Analysis, Enzymes and Biomarkers: a Systemetic Review

PubMed Central

Dursun, Erhan

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Objectives To review the current understanding of the biomarkers and enzymes associated with different forms peri-implant diseases and how their level changes influence the pathogenesis of the inflammatory diseases around dental implants. Material and Methods An electronic search in two different databases was performed including MEDLINE (PubMed) and EMBASE between 1996 to 2016. Human studies analyse peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) biomarker and enzyme levels of implants having peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis published in English language, were evaluated. A systematic review was performed to assess which biomarkers and enzymes in PICF were used to identify the inflammatory conditions around dental implants. Results Fifty-one articles were identified of which 41 were further evaluated and included in the analysis. Due to significant heterogeneity between included studies, a meta-analysis could not be performed. Instead, a systematic descriptive review was performed. Conclusions Biomarkers and enzymes in peri-implant crevicular fluid have shown promising results in differentiating from peri-implant disease condition to health. However, due to inconsistent results and acquiring much evidence from cross-sectional studies, additional evidence supported by randomized-controlled trials is needed to validate the links reported. PMID:27833734

Development of the e-Baby serious game with regard to the evaluation of oxygenation in preterm babies: contributions of the emotional design.

PubMed

Fonseca, Luciana Mara Monti; Dias, Danielle Monteiro Vilela; Góes, Fernanda Dos Santos Nogueira; Seixas, Carlos Alberto; Scochi, Carmen Gracinda Silvan; Martins, José Carlos Amado; Rodrigues, Manuel Alves

2014-09-01

The present study aimed to describe the development process of a serious game that enables users to evaluate the respiratory process in a preterm infant based on an emotional design model. The e-Baby serious game was built to feature the simulated environment of an incubator, in which the user performs a clinical evaluation of the respiratory process in a virtual preterm infant. The user learns about the preterm baby's history, chooses the tools for the clinical evaluation, evaluates the baby, and determines whether his/her evaluation is appropriate. The e-Baby game presents phases that contain respiratory process impairments of higher or lower complexity in the virtual preterm baby. Included links give the user the option of recording the entire evaluation procedure and sharing his/her performance on a social network. e-Baby integrates a Clinical Evaluation of the Preterm Baby course in the Moodle virtual environment. This game, which evaluates the respiratory process in preterm infants, could support a more flexible, attractive, and interactive teaching and learning process that includes simulations with features very similar to neonatal unit realities, thus allowing more appropriate training for clinical oxygenation evaluations in at-risk preterm infants. e-Baby allows advanced user-technology-educational interactions because it requires active participation in the process and is emotionally integrated.

Review of Airport Ground Traffic Models Including an Evaluation of the ASTS Computer Program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1972-12-01

The report covers an evaluation of Airport Ground Traffic models for the purpose of simulating an Autonomous Local Intersection Controller. All known models were reviewed and a detailed study was performed on the two in-house models the ASTS and ROSS...

Sustaining Members, Volunteers, and Leaders in Community Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Culp, Ken, III

2013-01-01

Community organizations must be self-sustaining in order to remain active, viable, and strong. The three primary steps involved in sustaining members, volunteers, and leaders include evaluate, recognize, and either retain, redirect, or disengage. A volunteer performance evaluation will determine whether individual and organizational goals are…

Evaluation of functional color vision requirements and current color vision screening tests for air traffic control specialists.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-08-01

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the relation of type and degree of color vision deficiency and aeromedical color vision screening test scores to performance of color-dependent tasks of Air Traffic Control Specialists. The subjects included 37...

Introduction to Psychology and Leadership. Typological Analysis of Student Characteristics: Preliminary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bessemer, David W.; Shrage, Jules H.

Recommendations for an alternative plan, based on typological analysis techniques, for the evaluation of student characteristics related to media, presentation design, and academic performance are presented. Difficulties with present evaluation plans are discussed, and different methods of typological analysis are described. Included are…

Evaluation of the SafeLane overlay system for crash reduction on bridge deck surfaces.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

The winter performance of the SafeLane commercial overlay system has been evaluated at four installations on : bridge decks in the state of Minnesota. The study was conducted over a period of a total of three years. Analyses : included mechanical ...

Performance Evaluation of a Prototyped Wireless Ground Sensor Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-01

the network was capable of dynamic adaptation to failure and degradation. 14. SUBJECT TERMS: Wireless Sensor Network , Unmanned Sensor, Unattended...2 H. WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS .................................................................... 3...zation, and network traffic. The evaluated scenarios included outdoor, urban and indoor environments. The characteristics of wireless sensor networks , types

A Summary of Evaluations for Learning and Attention Problems at a University Training Clinic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wierzbicki, Michael; Tyson, Clare M.

2007-01-01

Over a five year period, a university clinic performed psychological evaluations of 102 adults (including 85 college students) who reported that they were experiencing learning or attention problems. Of 92 persons who completed the evaluation, 40 (43.5%) received no diagnosis, 7 (7.6%) received the diagnosis of ADHD, 29 (31.5%) received the…

Development of Innovative Nondestructive Evaluation Technologies for the Inspection of Cracking and Corrosion Under Coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipetzky, Kirsten G.; Novack, Michele R.; Perez, Ignacio; Davis, William R.

2001-11-01

Three different innovative nondestructive evaluation technologies were developed and evaluated for the ability to detect fatigue cracks and corrosion hidden under painted aluminum panels. The three technologies included real-time ultrasound imaging, thermal imaging, and near-field microwave imaging. With each of these nondestructive inspection methods, subtasks were performed in order to optimize each methodology.

Second Year Evaluation of the Resource Room for the Educable Mentally Impaired and the Low Achieving Student for School Year 1973-1974.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoek, John H.

Reported is the 1973-1974 evaluation of a junior high school resource room model for eight educable mentally retarded (EMR) and 18 mildly educationally handicapped students. Discussed is evaluation design including performance comparison of the resource room EMR students and traditional special students (controls), comparison of absentee rates of…

Research Frontiers in Public Sector Performance Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhonghua, Cai; Ye, Wang

In "New Public Management" era, performance measurement has been widely used in managerial practices of public sectors. From the content and features of performance measurement, this paper aims to explore inspirations on Chinese public sector performance measurement, which based on a review of prior literatures including influencial factors, methods and indicators of public sector performance evaluation. In the end, arguments are presented in this paper pointed out the direction of future researches in this field.

Performance Evaluation of a Commercial Polyurethane Coating in Marine Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mobin, M.; Malik, A. U.; Al-Muaili, F.; Al-Hajri, M.

2012-07-01

A material evaluation study has been carried out to determine corrosion behavior of a commercial polyurethane coating system (Souplethane 5) in the marine environment. The coating system is solvent free, two-component polyurethane protective coating. The performance of the coating on steel and rebar concrete was evaluated by conducting different types of tests which include atmospheric exposure, immersion in 5% sodium chloride solution, exposure to splash zone in seawater, salt fog, sabkha soil burial, and electrochemical tests, which include potentiodynamic polarization and AC impedance measurements. Uncoated, coated, and coated scribed specimens were used in each study. In general, the coating showed good corrosion resistance in marine environment. However, the coated samples, when subjected to break under applied compressive load, showed partial or complete detachment from the substrate, e.g., steel and rebar concrete. This appears to be the major drawback of the coating while applying on steel and concrete structures.

3500-hour durability testing of ceramic materials for automotive gas turbine engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carruthers, W. D.; Richerson, D. W.; Benn, K. W.

1980-01-01

A two-year durability program was performed by AiResearch Phoenix to evaluate four commercially available ceramic materials under simulated automotive gas turbine combustor discharge conditions. These conditions included extended cyclic thermal exposures up to 2500 F and 3500 hr. The four materials selected for evaluation were Norton NCX-34 hot pressed silicon nitride, AiResearch RBN 101 reaction bonded silicon nitride, Carborundum pressureless sintered alpha-SiC and Pure Carbon Co. (British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd.) Refel reaction sintered silicon carbide. These materials were initially exposed to 350 hr/1750 cycles at 1200 and 1370 C. Subsequent exposures to 1050, 2100 and 3500 hr were performed on those materials maintaining 50% of baseline strength after the initial exposure. Additional evaluations of exposed bars included dimensional and weight changes, dye penetrant, specific damping capacity changes, SEM fractography, and X-ray diffraction.

Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit Intravehicular Activity Suit for Extravehicular Activity Mobility Evaluations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, Richard D.

2014-01-01

The use of an intravehicular activity (IVA) suit for a spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) was evaluated for mobility and usability in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) environment at the Sonny Carter Training Facility near NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The Space Shuttle Advanced Crew Escape Suit was modified to integrate with the Orion spacecraft. The first several missions of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle will not have mass available to carry an EVA-specific suit; therefore, any EVA required will have to be performed by the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit (MACES). Since the MACES was not designed with EVA in mind, it was unknown what mobility the suit would be able to provide for an EVA or whether a person could perform useful tasks for an extended time inside the pressurized suit. The suit was evaluated in multiple NBL runs by a variety of subjects, including crewmembers with significant EVA experience. Various functional mobility tasks performed included: translation, body positioning, tool carrying, body stabilization, equipment handling, and tool usage. Hardware configurations included with and without Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment, suit with IVA gloves and suit with EVA gloves. Most tasks were completed on International Space Station mock-ups with existing EVA tools. Some limited tasks were completed with prototype tools on a simulated rocky surface. Major findings include: demonstrating the ability to weigh-out the suit, understanding the need to have subjects perform multiple runs prior to getting feedback, determining critical sizing factors, and need for adjusting suit work envelope. Early testing demonstrated the feasibility of EVA's limited duration and limited scope. Further testing is required with more flight-like tasking and constraints to validate these early results. If the suit is used for EVA, it will require mission-specific modifications for umbilical management or Primary Life Support System integration, safety tether attachment, and tool interfaces. These evaluations are continuing through calendar year 2014.

Ground-to-Flight Handling Qualities Comparisons for a High Performance Airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandon, Jay M.; Glaab, Louis J.; Brown, Philip W.; Phillips, Michael R.

1995-01-01

A flight test program was conducted in conjunction with a ground-based piloted simulation study to enable a comparison of handling qualities ratings for a variety of maneuvers between flight and simulation of a modern high performance airplane. Specific objectives included an evaluation of pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) tendencies and a determination of maneuver types which result in either good or poor ground-to-flight pilot handling qualities ratings. A General Dynamics F-16XL aircraft was used for the flight evaluations, and the NASA Langley Differential Maneuvering Simulator was employed for the ground based evaluations. Two NASA research pilots evaluated both the airplane and simulator characteristics using tasks developed in the simulator. Simulator and flight tests were all conducted within approximately a one month time frame. Maneuvers included numerous fine tracking evaluations at various angles of attack, load factors and speed ranges, gross acquisitions involving longitudinal and lateral maneuvering, roll angle captures, and an ILS task with a sidestep to landing. Overall results showed generally good correlation between ground and flight for PIO tendencies and general handling qualities comments. Differences in pilot technique used in simulator evaluations and effects of airplane accelerations and motions are illustrated.

Evaluating faculty clinical excellence in the academic health sciences center.

PubMed

Carey, R M; Wheby, M S; Reynolds, R E

1993-11-01

Although excellence in the clinical care of patients is the cornerstone of medicine, academic health sciences centers have increasingly given more weight to research and correspondingly less emphasis to patient care. To better recognize and reward clinical excellence, it is first necessary to effectively evaluate physicians' performances in patient care. In addition to addressing the value of faculty clinical excellence in the academic setting, the authors discuss different approaches to clinical assessment, theoretical and practical problems in assessing the performances of clinical faculty, and a system of evaluation being initiated at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. This system of evaluation combines--in annual individual reviews--a limited amount of objective assessment data with subjective evaluations from several sources. The objective data include board certification and recertification, analysis of outcomes data, and documentation of scholarly activity. The subjective evaluations include letters of recognition and appreciation from faculty colleagues and written observations from department chairs, housestaff, students, and nurses. The system has been accepted by department chairs, members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, and the general faculty. In implementing this new system, periodic review of the pace and direction of change will be crucial to track progress and provide feedback for further modification.

C3 generic workstation: Performance metrics and applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eddy, Douglas R.

1988-01-01

The large number of integrated dependent measures available on a command, control, and communications (C3) generic workstation under development are described. In this system, embedded communications tasks will manipulate workload to assess the effects of performance-enhancing drugs (sleep aids and decongestants), work/rest cycles, biocybernetics, and decision support systems on performance. Task performance accuracy and latency will be event coded for correlation with other measures of voice stress and physiological functioning. Sessions will be videotaped to score non-verbal communications. Physiological recordings include spectral analysis of EEG, ECG, vagal tone, and EOG. Subjective measurements include SWAT, fatigue, POMS and specialized self-report scales. The system will be used primarily to evaluate the effects on performance of drugs, work/rest cycles, and biocybernetic concepts. Performance assessment algorithms will also be developed, including those used with small teams. This system provides a tool for integrating and synchronizing behavioral and psychophysiological measures in a complex decision-making environment.

Five-way smoking status classification using text hot-spot identification and error-correcting output codes.

PubMed

Cohen, Aaron M

2008-01-01

We participated in the i2b2 smoking status classification challenge task. The purpose of this task was to evaluate the ability of systems to automatically identify patient smoking status from discharge summaries. Our submission included several techniques that we compared and studied, including hot-spot identification, zero-vector filtering, inverse class frequency weighting, error-correcting output codes, and post-processing rules. We evaluated our approaches using the same methods as the i2b2 task organizers, using micro- and macro-averaged F1 as the primary performance metric. Our best performing system achieved a micro-F1 of 0.9000 on the test collection, equivalent to the best performing system submitted to the i2b2 challenge. Hot-spot identification, zero-vector filtering, classifier weighting, and error correcting output coding contributed additively to increased performance, with hot-spot identification having by far the largest positive effect. High performance on automatic identification of patient smoking status from discharge summaries is achievable with the efficient and straightforward machine learning techniques studied here.

Performance evaluation of Space Shuttle SRB parachutes from air drop and scaled model wind tunnel tests. [Solid Rocket Booster recovery system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moog, R. D.; Bacchus, D. L.; Utreja, L. R.

1979-01-01

The aerodynamic performance characteristics have been determined for the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster drogue, main, and pilot parachutes. The performance evaluation on the 20-degree conical ribbon parachutes is based primarily on air drop tests of full scale prototype parachutes. In addition, parametric wind tunnel tests were performed and used in parachute configuration development and preliminary performance assessments. The wind tunnel test data are compared to the drop test results and both sets of data are used to determine the predicted performance of the Solid Rocket Booster flight parachutes. Data from other drop tests of large ribbon parachutes are also compared with the Solid Rocket Booster parachute performance characteristics. Parameters assessed include full open terminal drag coefficients, reefed drag area, opening characteristics, clustering effects, and forebody interference.

Vehicle test report: Electric Vehicle Associates electric conversion of an AMC Pacer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, T. W.; Wirth, V. A., Jr.; Pompa, M. F.

1981-01-01

Tests were performed to characterize certain parameters of the EVA Pacer and to provide baseline data that can be used for the comparison of improved batteries that may be incorporated into the vehicle at a later time. The vehicle tests were concentrated on the electrical drive subsystem; i.e., the batteries, controller and motor. The tests included coastdowns to characterize the road load, and range evaluations for both cyclic and constant speed conditions. A qualitative evaluation of the vehicle's performance was made by comparing its constant speed range performance with other electric and hybrid vehicles. The Pacer performance was approximately equal to the majority of those vehicles assessed in 1977.

Evaluation of Student Performance through a Multidimensional Finite Mixture IRT Model.

PubMed

Bacci, Silvia; Bartolucci, Francesco; Grilli, Leonardo; Rampichini, Carla

2017-01-01

In the Italian academic system, a student can enroll for an exam immediately after the end of the teaching period or can postpone it; in this second case the exam result is missing. We propose an approach for the evaluation of a student performance throughout the course of study, accounting also for nonattempted exams. The approach is based on an item response theory model that includes two discrete latent variables representing student performance and priority in selecting the exams to take. We explicitly account for nonignorable missing observations as the indicators of attempted exams also contribute to measure the performance (within-item multidimensionality). The model also allows for individual covariates in its structural part.

Guidance for Using Incident Data in Evaluating Listed and Non-listed Species under Registration Review

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

How to conduct a search for incident reports; where to include incident information. Type of information to include: in problem formulation - focuses on providing a summary of incidents; in risk assessments - a complete analysis is performed.

Development of heat-storage building materials for passive-solar applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fletcher, J. W.

A heat storage building material to be used for passive solar applications and general load leveling within building spaces was developed. Specifically, PCM-filled plastic panels are to be developed as wallboard and ceiling panels. Three PCMs (CaCl2, 6H2O; Na2SO4, 10H2O; LiNO3, 3H2O are to be evaluated for use in the double walled, hollow channeled plastic panels. Laboratory development of the panels will include determination of filling and sealing techniques, behavior of the PCMs, container properties and materials compatibility. Testing will include vapor transmission, thermal cycle, dynamic performance, accelerated life and durability tests. In addition to development and testing, an applications analysis will be performed for specific passive solar applications. Conceptual design of a single family passive solar residence will be prepared and performance evaluated. Screening of the three PCM candidates is essentially complete.

Evaluation of Flagging Criteria of United States Kidney Transplant Center Performance: How to Best Define Outliers?

PubMed

Schold, Jesse D; Miller, Charles M; Henry, Mitchell L; Buccini, Laura D; Flechner, Stuart M; Goldfarb, David A; Poggio, Emilio D; Andreoni, Kenneth A

2017-06-01

Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients report cards of US organ transplant center performance are publicly available and used for quality oversight. Low center performance (LP) evaluations are associated with changes in practice including reduced transplant rates and increased waitlist removals. In 2014, Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients implemented new Bayesian methodology to evaluate performance which was not adopted by Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In May 2016, CMS altered their performance criteria, reducing the likelihood of LP evaluations. Our aims were to evaluate incidence, survival rates, and volume of LP centers with Bayesian, historical (old-CMS) and new-CMS criteria using 6 consecutive program-specific reports (PSR), January 2013 to July 2015 among adult kidney transplant centers. Bayesian, old-CMS and new-CMS criteria identified 13.4%, 8.3%, and 6.1% LP PSRs, respectively. Over the 3-year period, 31.9% (Bayesian), 23.4% (old-CMS), and 19.8% (new-CMS) of centers had 1 or more LP evaluation. For small centers (<83 transplants/PSR), there were 4-fold additional LP evaluations (52 vs 13 PSRs) for 1-year mortality with Bayesian versus new-CMS criteria. For large centers (>183 transplants/PSR), there were 3-fold additional LP evaluations for 1-year mortality with Bayesian versus new-CMS criteria with median differences in observed and expected patient survival of -1.6% and -2.2%, respectively. A significant proportion of kidney transplant centers are identified as low performing with relatively small survival differences compared with expected. Bayesian criteria have significantly higher flagging rates and new-CMS criteria modestly reduce flagging. Critical appraisal of performance criteria is needed to assess whether quality oversight is meeting intended goals and whether further modifications could reduce risk aversion, more efficiently allocate resources, and increase transplant opportunities.

Pharmacodynamics of Promethazine in Human Subjects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gatlin, K. T.; Boyd, J. L.; Wang, Z.; Das, H.; Putcha, L.

2005-01-01

Promethazine (PMZ) is the drug of choice for the treatment of symptoms associated with space motion sickness in astronauts. Side effects of PMZ include sedation, dizziness and cognitive performance impairment. In this study, we examined pharmacodynamics (PD) in human subjects and validated methods for evaluating cognitive performance effects of medications in space. METHODS: PMZ (12.5,25, and 50 mg) or placebo was administered by IM injection to human subjects in a randomized double-blind treatment design. Samples and data were collected for 72 h post dose. PD evaluation was performed using a battery of performance tests administered using WinSCAT (Windows based Space Cognitive Assessment Test) on a laptop computer, and ARES (ANAM Readiness Evaluation System) on a PDA, plasma concentrations of PMZ were measured using a LC-MS method. RESULTS: Results indicate a linear correlation between PMZ concentration and cognitive performance parameters (p<0.01). Test accuracy decreased and test completion time and response time increased significantly with increasing plasma PMZ concentration. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a concentration dependent decrement in cognitive performance associated with PMZ. WinSCAT and ARES are sensitive tools for the assessment PMZ PD and may be applicable for such evaluations with other neurocognitive drugs.

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for Contemporary Newman, Newman, Georgia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A hot solar heating and hot water system's operational performance from June 1979 through April 1980 is evaluated. Solar energy satisfied 42 percent of the total measure load (hot water plus space heating), which was somewhat higher than the solar fraction of 32 percent. When system losses into the heating space from duct leaks and storage are included, the heating solar fraction increases from 42 to 64 percent. Net electrical energy savings were 5.47 million BTUs.

Performance evaluation of multiple (32 channels) sub-nanosecond TDC implemented in low-cost FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lichard, P.; Konstantinou, G.; Villar Vilanueva, A.; Palladino, V.

2014-03-01

NA62 experiment Straw tracker frontend board serves as a gas-tight detector cover and integrates two CARIOCA chips, a low cost FPGA (Cyclon III, Altera) and a set of 400Mbit/s links to the backend. The FPGA houses 16 pairs of sub-nanosecond resolution TDCs with derandomizers and an output link serializer. Evaluation methods, including simulations, and performance results of the system in the lab and on a detector prototype are presented.

Motor Rehabilitation Using Kinect: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Da Gama, Alana; Fallavollita, Pascal; Teichrieb, Veronica; Navab, Nassir

2015-04-01

Interactive systems are being developed with the intention to help in the engagement of patients on various therapies. Amid the recent technological advances, Kinect™ from Microsoft (Redmond, WA) has helped pave the way on how user interaction technology facilitates and complements many clinical applications. In order to examine the actual status of Kinect developments for rehabilitation, this article presents a systematic review of articles that involve interactive, evaluative, and technical advances related to motor rehabilitation. Systematic research was performed in the IEEE Xplore and PubMed databases using the key word combination "Kinect AND rehabilitation" with the following inclusion criteria: (1) English language, (2) page number >4, (3) Kinect system for assistive interaction or clinical evaluation, or (4) Kinect system for improvement or evaluation of the sensor tracking or movement recognition. Quality assessment was performed by QualSyst standards. In total, 109 articles were found in the database research, from which 31 were included in the review: 13 were focused on the development of assistive systems for rehabilitation, 3 in evaluation, 3 in the applicability category, 7 on validation of Kinect anatomic and clinical evaluation, and 5 on improvement techniques. Quality analysis of all included articles is also presented with their respective QualSyst checklist scores. Research and development possibilities and future works with the Kinect for rehabilitation application are extensive. Methodological improvements when performing studies on this area need to be further investigated.

Structural Evaluation of the RSRM Nozzle Replacement Adhesive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Batista-Rodriguez, A.; McLennan, M. L.; Palumbos, A. V.; Richardson, D. E.

1999-01-01

This paper describes the structural performance evaluation of a replacement adhesive for the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) nozzle utilizing finite element analysis. Due to material obsolescence and industrial safety issues, the two current structural adhesives, EA 913 and EA 946 are to be replaced with a new adhesive. TIGA 321. The structural evaluation in support of the adhesive replacement effort includes residual stress, transportation, and flight analyses. Factors of safety are calculated using the stress response from each analysis. The factors of safety are used as the limiting criteria to compare the replacement adhesive against the current adhesives. Included in this paper are the analytical approach, assumptions and modeling techniques as well as the results of the evaluation. An important factor to the evaluation is the similarity in constitutive material properties (elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio) between TIGA 321 and EA 913. This similarity leads to equivalent material response from the two adhesives. However, TIGA 321 surpasses EA 913's performance due to higher material capabilities. Conversely, the change in stress response from EA 946 to TIGA 321 is more apparent: this is primarily attributed to the difference in the modulii of the two adhesives, which differ by two orders of magnitude. The results of the bondline evaluation indicate that the replacement adhesive provides superior performance than the current adhesives with only minor exceptions. Furthermore, TIGA 321 causes only a minor chance in the response of the phenolic and metal components.

77 FR 21595 - Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses and Combined Licenses Involving...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-10

... must be one which, if proven, would entitle the requestor/petitioner to relief. A requestor/ petitioner..., and fire modeling calculations, have been performed to demonstrate that the performance-based... may include engineering evaluations, probabilistic safety assessments, and fire modeling calculations...

Modern Versus Traditional Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, A. M.

1974-01-01

The effect of different secondary school mathematics syllabi on first-year performance in college-level mathematics was studied in an attempt to evaluate the syllabus change. Students with a modern mathematics background performed sigficantly better on most first-year units. A topic-by-topic analysis of results is included. (DT)

Performance evaluation of NASA/KSC CAD/CAE graphics local area network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zobrist, George

1988-01-01

This study had as an objective the performance evaluation of the existing CAD/CAE graphics network at NASA/KSC. This evaluation will also aid in projecting planned expansions, such as the Space Station project on the existing CAD/CAE network. The objectives were achieved by collecting packet traffic on the various integrated sub-networks. This included items, such as total number of packets on the various subnetworks, source/destination of packets, percent utilization of network capacity, peak traffic rates, and packet size distribution. The NASA/KSC LAN was stressed to determine the useable bandwidth of the Ethernet network and an average design station workload was used to project the increased traffic on the existing network and the planned T1 link. This performance evaluation of the network will aid the NASA/KSC network managers in planning for the integration of future workload requirements into the existing network.

Refractory Metal Heat Pipe Life Test - Test Plan and Standard Operating Procedures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, J. J.; Reid, R. S.

2010-01-01

Refractory metal heat pipes developed during this project shall be subjected to various operating conditions to evaluate life-limiting corrosion factors. To accomplish this objective, various parameters shall be investigated, including the effect of temperature and mass fluence on long-term corrosion rate. The test series will begin with a performance test of one module to evaluate its performance and to establish the temperature and power settings for the remaining modules. The performance test will be followed by round-the-clock testing of 16 heat pipes. All heat pipes shall be nondestructively inspected at 6-month intervals. At longer intervals, specific modules will be destructively evaluated. Both the nondestructive and destructive evaluations shall be coordinated with Los Alamos National Laboratory. During the processing, setup, and testing of the heat pipes, standard operating procedures shall be developed. Initial procedures are listed here and, as hardware is developed, will be updated, incorporating findings and lessons learned.

The effect of before school physical activity on child development: A study protocol to evaluate the Build Our Kids Success (BOKS) Program.

PubMed

Pojednic, Rachele; Peabody, Stephanie; Carson, Shelley; Kennedy, Mary; Bevans, Katherine; Phillips, Edward M

2016-07-01

Most childhood physical activity interventions focus on reducing childhood obesity with varying success, indicating that body mass index (BMI) may be a limited marker of health in children. To better understand overall childhood health and wellbeing, this study is investigating BOKS (Build Our Kids Success), an established ongoing before-school physical activity program, to evaluate students' physical health, mental health, cognitive capacity, and academic performance. The study is a non-randomized controlled trial with 26 elementary and middle schools in 3 Massachusetts communities, including first through eighth grade (aged 5-14) students, their parents, and teachers. Data collection is occurring during the 2015-2016 school year. Physical fitness is being assessed via 400m run and anthropometrics via height and weight measures (BMI). Psychosocial outcomes are being assessed via student, parent, and teacher survey and include nutrition, daily activities, emotional and relationship scales, bullying and victimization, vitality and energy, student engagement, stress, positive affect, self-efficacy and life satisfaction. Academic performance is reported by grades. Statistical methods include a psychometric evaluation of study measures, Pearson correlations, Student's t-tests, ANOVA/ANCOVA and multivariate linear regression including multilevel modeling analyses to account for the hierarchical organization of the data. This study is investigating a before school physical activity program on parameters of physical health, mental health, cognitive capacity, and academic performance by employing a novel triad approach, correlating the input of the child, parent, and teacher. Outcomes will evaluate the effectiveness of a before school physical activity program in elementary and middle schools and potentially provide valuable information for schools looking to institute innovative physical activity programs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Competency assessment of microbiology medical laboratory technologists in Ontario, Canada.

PubMed

Desjardins, Marc; Fleming, Christine Ann

2014-08-01

Accreditation in Ontario, Canada, requires that licensed clinical laboratories participate in external quality assessment (also known as proficiency testing) and perform competency evaluation of their staff. To assess the extent of ongoing competency assessment practices, the Quality Management Program--Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) Microbiology Committee surveyed all 112 licensed Ontario microbiology laboratories. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 21 questions that included yes/no, multiple-choice, and short-answer formats. Participants were asked to provide information about existing programs, the frequency of testing, what areas are evaluated, and how results are communicated to the staff. Of the 111 responding laboratories, 6 indicated they did not have a formal evaluation program since they perform only limited bacteriology testing. Of the remaining 105 respondents, 87% perform evaluations at least annually or every 2 years, and 61% include any test or task performed, whereas 16% and 10% focus only on problem areas and high-volume complex tasks, respectively. The most common methods of evaluation were review of external quality assessment (EQA) challenges, direct observation, and worksheet review. With the exception of one participant, all communicate results to staff, and most take remedial action to correct the deficiencies. Although most accredited laboratories have a program to assess the ongoing competency of their staff, the methods used are not standardized or consistently applied, indicating that there is room for improvement. The survey successfully highlighted potential areas for improvement and allowed the QMP-LS Microbiology Committee to provide guidance to Ontario laboratories for establishing or improving existing microbiology-specific competency assessment programs. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Competency Assessment of Microbiology Medical Laboratory Technologists in Ontario, Canada

PubMed Central

Fleming, Christine Ann

2014-01-01

Accreditation in Ontario, Canada, requires that licensed clinical laboratories participate in external quality assessment (also known as proficiency testing) and perform competency evaluation of their staff. To assess the extent of ongoing competency assessment practices, the Quality Management Program—Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) Microbiology Committee surveyed all 112 licensed Ontario microbiology laboratories. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 21 questions that included yes/no, multiple-choice, and short-answer formats. Participants were asked to provide information about existing programs, the frequency of testing, what areas are evaluated, and how results are communicated to the staff. Of the 111 responding laboratories, 6 indicated they did not have a formal evaluation program since they perform only limited bacteriology testing. Of the remaining 105 respondents, 87% perform evaluations at least annually or every 2 years, and 61% include any test or task performed, whereas 16% and 10% focus only on problem areas and high-volume complex tasks, respectively. The most common methods of evaluation were review of external quality assessment (EQA) challenges, direct observation, and worksheet review. With the exception of one participant, all communicate results to staff, and most take remedial action to correct the deficiencies. Although most accredited laboratories have a program to assess the ongoing competency of their staff, the methods used are not standardized or consistently applied, indicating that there is room for improvement. The survey successfully highlighted potential areas for improvement and allowed the QMP-LS Microbiology Committee to provide guidance to Ontario laboratories for establishing or improving existing microbiology-specific competency assessment programs. PMID:24899030

Specialized data analysis for the Space Shuttle Main Engine and diagnostic evaluation of advanced propulsion system components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for the development and management of advanced launch vehicle propulsion systems, including the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), which is presently operational, and the Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) under development. The SSME's provide high performance within stringent constraints on size, weight, and reliability. Based on operational experience, continuous design improvement is in progress to enhance system durability and reliability. Specialized data analysis and interpretation is required in support of SSME and advanced propulsion system diagnostic evaluations. Comprehensive evaluation of the dynamic measurements obtained from test and flight operations is necessary to provide timely assessment of the vibrational characteristics indicating the operational status of turbomachinery and other critical engine components. Efficient performance of this effort is critical due to the significant impact of dynamic evaluation results on ground test and launch schedules, and requires direct familiarity with SSME and derivative systems, test data acquisition, and diagnostic software. Detailed analysis and evaluation of dynamic measurements obtained during SSME and advanced system ground test and flight operations was performed including analytical/statistical assessment of component dynamic behavior, and the development and implementation of analytical/statistical models to efficiently define nominal component dynamic characteristics, detect anomalous behavior, and assess machinery operational condition. In addition, the SSME and J-2 data will be applied to develop vibroacoustic environments for advanced propulsion system components, as required. This study will provide timely assessment of engine component operational status, identify probable causes of malfunction, and indicate feasible engineering solutions. This contract will be performed through accomplishment of negotiated task orders.

A systematic review of economic evaluations of treatments for patients with epilepsy.

PubMed

Wijnen, Ben F M; van Mastrigt, Ghislaine A P G; Evers, Silvia M A A; Gershuni, Olga; Lambrechts, Danielle A J E; Majoie, Marian H J M; Postulart, Debby; Aldenkamp, Bert A P; de Kinderen, Reina J A

2017-05-01

The increasing number of treatment options and the high costs associated with epilepsy have fostered the development of economic evaluations in epilepsy. It is important to examine the availability and quality of these economic evaluations and to identify potential research gaps. As well as looking at both pharmacologic (antiepileptic drugs [AEDs]) and nonpharmacologic (e.g., epilepsy surgery, ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation) therapies, this review examines the methodologic quality of the full economic evaluations included. Literature search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), Econlit, Web of Science, and CEA Registry. In addition, Cochrane Reviews, Cochrane DARE and Cochrane Health Technology Assessment Databases were used. To identify relevant studies, predefined clinical search strategies were combined with a search filter designed to identify health economic studies. Specific search strategies were devised for the following topics: (1) AEDs, (2) patients with cognitive deficits, (3) elderly patients, (4) epilepsy surgery, (5) ketogenic diet, (6) vagus nerve stimulation, and (7) treatment of (non)convulsive status epilepticus. A total of 40 publications were included in this review, 29 (73%) of which were articles about pharmacologic interventions. Mean quality score of all articles on the Consensus Health Economic Criteria (CHEC)-extended was 81.8%, the lowest quality score being 21.05%, whereas five studies had a score of 100%. Looking at the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS), the average quality score was 77.0%, the lowest being 22.7%, and four studies rated as 100%. There was a substantial difference in methodology in all included articles, which hampered the attempt to combine information meaningfully. Overall, the methodologic quality was acceptable; however, some studies performed significantly worse than others. The heterogeneity between the studies stresses the need to define a reference case (e.g., how should an economic evaluation within epilepsy be performed) and to derive consensus on what constitutes "standard optimal care." Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International League Against Epilepsy.

What Today's Educational Technology Needs: Defensible Evaluations and Realistic Implementation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roweton, William E.; And Others

It is argued that in order to make computer assisted instruction effective in the schools, educators should pay more attention to implementation issues (including modifying teacher attitudes, changing classroom routines, and offering realistic technical training and support) and to producing understandable product and performance evaluations.…

78 FR 11171 - Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; RadNet (Renewal)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-15

...) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (ii) evaluate the... request descriptive information pertaining to sample location, e.g., sample type, sample location, length...

Faculty Development Manual for the School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Univ., Galveston. Medical Branch.

The contents of this guide, adopted for a one-year pilot study, include: standard operating procedures for the faculty development/effectiveness document (performance and evaluation contract); instructions and forms for evaluating effectiveness in teaching, administrative duties, and professional activities; and a faculty…

Elevating the Importance of Teaching. National Project III. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Richard E.

An in-depth study was conducted of instructional improvement activities at Kansas State University, including a student evaluation instrument of teacher performance, called Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment (IDEA). Faculty reactions to the total evaluation system, the use of results for multiple purposes, and the current…

EVALUATION OF TRICKLE-BED AIR BIOFILTER PERFORMANCE FOR STYRENE REMOVAL

EPA Science Inventory

A pilot-scale trickle-bed air biofilter (TBAB) was evaluated for the removal of styrene from a waste gas stream. Six-millimeter (6 mm) Celite pellets (R-635) were used as the biological attachment medium. The operating parameters considered in the study included the styrene vol...

REMOVAL OF METHYL T-BUTYL ETHER (MTBE) FROM WATER BY PERVAPORATION: BENCH-SCALE AND PILOT SCALE EVALUATIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The ability of pervaporation to remove methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE) from water was evaluated at bench- and pilot-scales. Process parameters studied included flow rate, temperature, MTBE concentration, membrane module type, and permeate pressure. Pervaporation performance was ass...

Evaluating Best Management Practices and Correlations Between Culture and Molecular Data at a Cattle Feeding Operation and Nearby Stream

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation will include: Evaluate the performance of an infiltration basin and constructed wetland in a cattle-feeding operation (culture data only); Examine the correlation between culture data and qPCR measurements at two different research sites; Describe the relationship b...

Evaluation of performance based approach for determining contribution of environmental factors to pavement deterioration : H P & R implementation study.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-11-01

State Legislation requires that cost responsibility studies be available for the 1991 and 1993 Legislative sessions. Part of this legislative requirement includes the need to re-evaluate and establish a sound basis for the weight-mile tax. To be fair...

Towards systematic evaluation of crop model outputs for global land-use models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclere, David; Azevedo, Ligia B.; Skalský, Rastislav; Balkovič, Juraj; Havlík, Petr

2016-04-01

Land provides vital socioeconomic resources to the society, however at the cost of large environmental degradations. Global integrated models combining high resolution global gridded crop models (GGCMs) and global economic models (GEMs) are increasingly being used to inform sustainable solution for agricultural land-use. However, little effort has yet been done to evaluate and compare the accuracy of GGCM outputs. In addition, GGCM datasets require a large amount of parameters whose values and their variability across space are weakly constrained: increasing the accuracy of such dataset has a very high computing cost. Innovative evaluation methods are required both to ground credibility to the global integrated models, and to allow efficient parameter specification of GGCMs. We propose an evaluation strategy for GGCM datasets in the perspective of use in GEMs, illustrated with preliminary results from a novel dataset (the Hypercube) generated by the EPIC GGCM and used in the GLOBIOM land use GEM to inform on present-day crop yield, water and nutrient input needs for 16 crops x 15 management intensities, at a spatial resolution of 5 arc-minutes. We adopt the following principle: evaluation should provide a transparent diagnosis of model adequacy for its intended use. We briefly describe how the Hypercube data is generated and how it articulates with GLOBIOM in order to transparently identify the performances to be evaluated, as well as the main assumptions and data processing involved. Expected performances include adequately representing the sub-national heterogeneity in crop yield and input needs: i) in space, ii) across crop species, and iii) across management intensities. We will present and discuss measures of these expected performances and weight the relative contribution of crop model, input data and data processing steps in performances. We will also compare obtained yield gaps and main yield-limiting factors against the M3 dataset. Next steps include iterative improvement of parameter assumptions and evaluation of implications of GGCM performances for intended use in the IIASA EPIC-GLOBIOM model cluster. Our approach helps targeting future efforts at improving GGCM accuracy and would achieve highest efficiency if combined with traditional field-scale evaluation and sensitivity analysis.

Alpha1 LASSO data bundles Lamont, OK

DOE Data Explorer

Gustafson, William Jr; Vogelmann, Andrew; Endo, Satoshi; Toto, Tami; Xiao, Heng; Li, Zhijin; Cheng, Xiaoping; Krishna, Bhargavi (ORCID:000000018828528X)

2016-08-03

A data bundle is a unified package consisting of LASSO LES input and output, observations, evaluation diagnostics, and model skill scores. LES input includes model configuration information and forcing data. LES output includes profile statistics and full domain fields of cloud and environmental variables. Model evaluation data consists of LES output and ARM observations co-registered on the same grid and sampling frequency. Model performance is quantified by skill scores and diagnostics in terms of cloud and environmental variables.

Potential Benefits of an Integrated Electric-Acoustic Sound Processor with Children: A Preliminary Report.

PubMed

Wolfe, Jace; Neumann, Sara; Schafer, Erin; Marsh, Megan; Wood, Mark; Baker, R Stanley

2017-02-01

A number of published studies have demonstrated the benefits of electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) over conventional electric stimulation for adults with functional low-frequency acoustic hearing and severe-to-profound high-frequency hearing loss. These benefits potentially include better speech recognition in quiet and in noise, better localization, improvements in sound quality, better music appreciation and aptitude, and better pitch recognition. There is, however, a paucity of published reports describing the potential benefits and limitations of EAS for children with functional low-frequency acoustic hearing and severe-to-profound high-frequency hearing loss. The objective of this study was to explore the potential benefits of EAS for children. A repeated measures design was used to evaluate performance differences obtained with EAS stimulation versus acoustic- and electric-only stimulation. Seven users of Cochlear Nucleus Hybrid, Nucleus 24 Freedom, CI512, and CI422 implants were included in the study. Sentence recognition (assayed using the pediatric version of the AzBio sentence recognition test) was evaluated in quiet and at three fixed signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) (0, +5, and +10 dB). Functional hearing performance was also evaluated with the use of questionnaires, including the comparative version of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities, the Listening Inventory for Education Revised, and the Children's Home Inventory for Listening Difficulties. Speech recognition in noise was typically better with EAS compared to participants' performance with acoustic- and electric-only stimulation, particularly when evaluated at the less favorable SNR. Additionally, in real-world situations, children generally preferred to use EAS compared to electric-only stimulation. Also, the participants' classroom teachers observed better hearing performance in the classroom with the use of EAS. Use of EAS provided better speech recognition in quiet and in noise when compared to performance obtained with use of acoustic- and electric-only stimulation, and children responded favorably to the use of EAS implemented in an integrated sound processor for real-world use. American Academy of Audiology

Hand controller commonality evaluation process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Mark A.; Bierschwale, John M.; Wilmington, Robert P.; Adam, Susan C.; Diaz, Manuel F.; Jensen, Dean G.

1990-01-01

A hand controller evaluation process has been developed to determine the appropriate hand controller configurations for supporting remotely controlled devices. These devices include remote manipulator systems (RMS), dexterous robots, and remotely-piloted free flyers. Standard interfaces were developed to evaluate six different hand controllers in three test facilities including dynamic computer simulations, kinematic computer simulations, and physical simulations. The hand controllers under consideration were six degree-of-freedom (DOF) position and rate minimaster and joystick controllers, and three-DOF rate controllers. Task performance data, subjective comments, and anthropometric data obtained during tests were used for controller configuration recommendations to the SSF Program.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kreutzer, Cory J.; Rugh, John; Tomerlin, Jeff

Increased market penetration of electric drive vehicles (EDVs) requires overcoming a number of hurdles, including limited vehicle range and the elevated cost in comparison to conventional vehicles. Climate control loads have a significant impact on range, cutting it by over 50% in both cooling and heating conditions. To minimize the impact of climate control on EDV range, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has partnered with Hyundai America and key industry partners to quantify the performance of thermal load reduction technologies on a Hyundai Sonata plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Technologies that impact vehicle cabin heating in cold weather conditions and cabinmore » cooling in warm weather conditions were evaluated. Tests included thermal transient and steady-state periods for all technologies, including the development of a new test methodology to evaluate the performance of occupant thermal conditioning. Heated surfaces demonstrated significant reductions in energy use from steady-state heating, including a 29%-59% reduction from heated surfaces. Solar control glass packages demonstrated significant reductions in energy use for both transient and steady-state cooling, with up to a 42% reduction in transient and 12.8% reduction in steady-state energy use for the packages evaluated. Technologies that demonstrated significant climate control load reduction were selected for incorporation into a complete thermal load reduction package. The complete package is set to be evaluated in the second phase of the ongoing project.« less

Crew Exploration Vehicle Launch Abort Controller Performance Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sparks, Dean W., Jr.; Raney, David L.

2007-01-01

This paper covers the simulation and evaluation of a controller design for the Crew Module (CM) Launch Abort System (LAS), to measure its ability to meet the abort performance requirements. The controller used in this study is a hybrid design, including features developed by the Government and the Contractor. Testing is done using two separate 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) computer simulation implementations of the LAS/CM throughout the ascent trajectory: 1) executing a series of abort simulations along a nominal trajectory for the nominal LAS/CM system; and 2) using a series of Monte Carlo runs with perturbed initial flight conditions and perturbed system parameters. The performance of the controller is evaluated against a set of criteria, which is based upon the current functional requirements of the LAS. Preliminary analysis indicates that the performance of the present controller meets (with the exception of a few cases) the evaluation criteria mentioned above.

Risk management study for the retired Hanford Site facilities: Qualitative risk evaluation for the retired Hanford Site facilities. Volume 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coles, G.A.; Shultz, M.V.; Taylor, W.E.

1993-09-01

This document provides a risk evaluation of the 100 and 200 Area retired, surplus facilities on the Hanford Site. Also included are the related data that were compiled by the risk evaluation team during investigations performed on the facilities. Results are the product of a major effort performed in fiscal year 1993 to produce qualitative information that characterizes certain risks associated with these facilities. The retired facilities investigated for this evaluation are located in the 100 and 200 Areas of the 1,450-km{sup 2} (570-mi{sup 2}) Hanford Site. The Hanford Site is a semiarid tract of land in southeastern Washington State.more » The nearest population center is Richland, Washington, (population 32,000) 30-km (20 mi) southeast of the 200 Area. During walkdown investigations of these facilities, data on real and potential hazards that threatened human health or safety or created potential environmental release issues were identified by the risk evaluation team. Using these findings, the team categorized the identified hazards by facility and evaluated the risk associated with each hazard. The factors contributing to each risk, and the consequence and likelihood of harm associated with each hazard also are included in this evaluation.« less

Validation of tungsten cross sections in the neutron energy region up to 100 keV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pigni, Marco T.; Žerovnik, Gašper; Leal, Luiz. C.; Trkov, Andrej

2017-09-01

Following a series of recent cross section evaluations on tungsten isotopes performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), this paper presents the validation work carried out to test the performance of the evaluated cross sections based on lead-slowing-down (LSD) benchmarks conducted in Grenoble. ORNL completed the resonance parameter evaluation of four tungsten isotopes - 182,183,184,186W - in August 2014 and submitted it as an ENDF-compatible file to be part of the next release of the ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear data library. The evaluations were performed with support from the US Nuclear Criticality Safety Program in an effort to provide improved tungsten cross section and covariance data for criticality safety sensitivity analyses. The validation analysis based on the LSD benchmarks showed an improved agreement with the experimental response when the ORNL tungsten evaluations were included in the ENDF/B-VII.1 library. Comparison with the results obtained with the JEFF-3.2 nuclear data library are also discussed.

Experimental Evaluation and Workload Characterization for High-Performance Computer Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

El-Ghazawi, Tarek A.

1995-01-01

This research is conducted in the context of the Joint NSF/NASA Initiative on Evaluation (JNNIE). JNNIE is an inter-agency research program that goes beyond typical.bencbking to provide and in-depth evaluations and understanding of the factors that limit the scalability of high-performance computing systems. Many NSF and NASA centers have participated in the effort. Our research effort was an integral part of implementing JNNIE in the NASA ESS grand challenge applications context. Our research work under this program was composed of three distinct, but related activities. They include the evaluation of NASA ESS high- performance computing testbeds using the wavelet decomposition application; evaluation of NASA ESS testbeds using astrophysical simulation applications; and developing an experimental model for workload characterization for understanding workload requirements. In this report, we provide a summary of findings that covers all three parts, a list of the publications that resulted from this effort, and three appendices with the details of each of the studies using a key publication developed under the respective work.

In-Flight Validation of a Pilot Rating Scale for Evaluating Failure Transients in Electronic Flight Control Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalinowski, Kevin F.; Tucker, George E.; Moralez, Ernesto, III

2006-01-01

Engineering development and qualification of a Research Flight Control System (RFCS) for the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) JUH-60A has motivated the development of a pilot rating scale for evaluating failure transients in fly-by-wire flight control systems. The RASCAL RFCS includes a highly-reliable, dual-channel Servo Control Unit (SCU) to command and monitor the performance of the fly-by-wire actuators and protect against the effects of erroneous commands from the flexible, but single-thread Flight Control Computer. During the design phase of the RFCS, two piloted simulations were conducted on the Ames Research Center Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) to help define the required performance characteristics of the safety monitoring algorithms in the SCU. Simulated failures, including hard-over and slow-over commands, were injected into the command path, and the aircraft response and safety monitor performance were evaluated. A subjective Failure/Recovery Rating (F/RR) scale was developed as a means of quantifying the effects of the injected failures on the aircraft state and the degree of pilot effort required to safely recover the aircraft. A brief evaluation of the rating scale was also conducted on the Army/NASA CH-47B variable stability helicopter to confirm that the rating scale was likely to be equally applicable to in-flight evaluations. Following the initial research flight qualification of the RFCS in 2002, a flight test effort was begun to validate the performance of the safety monitors and to validate their design for the safe conduct of research flight testing. Simulated failures were injected into the SCU, and the F/RR scale was applied to assess the results. The results validate the performance of the monitors, and indicate that the Failure/Recovery Rating scale is a very useful tool for evaluating failure transients in fly-by-wire flight control systems.

Effects of Caffeine Supplementation on Performance in Ball Games.

PubMed

Chia, Jingyi Shannon; Barrett, Laura Ann; Chow, Jia Yi; Burns, Stephen Francis

2017-12-01

Although a large body of evidence exists documenting the ergogenic properties of caffeine, most studies have focused on endurance performance. However, findings from endurance sports cannot be generalized to performance in ball games where, apart from having a high level of endurance, successful athletic performances require a combination of physiological, technical and cognitive capabilities. The purpose of this review was to critically evaluate studies that have examined the effect of a single dose of caffeine in isolation on one or more of the following performance measures: total distance, sprint performance, agility, vertical jump performance and accuracy in ball games. Searches of three major databases resulted in 19 studies (invasion games: 13; net-barrier games: 6) that evaluated the acute effects of caffeine on human participants, provided the caffeine dose administered, and included a ball games specific task or simulated match. Improvements in sprint performance were observed in 8 of 10 studies (80%), and vertical jump in 7 of 8 studies (88%). Equivocal results were reported for distance covered, agility and accuracy. Minor side effects were reported in 4 of 19 studies reviewed. Pre-exercise caffeine ingestion between 3.0 and 6.0 mg/kg of body mass appears to be a safe ergogenic aid for athletes in ball games. However, the efficacy of caffeine varies depending on various factors, including, but not limited to, the nature of the game, physical status and caffeine habituation. More research is warranted to clarify the effects of caffeine on performance measures unique to ball games, such as agility and accuracy. It is essential that athletes, coaches and practitioners evaluate the risk-benefit ratio of caffeine ingestion strategies on an individual case-by-case basis.

Multi-phenomenology Observation Network Evaluation Tool'' (MONET)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oltrogge, D.; North, P.; Vallado, D.

2014-09-01

Evaluating overall performance of an SSA "system-of-systems" observational network collecting against thousands of Resident Space Objects (RSO) is very difficult for typical tasking or scheduling-based analysis tools. This is further complicated by networks that have a wide variety of sensor types and phenomena, to include optical, radar and passive RF types, each having unique resource, ops tempo, competing customer and detectability constraints. We present details of the Multi-phenomenology Observation Network Evaluation Tool (MONET), which circumvents these difficulties by assessing the ideal performance of such a network via a digitized supply-vs-demand approach. Cells of each sensors supply time are distributed among RSO targets of interest to determine the average performance of the network against that set of RSO targets. Orbit Determination heuristics are invoked to represent observation quantity and geometry notionally required to obtain the desired orbit estimation quality. To feed this approach, we derive the detectability and collection rate performance of optical, radar and passive RF sensor physical and performance characteristics. We then prioritize the selected RSO targets according to object size, active/inactive status, orbit regime, and/or other considerations. Finally, the OD-derived tracking demands of each RSO of interest are levied against remaining sensor supply until either (a) all sensor time is exhausted; or (b) the list of RSO targets is exhausted. The outputs from MONET include overall network performance metrics delineated by sensor type, objects and orbits tracked, along with likely orbit accuracies which might result from the conglomerate network tracking.

A Global Evaluation of Coral Reef Management Performance: Are MPAs Producing Conservation and Socio-Economic Improvements?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargreaves-Allen, Venetia; Mourato, Susana; Milner-Gulland, Eleanor Jane

2011-04-01

There is a consensus that Marine Protected Area (MPA) performance needs regular evaluation against clear criteria, incorporating counterfactual comparisons of ecological and socio-economic performance. However, these evaluations are scarce at the global level. We compiled self-reports from managers and researchers of 78 coral reef-based MPAs world-wide, on the conservation and welfare improvements that their MPAs provide. We developed a suite of performance measures including fulfilment of design and management criteria, achievement of aims, the cessation of banned or destructive activities, change in threats, and measurable ecological and socio-economic changes in outcomes, which we evaluated with respect to the MPA's age, geographical location and main aims. The sample was found to be broadly representative of MPAs generally, and suggests that many MPAs do not achieve certain fundamental aims including improvements in coral cover over time (in 25% of MPAs), and conflict reduction (in 25%). However, the large majority demonstrated improvements in terms of slowing coral loss, reducing destructive uses and increasing tourism and local employment, despite many being small, underfunded and facing multiple large scale threats beyond the control of managers. However spatial comparisons suggest that in some regions MPAs are simply mirroring outside changes, with demonstrates the importance of testing for additionality. MPA benefits do not appear to increase linearly over time. In combination with other management efforts and regulations, especially those relating to large scale threat reduction and targeted fisheries and conflict resolution instruments, MPAs are an important tool to achieve coral reef conservation globally. Given greater resources and changes which incorporate best available science, such as larger MPAs and no-take areas, networks and reduced user pressure, it is likely that performance could further be enhanced. Performance evaluation should test for the generation of additional ecological and socio-economic improvements over time and compared to unmanaged areas as part of an adaptive management regime.

Handwriting features of children with developmental coordination disorder--results of triangular evaluation.

PubMed

Rosenblum, Sara; Margieh, Jumana Aassy; Engel-Yeger, Batya

2013-11-01

Developmental coordination disorders (DCD) is one of the most common disorders affecting school-aged children. The study aimed to characterize the handwriting performance of children with DCD who write in Arabic, based on triangular evaluation. Participants included 58 children aged 11-12 years, 29 diagnosed with DCD based on the DSM-IV criteria and the M-ABC, and 29 matched typically developed controls. Children were asked to copy a paragraph on a sheet of paper affixed to a digitizer supplying objective measures of the handwriting process. The handwriting proficiency screening questionnaire (HPSQ) was completed by their teachers while observing their performance and followed by evaluation of their final written product. Results indicated that compared to controls, children with DCD required significantly more on-paper and in-air time per stroke while copying. In addition, global legibility, unrecognizable letters and spatial arrangement measures of their written product were significantly inferior. Significant group differences were also found between the HPSQ subscales scores. Furthermore, 82.8% of all participants were correctly classified into groups based on one discriminate function which included two handwriting performance measures. These study results strongly propose application of triangular standardized evaluation to receive better insight of handwriting deficit features of individual children with DCD who write in Arabic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Alternative Refrigerants for Mini-Split Air Conditioners

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abdelaziz, Omar; Shrestha, Som S

The phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) refrigerants in developing countries is currently underway according to the Montreal Protocol. R-22 is one of the most commonly used HCFCs in the developing nations. It is extremely well suited for air conditioning and refrigeration (AC&R) in high ambient temperature environments. Non-Article 5 countries have already gone through the phase-out of HCFCs and settled on using R-410A as the refrigerant of choice for AC applications. Previous studies have shown that R-410A results in significant capacity and performance degradation at higher ambient temperature conditions. As such, there is a growing concern on finding alternative refrigerants tomore » R-22 that would have zero ODP, lower GWP, and at the same time maintain acceptable performance at higher ambient temperatures. Furthermore, the developed world s transition through higher global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants like HFC and HFC blends resulted in significant direct CO2 equivalent emissions. It is imperative to develop a bridge for developing nations to avoid the transition from HCFC to HFC and then from HFC to alternative lower GWP refrigerants. This paper summarizes data from an experimental campaign on alternative refrigerant evaluation for R-22 and R-410A substitutes for mini-split air conditioners designed for high ambient environments. The experimental evaluation was performed according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 37 and the performance was rated at test conditions specified by ANSI/AHRI 210-240 and ISO 5151. Additional tests were conducted at outdoor ambient temperatures of 52 C (125.6 F) and 55 C (131 F) to evaluate their performance at high ambient conditions. Alternative refrigerants, some of which are proprietary, included R-444B, DR-3, N-20b, ARM-20b, R-290, and DR-93 as alternatives to R-22 and R-32, DR-55, L41-2, ARM-71A, and HPR-2A as alternatives to R-410A. The units performances were first verified using the baseline refrigerant and then drop-in refrigerant evaluation followed including soft optimization to ensure refrigerant performance is adequately represented. The soft optimization included: 1) charge optimization, 2) lubricant change, and 3) flow control. The paper presents the relative performances (efficiency and capacity) of the alternative refrigerants compared to the baseline refrigerants at the different operating conditions. Paper concludes with remarks about the suitability of alternative refrigerants for R-22 and R-410A applications in high ambient temperature regions.« less

Performance of biometric quality measures.

PubMed

Grother, Patrick; Tabassi, Elham

2007-04-01

We document methods for the quantitative evaluation of systems that produce a scalar summary of a biometric sample's quality. We are motivated by a need to test claims that quality measures are predictive of matching performance. We regard a quality measurement algorithm as a black box that converts an input sample to an output scalar. We evaluate it by quantifying the association between those values and observed matching results. We advance detection error trade-off and error versus reject characteristics as metrics for the comparative evaluation of sample quality measurement algorithms. We proceed this with a definition of sample quality, a description of the operational use of quality measures. We emphasize the performance goal by including a procedure for annotating the samples of a reference corpus with quality values derived from empirical recognition scores.

Leveraging simulation to evaluate system performance in presence of fixed pattern noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teaney, Brian P.

2017-05-01

The development of image simulation techniques which map the effects of a notional, modeled sensor system onto an existing image can be used to evaluate the image quality of camera systems prior to the development of prototype systems. In addition, image simulation or `virtual prototyping' can be utilized to reduce the time and expense associated with conducting extensive field trials. In this paper we examine the development of a perception study designed to assess the performance of the NVESD imager performance metrics as a function of fixed pattern noise. This paper discusses the development of the model theory and the implementation and execution of the perception study. In addition, other applications of the image simulation component including the evaluation of limiting resolution and other test targets is provided.

Overseas testing of a multisensor landmine detection system: results and lessons learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keranen, Joe G.; Topolosky, Zeke

2009-05-01

The Nemesis detection system has been developed to provide an efficient and reliable unmanned, multi-sensor, groundbased platform to detect and mark landmines. The detection system consists of two detection sensor arrays: a Ground Penetrating Synthetic Aperture Radar (GPSAR) developed by Planning Systems, Inc. (PSI) and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor array developed by Minelab Electronics, PTY. Limited. Under direction of the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), overseas testing was performed at Kampong Chhnang Test Center (KCTC), Cambodia, from May 12-30, 2008. Test objectives included: evaluation of detection performance, demonstration of real-time visualization and alarm generation, and evaluation of system operational efficiency. Testing was performed on five sensor test lanes, each consisting of a unique soil mixture and three off-road lanes which include curves, overgrowth, potholes, and non-uniform lane geometry. In this paper, we outline the test objectives, procedures, results, and lessons learned from overseas testing. We also describe the current state of the system, and plans for future enhancements and modifications including clutter rejection and feature-level fusion.

Satellite power system concept development and evaluation program. Volume 2: System definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The system level results of the system definition studies performed by NASA as a part of the Department of Energy/NASA satellite power system concept development and evaluation program are summarized. System requirements and guidelines are discussed as well as the major elements that comprise the reference system and its design options. Alternative system approaches including different system sizes, solid state amplifier (microwave) concepts, and laser power transmission system cost summaries are reviewed. An overview of the system analysis and planning efforts is included. The overall study led to the conclusion that the reference satellite power system concept is a feasible baseload source of electrical power and, within the assumed guidelines, the minimum cost per kilowatt is achieved at the maximum output of 5 gigawatts to the utility grid. Major unresolved technical issues include maximum allowable microwave power density in the ionosphere and performance/mass characteristics of laser power transmission systems.

Model Performance Evaluation and Scenario Analysis ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This tool consists of two parts: model performance evaluation and scenario analysis (MPESA). The model performance evaluation consists of two components: model performance evaluation metrics and model diagnostics. These metrics provides modelers with statistical goodness-of-fit measures that capture magnitude only, sequence only, and combined magnitude and sequence errors. The performance measures include error analysis, coefficient of determination, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, and a new weighted rank method. These performance metrics only provide useful information about the overall model performance. Note that MPESA is based on the separation of observed and simulated time series into magnitude and sequence components. The separation of time series into magnitude and sequence components and the reconstruction back to time series provides diagnostic insights to modelers. For example, traditional approaches lack the capability to identify if the source of uncertainty in the simulated data is due to the quality of the input data or the way the analyst adjusted the model parameters. This report presents a suite of model diagnostics that identify if mismatches between observed and simulated data result from magnitude or sequence related errors. MPESA offers graphical and statistical options that allow HSPF users to compare observed and simulated time series and identify the parameter values to adjust or the input data to modify. The scenario analysis part of the too

EMDS 3.0: A modeling framework for coping with complexity in environmental assessment and planning.

Treesearch

K.M. Reynolds

2006-01-01

EMDS 3.0 is implemented as an ArcMap® extension and integrates the logic engine of NetWeaver® to perform landscape evaluations, and the decision modeling engine of Criterium DecisionPlus® for evaluating management priorities. Key features of the system's evaluation component include abilities to (1) reason about large, abstract, multifaceted ecosystem management...

Neither Fair nor Accurate: Research-Based Reasons Why High-Stakes Tests Should Not Be Used to Evaluate Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Au, Wayne

2011-01-01

Current and former leaders of many major urban school districts, including Washington, D.C.'s Michelle Rhee and New Orleans' Paul Vallas, have sought to use tests to evaluate teachers. In fact, the use of high-stakes standardized tests to evaluate teacher performance in the manner of value-added measurement (VAM) has become one of the cornerstones…

Electric-hybrid-vehicle simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasma, D. C.

The simulation of electric hybrid vehicles is to be performed using experimental data to model propulsion system components. The performance of an existing ac propulsion system will be used as the baseline for comparative purposes. Hybrid components to be evaluated include electrically and mechanically driven flywheels, and an elastomeric regenerative braking system.

Performance of tomato rootstocks to natural populations of root-knot nematode.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An experiment with greenhouse grown grafted tomatoes (Solanum esculentum) on commercial rootstocks was conducted to evaluate performance of scions under natural RKN (Meloidogyne sp) pressure. The rootstocks tested included the varieties 'Aloha’, ‘Aegis’, ‘Anchor-T’, ‘Armada’, ‘B.B.’, ‘Camel’, Survi...

A pilot scale electrical infrared dry-peeling system for tomatoes: design and performance evaluation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A pilot scale infrared dry-peeling system for tomatoes was designed and constructed. The system consisted of three major sections including the IR heating, vacuum, and pinch roller sections. The peeling performance of the system was examined under different operational conditions using tomatoes with...

23 CFR 970.214 - Federal lands congestion management system (CMS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... experiencing congestion, the NPS shall develop a separate CMS to cover those facilities. Approaches may include... congestion management strategies; (v) Determine methods to monitor and evaluate the performance of the multi... means the level at which transportation system performance is no longer acceptable due to traffic...

23 CFR 970.214 - Federal lands congestion management system (CMS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... experiencing congestion, the NPS shall develop a separate CMS to cover those facilities. Approaches may include... congestion management strategies; (v) Determine methods to monitor and evaluate the performance of the multi... means the level at which transportation system performance is no longer acceptable due to traffic...

Twentieth Annual Conference on Manual Control, Volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, S. G. (Compiler); Hartzell, E. J. (Compiler)

1984-01-01

Volume II contains thirty two complete manuscripts and five abstracts. The topics covered include the application of event-related brain potential analysis to operational problems, the subjective evaluation of workload, mental models, training, crew interaction analysis, multiple task performance, and the measurement of workload and performance in simulation.

Evaluating Outdoor Experiential Training for Leadership and Team Building.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Scott D.; Graham, T. Scott; Baker, Bud

2003-01-01

Presents a model for calculating the return on investment in outdoor experiential training that focuses on pre- and posttraining behavior and business performance. Includes a method for converting data on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, quality, and job performance into monetary values to compute return. (Contains 54 references.) (SK)

FIELD PERFORMANCE OF WOODBURNING STOVES IN CRESTED BUTTE DURING THE 1991-92 HEATING SEASON

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of an evaluation of the 1991-92 field performance of 11 woodburning stoves in and around Crested Butte, CO. Measurements included particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide, total unburned hydrocarbons, and weekly average burn rates. The monitored stoves in...

FIELD PERFORMANCE OF WOODBURNING STOVES IN COLORADO DURING THE 1995-96 HEATING SEASON

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of evaluations of the field performance of 13 EPA-certified woodburning stoves in Crested Butte and Curecanti National Park, CO, during the winter of 1995-96. Measurements included particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), and weekly average burn rat...

42 CFR 457.710 - State plan requirements: Strategic objectives and performance goals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...) ALLOTMENTS AND GRANTS TO STATES Strategic Planning, Reporting, and Evaluation § 457.710 State plan requirements: Strategic objectives and performance goals. (a) Plan description. A State plan must include a... 42 Public Health 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false State plan requirements: Strategic objectives and...

Ultraviolet corona detection sensor study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmitt, R. J.; MATHERN

1976-01-01

The feasibility of detecting electrical corona discharge phenomena in a space simulation chamber via emission of ultraviolet light was evaluated. A corona simulator, with a hemispherically capped point to plane electrode geometry, was used to generate corona glows over a wide range of pressure, voltage, current, electrode gap length and electrode point radius. Several ultraviolet detectors, including a copper cathode gas discharge tube and a UV enhanced silicon photodiode detector, were evaluated in the course of the spectral intensity measurements. The performance of both silicon target vidicons and silicon intensified target vidicons was evaluated analytically using the data generated by the spectroradiometer scans and the performance data supplied by the manufacturers.

The Development of a Quality Management Framework for Evaluating Medical Device Reprocessing Practice in Healthcare Facilities.

PubMed

Lorv, Bailey; Horodyski, Robin; Welton, Cynthia; Vail, John; Simonetto, Luca; Jokanovic, Danilo; Sharma, Richa; Mahoney, Angela Rea; Savoy-Bird, Shay; Bains, Shalu

2017-01-01

There is increasing awareness of the importance of medical device reprocessing (MDR) for the provision of safe patient care. Although industry service standards are available to guide MDR practices, there remains a lack of published key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets that are necessary to evaluate MDR quality for feedback and improvement. This article outlines the development of an initial framework that builds on established guidelines and includes service standards, KPIs and targets for evaluating MDR operations. This framework can support healthcare facilities in strengthening existing practices and enables a platform for collaboration towards better MDR performance management.

Static internal performance evaluation of several thrust reversing concepts for 2D-CD nozzles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowe, R. K.; Duss, D. J.; Leavitt, L. D.

1984-01-01

Recent performance testing of the two-dimensional convergent-divergent (2D-CD) nozzle has established the concept as a viable alternative to the axisymmetric nozzle for advanced technology aircraft. This type of exhaust system also offers potential integration and performance advantages in the areas of thrust reversing and vectoring over axi-symmetric nozzles. These advantages include the practical integration of thrust reversers which operate not only to reduce landing roll but also operate in-flight for enhanced maneuvering and thrust spoiling. To date there is a very limited data base available from which criteria can be developed for the design and evaluation of this type of thrust reverser system. For this reason, a static scale model test was conducted in which five different thrust reverser designs were evaluated. Each of the five models had varying performance/integration requirements which dictated the five different designs. Some of the parameters investigated in this test included; variable angle external cascade vanes, fixed angle internal cascade vanes, variable position inner doors, external slider doors and internal slider valves. In addition, normal force and yawing moment generation was investigated using the thrust reverser system. Selected results from this test will be presented and discussed in this paper.

Designing and evaluating a STEM teacher learning opportunity in the research university.

PubMed

Hardré, Patricia L; Ling, Chen; Shehab, Randa L; Herron, Jason; Nanny, Mark A; Nollert, Matthias U; Refai, Hazem; Ramseyer, Christopher; Wollega, Ebisa D

2014-04-01

This study examines the design and evaluation strategies for a year-long teacher learning and development experience, including their effectiveness, efficiency and recommendations for strategic redesign. Design characteristics include programmatic features and outcomes: cognitive, affective and motivational processes; interpersonal and social development; and performance activities. Program participants were secondary math and science teachers, partnered with engineering faculty mentors, in a research university-based education and support program. Data from multiple sources demonstrated strengths and weaknesses in design of the program's learning environment, including: face-to-face and via digital tools; on-site and distance community interactions; and strategic evaluation tools and systems. Implications are considered for the strategic design and evaluation of similar grant-funded research experiences intended to support teacher learning, development and transfer. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing and Improving Performance: A Longitudinal Evaluation of Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in a Canadian Health Region

PubMed Central

Hall, William; Smith, Neale; Mitton, Craig; Urquhart, Bonnie; Bryan, Stirling

2018-01-01

Background: In order to meet the challenges presented by increasing demand and scarcity of resources, healthcare organizations are faced with difficult decisions related to resource allocation. Tools to facilitate evaluation and improvement of these processes could enable greater transparency and more optimal distribution of resources. Methods: The Resource Allocation Performance Assessment Tool (RAPAT) was implemented in a healthcare organization in British Columbia, Canada. Recommendations for improvement were delivered, and a follow up evaluation exercise was conducted to assess the trajectory of the organization’s priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) process 2 years post the original evaluation. Results: Implementation of RAPAT in the pilot organization identified strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s PSRA process at the time of the original evaluation. Strengths included the use of criteria and evidence, an ability to reallocate resources, and the involvement of frontline staff in the process. Weaknesses included training, communication, and lack of program budgeting. Although the follow up revealed a regression from a more formal PSRA process, a legacy of explicit resource allocation was reported to be providing ongoing benefit for the organization. Conclusion: While past studies have taken a cross-sectional approach, this paper introduces the first longitudinal evaluation of PSRA in a healthcare organization. By including the strengths, weaknesses, and evolution of one organization’s journey, the authors’ intend that this paper will assist other healthcare leaders in meeting the challenges of allocating scarce resources. PMID:29626400

Evaluation of the activity of rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice. Agreement between self-rated clinimetric evaluation and clinical evaluation with activity indexes: DAS28, CDAI and SDAI.

PubMed

Horta-Baas, Gabriel; Pérez Bolde-Hernández, Arturo; Hernández-Cabrera, María Fernanda; Vergara-Sánchez, Imelda; Romero-Figueroa, María Del Socorro

2017-10-11

To achieve control of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) it is necessary to be able to evaluate its activity. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) recommends for this purpose indexes of activity that can be performed by the patient (PAS-II and RAPID-3) and IA including medical evaluation with laboratory studies (DAS28 and SDAI) or without them (CDAI). The objective was to analyze the concordance between self-rated clinimetric evaluation and clinimetric evaluation performed by the physician. Analytical cross-sectional study in 126 patients with RA. The agreement was evaluated through the weighted κ coefficient and the Krippendorff's α coefficient. The PAS-II and RAPID-3 significantly correlated with all variables included in the core set of measures recommended by the ACR/EULAR. The agreement between PAS-II and CDAI-SDAI was good (κ: 0.6, α: 0.61-0.62), and moderate with DAS28-ESR (κ: 0.53, α: 0.56). The concordance between RAPID-3 and CDAI-SDAI was moderate (κ: 0.55-0.57, α: 0.50-0.51), and moderate with DAS28-ESR (κ: 0.55, α: 0.53). When categorizing the activity in remission/low activity vs. moderate/severe activity, the agreement was greater with the PAS-II (0.59 vs. 0.34; P=.012). The good concordance between PAS-II and SDAI supports their use in clinical practice, especially if biomarkers of inflammation or the possibility of joint count are not available. However, in order to recommend its routine application in clinical practice, it is necessary to perform longitudinal studies that assess its responsiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Noncredible cognitive performance at clinical evaluation of adult ADHD: An embedded validity indicator in a visuospatial working memory test.

PubMed

Fuermaier, Anselm B M; Tucha, Oliver; Koerts, Janneke; Lange, Klaus W; Weisbrod, Matthias; Aschenbrenner, Steffen; Tucha, Lara

2017-12-01

The assessment of performance validity is an essential part of the neuropsychological evaluation of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Most available tools, however, are inaccurate regarding the identification of noncredible performance. This study describes the development of a visuospatial working memory test, including a validity indicator for noncredible cognitive performance of adults with ADHD. Visuospatial working memory of adults with ADHD (n = 48) was first compared to the test performance of healthy individuals (n = 48). Furthermore, a simulation design was performed including 252 individuals who were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 48) or to 1 of 3 simulation groups who were requested to feign ADHD (n = 204). Additional samples of 27 adults with ADHD and 69 instructed simulators were included to cross-validate findings from the first samples. Adults with ADHD showed impaired visuospatial working memory performance of medium size as compared to healthy individuals. Simulation groups committed significantly more errors and had shorter response times as compared to patients with ADHD. Moreover, binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to derive a validity index that optimally differentiates between true and feigned ADHD. ROC analysis demonstrated high classification rates of the validity index, as shown in excellent specificity (95.8%) and adequate sensitivity (60.3%). The visuospatial working memory test as presented in this study therefore appears sensitive in indicating cognitive impairment of adults with ADHD. Furthermore, the embedded validity index revealed promising results concerning the detection of noncredible cognitive performance of adults with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating Hydrogen Evolution and Oxidation in Alkaline Media to Establish Baselines

DOE PAGES

Alia, Shaun M.; Pivovar, Bryan S.

2018-04-28

This paper fills a significant gap in the literature for alkaline hydrogen evolution (HER) and oxidation (HOR) baseline performance, while reviewing the different variables that influence observed properties. Although high-performing HER-HOR catalysts in acidic electrolytes are too active to measure kinetic in rotating disk electrode (RDE) half-cells, under alkaline conditions RDE kinetics evaluations are relevant and half-cell performances are comparable to hydrogen pump data. This paper focuses on best practices to ensure that half-cell tests don't unnecessarily lower platinum group metal (PGM) performance or improve non-PGM performance. Specific aspects examined include experiments on PGMs minimizing the impact of impurities (electrolyte,more » cell material) and experiments on non-PGMs minimizing the impact from test protocols (counter electrode).« less

Evaluating Hydrogen Evolution and Oxidation in Alkaline Media to Establish Baselines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alia, Shaun M.; Pivovar, Bryan S.

This paper fills a significant gap in the literature for alkaline hydrogen evolution (HER) and oxidation (HOR) baseline performance, while reviewing the different variables that influence observed properties. Although high-performing HER-HOR catalysts in acidic electrolytes are too active to measure kinetic in rotating disk electrode (RDE) half-cells, under alkaline conditions RDE kinetics evaluations are relevant and half-cell performances are comparable to hydrogen pump data. This paper focuses on best practices to ensure that half-cell tests don't unnecessarily lower platinum group metal (PGM) performance or improve non-PGM performance. Specific aspects examined include experiments on PGMs minimizing the impact of impurities (electrolyte,more » cell material) and experiments on non-PGMs minimizing the impact from test protocols (counter electrode).« less

Aeronautical engineering. A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 127, October 1980

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A bibliography containing 431 abstracts addressing various topics in aeronautical engineering is given. The coverage includes engineering and theoretical aspects of design. construction, evaluation, testing, operation, and performance of aircraft (including aircraft engines) and associated components, equipment, and systems. It also includes research and development in aerodynamics, aeronautics, and ground support equipment for aeronautical vehicles.

Aeronautical Engineering: A continuing bibliography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

This bibliography lists 347 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the scientific and technical information system. Documents on the engineering and theoretical aspects of design, construction, evaluation, testing, operation, and performance of aircraft (including aircraft engines) and associated compounds, equipment, and systems are included. Research and development in aerodynamics, aeronautics and ground support equipment for aeronautical vehicles are also included.