Sample records for safety benchmark experiment

  1. Providing Nuclear Criticality Safety Analysis Education through Benchmark Experiment Evaluation

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

    John D. Bess; J. Blair Briggs; David W. Nigg

    2009-11-01

    One of the challenges that today's new workforce of nuclear criticality safety engineers face is the opportunity to provide assessment of nuclear systems and establish safety guidelines without having received significant experience or hands-on training prior to graduation. Participation in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and/or the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) provides students and young professionals the opportunity to gain experience and enhance critical engineering skills.

  2. A review on the benchmarking concept in Malaysian construction safety performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ishak, Nurfadzillah; Azizan, Muhammad Azizi

    2018-02-01

    Construction industry is one of the major industries that propels Malaysia's economy in highly contributes to our nation's GDP growth, yet the high fatality rates on construction sites have caused concern among safety practitioners and the stakeholders. Hence, there is a need of benchmarking in performance of Malaysia's construction industry especially in terms of safety. This concept can create a fertile ground for ideas, but only in a receptive environment, organization that share good practices and compare their safety performance against other benefit most to establish improvement in safety culture. This research was conducted to study the awareness important, evaluate current practice and improvement, and also identify the constraint in implement of benchmarking on safety performance in our industry. Additionally, interviews with construction professionals were come out with different views on this concept. Comparison has been done to show the different understanding of benchmarking approach and how safety performance can be benchmarked. But, it's viewed as one mission, which to evaluate objectives identified through benchmarking that will improve the organization's safety performance. Finally, the expected result from this research is to help Malaysia's construction industry implement best practice in safety performance management through the concept of benchmarking.

  3. An approach to radiation safety department benchmarking in academic and medical facilities.

    PubMed

    Harvey, Richard P

    2015-02-01

    Based on anecdotal evidence and networking with colleagues at other facilities, it has become evident that some radiation safety departments are not adequately staffed and radiation safety professionals need to increase their staffing levels. Discussions with management regarding radiation safety department staffing often lead to similar conclusions. Management acknowledges the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) or Director of Radiation Safety's concern but asks the RSO to provide benchmarking and justification for additional full-time equivalents (FTEs). The RSO must determine a method to benchmark and justify additional staffing needs while struggling to maintain a safe and compliant radiation safety program. Benchmarking and justification are extremely important tools that are commonly used to demonstrate the need for increased staffing in other disciplines and are tools that can be used by radiation safety professionals. Parameters that most RSOs would expect to be positive predictors of radiation safety staff size generally are and can be emphasized in benchmarking and justification report summaries. Facilities with large radiation safety departments tend to have large numbers of authorized users, be broad-scope programs, be subject to increased controls regulations, have large clinical operations, have significant numbers of academic radiation-producing machines, and have laser safety responsibilities.

  4. GROWTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICALITY SAFETY AND REACTOR PHYSICS EXPERIMENT EVALUATION PROJECTS

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

    J. Blair Briggs; John D. Bess; Jim Gulliford

    2011-09-01

    Since the International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety (ICNC) 2007, the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) have continued to expand their efforts and broaden their scope. Eighteen countries participated on the ICSBEP in 2007. Now, there are 20, with recent contributions from Sweden and Argentina. The IRPhEP has also expanded from eight contributing countries in 2007 to 16 in 2011. Since ICNC 2007, the contents of the 'International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments1' have increased from 442 evaluations (38000 pages), containing benchmark specifications for 3955 critical ormore » subcritical configurations to 516 evaluations (nearly 55000 pages), containing benchmark specifications for 4405 critical or subcritical configurations in the 2010 Edition of the ICSBEP Handbook. The contents of the Handbook have also increased from 21 to 24 criticality-alarm-placement/shielding configurations with multiple dose points for each, and from 20 to 200 configurations categorized as fundamental physics measurements relevant to criticality safety applications. Approximately 25 new evaluations and 150 additional configurations are expected to be added to the 2011 edition of the Handbook. Since ICNC 2007, the contents of the 'International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments2' have increased from 16 different experimental series that were performed at 12 different reactor facilities to 53 experimental series that were performed at 30 different reactor facilities in the 2011 edition of the Handbook. Considerable effort has also been made to improve the functionality of the searchable database, DICE (Database for the International Criticality Benchmark Evaluation Project) and verify the accuracy of the data contained therein. DICE will be discussed in separate papers at ICNC 2011. The status of the ICSBEP and

  5. Serious injuries: an additional indicator to fatalities for road safety benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Shen, Yongjun; Hermans, Elke; Bao, Qiong; Brijs, Tom; Wets, Geert

    2015-01-01

    Almost all of the current road safety benchmarking studies focus entirely on fatalities, which, however, represent only one measure of the magnitude of the road safety problem. The main objective of this article was to investigate the possibility of including the number of serious injuries in addition to the number of fatalities for road safety benchmarking and to further illuminate its impact on the countries' rankings. We introduced the technique of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the road safety domain and developed a DEA-based road safety model (DEA-RS) in this study. Moreover, we outlined different types of possible weight restrictions and adopted 2 of them to indicate the relationship between road fatalities and serious injuries for the sake of rational benchmarking. One was a relative weight restriction based on the information of their shadow price, and the other was a virtual weight restriction using a priori knowledge about the importance level of these 2 aspects. By computing the most optimal road safety risk scores of 10 European countries based on the different models, we found that United Kingdom was the only best-performing country no matter which model was utilized. However, countries such as The Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland were no longer best-performing when the serious injuries were integrated. On the contrary, Spain, which ranked almost at the bottom among all of the countries when only the number of road fatalities was considered, became a relatively well-performing country when integrating its number of serious injuries in the evaluation. In general, no matter whether the country's road safety ranking was improved or deteriorated, most of the countries achieved a higher risk score when the number of serious injuries was included, which implied that compared to the road fatalities, more policy attention has to be paid to improve the situation of serious injuries in most countries. Given the importance of considering the serious

  6. Thought Experiment to Examine Benchmark Performance for Fusion Nuclear Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murata, Isao; Ohta, Masayuki; Kusaka, Sachie; Sato, Fuminobu; Miyamaru, Hiroyuki

    2017-09-01

    There are many benchmark experiments carried out so far with DT neutrons especially aiming at fusion reactor development. These integral experiments seemed vaguely to validate the nuclear data below 14 MeV. However, no precise studies exist now. The author's group thus started to examine how well benchmark experiments with DT neutrons can play a benchmarking role for energies below 14 MeV. Recently, as a next phase, to generalize the above discussion, the energy range was expanded to the entire region. In this study, thought experiments with finer energy bins have thus been conducted to discuss how to generally estimate performance of benchmark experiments. As a result of thought experiments with a point detector, the sensitivity for a discrepancy appearing in the benchmark analysis is "equally" due not only to contribution directly conveyed to the deterctor, but also due to indirect contribution of neutrons (named (A)) making neutrons conveying the contribution, indirect controbution of neutrons (B) making the neutrons (A) and so on. From this concept, it would become clear from a sensitivity analysis in advance how well and which energy nuclear data could be benchmarked with a benchmark experiment.

  7. Benchmarking road safety performance: Identifying a meaningful reference (best-in-class).

    PubMed

    Chen, Faan; Wu, Jiaorong; Chen, Xiaohong; Wang, Jianjun; Wang, Di

    2016-01-01

    For road safety improvement, comparing and benchmarking performance are widely advocated as the emerging and preferred approaches. However, there is currently no universally agreed upon approach for the process of road safety benchmarking, and performing the practice successfully is by no means easy. This is especially true for the two core activities of which: (1) developing a set of road safety performance indicators (SPIs) and combining them into a composite index; and (2) identifying a meaningful reference (best-in-class), one which has already obtained outstanding road safety practices. To this end, a scientific technique that can combine the multi-dimensional safety performance indicators (SPIs) into an overall index, and subsequently can identify the 'best-in-class' is urgently required. In this paper, the Entropy-embedded RSR (Rank-sum ratio), an innovative, scientific and systematic methodology is investigated with the aim of conducting the above two core tasks in an integrative and concise procedure, more specifically in a 'one-stop' way. Using a combination of results from other methods (e.g. the SUNflower approach) and other measures (e.g. Human Development Index) as a relevant reference, a given set of European countries are robustly ranked and grouped into several classes based on the composite Road Safety Index. Within each class the 'best-in-class' is then identified. By benchmarking road safety performance, the results serve to promote best practice, encourage the adoption of successful road safety strategies and measures and, more importantly, inspire the kind of political leadership needed to create a road transport system that maximizes safety. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Companies' opinions and acceptance of global food safety initiative benchmarks after implementation.

    PubMed

    Crandall, Phil; Van Loo, Ellen J; O'Bryan, Corliss A; Mauromoustakos, Andy; Yiannas, Frank; Dyenson, Natalie; Berdnik, Irina

    2012-09-01

    International attention has been focused on minimizing costs that may unnecessarily raise food prices. One important aspect to consider is the redundant and overlapping costs of food safety audits. The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has devised benchmarked schemes based on existing international food safety standards for use as a unifying standard accepted by many retailers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of the decision made by Walmart Stores (Bentonville, AR) to require their suppliers to become GFSI compliant. An online survey of 174 retail suppliers was conducted to assess food suppliers' opinions of this requirement and the benefits suppliers realized when they transitioned from their previous food safety systems. The most common reason for becoming GFSI compliant was to meet customers' requirements; thus, supplier implementation of the GFSI standards was not entirely voluntary. Other reasons given for compliance were enhancing food safety and remaining competitive. About 54 % of food processing plants using GFSI benchmarked schemes followed the guidelines of Safe Quality Food 2000 and 37 % followed those of the British Retail Consortium. At the supplier level, 58 % followed Safe Quality Food 2000 and 31 % followed the British Retail Consortium. Respondents reported that the certification process took about 10 months. The most common reason for selecting a certain GFSI benchmarked scheme was because it was widely accepted by customers (retailers). Four other common reasons were (i) the standard has a good reputation in the industry, (ii) the standard was recommended by others, (iii) the standard is most often used in the industry, and (iv) the standard was required by one of their customers. Most suppliers agreed that increased safety of their products was required to comply with GFSI benchmarked schemes. They also agreed that the GFSI required a more carefully documented food safety management system, which often required

  9. Improving patient safety culture in Saudi Arabia (2012-2015): trending, improvement and benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Alswat, Khalid; Abdalla, Rawia Ahmad Mustafa; Titi, Maher Abdelraheim; Bakash, Maram; Mehmood, Faiza; Zubairi, Beena; Jamal, Diana; El-Jardali, Fadi

    2017-08-02

    Measuring patient safety culture can provide insight into areas for improvement and help monitor changes over time. This study details the findings of a re-assessment of patient safety culture in a multi-site Medical City in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Results were compared to an earlier assessment conducted in 2012 and benchmarked with regional and international studies. Such assessments can provide hospital leadership with insight on how their hospital is performing on patient safety culture composites as a result of quality improvement plans. This paper also explored the association between patient safety culture predictors and patient safety grade, perception of patient safety, frequency of events reported and number of events reported. We utilized a customized version of the patient safety culture survey developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Medical City is a tertiary care teaching facility composed of two sites (total capacity of 904 beds). Data was analyzed using SPSS 24 at a significance level of 0.05. A t-Test was used to compare results from the 2012 survey to that conducted in 2015. Two adopted Generalized Estimating Equations in addition to two linear models were used to assess the association between composites and patient safety culture outcomes. Results were also benchmarked against similar initiatives in Lebanon, Palestine and USA. Areas of strength in 2015 included Teamwork within units, and Organizational Learning-Continuous Improvement; areas requiring improvement included Non-Punitive Response to Error, and Staffing. Comparing results to the 2012 survey revealed improvement on some areas but non-punitive response to error and Staffing remained the lowest scoring composites in 2015. Regression highlighted significant association between managerial support, organizational learning and feedback and improved survey outcomes. Comparison to international benchmarks revealed that the hospital is performing at or

  10. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire: psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research.

    PubMed

    Sexton, John B; Helmreich, Robert L; Neilands, Torsten B; Rowan, Kathy; Vella, Keryn; Boyden, James; Roberts, Peter R; Thomas, Eric J

    2006-04-03

    There is widespread interest in measuring healthcare provider attitudes about issues relevant to patient safety (often called safety climate or safety culture). Here we report the psychometric properties, establish benchmarking data, and discuss emerging areas of research with the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Six cross-sectional surveys of health care providers (n = 10,843) in 203 clinical areas (including critical care units, operating rooms, inpatient settings, and ambulatory clinics) in three countries (USA, UK, New Zealand). Multilevel factor analyses yielded results at the clinical area level and the respondent nested within clinical area level. We report scale reliability, floor/ceiling effects, item factor loadings, inter-factor correlations, and percentage of respondents who agree with each item and scale. A six factor model of provider attitudes fit to the data at both the clinical area and respondent nested within clinical area levels. The factors were: Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. Scale reliability was 0.9. Provider attitudes varied greatly both within and among organizations. Results are presented to allow benchmarking among organizations and emerging research is discussed. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated good psychometric properties. Healthcare organizations can use the survey to measure caregiver attitudes about six patient safety-related domains, to compare themselves with other organizations, to prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes and to measure the effectiveness of these interventions.

  11. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire: psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research

    PubMed Central

    Sexton, John B; Helmreich, Robert L; Neilands, Torsten B; Rowan, Kathy; Vella, Keryn; Boyden, James; Roberts, Peter R; Thomas, Eric J

    2006-01-01

    Background There is widespread interest in measuring healthcare provider attitudes about issues relevant to patient safety (often called safety climate or safety culture). Here we report the psychometric properties, establish benchmarking data, and discuss emerging areas of research with the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Methods Six cross-sectional surveys of health care providers (n = 10,843) in 203 clinical areas (including critical care units, operating rooms, inpatient settings, and ambulatory clinics) in three countries (USA, UK, New Zealand). Multilevel factor analyses yielded results at the clinical area level and the respondent nested within clinical area level. We report scale reliability, floor/ceiling effects, item factor loadings, inter-factor correlations, and percentage of respondents who agree with each item and scale. Results A six factor model of provider attitudes fit to the data at both the clinical area and respondent nested within clinical area levels. The factors were: Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. Scale reliability was 0.9. Provider attitudes varied greatly both within and among organizations. Results are presented to allow benchmarking among organizations and emerging research is discussed. Conclusion The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated good psychometric properties. Healthcare organizations can use the survey to measure caregiver attitudes about six patient safety-related domains, to compare themselves with other organizations, to prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes and to measure the effectiveness of these interventions. PMID:16584553

  12. Overview of the 2014 Edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook)

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

    John D. Bess; J. Blair Briggs; Jim Gulliford

    2014-10-01

    The International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) is a widely recognized world class program. The work of the IRPhEP is documented in the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook). Integral data from the IRPhEP Handbook is used by reactor safety and design, nuclear data, criticality safety, and analytical methods development specialists, worldwide, to perform necessary validations of their calculational techniques. The IRPhEP Handbook is among the most frequently quoted reference in the nuclear industry and is expected to be a valuable resource for future decades.

  13. ICSBEP Benchmarks For Nuclear Data Applications

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

    Briggs, J. Blair

    2005-05-24

    The International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) was initiated in 1992 by the United States Department of Energy. The ICSBEP became an official activity of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) -- Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in 1995. Representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, the Russian Federation, Hungary, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia), Kazakhstan, Spain, Israel, Brazil, Poland, and the Czech Republic are now participating. South Africa, India, China, and Germany are considering participation. The purpose of the ICSBEP is to identify, evaluate, verify, and formally document a comprehensive andmore » internationally peer-reviewed set of criticality safety benchmark data. The work of the ICSBEP is published as an OECD handbook entitled ''International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments.'' The 2004 Edition of the Handbook contains benchmark specifications for 3331 critical or subcritical configurations that are intended for use in validation efforts and for testing basic nuclear data. New to the 2004 Edition of the Handbook is a draft criticality alarm / shielding type benchmark that should be finalized in 2005 along with two other similar benchmarks. The Handbook is being used extensively for nuclear data testing and is expected to be a valuable resource for code and data validation and improvement efforts for decades to come. Specific benchmarks that are useful for testing structural materials such as iron, chromium, nickel, and manganese; beryllium; lead; thorium; and 238U are highlighted.« less

  14. Benchmarking Global Food Safety Performances: The Era of Risk Intelligence.

    PubMed

    Valleé, Jean-Charles Le; Charlebois, Sylvain

    2015-10-01

    Food safety data segmentation and limitations hamper the world's ability to select, build up, monitor, and evaluate food safety performance. Currently, there is no metric that captures the entire food safety system, and performance data are not collected strategically on a global scale. Therefore, food safety benchmarking is essential not only to help monitor ongoing performance but also to inform continued food safety system design, adoption, and implementation toward more efficient and effective food safety preparedness, responsiveness, and accountability. This comparative study identifies and evaluates common elements among global food safety systems. It provides an overall world ranking of food safety performance for 17 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries, illustrated by 10 indicators organized across three food safety risk governance domains: risk assessment (chemical risks, microbial risks, and national reporting on food consumption), risk management (national food safety capacities, food recalls, food traceability, and radionuclides standards), and risk communication (allergenic risks, labeling, and public trust). Results show all countries have very high food safety standards, but Canada and Ireland, followed by France, earned excellent grades relative to their peers. However, any subsequent global ranking study should consider the development of survey instruments to gather adequate and comparable national evidence on food safety.

  15. Final Report of the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Agile Benchmarking Team

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wetherholt, Martha

    2016-01-01

    To ensure that the NASA Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) community remains in a position to perform reliable Software Assurance (SA) on NASAs critical software (SW) systems with the software industry rapidly transitioning from waterfall to Agile processes, Terry Wilcutt, Chief, Safety and Mission Assurance, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) established the Agile Benchmarking Team (ABT). The Team's tasks were: 1. Research background literature on current Agile processes, 2. Perform benchmark activities with other organizations that are involved in software Agile processes to determine best practices, 3. Collect information on Agile-developed systems to enable improvements to the current NASA standards and processes to enhance their ability to perform reliable software assurance on NASA Agile-developed systems, 4. Suggest additional guidance and recommendations for updates to those standards and processes, as needed. The ABT's findings and recommendations for software management, engineering and software assurance are addressed herein.

  16. Benchmarking study of the MCNP code against cold critical experiments

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

    Sitaraman, S.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to benchmark the widely used Monte Carlo code MCNP against a set of cold critical experiments with a view to using the code as a means of independently verifying the performance of faster but less accurate Monte Carlo and deterministic codes. The experiments simulated consisted of both fast and thermal criticals as well as fuel in a variety of chemical forms. A standard set of benchmark cold critical experiments was modeled. These included the two fast experiments, GODIVA and JEZEBEL, the TRX metallic uranium thermal experiments, the Babcock and Wilcox oxide and mixed oxidemore » experiments, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) nitrate solution experiments. The principal case studied was a small critical experiment that was performed with boiling water reactor bundles.« less

  17. Benchmark gamma-ray skyshine experiment

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

    Nason, R.R.; Shultis, J.K.; Faw, R.E.

    1982-01-01

    A benchmark gamma-ray skyshine experiment is descibed in which /sup 60/Co sources were either collimated into an upward 150-deg conical beam or shielded vertically by two different thicknesses of concrete. A NaI(Tl) spectrometer and a high pressure ion chamber were used to measure, respectively, the energy spectrum and the 4..pi..-exposure rate of the air-reflected gamma photons up to 700 m from the source. Analyses of the data and comparison to DOT discrete ordinates calculations are presented.

  18. The skyshine benchmark experiment revisited.

    PubMed

    Terry, Ian R

    2005-01-01

    With the coming renaissance of nuclear power, heralded by new nuclear power plant construction in Finland, the issue of qualifying modern tools for calculation becomes prominent. Among the calculations required may be the determination of radiation levels outside the plant owing to skyshine. For example, knowledge of the degree of accuracy in the calculation of gamma skyshine through the turbine hall roof of a BWR plant is important. Modern survey programs which can calculate skyshine dose rates tend to be qualified only by verification with the results of Monte Carlo calculations. However, in the past, exacting experimental work has been performed in the field for gamma skyshine, notably the benchmark work in 1981 by Shultis and co-workers, which considered not just the open source case but also the effects of placing a concrete roof above the source enclosure. The latter case is a better reflection of reality as safety considerations nearly always require the source to be shielded in some way, usually by substantial walls but by a thinner roof. One of the tools developed since that time, which can both calculate skyshine radiation and accurately model the geometrical set-up of an experiment, is the code RANKERN, which is used by Framatome ANP and other organisations for general shielding design work. The following description concerns the use of this code to re-address the experimental results from 1981. This then provides a realistic gauge to validate, but also to set limits on, the program for future gamma skyshine applications within the applicable licensing procedures for all users of the code.

  19. Benchmarking working conditions for health and safety in the frontline healthcare industry: Perspectives from Australia and Malaysia.

    PubMed

    McLinton, Sarven S; Loh, May Young; Dollard, Maureen F; Tuckey, Michelle M R; Idris, Mohd Awang; Morton, Sharon

    2018-04-06

    To present benchmarks for working conditions in healthcare industries as an initial effort into international surveillance. The healthcare industry is fundamental to sustaining the health of Australians, yet it is under immense pressure. Budgets are limited, demands are increasing as are workplace injuries and all of these factors compromise patient care. Urgent attention is needed to reduce strains on workers and costs in health care, however, little work has been done to benchmark psychosocial factors in healthcare working conditions in the Asia-Pacific. Intercultural comparisons are important to provide an evidence base for public policy. A cross-sectional design was used (like other studies of prevalence), including a mixed-methods approach with qualitative interviews to better contextualize the results. Data on psychosocial factors and other work variables were collected from healthcare workers in three hospitals in Australia (N = 1,258) and Malaysia (N = 1,125). 2015 benchmarks were calculated for each variable and comparison was conducted via independent samples t tests. Healthcare samples were also compared with benchmarks for non-healthcare general working populations from their respective countries: Australia (N = 973) and Malaysia (N = 225). Our study benchmarks healthcare working conditions in Australia and Malaysia against the general working population, identifying trends that indicate the industry is in need of intervention strategies and job redesign initiatives that better support psychological health and safety. We move toward a better understanding of the precursors of psychosocial safety climate in a broader context, including similarities and differences between Australia and Malaysia in national culture, government occupational health and safety policies and top-level management practices. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. 29 CFR 1952.153 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... further revision of its benchmarks to 64 safety inspectors and 50 industrial hygienists. After opportunity... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... benchmarks of 50 safety and 27 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and service...

  1. 29 CFR 1952.153 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... further revision of its benchmarks to 64 safety inspectors and 50 industrial hygienists. After opportunity... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... benchmarks of 50 safety and 27 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and service...

  2. 29 CFR 1952.153 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... further revision of its benchmarks to 64 safety inspectors and 50 industrial hygienists. After opportunity... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... benchmarks of 50 safety and 27 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and service...

  3. 29 CFR 1952.153 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... further revision of its benchmarks to 64 safety inspectors and 50 industrial hygienists. After opportunity... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... benchmarks of 50 safety and 27 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and service...

  4. 29 CFR 1952.153 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... further revision of its benchmarks to 64 safety inspectors and 50 industrial hygienists. After opportunity... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... benchmarks of 50 safety and 27 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and service...

  5. Overview of Experiments for Physics of Fast Reactors from the International Handbooks of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments and Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments

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

    Bess, J. D.; Briggs, J. B.; Gulliford, J.

    mentioning is the critical experiments with fast reactor fuel rods in water, interesting in terms of justification of nuclear safety during transportation and storage of fresh and spent fuel. These reports provide a detailed review of the experiment, designate the area of their application and include results of calculations on modern systems of constants in comparison with the estimated experimental data.« less

  6. [Benchmark experiment to verify radiation transport calculations for dosimetry in radiation therapy].

    PubMed

    Renner, Franziska

    2016-09-01

    Monte Carlo simulations are regarded as the most accurate method of solving complex problems in the field of dosimetry and radiation transport. In (external) radiation therapy they are increasingly used for the calculation of dose distributions during treatment planning. In comparison to other algorithms for the calculation of dose distributions, Monte Carlo methods have the capability of improving the accuracy of dose calculations - especially under complex circumstances (e.g. consideration of inhomogeneities). However, there is a lack of knowledge of how accurate the results of Monte Carlo calculations are on an absolute basis. A practical verification of the calculations can be performed by direct comparison with the results of a benchmark experiment. This work presents such a benchmark experiment and compares its results (with detailed consideration of measurement uncertainty) with the results of Monte Carlo calculations using the well-established Monte Carlo code EGSnrc. The experiment was designed to have parallels to external beam radiation therapy with respect to the type and energy of the radiation, the materials used and the kind of dose measurement. Because the properties of the beam have to be well known in order to compare the results of the experiment and the simulation on an absolute basis, the benchmark experiment was performed using the research electron accelerator of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), whose beam was accurately characterized in advance. The benchmark experiment and the corresponding Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for two different types of ionization chambers and the results were compared. Considering the uncertainty, which is about 0.7 % for the experimental values and about 1.0 % for the Monte Carlo simulation, the results of the simulation and the experiment coincide. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  7. Evaluation of the concrete shield compositions from the 2010 criticality accident alarm system benchmark experiments at the CEA Valduc SILENE facility

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

    Miller, Thomas Martin; Celik, Cihangir; Dunn, Michael E

    In October 2010, a series of benchmark experiments were conducted at the French Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) Valduc SILENE facility. These experiments were a joint effort between the United States Department of Energy Nuclear Criticality Safety Program and the CEA. The purpose of these experiments was to create three benchmarks for the verification and validation of radiation transport codes and evaluated nuclear data used in the analysis of criticality accident alarm systems. This series of experiments consisted of three single-pulsed experiments with the SILENE reactor. For the first experiment, the reactor was bare (unshielded), whereasmore » in the second and third experiments, it was shielded by lead and polyethylene, respectively. The polyethylene shield of the third experiment had a cadmium liner on its internal and external surfaces, which vertically was located near the fuel region of SILENE. During each experiment, several neutron activation foils and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were placed around the reactor. Nearly half of the foils and TLDs had additional high-density magnetite concrete, high-density barite concrete, standard concrete, and/or BoroBond shields. CEA Saclay provided all the concrete, and the US Y-12 National Security Complex provided the BoroBond. Measurement data from the experiments were published at the 2011 International Conference on Nuclear Criticality (ICNC 2011) and the 2013 Nuclear Criticality Safety Division (NCSD 2013) topical meeting. Preliminary computational results for the first experiment were presented in the ICNC 2011 paper, which showed poor agreement between the computational results and the measured values of the foils shielded by concrete. Recently the hydrogen content, boron content, and density of these concrete shields were further investigated within the constraints of the previously available data. New computational results for the first experiment are now

  8. Availability of Neutronics Benchmarks in the ICSBEP and IRPhEP Handbooks for Computational Tools Testing

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

    Bess, John D.; Briggs, J. Blair; Ivanova, Tatiana

    2017-02-01

    In the past several decades, numerous experiments have been performed worldwide to support reactor operations, measurements, design, and nuclear safety. Those experiments represent an extensive international investment in infrastructure, expertise, and cost, representing significantly valuable resources of data supporting past, current, and future research activities. Those valuable assets represent the basis for recording, development, and validation of our nuclear methods and integral nuclear data [1]. The loss of these experimental data, which has occurred all too much in the recent years, is tragic. The high cost to repeat many of these measurements can be prohibitive, if not impossible, to surmount.more » Two international projects were developed, and are under the direction of the Organisation for Co-operation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA) to address the challenges of not just data preservation, but evaluation of the data to determine its merit for modern and future use. The International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) was established to identify and verify comprehensive critical benchmark data sets; evaluate the data, including quantification of biases and uncertainties; compile the data and calculations in a standardized format; and formally document the effort into a single source of verified benchmark data [2]. Similarly, the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was established to preserve integral reactor physics experimental data, including separate or special effects data for nuclear energy and technology applications [3]. Annually, contributors from around the world continue to collaborate in the evaluation and review of select benchmark experiments for preservation and dissemination. The extensively peer-reviewed integral benchmark data can then be utilized to support nuclear design and safety analysts to validate the analytical tools, methods, and data needed for next

  9. Benchmarking: applications to transfusion medicine.

    PubMed

    Apelseth, Torunn Oveland; Molnar, Laura; Arnold, Emmy; Heddle, Nancy M

    2012-10-01

    Benchmarking is as a structured continuous collaborative process in which comparisons for selected indicators are used to identify factors that, when implemented, will improve transfusion practices. This study aimed to identify transfusion medicine studies reporting on benchmarking, summarize the benchmarking approaches used, and identify important considerations to move the concept of benchmarking forward in the field of transfusion medicine. A systematic review of published literature was performed to identify transfusion medicine-related studies that compared at least 2 separate institutions or regions with the intention of benchmarking focusing on 4 areas: blood utilization, safety, operational aspects, and blood donation. Forty-five studies were included: blood utilization (n = 35), safety (n = 5), operational aspects of transfusion medicine (n = 5), and blood donation (n = 0). Based on predefined criteria, 7 publications were classified as benchmarking, 2 as trending, and 36 as single-event studies. Three models of benchmarking are described: (1) a regional benchmarking program that collects and links relevant data from existing electronic sources, (2) a sentinel site model where data from a limited number of sites are collected, and (3) an institutional-initiated model where a site identifies indicators of interest and approaches other institutions. Benchmarking approaches are needed in the field of transfusion medicine. Major challenges include defining best practices and developing cost-effective methods of data collection. For those interested in initiating a benchmarking program, the sentinel site model may be most effective and sustainable as a starting point, although the regional model would be the ideal goal. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. NASA/Navy Benchmarking Exchange (NNBE). Volume 1. Interim Report. Navy Submarine Program Safety Assurance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    The NASA/Navy Benchmarking Exchange (NNBE) was undertaken to identify practices and procedures and to share lessons learned in the Navy's submarine and NASA's human space flight programs. The NNBE focus is on safety and mission assurance policies, processes, accountability, and control measures. This report is an interim summary of activity conducted through October 2002, and it coincides with completion of the first phase of a two-phase fact-finding effort.In August 2002, a team was formed, co-chaired by senior representatives from the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the NAVSEA 92Q Submarine Safety and Quality Assurance Division. The team closely examined the two elements of submarine safety (SUBSAFE) certification: (1) new design/construction (initial certification) and (2) maintenance and modernization (sustaining certification), with a focus on: (1) Management and Organization, (2) Safety Requirements (technical and administrative), (3) Implementation Processes, (4) Compliance Verification Processes, and (5) Certification Processes.

  11. Benchmarking the MCNP Monte Carlo code with a photon skyshine experiment

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

    Olsher, R.H.; Hsu, Hsiao Hua; Harvey, W.F.

    1993-07-01

    The MCNP Monte Carlo transport code is used by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Health and Safety Division for a broad spectrum of radiation shielding calculations. One such application involves the determination of skyshine dose for a variety of photon sources. To verify the accuracy of the code, it was benchmarked with the Kansas State Univ. (KSU) photon skyshine experiment of 1977. The KSU experiment for the unshielded source geometry was simulated in great detail to include the contribution of groundshine, in-silo photon scatter, and the effect of spectral degradation in the source capsule. The standard deviation of the KSUmore » experimental data was stated to be 7%, while the statistical uncertainty of the simulation was kept at or under 1%. The results of the simulation agreed closely with the experimental data, generally to within 6%. At distances of under 100 m from the silo, the modeling of the in-silo scatter was crucial to achieving close agreement with the experiment. Specifically, scatter off the top layer of the source cask accounted for [approximately]12% of the dose at 50 m. At distance >300m, using the [sup 60]Co line spectrum led to a dose overresponse as great as 19% at 700 m. It was necessary to use the actual source spectrum, which includes a Compton tail from photon collisions in the source capsule, to achieve close agreement with experimental data. These results highlight the importance of using Monte Carlo transport techniques to account for the nonideal features of even simple experiments''.« less

  12. Diagnostic Algorithm Benchmarking

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Poll, Scott

    2011-01-01

    A poster for the NASA Aviation Safety Program Annual Technical Meeting. It describes empirical benchmarking on diagnostic algorithms using data from the ADAPT Electrical Power System testbed and a diagnostic software framework.

  13. All inclusive benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Ellis, Judith

    2006-07-01

    benchmarking activity and although this does not seem to have restricted its popularity in quantitative activity, reticence about the value of the more qualitative approaches, for example Essence of Care, needs to be overcome in order to improve the quality of patient care and experiences. The perceived immeasurability and subjectivity of Essence of Care and clinical practice benchmarks means that these benchmarking approaches are not always accepted or supported by health service organizations as valid benchmarking activity. In conclusion, Essence of Care benchmarking is a sophisticated clinical practice benchmarking approach which needs to be accepted as an integral part of health service benchmarking activity to support improvement in the quality of patient care and experiences.

  14. Benchmark experiments at ASTRA facility on definition of space distribution of {sup 235}U fission reaction rate

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

    Bobrov, A. A.; Boyarinov, V. F.; Glushkov, A. E.

    2012-07-01

    Results of critical experiments performed at five ASTRA facility configurations modeling the high-temperature helium-cooled graphite-moderated reactors are presented. Results of experiments on definition of space distribution of {sup 235}U fission reaction rate performed at four from these five configurations are presented more detail. Analysis of available information showed that all experiments on criticality at these five configurations are acceptable for use them as critical benchmark experiments. All experiments on definition of space distribution of {sup 235}U fission reaction rate are acceptable for use them as physical benchmark experiments. (authors)

  15. FFTF Passive Safety Test Data for Benchmarks for New LMR Designs

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

    Wootan, David W.; Casella, Andrew M.

    Liquid Metal Reactors (LMRs) continue to be considered as an attractive concept for advanced reactor design. Software packages such as SASSYS are being used to im-prove new LMR designs and operating characteristics. Significant cost and safety im-provements can be realized in advanced liquid metal reactor designs by emphasizing inherent or passive safety through crediting the beneficial reactivity feedbacks associ-ated with core and structural movement. This passive safety approach was adopted for the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), and an experimental program was conducted to characterize the structural reactivity feedback. The FFTF passive safety testing pro-gram was developed to examine howmore » specific design elements influenced dynamic re-activity feedback in response to a reactivity input and to demonstrate the scalability of reactivity feedback results to reactors of current interest. The U.S. Department of En-ergy, Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Reactor Technology program is in the pro-cess of preserving, protecting, securing, and placing in electronic format information and data from the FFTF, including the core configurations and data collected during the passive safety tests. Benchmarks based on empirical data gathered during operation of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) as well as design documents and post-irradiation examination will aid in the validation of these software packages and the models and calculations they produce. Evaluation of these actual test data could provide insight to improve analytical methods which may be used to support future licensing applications for LMRs« less

  16. ENDF/B-VII.1 Neutron Cross Section Data Testing with Critical Assembly Benchmarks and Reactor Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kahler, A. C.; MacFarlane, R. E.; Mosteller, R. D.; Kiedrowski, B. C.; Frankle, S. C.; Chadwick, M. B.; McKnight, R. D.; Lell, R. M.; Palmiotti, G.; Hiruta, H.; Herman, M.; Arcilla, R.; Mughabghab, S. F.; Sublet, J. C.; Trkov, A.; Trumbull, T. H.; Dunn, M.

    2011-12-01

    The ENDF/B-VII.1 library is the latest revision to the United States' Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF). The ENDF library is currently in its seventh generation, with ENDF/B-VII.0 being released in 2006. This revision expands upon that library, including the addition of new evaluated files (was 393 neutron files previously, now 423 including replacement of elemental vanadium and zinc evaluations with isotopic evaluations) and extension or updating of many existing neutron data files. Complete details are provided in the companion paper [M. B. Chadwick et al., "ENDF/B-VII.1 Nuclear Data for Science and Technology: Cross Sections, Covariances, Fission Product Yields and Decay Data," Nuclear Data Sheets, 112, 2887 (2011)]. This paper focuses on how accurately application libraries may be expected to perform in criticality calculations with these data. Continuous energy cross section libraries, suitable for use with the MCNP Monte Carlo transport code, have been generated and applied to a suite of nearly one thousand critical benchmark assemblies defined in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project's International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments. This suite covers uranium and plutonium fuel systems in a variety of forms such as metallic, oxide or solution, and under a variety of spectral conditions, including unmoderated (i.e., bare), metal reflected and water or other light element reflected. Assembly eigenvalues that were accurately predicted with ENDF/B-VII.0 cross sections such as unmoderated and uranium reflected 235U and 239Pu assemblies, HEU solution systems and LEU oxide lattice systems that mimic commercial PWR configurations continue to be accurately calculated with ENDF/B-VII.1 cross sections, and deficiencies in predicted eigenvalues for assemblies containing selected materials, including titanium, manganese, cadmium and tungsten are greatly reduced. Improvements are also confirmed for selected

  17. Generation IV benchmarking of TRISO fuel performance models under accident conditions: Modeling input data

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

    Collin, Blaise P.

    2014-09-01

    This document presents the benchmark plan for the calculation of particle fuel performance on safety testing experiments that are representative of operational accidental transients. The benchmark is dedicated to the modeling of fission product release under accident conditions by fuel performance codes from around the world, and the subsequent comparison to post-irradiation experiment (PIE) data from the modeled heating tests. The accident condition benchmark is divided into three parts: the modeling of a simplified benchmark problem to assess potential numerical calculation issues at low fission product release; the modeling of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis safety testing experiments; and, the comparisonmore » of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis modeling results with PIE data. The simplified benchmark case, thereafter named NCC (Numerical Calculation Case), is derived from ''Case 5'' of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Program (CRP) on coated particle fuel technology [IAEA 2012]. It is included so participants can evaluate their codes at low fission product release. ''Case 5'' of the IAEA CRP-6 showed large code-to-code discrepancies in the release of fission products, which were attributed to ''effects of the numerical calculation method rather than the physical model''[IAEA 2012]. The NCC is therefore intended to check if these numerical effects subsist. The first two steps imply the involvement of the benchmark participants with a modeling effort following the guidelines and recommendations provided by this document. The third step involves the collection of the modeling results by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the comparison of these results with the available PIE data. The objective of this document is to provide all necessary input data to model the benchmark cases, and to give some methodology guidelines and recommendations in order to make all results suitable for comparison with each other. The participants should read this

  18. Benchmarking the Physical Therapist Academic Environment to Understand the Student Experience.

    PubMed

    Shields, Richard K; Dudley-Javoroski, Shauna; Sass, Kelly J; Becker, Marcie

    2018-04-19

    Identifying excellence in physical therapist academic environments is complicated by the lack of nationally available benchmarking data. The objective of this study was to compare a physical therapist academic environment to another health care profession (medicine) academic environment using the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) survey. The design consisted of longitudinal benchmarking. Between 2009 and 2017, the GQ was administered to graduates of a physical therapist education program (Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa [PTRS]). Their ratings of the educational environment were compared to nationwide data for a peer health care profession (medicine) educational environment. Benchmarking to the GQ capitalizes on a large, psychometrically validated database of academic domains that may be broadly applicable to health care education. The GQ captures critical information about the student experience (eg, faculty professionalism, burnout, student mistreatment) that can be used to characterize the educational environment. This study hypothesized that the ratings provided by 9 consecutive cohorts of PTRS students (n = 316) would reveal educational environment differences from academic medical education. PTRS students reported significantly higher ratings of the educational emotional climate and student-faculty interactions than medical students. PTRS and medical students did not differ on ratings of empathy and tolerance for ambiguity. PTRS students reported significantly lower ratings of burnout than medical students. PTRS students descriptively reported observing greater faculty professionalism and experiencing less mistreatment than medical students. The generalizability of these findings to other physical therapist education environments has not been established. Selected elements of the GQ survey revealed differences in the educational environments

  19. Educating Next Generation Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineers at the Idaho National Laboratory

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

    J. D. Bess; J. B. Briggs; A. S. Garcia

    2011-09-01

    One of the challenges in educating our next generation of nuclear safety engineers is the limitation of opportunities to receive significant experience or hands-on training prior to graduation. Such training is generally restricted to on-the-job-training before this new engineering workforce can adequately provide assessment of nuclear systems and establish safety guidelines. Participation in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) can provide students and young professionals the opportunity to gain experience and enhance critical engineering skills. The ICSBEP and IRPhEP publish annual handbooks that contain evaluations of experiments along withmore » summarized experimental data and peer-reviewed benchmark specifications to support the validation of neutronics codes, nuclear cross-section data, and the validation of reactor designs. Participation in the benchmark process not only benefits those who use these Handbooks within the international community, but provides the individual with opportunities for professional development, networking with an international community of experts, and valuable experience to be used in future employment. Traditionally students have participated in benchmarking activities via internships at national laboratories, universities, or companies involved with the ICSBEP and IRPhEP programs. Additional programs have been developed to facilitate the nuclear education of students while participating in the benchmark projects. These programs include coordination with the Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR) Next Degree Program, the Collaboration with the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office to train nuclear and criticality safety engineers, and student evaluations as the basis for their Master's thesis in nuclear engineering.« less

  20. OECD/NEA expert group on uncertainty analysis for criticality safety assessment: Results of benchmark on sensitivity calculation (phase III)

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

    Ivanova, T.; Laville, C.; Dyrda, J.

    2012-07-01

    The sensitivities of the k{sub eff} eigenvalue to neutron cross sections have become commonly used in similarity studies and as part of the validation algorithm for criticality safety assessments. To test calculations of the sensitivity coefficients, a benchmark study (Phase III) has been established by the OECD-NEA/WPNCS/EG UACSA (Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment). This paper presents some sensitivity results generated by the benchmark participants using various computational tools based upon different computational methods: SCALE/TSUNAMI-3D and -1D, MONK, APOLLO2-MORET 5, DRAGON-SUSD3D and MMKKENO. The study demonstrates the performance of the tools. It also illustrates how model simplificationsmore » impact the sensitivity results and demonstrates the importance of 'implicit' (self-shielding) sensitivities. This work has been a useful step towards verification of the existing and developed sensitivity analysis methods. (authors)« less

  1. Thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in fractured-porous media: Benchmarks and examples

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kolditz, O.; Shao, H.; Görke, U.; Kalbacher, T.; Bauer, S.; McDermott, C. I.; Wang, W.

    2012-12-01

    The book comprises an assembly of benchmarks and examples for porous media mechanics collected over the last twenty years. Analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes is essential to many applications in environmental engineering, such as geological waste deposition, geothermal energy utilisation, carbon capture and storage, water resources management, hydrology, even climate change. In order to assess the feasibility as well as the safety of geotechnical applications, process-based modelling is the only tool to put numbers, i.e. to quantify future scenarios. This charges a huge responsibility concerning the reliability of computational tools. Benchmarking is an appropriate methodology to verify the quality of modelling tools based on best practices. Moreover, benchmarking and code comparison foster community efforts. The benchmark book is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation.

  2. Openness to experience, work experience and patient safety.

    PubMed

    Chang, Hao-Yuan; Friesner, Daniel; Lee, I-Chen; Chu, Tsung-Lan; Chen, Hui-Ling; Wu, Wan-Er; Teng, Ching-I

    2016-11-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine how the interaction between nurse openness and work experience is related to patient safety. No study has yet examined the interactions between these, and how openness and work experience jointly impact patient safety. This study adopts a cross-sectional design, using self-reported work experience, perceived time pressure and measures of patient safety, and was conducted in a major medical centre. The sample consisted of 421 full-time nurses from all available units in the centre. Proportionate random sampling was used. Patient safety was measured using the self-reported frequency of common adverse events. Openness was self-rated using items identified in the relevant literature. Nurse openness is positively related to the patient safety construct (B = 0.08, P = 0.03). Moreover, work experience reduces the relation between openness and patient safety (B = -0.12, P < 0.01). The relationship between openness, work experience and patient safety suggests a new means of improving patient care in a health system setting. Nurse managers may enhance patient safety by assessing nurse openness and assigning highly open nurses to duties that make maximum use of that trait. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. GEN-IV Benchmarking of Triso Fuel Performance Models under accident conditions modeling input data

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

    Collin, Blaise Paul

    This document presents the benchmark plan for the calculation of particle fuel performance on safety testing experiments that are representative of operational accidental transients. The benchmark is dedicated to the modeling of fission product release under accident conditions by fuel performance codes from around the world, and the subsequent comparison to post-irradiation experiment (PIE) data from the modeled heating tests. The accident condition benchmark is divided into three parts: • The modeling of a simplified benchmark problem to assess potential numerical calculation issues at low fission product release. • The modeling of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis safety testing experiments. •more » The comparison of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis modeling results with PIE data. The simplified benchmark case, thereafter named NCC (Numerical Calculation Case), is derived from “Case 5” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Program (CRP) on coated particle fuel technology [IAEA 2012]. It is included so participants can evaluate their codes at low fission product release. “Case 5” of the IAEA CRP-6 showed large code-to-code discrepancies in the release of fission products, which were attributed to “effects of the numerical calculation method rather than the physical model” [IAEA 2012]. The NCC is therefore intended to check if these numerical effects subsist. The first two steps imply the involvement of the benchmark participants with a modeling effort following the guidelines and recommendations provided by this document. The third step involves the collection of the modeling results by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the comparison of these results with the available PIE data. The objective of this document is to provide all necessary input data to model the benchmark cases, and to give some methodology guidelines and recommendations in order to make all results suitable for comparison with each other. The participants

  4. Developing integrated benchmarks for DOE performance measurement

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

    Barancik, J.I.; Kramer, C.F.; Thode, Jr. H.C.

    1992-09-30

    The objectives of this task were to describe and evaluate selected existing sources of information on occupational safety and health with emphasis on hazard and exposure assessment, abatement, training, reporting, and control identifying for exposure and outcome in preparation for developing DOE performance benchmarks. Existing resources and methodologies were assessed for their potential use as practical performance benchmarks. Strengths and limitations of current data resources were identified. Guidelines were outlined for developing new or improved performance factors, which then could become the basis for selecting performance benchmarks. Data bases for non-DOE comparison populations were identified so that DOE performance couldmore » be assessed relative to non-DOE occupational and industrial groups. Systems approaches were described which can be used to link hazards and exposure, event occurrence, and adverse outcome factors, as needed to generate valid, reliable, and predictive performance benchmarks. Data bases were identified which contain information relevant to one or more performance assessment categories . A list of 72 potential performance benchmarks was prepared to illustrate the kinds of information that can be produced through a benchmark development program. Current information resources which may be used to develop potential performance benchmarks are limited. There is need to develop an occupational safety and health information and data system in DOE, which is capable of incorporating demonstrated and documented performance benchmarks prior to, or concurrent with the development of hardware and software. A key to the success of this systems approach is rigorous development and demonstration of performance benchmark equivalents to users of such data before system hardware and software commitments are institutionalized.« less

  5. Measurement, Standards, and Peer Benchmarking: One Hospital's Journey.

    PubMed

    Martin, Brian S; Arbore, Mark

    2016-04-01

    Peer-to-peer benchmarking is an important component of rapid-cycle performance improvement in patient safety and quality-improvement efforts. Institutions should carefully examine critical success factors before engagement in peer-to-peer benchmarking in order to maximize growth and change opportunities. Solutions for Patient Safety has proven to be a high-yield engagement for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with measureable improvement in both organizational process and culture. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. New Reactor Physics Benchmark Data in the March 2012 Edition of the IRPhEP Handbook

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

    John D. Bess; J. Blair Briggs; Jim Gulliford

    2012-11-01

    The International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was established to preserve integral reactor physics experimental data, including separate or special effects data for nuclear energy and technology applications. Numerous experiments that have been performed worldwide, represent a large investment of infrastructure, expertise, and cost, and are valuable resources of data for present and future research. These valuable assets provide the basis for recording, development, and validation of methods. If the experimental data are lost, the high cost to repeat many of these measurements may be prohibitive. The purpose of the IRPhEP is to provide an extensively peer-reviewed set ofmore » reactor physics-related integral data that can be used by reactor designers and safety analysts to validate the analytical tools used to design next-generation reactors and establish the safety basis for operation of these reactors. Contributors from around the world collaborate in the evaluation and review of selected benchmark experiments for inclusion in the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook) [1]. Several new evaluations have been prepared for inclusion in the March 2012 edition of the IRPhEP Handbook.« less

  7. 29 CFR 1952.213 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 36 safety and 18 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  8. 29 CFR 1952.233 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 23 safety and 14 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  9. 29 CFR 1952.323 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 47 safety and 23 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  10. 29 CFR 1952.93 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION..., in conjunction with OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 17 safety and 12 health compliance officers. After...

  11. 29 CFR 1952.223 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 22 safety and 14 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  12. 29 CFR 1952.223 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 22 safety and 14 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  13. 29 CFR 1952.343 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 6 safety and 2 health compliance officers. After opportunity for pulbic...

  14. 29 CFR 1952.353 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 9 safety and 6 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  15. 29 CFR 1952.373 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 38 safety and 21 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  16. 29 CFR 1952.203 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 31 safety and 12 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  17. 29 CFR 1952.203 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 31 safety and 12 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  18. 29 CFR 1952.343 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 6 safety and 2 health compliance officers. After opportunity for pulbic...

  19. 29 CFR 1952.373 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 38 safety and 21 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  20. 29 CFR 1952.93 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION..., in conjunction with OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 17 safety and 12 health compliance officers. After...

  1. 29 CFR 1952.233 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 23 safety and 14 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  2. 29 CFR 1952.323 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 47 safety and 23 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  3. 29 CFR 1952.353 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 9 safety and 6 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  4. 29 CFR 1952.213 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... OSHA, completed a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised compliance staffing benchmarks of 36 safety and 18 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public...

  5. INTEGRAL BENCHMARK DATA FOR NUCLEAR DATA TESTING THROUGH THE ICSBEP AND THE NEWLY ORGANIZED IRPHEP

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

    J. Blair Briggs; Lori Scott; Yolanda Rugama

    The status of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) was last reported in a nuclear data conference at the International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology, ND-2004, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since that time the number and type of integral benchmarks have increased significantly. Included in the ICSBEP Handbook are criticality-alarm / shielding and fundamental physic benchmarks in addition to the traditional critical / subcritical benchmark data. Since ND 2004, a reactor physics counterpart to the ICSBEP, the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was initiated. The IRPhEP is patterned after the ICSBEP, butmore » focuses on other integral measurements, such as buckling, spectral characteristics, reactivity effects, reactivity coefficients, kinetics measurements, reaction-rate and power distributions, nuclide compositions, and other miscellaneous-type measurements in addition to the critical configuration. The status of these two projects is discussed and selected benchmarks highlighted in this paper.« less

  6. 29 CFR 1952.263 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... State operating an approved State plan. In 1992, Michigan completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised benchmarks of 56 safety and 45...

  7. 29 CFR 1952.103 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... of 28 health compliance officers. Oregon elected to retain the safety benchmark level established in... State operating an approved State plan. In October 1992, Oregon completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a...

  8. 29 CFR 1952.263 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... State operating an approved State plan. In 1992, Michigan completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a reassessment of the levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised benchmarks of 56 safety and 45...

  9. 29 CFR 1952.163 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 16 safety and 13 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In September 1984, Iowa, in conjunction with OSHA...

  10. 29 CFR 1952.103 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... of 28 health compliance officers. Oregon elected to retain the safety benchmark level established in... State operating an approved State plan. In October 1992, Oregon completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a...

  11. 29 CFR 1952.113 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 10 safety and 9 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comments... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In September 1984, Utah, in conjunction with OSHA...

  12. 29 CFR 1952.113 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 10 safety and 9 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comments... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In September 1984, Utah, in conjunction with OSHA...

  13. 29 CFR 1952.163 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 16 safety and 13 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In September 1984, Iowa, in conjunction with OSHA...

  14. 29 CFR 1952.293 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 11 safety and 5 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In July 1986 Nevada, in conjunction with OSHA...

  15. 29 CFR 1952.293 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... staffing benchmarks of 11 safety and 5 health compliance officers. After opportunity for public comment and... established for each State operating an approved State plan. In July 1986 Nevada, in conjunction with OSHA...

  16. 29 CFR 1952.363 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... State operating an approved State plan. In May 1992, New Mexico completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a reassessment of the staffing levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised benchmarks of 7 safety...

  17. 29 CFR 1952.363 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION... State operating an approved State plan. In May 1992, New Mexico completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a reassessment of the staffing levels initially established in 1980 and proposed revised benchmarks of 7 safety...

  18. Implementation of Benchmarking Transportation Logistics Practices and Future Benchmarking Organizations

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

    Thrower, A.W.; Patric, J.; Keister, M.

    2008-07-01

    The purpose of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's (OCRWM) Logistics Benchmarking Project is to identify established government and industry practices for the safe transportation of hazardous materials which can serve as a yardstick for design and operation of OCRWM's national transportation system for shipping spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The project will present logistics and transportation practices and develop implementation recommendations for adaptation by the national transportation system. This paper will describe the process used to perform the initial benchmarking study, highlight interim findings, and explain how thesemore » findings are being implemented. It will also provide an overview of the next phase of benchmarking studies. The benchmarking effort will remain a high-priority activity throughout the planning and operational phases of the transportation system. The initial phase of the project focused on government transportation programs to identify those practices which are most clearly applicable to OCRWM. These Federal programs have decades of safe transportation experience, strive for excellence in operations, and implement effective stakeholder involvement, all of which parallel OCRWM's transportation mission and vision. The initial benchmarking project focused on four business processes that are critical to OCRWM's mission success, and can be incorporated into OCRWM planning and preparation in the near term. The processes examined were: transportation business model, contract management/out-sourcing, stakeholder relations, and contingency planning. More recently, OCRWM examined logistics operations of AREVA NC's Business Unit Logistics in France. The next phase of benchmarking will focus on integrated domestic and international commercial radioactive logistic operations. The prospective companies represent large scale shippers and have vast

  19. A national standard for psychosocial safety climate (PSC): PSC 41 as the benchmark for low risk of job strain and depressive symptoms.

    PubMed

    Bailey, Tessa S; Dollard, Maureen F; Richards, Penny A M

    2015-01-01

    Despite decades of research from around the world now permeating occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation and guidelines, there remains a lack of tools to guide practice. Our main goal was to establish benchmark levels of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) that would signify risk of job strain (jobs with high demands and low control) and depression in organizations. First, to justify our focus on PSC, using interview data from Australian employees matched at 2 time points 12 months apart (n = 1081), we verified PSC as a significant leading predictor of job strain and in turn depression. Next, using 2 additional data sets (n = 2097 and n = 1043) we determined benchmarks of organizational PSC (range 12-60) for low-risk (PSC at 41 or above) and high-risk (PSC at 37 or below) of employee job strain and depressive symptoms. Finally, using the newly created benchmarks we estimated the population attributable risk (PAR) and found that improving PSC in organizations to above 37 could reduce 14% of job strain and 16% of depressive symptoms in the working population. The results provide national standards that organizations and regulatory agencies can utilize to promote safer working environments and lower the risk of harm to employee mental health. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. BENCHMARK DOSE TECHNICAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the Agency on the application of the benchmark dose approach in determining the point of departure (POD) for health effects data, whether a linear or nonlinear low dose extrapolation is used. The guidance includes discussion on computation of benchmark doses and benchmark concentrations (BMDs and BMCs) and their lower confidence limits, data requirements, dose-response analysis, and reporting requirements. This guidance is based on today's knowledge and understanding, and on experience gained in using this approach.

  1. Benchmark On Sensitivity Calculation (Phase III)

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

    Ivanova, Tatiana; Laville, Cedric; Dyrda, James

    2012-01-01

    The sensitivities of the keff eigenvalue to neutron cross sections have become commonly used in similarity studies and as part of the validation algorithm for criticality safety assessments. To test calculations of the sensitivity coefficients, a benchmark study (Phase III) has been established by the OECD-NEA/WPNCS/EG UACSA (Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment). This paper presents some sensitivity results generated by the benchmark participants using various computational tools based upon different computational methods: SCALE/TSUNAMI-3D and -1D, MONK, APOLLO2-MORET 5, DRAGON-SUSD3D and MMKKENO. The study demonstrates the performance of the tools. It also illustrates how model simplifications impactmore » the sensitivity results and demonstrates the importance of 'implicit' (self-shielding) sensitivities. This work has been a useful step towards verification of the existing and developed sensitivity analysis methods.« less

  2. Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Workshop

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

    Rene G. Sanchez

    1998-04-01

    This document contains summaries of most of the papers presented at the 1995 Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Project (NCTSP) meeting, which was held May 16 and 17 at San Diego, Ca. The meeting was broken up into seven sessions, which covered the following topics: (1) Criticality Safety of Project Sapphire; (2) Relevant Experiments For Criticality Safety; (3) Interactions with the Former Soviet Union; (4) Misapplications and Limitations of Monte Carlo Methods Directed Toward Criticality Safety Analyses; (5) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Execution and Interpretation; (6) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Representation; and (7) Benchmark Comparisons.

  3. Benchmarking, benchmarks, or best practices? Applying quality improvement principles to decrease surgical turnaround time.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, L

    1996-01-01

    The processes of benchmarking, benchmark data comparative analysis, and study of best practices are distinctly different. The study of best practices is explained with an example based on the Arthur Andersen & Co. 1992 "Study of Best Practices in Ambulatory Surgery". The results of a national best practices study in ambulatory surgery were used to provide our quality improvement team with the goal of improving the turnaround time between surgical cases. The team used a seven-step quality improvement problem-solving process to improve the surgical turnaround time. The national benchmark for turnaround times between surgical cases in 1992 was 13.5 minutes. The initial turnaround time at St. Joseph's Medical Center was 19.9 minutes. After the team implemented solutions, the time was reduced to an average of 16.3 minutes, an 18% improvement. Cost-benefit analysis showed a potential enhanced revenue of approximately $300,000, or a potential savings of $10,119. Applying quality improvement principles to benchmarking, benchmarks, or best practices can improve process performance. Understanding which form of benchmarking the institution wishes to embark on will help focus a team and use appropriate resources. Communicating with professional organizations that have experience in benchmarking will save time and money and help achieve the desired results.

  4. Seismo-acoustic ray model benchmarking against experimental tank data.

    PubMed

    Camargo Rodríguez, Orlando; Collis, Jon M; Simpson, Harry J; Ey, Emanuel; Schneiderwind, Joseph; Felisberto, Paulo

    2012-08-01

    Acoustic predictions of the recently developed traceo ray model, which accounts for bottom shear properties, are benchmarked against tank experimental data from the EPEE-1 and EPEE-2 (Elastic Parabolic Equation Experiment) experiments. Both experiments are representative of signal propagation in a Pekeris-like shallow-water waveguide over a non-flat isotropic elastic bottom, where significant interaction of the signal with the bottom can be expected. The benchmarks show, in particular, that the ray model can be as accurate as a parabolic approximation model benchmarked in similar conditions. The results of benchmarking are important, on one side, as a preliminary experimental validation of the model and, on the other side, demonstrates the reliability of the ray approach for seismo-acoustic applications.

  5. Material Activation Benchmark Experiments at the NuMI Hadron Absorber Hall in Fermilab

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsumura, H.; Matsuda, N.; Kasugai, Y.; Toyoda, A.; Yashima, H.; Sekimoto, S.; Iwase, H.; Oishi, K.; Sakamoto, Y.; Nakashima, H.; Leveling, A.; Boehnlein, D.; Lauten, G.; Mokhov, N.; Vaziri, K.

    2014-06-01

    In our previous study, double and mirror symmetric activation peaks found for Al and Au arranged spatially on the back of the Hadron absorber of the NuMI beamline in Fermilab were considerably higher than those expected purely from muon-induced reactions. From material activation bench-mark experiments, we conclude that this activation is due to hadrons with energy greater than 3 GeV that had passed downstream through small gaps in the hadron absorber.

  6. Benchmarking gate-based quantum computers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Michielsen, Kristel; Nocon, Madita; Willsch, Dennis; Jin, Fengping; Lippert, Thomas; De Raedt, Hans

    2017-11-01

    With the advent of public access to small gate-based quantum processors, it becomes necessary to develop a benchmarking methodology such that independent researchers can validate the operation of these processors. We explore the usefulness of a number of simple quantum circuits as benchmarks for gate-based quantum computing devices and show that circuits performing identity operations are very simple, scalable and sensitive to gate errors and are therefore very well suited for this task. We illustrate the procedure by presenting benchmark results for the IBM Quantum Experience, a cloud-based platform for gate-based quantum computing.

  7. Aluminum Data Measurements and Evaluation for Criticality Safety Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leal, L. C.; Guber, K. H.; Spencer, R. R.; Derrien, H.; Wright, R. Q.

    2002-12-01

    The Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 93-2 motivated the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a comprehensive criticality safety program to maintain and to predict the criticality of systems throughout the DOE complex. To implement the response to the DNFSB Recommendation 93-2, a Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) was created including the following tasks: Critical Experiments, Criticality Benchmarks, Training, Analytical Methods, and Nuclear Data. The Nuclear Data portion of the NCSP consists of a variety of differential measurements performed at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), data analysis and evaluation using the generalized least-squares fitting code SAMMY in the resolved, unresolved, and high energy ranges, and the development and benchmark testing of complete evaluations for a nuclide for inclusion into the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF/B). This paper outlines the work performed at ORNL to measure, evaluate, and test the nuclear data for aluminum for applications in criticality safety problems.

  8. Limitations of Community College Benchmarking and Benchmarks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bers, Trudy H.

    2006-01-01

    This chapter distinguishes between benchmarks and benchmarking, describes a number of data and cultural limitations to benchmarking projects, and suggests that external demands for accountability are the dominant reason for growing interest in benchmarking among community colleges.

  9. Analogue experiments as benchmarks for models of lava flow emplacement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garel, F.; Kaminski, E. C.; Tait, S.; Limare, A.

    2013-12-01

    During an effusive volcanic eruption, the crisis management is mainly based on the prediction of lava flow advance and its velocity. The spreading of a lava flow, seen as a gravity current, depends on its "effective rheology" and on the effusion rate. Fast-computing models have arisen in the past decade in order to predict in near real time lava flow path and rate of advance. This type of model, crucial to mitigate volcanic hazards and organize potential evacuation, has been mainly compared a posteriori to real cases of emplaced lava flows. The input parameters of such simulations applied to natural eruptions, especially effusion rate and topography, are often not known precisely, and are difficult to evaluate after the eruption. It is therefore not straightforward to identify the causes of discrepancies between model outputs and observed lava emplacement, whereas the comparison of models with controlled laboratory experiments appears easier. The challenge for numerical simulations of lava flow emplacement is to model the simultaneous advance and thermal structure of viscous lava flows. To provide original constraints later to be used in benchmark numerical simulations, we have performed lab-scale experiments investigating the cooling of isoviscous gravity currents. The simplest experimental set-up is as follows: silicone oil, whose viscosity, around 5 Pa.s, varies less than a factor of 2 in the temperature range studied, is injected from a point source onto a horizontal plate and spreads axisymmetrically. The oil is injected hot, and progressively cools down to ambient temperature away from the source. Once the flow is developed, it presents a stationary radial thermal structure whose characteristics depend on the input flow rate. In addition to the experimental observations, we have developed in Garel et al., JGR, 2012 a theoretical model confirming the relationship between supply rate, flow advance and stationary surface thermal structure. We also provide

  10. Community-based benchmarking of the CMIP DECK experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gleckler, P. J.

    2015-12-01

    A diversity of community-based efforts are independently developing "diagnostic packages" with little or no coordination between them. A short list of examples include NCAR's Climate Variability Diagnostics Package (CVDP), ORNL's International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB), LBNL's Toolkit for Extreme Climate Analysis (TECA), PCMDI's Metrics Package (PMP), the EU EMBRACE ESMValTool, the WGNE MJO diagnostics package, and CFMIP diagnostics. The full value of these efforts cannot be realized without some coordination. As a first step, a WCRP effort has initiated a catalog to document candidate packages that could potentially be applied in a "repeat-use" fashion to all simulations contributed to the CMIP DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) experiments. Some coordination of community-based diagnostics has the additional potential to improve how CMIP modeling groups analyze their simulations during model-development. The fact that most modeling groups now maintain a "CMIP compliant" data stream means that in principal without much effort they could readily adopt a set of well organized diagnostic capabilities specifically designed to operate on CMIP DECK experiments. Ultimately, a detailed listing of and access to analysis codes that are demonstrated to work "out of the box" with CMIP data could enable model developers (and others) to select those codes they wish to implement in-house, potentially enabling more systematic evaluation during the model development process.

  11. Benchmark Evaluation of HTR-PROTEUS Pebble Bed Experimental Program

    DOE PAGES

    Bess, John D.; Montierth, Leland; Köberl, Oliver; ...

    2014-10-09

    Benchmark models were developed to evaluate 11 critical core configurations of the HTR-PROTEUS pebble bed experimental program. Various additional reactor physics measurements were performed as part of this program; currently only a total of 37 absorber rod worth measurements have been evaluated as acceptable benchmark experiments for Cores 4, 9, and 10. Dominant uncertainties in the experimental keff for all core configurations come from uncertainties in the ²³⁵U enrichment of the fuel, impurities in the moderator pebbles, and the density and impurity content of the radial reflector. Calculations of k eff with MCNP5 and ENDF/B-VII.0 neutron nuclear data aremore » greater than the benchmark values but within 1% and also within the 3σ uncertainty, except for Core 4, which is the only randomly packed pebble configuration. Repeated calculations of k eff with MCNP6.1 and ENDF/B-VII.1 are lower than the benchmark values and within 1% (~3σ) except for Cores 5 and 9, which calculate lower than the benchmark eigenvalues within 4σ. The primary difference between the two nuclear data libraries is the adjustment of the absorption cross section of graphite. Simulations of the absorber rod worth measurements are within 3σ of the benchmark experiment values. The complete benchmark evaluation details are available in the 2014 edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments.« less

  12. Developing Evidence for Action on the Postgraduate Experience: An Effective Local Instrument to Move beyond Benchmarking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sampson, K. A.; Johnston, L.; Comer, K.; Brogt, E.

    2016-01-01

    Summative and benchmarking surveys to measure the postgraduate student research experience are well reported in the literature. While useful, we argue that local instruments that provide formative resources with an academic development focus are also required. If higher education institutions are to move beyond the identification of issues and…

  13. Patient safety culture: finding meaning in patient experiences.

    PubMed

    Bishop, Andrea C; Cregan, Brianna R

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to determine what patient and family stories can tell us about patient safety culture within health care organizations and how patients experience patient safety culture. A total of 11 patient and family stories of adverse event experiences were examined in September 2013 using publicly available videos on the Canadian Patient Safety Insitute web site. Videos were transcribed verbatim and collated as one complete data set. Thematic analysis was used to perform qualitative inquiry. All qualitative analysis was done using NVivo 10 software. A total of three themes were identified: first, Being Passed Around; second, Not Having the Conversation; and third, the Person Behind the Patient. Results from this research also suggest that while health care organizations and providers might expect patients to play a larger role in managing their health, there may be underlying reasons as to why patients are not doing so. The findings indicate that patient experiences and narratives are useful sources of information to better understand organizational safety culture and patient experiences of safety while hospitalized. Greater inclusion and analysis of patient safety narratives is important in understanding the needs of patients and how patient safety culture interventions can be improved to ensure translation of patient safety strategies at the frontlines of care. Greater acknowledgement of the patient and family experience provides organizations with an integral perspective to assist in defining and addressing deficiencies within their patient safety culture and to identify opportunities for improvement.

  14. 29 CFR 1952.103 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) APPROVED STATE PLANS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF STATE STANDARDS Oregon § 1952.103... State operating an approved State plan. In October 1992, Oregon completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a... of 28 health compliance officers. Oregon elected to retain the safety benchmark level established in...

  15. 29 CFR 1952.103 - Compliance staffing benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) APPROVED STATE PLANS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF STATE STANDARDS Oregon § 1952.103... State operating an approved State plan. In October 1992, Oregon completed, in conjunction with OSHA, a... of 28 health compliance officers. Oregon elected to retain the safety benchmark level established in...

  16. Benchmarking statewide trauma mortality using Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's patient safety indicators.

    PubMed

    Ang, Darwin; McKenney, Mark; Norwood, Scott; Kurek, Stanley; Kimbrell, Brian; Liu, Huazhi; Ziglar, Michele; Hurst, James

    2015-09-01

    Improving clinical outcomes of trauma patients is a challenging problem at a statewide level, particularly if data from the state's registry are not publicly available. Promotion of optimal care throughout the state is not possible unless clinical benchmarks are available for comparison. Using publicly available administrative data from the State Department of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety indicators (PSIs), we sought to create a statewide method for benchmarking trauma mortality and at the same time also identifying a pattern of unique complications that have an independent influence on mortality. Data for this study were obtained from State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Adult trauma patients were identified as having International Classification of Disease ninth edition codes defined by the state. Multivariate logistic regression was used to create a predictive inpatient expected mortality model. The expected value of PSIs was created using the multivariate model and their beta coefficients provided by the AHRQ. Case-mix adjusted mortality results were reported as observed to expected (O/E) ratios to examine mortality, PSIs, failure to prevent complications, and failure to rescue from death. There were 50,596 trauma patients evaluated during the study period. The overall fit of the expected mortality model was very strong at a c-statistic of 0.93. Twelve of 25 trauma centers had O/E ratios <1 or better than expected. Nine statewide PSIs had failure to prevent O/E ratios higher than expected. Five statewide PSIs had failure to rescue O/E ratios higher than expected. The PSI that had the strongest influence on trauma mortality for the state was PSI no. 9 or perioperative hemorrhage or hematoma. Mortality could be further substratified by PSI complications at the hospital level. AHRQ PSIs can have an integral role in an adjusted benchmarking method that screens at risk trauma centers in the state

  17. Benchmark Shock Tube Experiments for Radiative Heating Relevant to Earth Re-Entry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brandis, A. M.; Cruden, B. A.

    2017-01-01

    Detailed spectrally and spatially resolved radiance has been measured in the Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility for conditions relevant to high speed entry into a variety of atmospheres, including Earth, Venus, Titan, Mars and the Outer Planets. The tests that measured radiation relevant for Earth re-entry are the focus of this work and are taken from campaigns 47, 50, 52 and 57. These tests covered conditions from 8 km/s to 15.5 km/s at initial pressures ranging from 0.05 Torr to 1 Torr, of which shots at 0.1 and 0.2 Torr are analyzed in this paper. These conditions cover a range of points of interest for potential fight missions, including return from Low Earth Orbit, the Moon and Mars. The large volume of testing available from EAST is useful for statistical analysis of radiation data, but is problematic for identifying representative experiments for performing detailed analysis. Therefore, the intent of this paper is to select a subset of benchmark test data that can be considered for further detailed study. These benchmark shots are intended to provide more accessible data sets for future code validation studies and facility-to-facility comparisons. The shots that have been selected as benchmark data are the ones in closest agreement to a line of best fit through all of the EAST results, whilst also showing the best experimental characteristics, such as test time and convergence to equilibrium. The EAST data are presented in different formats for analysis. These data include the spectral radiance at equilibrium, the spatial dependence of radiance over defined wavelength ranges and the mean non-equilibrium spectral radiance (so-called 'spectral non-equilibrium metric'). All the information needed to simulate each experimental trace, including free-stream conditions, shock time of arrival (i.e. x-t) relation, and the spectral and spatial resolution functions, are provided.

  18. The MCNP6 Analytic Criticality Benchmark Suite

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

    Brown, Forrest B.

    2016-06-16

    Analytical benchmarks provide an invaluable tool for verifying computer codes used to simulate neutron transport. Several collections of analytical benchmark problems [1-4] are used routinely in the verification of production Monte Carlo codes such as MCNP® [5,6]. Verification of a computer code is a necessary prerequisite to the more complex validation process. The verification process confirms that a code performs its intended functions correctly. The validation process involves determining the absolute accuracy of code results vs. nature. In typical validations, results are computed for a set of benchmark experiments using a particular methodology (code, cross-section data with uncertainties, and modeling)more » and compared to the measured results from the set of benchmark experiments. The validation process determines bias, bias uncertainty, and possibly additional margins. Verification is generally performed by the code developers, while validation is generally performed by code users for a particular application space. The VERIFICATION_KEFF suite of criticality problems [1,2] was originally a set of 75 criticality problems found in the literature for which exact analytical solutions are available. Even though the spatial and energy detail is necessarily limited in analytical benchmarks, typically to a few regions or energy groups, the exact solutions obtained can be used to verify that the basic algorithms, mathematics, and methods used in complex production codes perform correctly. The present work has focused on revisiting this benchmark suite. A thorough review of the problems resulted in discarding some of them as not suitable for MCNP benchmarking. For the remaining problems, many of them were reformulated to permit execution in either multigroup mode or in the normal continuous-energy mode for MCNP. Execution of the benchmarks in continuous-energy mode provides a significant advance to MCNP verification methods.« less

  19. Benchmarking initiatives in the water industry.

    PubMed

    Parena, R; Smeets, E

    2001-01-01

    Customer satisfaction and service care are every day pushing professionals in the water industry to seek to improve their performance, lowering costs and increasing the provided service level. Process Benchmarking is generally recognised as a systematic mechanism of comparing one's own utility with other utilities or businesses with the intent of self-improvement by adopting structures or methods used elsewhere. The IWA Task Force on Benchmarking, operating inside the Statistics and Economics Committee, has been committed to developing a general accepted concept of Process Benchmarking to support water decision-makers in addressing issues of efficiency. In a first step the Task Force disseminated among the Committee members a questionnaire focused on providing suggestions about the kind, the evolution degree and the main concepts of Benchmarking adopted in the represented Countries. A comparison among the guidelines adopted in The Netherlands and Scandinavia has recently challenged the Task Force in drafting a methodology for a worldwide process benchmarking in water industry. The paper provides a framework of the most interesting benchmarking experiences in the water sector and describes in detail both the final results of the survey and the methodology focused on identification of possible improvement areas.

  20. How to achieve and prove performance improvement - 15 years of experience in German wastewater benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Bertzbach, F; Franz, T; Möller, K

    2012-01-01

    This paper shows the results of performance improvement, which have been achieved in benchmarking projects in the wastewater industry in Germany over the last 15 years. A huge number of changes in operational practice and also in achieved annual savings can be shown, induced in particular by benchmarking at process level. Investigation of this question produces some general findings for the inclusion of performance improvement in a benchmarking project and for the communication of its results. Thus, we elaborate on the concept of benchmarking at both utility and process level, which is still a necessary distinction for the integration of performance improvement into our benchmarking approach. To achieve performance improvement via benchmarking it should be made quite clear that this outcome depends, on one hand, on a well conducted benchmarking programme and, on the other, on the individual situation within each participating utility.

  1. XWeB: The XML Warehouse Benchmark

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahboubi, Hadj; Darmont, Jérôme

    With the emergence of XML as a standard for representing business data, new decision support applications are being developed. These XML data warehouses aim at supporting On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) operations that manipulate irregular XML data. To ensure feasibility of these new tools, important performance issues must be addressed. Performance is customarily assessed with the help of benchmarks. However, decision support benchmarks do not currently support XML features. In this paper, we introduce the XML Warehouse Benchmark (XWeB), which aims at filling this gap. XWeB derives from the relational decision support benchmark TPC-H. It is mainly composed of a test data warehouse that is based on a unified reference model for XML warehouses and that features XML-specific structures, and its associate XQuery decision support workload. XWeB's usage is illustrated by experiments on several XML database management systems.

  2. Performance analysis of fusion nuclear-data benchmark experiments for light to heavy materials in MeV energy region with a neutron spectrum shifter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murata, Isao; Ohta, Masayuki; Miyamaru, Hiroyuki; Kondo, Keitaro; Yoshida, Shigeo; Iida, Toshiyuki; Ochiai, Kentaro; Konno, Chikara

    2011-10-01

    Nuclear data are indispensable for development of fusion reactor candidate materials. However, benchmarking of the nuclear data in MeV energy region is not yet adequate. In the present study, benchmark performance in the MeV energy region was investigated theoretically for experiments by using a 14 MeV neutron source. We carried out a systematical analysis for light to heavy materials. As a result, the benchmark performance for the neutron spectrum was confirmed to be acceptable, while for gamma-rays it was not sufficiently accurate. Consequently, a spectrum shifter has to be applied. Beryllium had the best performance as a shifter. Moreover, a preliminary examination of whether it is really acceptable that only the spectrum before the last collision is considered in the benchmark performance analysis. It was pointed out that not only the last collision but also earlier collisions should be considered equally in the benchmark performance analysis.

  3. [Operating Room Nurses' Experiences of Securing for Patient Safety].

    PubMed

    Park, Kwang Ok; Kim, Jong Kyung; Kim, Myoung Sook

    2015-10-01

    This study was done to evaluate the experience of securing patient safety in hospital operating rooms. Experiential data were collected from 15 operating room nurses through in-depth interviews. The main question was "Could you describe your experience with patient safety in the operating room?". Qualitative data from the field and transcribed notes were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory methodology. The core category of experience with patient safety in the operating room was 'trying to maintain principles of patient safety during high-risk surgical procedures'. The participants used two interactional strategies: 'attempt continuous improvement', 'immersion in operation with sharing issues of patient safety'. The results indicate that the important factors for ensuring the safety of patients in the operating room are manpower, education, and a system for patient safety. Successful and safe surgery requires communication, teamwork and recognition of the importance of patient safety by the surgical team.

  4. Apollo experience report: Safety activities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rice, C. N.

    1975-01-01

    A description is given of the flight safety experiences gained during the Apollo Program and safety, from the viewpoint of program management, engineering, mission planning, and ground test operations was discussed. Emphasis is placed on the methods used to identify the risks involved in flight and in certain ground test operations. In addition, there are discussions on the management and engineering activities used to eliminate or reduce these risks.

  5. Benchmark Testing of a New 56Fe Evaluation for Criticality Safety Applications

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

    Leal, Luiz C; Ivanov, E.

    2015-01-01

    The SAMMY code was used to evaluate resonance parameters of the 56Fe cross section in the resolved resonance energy range of 0–2 MeV using transmission data, capture, elastic, inelastic, and double differential elastic cross sections. The resonance analysis was performed with the code SAMMY that fits R-matrix resonance parameters using the generalized least-squares technique (Bayes’ theory). The evaluation yielded a set of resonance parameters that reproduced the experimental data very well, along with a resonance parameter covariance matrix for data uncertainty calculations. Benchmark tests were conducted to assess the evaluation performance in benchmark calculations.

  6. Surgeon's experiences of receiving peer benchmarked feedback using patient-reported outcome measures: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Boyce, Maria B; Browne, John P; Greenhalgh, Joanne

    2014-06-27

    The use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to provide healthcare professionals with peer benchmarked feedback is growing. However, there is little evidence on the opinions of professionals on the value of this information in practice. The purpose of this research is to explore surgeon's experiences of receiving peer benchmarked PROMs feedback and to examine whether this information led to changes in their practice. This qualitative research employed a Framework approach. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with surgeons who received peer benchmarked PROMs feedback. The participants included eleven consultant orthopaedic surgeons in the Republic of Ireland. Five themes were identified: conceptual, methodological, practical, attitudinal, and impact. A typology was developed based on the attitudinal and impact themes from which three distinct groups emerged. 'Advocates' had positive attitudes towards PROMs and confirmed that the information promoted a self-reflective process. 'Converts' were uncertain about the value of PROMs, which reduced their inclination to use the data. 'Sceptics' had negative attitudes towards PROMs and claimed that the information had no impact on their behaviour. The conceptual, methodological and practical factors were linked to the typology. Surgeons had mixed opinions on the value of peer benchmarked PROMs data. Many appreciated the feedback as it reassured them that their practice was similar to their peers. However, PROMs information alone was considered insufficient to help identify opportunities for quality improvements. The reasons for the observed reluctance of participants to embrace PROMs can be categorised into conceptual, methodological, and practical factors. Policy makers and researchers need to increase professionals' awareness of the numerous purposes and benefits of using PROMs, challenge the current methods to measure performance using PROMs, and reduce the burden of data collection and information

  7. Quality in E-Learning--A Conceptual Framework Based on Experiences from Three International Benchmarking Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ossiannilsson, E.; Landgren, L.

    2012-01-01

    Between 2008 and 2010, Lund University took part in three international benchmarking projects, "E-xcellence+," the "eLearning Benchmarking Exercise 2009," and the "First Dual-Mode Distance Learning Benchmarking Club." A comparison of these models revealed a rather high level of correspondence. From this finding and…

  8. Benchmarking infrastructure for mutation text mining

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Experimental research on the automatic extraction of information about mutations from texts is greatly hindered by the lack of consensus evaluation infrastructure for the testing and benchmarking of mutation text mining systems. Results We propose a community-oriented annotation and benchmarking infrastructure to support development, testing, benchmarking, and comparison of mutation text mining systems. The design is based on semantic standards, where RDF is used to represent annotations, an OWL ontology provides an extensible schema for the data and SPARQL is used to compute various performance metrics, so that in many cases no programming is needed to analyze results from a text mining system. While large benchmark corpora for biological entity and relation extraction are focused mostly on genes, proteins, diseases, and species, our benchmarking infrastructure fills the gap for mutation information. The core infrastructure comprises (1) an ontology for modelling annotations, (2) SPARQL queries for computing performance metrics, and (3) a sizeable collection of manually curated documents, that can support mutation grounding and mutation impact extraction experiments. Conclusion We have developed the principal infrastructure for the benchmarking of mutation text mining tasks. The use of RDF and OWL as the representation for corpora ensures extensibility. The infrastructure is suitable for out-of-the-box use in several important scenarios and is ready, in its current state, for initial community adoption. PMID:24568600

  9. Benchmarking infrastructure for mutation text mining.

    PubMed

    Klein, Artjom; Riazanov, Alexandre; Hindle, Matthew M; Baker, Christopher Jo

    2014-02-25

    Experimental research on the automatic extraction of information about mutations from texts is greatly hindered by the lack of consensus evaluation infrastructure for the testing and benchmarking of mutation text mining systems. We propose a community-oriented annotation and benchmarking infrastructure to support development, testing, benchmarking, and comparison of mutation text mining systems. The design is based on semantic standards, where RDF is used to represent annotations, an OWL ontology provides an extensible schema for the data and SPARQL is used to compute various performance metrics, so that in many cases no programming is needed to analyze results from a text mining system. While large benchmark corpora for biological entity and relation extraction are focused mostly on genes, proteins, diseases, and species, our benchmarking infrastructure fills the gap for mutation information. The core infrastructure comprises (1) an ontology for modelling annotations, (2) SPARQL queries for computing performance metrics, and (3) a sizeable collection of manually curated documents, that can support mutation grounding and mutation impact extraction experiments. We have developed the principal infrastructure for the benchmarking of mutation text mining tasks. The use of RDF and OWL as the representation for corpora ensures extensibility. The infrastructure is suitable for out-of-the-box use in several important scenarios and is ready, in its current state, for initial community adoption.

  10. JENDL-4.0/HE Benchmark Test with Concrete and Iron Shielding Experiments at JAEA/TIARA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Konno, Chikara; Matsuda, Norihiro; Kwon, Saerom; Ohta, Masayuki; Sato, Satoshi

    2017-09-01

    As a benchmark test of JENDL-4.0/HE released in 2015, we have analyzed the concrete and iron shielding experiments with the quasi mono-energetic 40 and 65 MeV neutron sources at TIARA in JAEA by using MCNP5 and ACE files processed from JENDL-4.0/HE with NJOY2012. As a result, it was found out that the calculation results with JENDL-4.0/HE agreed with the measured ones in the concrete experiment well, while they underestimated the measured ones in the iron experiment with 65 MeV neutrons more for the thicker assemblies. We examined the 56Fe data of JENDL-4.0/HE in detail and it was considered that the larger non-elastic scattering cross sections of 56Fe caused the underestimation in the calculation with JENDL-4.0/HE for the iron experiment with 65 MeV neutrons.

  11. The Department of Energy Nuclear Criticality Safety Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Felty, James R.

    2005-05-01

    This paper broadly covers key events and activities from which the Department of Energy Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) evolved. The NCSP maintains fundamental infrastructure that supports operational criticality safety programs. This infrastructure includes continued development and maintenance of key calculational tools, differential and integral data measurements, benchmark compilation, development of training resources, hands-on training, and web-based systems to enhance information preservation and dissemination. The NCSP was initiated in response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 97-2, Criticality Safety, and evolved from a predecessor program, the Nuclear Criticality Predictability Program, that was initiated in response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 93-2, The Need for Critical Experiment Capability. This paper also discusses the role Dr. Sol Pearlstein played in helping the Department of Energy lay the foundation for a robust and enduring criticality safety infrastructure.

  12. A Seafloor Benchmark for 3-dimensional Geodesy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chadwell, C. D.; Webb, S. C.; Nooner, S. L.

    2014-12-01

    We have developed an inexpensive, permanent seafloor benchmark to increase the longevity of seafloor geodetic measurements. The benchmark provides a physical tie to the sea floor lasting for decades (perhaps longer) on which geodetic sensors can be repeatedly placed and removed with millimeter resolution. Global coordinates estimated with seafloor geodetic techniques will remain attached to the benchmark allowing for the interchange of sensors as they fail or become obsolete, or for the sensors to be removed and used elsewhere, all the while maintaining a coherent series of positions referenced to the benchmark. The benchmark has been designed to free fall from the sea surface with transponders attached. The transponder can be recalled via an acoustic command sent from the surface to release from the benchmark and freely float to the sea surface for recovery. The duration of the sensor attachment to the benchmark will last from a few days to a few years depending on the specific needs of the experiment. The recovered sensors are then available to be reused at other locations, or again at the same site in the future. Three pins on the sensor frame mate precisely and unambiguously with three grooves on the benchmark. To reoccupy a benchmark a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) uses its manipulator arm to place the sensor pins into the benchmark grooves. In June 2014 we deployed four benchmarks offshore central Oregon. We used the ROV Jason to successfully demonstrate the removal and replacement of packages onto the benchmark. We will show the benchmark design and its operational capabilities. Presently models of megathrust slip within the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) are mostly constrained by the sub-aerial GPS vectors from the Plate Boundary Observatory, a part of Earthscope. More long-lived seafloor geodetic measures are needed to better understand the earthquake and tsunami risk associated with a large rupture of the thrust fault within the Cascadia subduction zone

  13. Benchmarking of HEU Mental Annuli Critical Assemblies with Internally Reflected Graphite Cylinder

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

    Xiaobo, Liu; Bess, John D.; Marshall, Margaret A.

    Three experimental configurations of critical assemblies, performed in 1963 at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiment Facility, which are assembled using three different diameter HEU annuli (15-9 inches, 15-7 inches and 13-7 inches) metal annuli with internally reflected graphite cylinder are evaluated and benchmarked. The experimental uncertainties which are 0.00055, 0.00055 and 0.00055 respectively, and biases to the detailed benchmark models which are -0.00179, -0.00189 and -0.00114 respectively, were determined, and the experimental benchmark keff results were obtained for both detailed and simplified model. The calculation results for both detailed and simplified models using MCNP6-1.0 and ENDF VII.1 agree well tomore » the benchmark experimental results with a difference of less than 0.2%. These are acceptable benchmark experiments for inclusion in the ICSBEP Handbook.« less

  14. Experiments To Demonstrate Chemical Process Safety Principles.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dorathy, Brian D.; Mooers, Jamisue A.; Warren, Matthew M.; Mich, Jennifer L.; Murhammer, David W.

    2001-01-01

    Points out the need to educate undergraduate chemical engineering students on chemical process safety and introduces the content of a chemical process safety course offered at the University of Iowa. Presents laboratory experiments demonstrating flammability limits, flash points, electrostatic, runaway reactions, explosions, and relief design.…

  15. Fusion neutron source blanket: requirements for calculation accuracy and benchmark experiment precision

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhirkin, A. V.; Alekseev, P. N.; Batyaev, V. F.; Gurevich, M. I.; Dudnikov, A. A.; Kuteev, B. V.; Pavlov, K. V.; Titarenko, Yu. E.; Titarenko, A. Yu.

    2017-06-01

    In this report the calculation accuracy requirements of the main parameters of the fusion neutron source, and the thermonuclear blankets with a DT fusion power of more than 10 MW, are formulated. To conduct the benchmark experiments the technical documentation and calculation models were developed for two blanket micro-models: the molten salt and the heavy water solid-state blankets. The calculations of the neutron spectra, and 37 dosimetric reaction rates that are widely used for the registration of thermal, resonance and threshold (0.25-13.45 MeV) neutrons, were performed for each blanket micro-model. The MCNP code and the neutron data library ENDF/B-VII were used for the calculations. All the calculations were performed for two kinds of neutron source: source I is the fusion source, source II is the source of neutrons generated by the 7Li target irradiated by protons with energy 24.6 MeV. The spectral indexes ratios were calculated to describe the spectrum variations from different neutron sources. The obtained results demonstrate the advantage of using the fusion neutron source in future experiments.

  16. A new numerical benchmark of a freshwater lens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoeckl, L.; Walther, M.; Graf, T.

    2016-04-01

    A numerical benchmark for 2-D variable-density flow and solute transport in a freshwater lens is presented. The benchmark is based on results of laboratory experiments conducted by Stoeckl and Houben (2012) using a sand tank on the meter scale. This benchmark describes the formation and degradation of a freshwater lens over time as it can be found under real-world islands. An error analysis gave the appropriate spatial and temporal discretization of 1 mm and 8.64 s, respectively. The calibrated parameter set was obtained using the parameter estimation tool PEST. Comparing density-coupled and density-uncoupled results showed that the freshwater-saltwater interface position is strongly dependent on density differences. A benchmark that adequately represents saltwater intrusion and that includes realistic features of coastal aquifers or freshwater lenses was lacking. This new benchmark was thus developed and is demonstrated to be suitable to test variable-density groundwater models applied to saltwater intrusion investigations.

  17. New Safety and Technical Challenges and Operational Experience on the JET First Trace Tritium Experiment

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

    Pearce, R.J.H.; Bell, A.C.; Brennan, D.

    'Trace Tritium Experiments' (TTE) were successfully performed on JET in 2003. The Campaign marked the first use of tritium in JET plasmas since the Deuterium-Tritium Experiment (DTE1) Campaign in 1997, and was the first use of tritium in experiments under the EFDA organisation with the UKAEA as JET Operator. The safety and regulatory preparations for the experiment were extensive. Since JET has been operated by the UKAEA the operations have followed the model of a licensed nuclear site. The safe operation of the JET torus is demonstrated in a safety case. Key Safety Management Requirement (KSMR) and Key Safety Relatedmore » Equipment (KSRE) are identified in the Safety Case for DT operation. The safe operation of the torus is within the bounds of, and under the control of, an Authority to Operate (ATO). New technical challenges were presented by the need to inject and account for small quantities of tritium in very short pulses ({approx}80ms), with an accurate time stamp. The safety and operational management of the campaign are described. Valuable lessons were learned which would help in running future experiments. It is concluded that JET is in a strong position to run future trace tritium and full DT discharges.« less

  18. Benchmark Evaluation of Fuel Effect and Material Worth Measurements for a Beryllium-Reflected Space Reactor Mockup

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

    Marshall, Margaret A.; Bess, John D.

    2015-02-01

    The critical configuration of the small, compact critical assembly (SCCA) experiments performed at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) in 1962-1965 have been evaluated as acceptable benchmark experiments for inclusion in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments. The initial intent of these experiments was to support the design of the Medium Power Reactor Experiment (MPRE) program, whose purpose was to study “power plants for the production of electrical power in space vehicles.” The third configuration in this series of experiments was a beryllium-reflected assembly of stainless-steel-clad, highly enriched uranium (HEU)-O 2 fuel mockup of a potassium-cooledmore » space power reactor. Reactivity measurements cadmium ratio spectral measurements and fission rate measurements were measured through the core and top reflector. Fuel effect worth measurements and neutron moderating and absorbing material worths were also measured in the assembly fuel region. The cadmium ratios, fission rate, and worth measurements were evaluated for inclusion in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments. The fuel tube effect and neutron moderating and absorbing material worth measurements are the focus of this paper. Additionally, a measurement of the worth of potassium filling the core region was performed but has not yet been evaluated Pellets of 93.15 wt.% enriched uranium dioxide (UO 2) were stacked in 30.48 cm tall stainless steel fuel tubes (0.3 cm tall end caps). Each fuel tube had 26 pellets with a total mass of 295.8 g UO 2 per tube. 253 tubes were arranged in 1.506-cm triangular lattice. An additional 7-tube cluster critical configuration was also measured but not used for any physics measurements. The core was surrounded on all side by a beryllium reflector. The fuel effect worths were measured by removing fuel tubes at various radius. An accident scenario was also simulated by

  19. Glovebox and Experiment Safety

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maas, Gerard

    2005-12-01

    Human spaceflight hardware and operations must comply with NSTS 1700.7. This paper discusses how a glovebox can help.A short layout is given on the process according NSTS/ISS 13830, explaining the responsibility of the payload organization, the approval authority of the PSRP and the defined review phases (0 till III).Amongst others, the following requirement has to be met:"200.1 Design to Tolerate Failures. Failure tolerance is the basic safety requirement that shall be used to control most payload hazards. The payload must tolerate a minimum number of credible failures and/or operator errors determined by the hazard level. This criterion applies when the loss of a function or the inadvertent occurrence of a function results in a hazardous event.200.1a Critical Hazards. Critical hazards shall be controlled such that no single failure or operator error can result in damage to STS/ISS equipment, a nondisabling personnel injury, or the use of unscheduled safing procedures that affect operations of the Orbiter/ISS or another payload.200.1b Catastrophic Hazards. Catastrophic hazards shall be controlled such that no combination of two failures or operator errors can result in the potential for a disabling or fatal personnel injury or loss of the Orbiter/ISS, ground facilities or STS/ISS equipment."For experiments in material science, biological science and life science that require real time operator manipulation, the above requirement may be hard or impossible to meet. Especially if the experiment contains substances that are considered hazardous when released into the habitable environment. In this case operation of the experiment in a glovebox can help to comply.A glovebox provides containment of the experiment and at the same time allows manipulation and visibility to the experiment.The containment inside the glovebox provides failure tolerance because the glovebox uses a negative pressure inside the working volume (WV). The level of failure tolerance is dependent of

  20. A comparison of five benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Huss, Janice E.; Pennline, James A.

    1987-01-01

    Five benchmark programs were obtained and run on the NASA Lewis CRAY X-MP/24. A comparison was made between the programs codes and between the methods for calculating performance figures. Several multitasking jobs were run to gain experience in how parallel performance is measured.

  1. Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Urban, David L.; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier; Toth, Balazs; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; T'ien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Cowlard, Adam J.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; hide

    2012-01-01

    Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant know how about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due to the complexity, cost and risk associated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal-gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame structure. As a result, the prediction of the behaviour of fires in reduced gravity is at present not validated. To address this gap in knowledge, a collaborative international project, Spacecraft Fire Safety, has been established with its cornerstone being the development of an experiment (Fire Safety 1) to be conducted on an ISS resupply vehicle, such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) or Orbital Cygnus after it leaves the ISS and before it enters the atmosphere. A computer modelling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the possibility of examining fire behaviour on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This unprecedented opportunity will expand the understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The experiment is being

  2. Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Urban, David; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; Tien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu; hide

    2012-01-01

    Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant knowhow about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due to the complexity, cost and risk associated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame structure. As a result, the prediction of the behaviour of fires in reduced gravity is at present not validated. To address this gap in knowledge, a collaborative international project, Spacecraft Fire Safety, has been established with its cornerstone being the development of an experiment (Fire Safety 1) to be conducted on an ISS resupply vehicle, such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) or Orbital Cygnus after it leaves the ISS and before it enters the atmosphere. A computer modelling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the possibility of examining fire behaviour on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This unprecedented opportunity will expand the understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The experiment is being

  3. Benchmarking Multilayer-HySEA model for landslide generated tsunami. HTHMP validation process.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Macias, J.; Escalante, C.; Castro, M. J.

    2017-12-01

    Landslide tsunami hazard may be dominant along significant parts of the coastline around the world, in particular in the USA, as compared to hazards from other tsunamigenic sources. This fact motivated NTHMP about the need of benchmarking models for landslide generated tsunamis, following the same methodology already used for standard tsunami models when the source is seismic. To perform the above-mentioned validation process, a set of candidate benchmarks were proposed. These benchmarks are based on a subset of available laboratory data sets for solid slide experiments and deformable slide experiments, and include both submarine and subaerial slides. A benchmark based on a historic field event (Valdez, AK, 1964) close the list of proposed benchmarks. A total of 7 benchmarks. The Multilayer-HySEA model including non-hydrostatic effects has been used to perform all the benchmarking problems dealing with laboratory experiments proposed in the workshop that was organized at Texas A&M University - Galveston, on January 9-11, 2017 by NTHMP. The aim of this presentation is to show some of the latest numerical results obtained with the Multilayer-HySEA (non-hydrostatic) model in the framework of this validation effort.Acknowledgements. This research has been partially supported by the Spanish Government Research project SIMURISK (MTM2015-70490-C02-01-R) and University of Malaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. The GPU computations were performed at the Unit of Numerical Methods (University of Malaga).

  4. Object-Oriented Implementation of the NAS Parallel Benchmarks using Charm++

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krishnan, Sanjeev; Bhandarkar, Milind; Kale, Laxmikant V.

    1996-01-01

    This report describes experiences with implementing the NAS Computational Fluid Dynamics benchmarks using a parallel object-oriented language, Charm++. Our main objective in implementing the NAS CFD kernel benchmarks was to develop a code that could be used to easily experiment with different domain decomposition strategies and dynamic load balancing. We also wished to leverage the object-orientation provided by the Charm++ parallel object-oriented language, to develop reusable abstractions that would simplify the process of developing parallel applications. We first describe the Charm++ parallel programming model and the parallel object array abstraction, then go into detail about each of the Scalar Pentadiagonal (SP) and Lower/Upper Triangular (LU) benchmarks, along with performance results. Finally we conclude with an evaluation of the methodology used.

  5. A quasi two-dimensional benchmark experiment for the solidification of a tin lead binary alloy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Xiao Dong; Petitpas, Patrick; Garnier, Christian; Paulin, Jean-Pierre; Fautrelle, Yves

    2007-05-01

    A horizontal solidification benchmark experiment with pure tin and a binary alloy of Sn-10 wt.%Pb is proposed. The experiment consists in solidifying a rectangular sample using two lateral heat exchangers which allow the application a controlled horizontal temperature difference. An array of fifty thermocouples placed on the lateral wall permits the determination of the instantaneous temperature distribution. The cases with the temperature gradient G=0, and the cooling rates equal to 0.02 and 0.04 K/s are studied. The time evolution of the interfacial total heat flux and the temperature field are recorded and analyzed. This allows us to evaluate heat transfer evolution due to natural convection, as well as its influence on the solidification macrostructure. To cite this article: X.D. Wang et al., C. R. Mecanique 335 (2007).

  6. Characterization of addressability by simultaneous randomized benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Gambetta, Jay M; Córcoles, A D; Merkel, S T; Johnson, B R; Smolin, John A; Chow, Jerry M; Ryan, Colm A; Rigetti, Chad; Poletto, S; Ohki, Thomas A; Ketchen, Mark B; Steffen, M

    2012-12-14

    The control and handling of errors arising from cross talk and unwanted interactions in multiqubit systems is an important issue in quantum information processing architectures. We introduce a benchmarking protocol that provides information about the amount of addressability present in the system and implement it on coupled superconducting qubits. The protocol consists of randomized benchmarking experiments run both individually and simultaneously on pairs of qubits. A relevant figure of merit for the addressability is then related to the differences in the measured average gate fidelities in the two experiments. We present results from two similar samples with differing cross talk and unwanted qubit-qubit interactions. The results agree with predictions based on simple models of the classical cross talk and Stark shifts.

  7. Benchmarking image fusion system design parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Howell, Christopher L.

    2013-06-01

    A clear and absolute method for discriminating between image fusion algorithm performances is presented. This method can effectively be used to assist in the design and modeling of image fusion systems. Specifically, it is postulated that quantifying human task performance using image fusion should be benchmarked to whether the fusion algorithm, at a minimum, retained the performance benefit achievable by each independent spectral band being fused. The established benchmark would then clearly represent the threshold that a fusion system should surpass to be considered beneficial to a particular task. A genetic algorithm is employed to characterize the fused system parameters using a Matlab® implementation of NVThermIP as the objective function. By setting the problem up as a mixed-integer constraint optimization problem, one can effectively look backwards through the image acquisition process: optimizing fused system parameters by minimizing the difference between modeled task difficulty measure and the benchmark task difficulty measure. The results of an identification perception experiment are presented, where human observers were asked to identify a standard set of military targets, and used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the benchmarking process.

  8. Benchmark Evaluation of Start-Up and Zero-Power Measurements at the High-Temperature Engineering Test Reactor

    DOE PAGES

    Bess, John D.; Fujimoto, Nozomu

    2014-10-09

    Benchmark models were developed to evaluate six cold-critical and two warm-critical, zero-power measurements of the HTTR. Additional measurements of a fully-loaded subcritical configuration, core excess reactivity, shutdown margins, six isothermal temperature coefficients, and axial reaction-rate distributions were also evaluated as acceptable benchmark experiments. Insufficient information is publicly available to develop finely-detailed models of the HTTR as much of the design information is still proprietary. However, the uncertainties in the benchmark models are judged to be of sufficient magnitude to encompass any biases and bias uncertainties incurred through the simplification process used to develop the benchmark models. Dominant uncertainties in themore » experimental keff for all core configurations come from uncertainties in the impurity content of the various graphite blocks that comprise the HTTR. Monte Carlo calculations of keff are between approximately 0.9 % and 2.7 % greater than the benchmark values. Reevaluation of the HTTR models as additional information becomes available could improve the quality of this benchmark and possibly reduce the computational biases. High-quality characterization of graphite impurities would significantly improve the quality of the HTTR benchmark assessment. Simulation of the other reactor physics measurements are in good agreement with the benchmark experiment values. The complete benchmark evaluation details are available in the 2014 edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments.« less

  9. Risk-based Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Apostolakis, G.; Catton, I.; Issacci, F.; Paulos, T.; Jones, S.; Paxton, K.; Paul, M.

    1992-01-01

    Viewgraphs on risk-based spacecraft fire safety experiments are presented. Spacecraft fire risk can never be reduced to a zero probability. Probabilistic risk assessment is a tool to reduce risk to an acceptable level.

  10. International land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Package v002.00

    DOE Data Explorer

    Collier, Nathaniel [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Mu, Mingquan [University of California, Irvine; Randerson, James T. [University of California, Irvine; Riley, William J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

    2016-05-09

    As a contribution to International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Project, we are providing new analysis approaches, benchmarking tools, and science leadership. The goal of ILAMB is to assess and improve the performance of land models through international cooperation and to inform the design of new measurement campaigns and field studies to reduce uncertainties associated with key biogeochemical processes and feedbacks. ILAMB is expected to be a primary analysis tool for CMIP6 and future model-data intercomparison experiments. This team has developed initial prototype benchmarking systems for ILAMB, which will be improved and extended to include ocean model metrics and diagnostics.

  11. International land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Package v001.00

    DOE Data Explorer

    Mu, Mingquan [University of California, Irvine; Randerson, James T. [University of California, Irvine; Riley, William J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    2016-05-02

    As a contribution to International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Project, we are providing new analysis approaches, benchmarking tools, and science leadership. The goal of ILAMB is to assess and improve the performance of land models through international cooperation and to inform the design of new measurement campaigns and field studies to reduce uncertainties associated with key biogeochemical processes and feedbacks. ILAMB is expected to be a primary analysis tool for CMIP6 and future model-data intercomparison experiments. This team has developed initial prototype benchmarking systems for ILAMB, which will be improved and extended to include ocean model metrics and diagnostics.

  12. The art and science of using routine outcome measurement in mental health benchmarking.

    PubMed

    McKay, Roderick; Coombs, Tim; Duerden, David

    2014-02-01

    To report and critique the application of routine outcome measurement data when benchmarking Australian mental health services. The experience of the authors as participants and facilitators of benchmarking activities is augmented by a review of the literature regarding mental health benchmarking in Australia. Although the published literature is limited, in practice, routine outcome measures, in particular the Health of the National Outcomes Scales (HoNOS) family of measures, are used in a variety of benchmarking activities. Use in exploring similarities and differences in consumers between services and the outcomes of care are illustrated. This requires the rigour of science in data management and interpretation, supplemented by the art that comes from clinical experience, a desire to reflect on clinical practice and the flexibility to use incomplete data to explore clinical practice. Routine outcome measurement data can be used in a variety of ways to support mental health benchmarking. With the increasing sophistication of information development in mental health, the opportunity to become involved in benchmarking will continue to increase. The techniques used during benchmarking and the insights gathered may prove useful to support reflection on practice by psychiatrists and other senior mental health clinicians.

  13. Statistical Analysis of NAS Parallel Benchmarks and LINPACK Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Meuer, Hans-Werner; Simon, Horst D.; Strohmeier, Erich; Lasinski, T. A. (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    In the last three years extensive performance data have been reported for parallel machines both based on the NAS Parallel Benchmarks, and on LINPACK. In this study we have used the reported benchmark results and performed a number of statistical experiments using factor, cluster, and regression analyses. In addition to the performance results of LINPACK and the eight NAS parallel benchmarks, we have also included peak performance of the machine, and the LINPACK n and n(sub 1/2) values. Some of the results and observations can be summarized as follows: 1) All benchmarks are strongly correlated with peak performance. 2) LINPACK and EP have each a unique signature. 3) The remaining NPB can grouped into three groups as follows: (CG and IS), (LU and SP), and (MG, FT, and BT). Hence three (or four with EP) benchmarks are sufficient to characterize the overall NPB performance. Our poster presentation will follow a standard poster format, and will present the data of our statistical analysis in detail.

  14. Combining Phase Identification and Statistic Modeling for Automated Parallel Benchmark Generation

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

    Jin, Ye; Ma, Xiaosong; Liu, Qing Gary

    2015-01-01

    Parallel application benchmarks are indispensable for evaluating/optimizing HPC software and hardware. However, it is very challenging and costly to obtain high-fidelity benchmarks reflecting the scale and complexity of state-of-the-art parallel applications. Hand-extracted synthetic benchmarks are time-and labor-intensive to create. Real applications themselves, while offering most accurate performance evaluation, are expensive to compile, port, reconfigure, and often plainly inaccessible due to security or ownership concerns. This work contributes APPRIME, a novel tool for trace-based automatic parallel benchmark generation. Taking as input standard communication-I/O traces of an application's execution, it couples accurate automatic phase identification with statistical regeneration of event parameters tomore » create compact, portable, and to some degree reconfigurable parallel application benchmarks. Experiments with four NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) and three real scientific simulation codes confirm the fidelity of APPRIME benchmarks. They retain the original applications' performance characteristics, in particular the relative performance across platforms.« less

  15. The NAS parallel benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bailey, David (Editor); Barton, John (Editor); Lasinski, Thomas (Editor); Simon, Horst (Editor)

    1993-01-01

    A new set of benchmarks was developed for the performance evaluation of highly parallel supercomputers. These benchmarks consist of a set of kernels, the 'Parallel Kernels,' and a simulated application benchmark. Together they mimic the computation and data movement characteristics of large scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. The principal distinguishing feature of these benchmarks is their 'pencil and paper' specification - all details of these benchmarks are specified only algorithmically. In this way many of the difficulties associated with conventional benchmarking approaches on highly parallel systems are avoided.

  16. Spacecraft fire-safety experiments for space station: Technology development mission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Youngblood, Wallace W.

    1988-01-01

    Three concept designs for low-gravity, fire-safety related experiments are presented, as selected for the purpose of addressing key issues of enhancing safety and yet encouraging access to long-duration, manned spacecraft such as the NASA space station. The selected low-gravity experiments are the following: (1) an investigation of the flame-spread rate and combustion-product evolution of the burning of typical thicknesses of spacecraft materials in very low-speed flows; (2) an evaluation of the interaction of fires and candidate extinguishers in various fire scenarios; and (3) an investigation of the persistence and propagation of smoldering and deep-seated combustion. Each experiment is expected to provide fundamental combustion-science data, as well as the fire-safety applications, and each requires the unique long-duration, low-gravity environment of the space station. Two generic test facilities, i.e., the Combustion Tunnel Facility and the Combustion Facility, are proposed for space station accommodation to support the selected experiments. In addition, three near-term, fire-safety related experiments are described along with other related precursor activities.

  17. Benchmarking and Performance Measurement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Town, J. Stephen

    This paper defines benchmarking and its relationship to quality management, describes a project which applied the technique in a library context, and explores the relationship between performance measurement and benchmarking. Numerous benchmarking methods contain similar elements: deciding what to benchmark; identifying partners; gathering…

  18. The NAS parallel benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bailey, D. H.; Barszcz, E.; Barton, J. T.; Carter, R. L.; Lasinski, T. A.; Browning, D. S.; Dagum, L.; Fatoohi, R. A.; Frederickson, P. O.; Schreiber, R. S.

    1991-01-01

    A new set of benchmarks has been developed for the performance evaluation of highly parallel supercomputers in the framework of the NASA Ames Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Program. These consist of five 'parallel kernel' benchmarks and three 'simulated application' benchmarks. Together they mimic the computation and data movement characteristics of large-scale computational fluid dynamics applications. The principal distinguishing feature of these benchmarks is their 'pencil and paper' specification-all details of these benchmarks are specified only algorithmically. In this way many of the difficulties associated with conventional benchmarking approaches on highly parallel systems are avoided.

  19. Parallelization of NAS Benchmarks for Shared Memory Multiprocessors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Waheed, Abdul; Yan, Jerry C.; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents our experiences of parallelizing the sequential implementation of NAS benchmarks using compiler directives on SGI Origin2000 distributed shared memory (DSM) system. Porting existing applications to new high performance parallel and distributed computing platforms is a challenging task. Ideally, a user develops a sequential version of the application, leaving the task of porting to new generations of high performance computing systems to parallelization tools and compilers. Due to the simplicity of programming shared-memory multiprocessors, compiler developers have provided various facilities to allow the users to exploit parallelism. Native compilers on SGI Origin2000 support multiprocessing directives to allow users to exploit loop-level parallelism in their programs. Additionally, supporting tools can accomplish this process automatically and present the results of parallelization to the users. We experimented with these compiler directives and supporting tools by parallelizing sequential implementation of NAS benchmarks. Results reported in this paper indicate that with minimal effort, the performance gain is comparable with the hand-parallelized, carefully optimized, message-passing implementations of the same benchmarks.

  20. Quality management benchmarking: FDA compliance in pharmaceutical industry.

    PubMed

    Jochem, Roland; Landgraf, Katja

    2010-01-01

    By analyzing and comparing industry and business best practice, processes can be optimized and become more successful mainly because efficiency and competitiveness increase. This paper aims to focus on some examples. Case studies are used to show knowledge exchange in the pharmaceutical industry. Best practice solutions were identified in two companies using a benchmarking method and five-stage model. Despite large administrations, there is much potential regarding business process organization. This project makes it possible for participants to fully understand their business processes. The benchmarking method gives an opportunity to critically analyze value chains (a string of companies or players working together to satisfy market demands for a special product). Knowledge exchange is interesting for companies that like to be global players. Benchmarking supports information exchange and improves competitive ability between different enterprises. Findings suggest that the five-stage model improves efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, the model increases the chances for reaching targets. The method gives security to partners that did not have benchmarking experience. The study identifies new quality management procedures. Process management and especially benchmarking is shown to support pharmaceutical industry improvements.

  1. Benchmarking in Czech Higher Education: The Case of Schools of Economics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Placek, Michal; Ochrana, František; Pucek, Milan

    2015-01-01

    This article describes the use of benchmarking in universities in the Czech Republic and academics' experiences with it. It is based on research conducted among academics from economics schools in Czech public and private universities. The results identified several issues regarding the utilisation and understanding of benchmarking in the Czech…

  2. Analysis of microgravity space experiments Space Shuttle programmatic safety requirements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Terlep, Judith A.

    1996-01-01

    This report documents the results of an analysis of microgravity space experiments space shuttle programmatic safety requirements and recommends the creation of a Safety Compliance Data Package (SCDP) Template for both flight and ground processes. These templates detail the programmatic requirements necessary to produce a complete SCDP. The templates were developed from various NASA centers' requirement documents, previously written guidelines on safety data packages, and from personal experiences. The templates are included in the back as part of this report.

  3. Criticality experiments and benchmarks for cross section evaluation: the neptunium case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leong, L. S.; Tassan-Got, L.; Audouin, L.; Paradela, C.; Wilson, J. N.; Tarrio, D.; Berthier, B.; Duran, I.; Le Naour, C.; Stéphan, C.

    2013-03-01

    The 237Np neutron-induced fission cross section has been recently measured in a large energy range (from eV to GeV) at the n_TOF facility at CERN. When compared to previous measurement the n_TOF fission cross section appears to be higher by 5-7% beyond the fission threshold. To check the relevance of n_TOF data, we apply a criticality experiment performed at Los Alamos with a 6 kg sphere of 237Np, surrounded by enriched uranium 235U so as to approach criticality with fast neutrons. The multiplication factor ke f f of the calculation is in better agreement with the experiment (the deviation of 750 pcm is reduced to 250 pcm) when we replace the ENDF/B-VII.0 evaluation of the 237Np fission cross section by the n_TOF data. We also explore the hypothesis of deficiencies of the inelastic cross section in 235U which has been invoked by some authors to explain the deviation of 750 pcm. With compare to inelastic large distortion calculation, it is incompatible with existing measurements. Also we show that the v of 237Np can hardly be incriminated because of the high accuracy of the existing data. Fission rate ratios or averaged fission cross sections measured in several fast neutron fields seem to give contradictory results on the validation of the 237Np cross section but at least one of the benchmark experiments, where the active deposits have been well calibrated for the number of atoms, favors the n_TOF data set. These outcomes support the hypothesis of a higher fission cross section of 237Np.

  4. Benchmarking of Heavy Ion Transport Codes

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

    Remec, Igor; Ronningen, Reginald M.; Heilbronn, Lawrence

    Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in designing and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondary neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models andmore » codes and additional benchmarking are required.« less

  5. Microgravity Experiments Safety and Integration Requirements Document Tree

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hogan, Jean M.

    1995-01-01

    This report is a document tree of the safety and integration documents required to develop a space experiment. Pertinent document information for each of the top level (tier one) safety and integration documents, and their applicable and reference (tier two) documents has been identified. This information includes: document title, revision level, configuration management, electronic availability, listed applicable and reference documents, source for obtaining the document, and document owner. One of the main conclusions of this report is that no single document tree exists for all safety and integration documents, regardless of the Shuttle carrier. This document also identifies the need for a single point of contact for customers wishing to access documents. The data in this report serves as a valuable information source for the NASA Lewis Research Center Project Documentation Center, as well as for all developers of space experiments.

  6. Development of Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ruff, Gary A.; Urban, David; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; T'ien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu; Cowlard, Adam J.; hide

    2013-01-01

    The status is presented of a spacecraft fire safety research project that is under development to reduce the uncertainty and risk in the design of spacecraft fire safety systems by testing at nearly full scale in low-gravity. Future crewed missions are expected to be more complex and longer in duration than previous exploration missions outside of low-earth orbit. This will increase the challenge of ensuring a fire-safe environment for the crew throughout the mission. Based on our fundamental uncertainty of the behavior of fires in low-gravity, the need for realistic scale testing at reduced gravity has been demonstrated. To address this gap in knowledge, a project has been established under the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Program under the Human Exploration and Operations Mission directorate with the goal of substantially advancing our understanding of the spacecraft fire safety risk. Associated with the project is an international topical team of fire experts from other space agencies who conduct research that is integrated into the overall experiment design. The experiments are under development to be conducted in an Orbital Science Corporation Cygnus vehicle after it has undocked from the ISS. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the atmosphere. A computer modeling effort will complement the experimental effort. The international topical team is collaborating with the NASA team in the definition of the experiment requirements and performing supporting analysis, experimentation and technology development. The status of the overall experiment and the associated international technology development efforts are summarized.

  7. Benchmarking atomic physics models for magnetically confined fusion plasma physics experiments

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

    May, M.J.; Finkenthal, M.; Soukhanovskii, V.

    In present magnetically confined fusion devices, high and intermediate {ital Z} impurities are either puffed into the plasma for divertor radiative cooling experiments or are sputtered from the high {ital Z} plasma facing armor. The beneficial cooling of the edge as well as the detrimental radiative losses from the core of these impurities can be properly understood only if the atomic physics used in the modeling of the cooling curves is very accurate. To this end, a comprehensive experimental and theoretical analysis of some relevant impurities is undertaken. Gases (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) are puffed and nongases are introducedmore » through laser ablation into the FTU tokamak plasma. The charge state distributions and total density of these impurities are determined from spatial scans of several photometrically calibrated vacuum ultraviolet and x-ray spectrographs (3{endash}1600 {Angstrom}), the multiple ionization state transport code transport code (MIST) and a collisional radiative model. The radiative power losses are measured with bolometery, and the emissivity profiles were measured by a visible bremsstrahlung array. The ionization balance, excitation physics, and the radiative cooling curves are computed from the Hebrew University Lawrence Livermore atomic code (HULLAC) and are benchmarked by these experiments. (Supported by U.S. DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-86ER53214 at JHU and Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48 at LLNL.) {copyright} {ital 1999 American Institute of Physics.}« less

  8. Benchmarking in emergency health systems.

    PubMed

    Kennedy, Marcus P; Allen, Jacqueline; Allen, Greg

    2002-12-01

    This paper discusses the role of benchmarking as a component of quality management. It describes the historical background of benchmarking, its competitive origin and the requirement in today's health environment for a more collaborative approach. The classical 'functional and generic' types of benchmarking are discussed with a suggestion to adopt a different terminology that describes the purpose and practicalities of benchmarking. Benchmarking is not without risks. The consequence of inappropriate focus and the need for a balanced overview of process is explored. The competition that is intrinsic to benchmarking is questioned and the negative impact it may have on improvement strategies in poorly performing organizations is recognized. The difficulty in achieving cross-organizational validity in benchmarking is emphasized, as is the need to scrutinize benchmarking measures. The cost effectiveness of benchmarking projects is questioned and the concept of 'best value, best practice' in an environment of fixed resources is examined.

  9. NASA Software Engineering Benchmarking Study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rarick, Heather L.; Godfrey, Sara H.; Kelly, John C.; Crumbley, Robert T.; Wifl, Joel M.

    2013-01-01

    To identify best practices for the improvement of software engineering on projects, NASA's Offices of Chief Engineer (OCE) and Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) formed a team led by Heather Rarick and Sally Godfrey to conduct this benchmarking study. The primary goals of the study are to identify best practices that: Improve the management and technical development of software intensive systems; Have a track record of successful deployment by aerospace industries, universities [including research and development (R&D) laboratories], and defense services, as well as NASA's own component Centers; and Identify candidate solutions for NASA's software issues. Beginning in the late fall of 2010, focus topics were chosen and interview questions were developed, based on the NASA top software challenges. Between February 2011 and November 2011, the Benchmark Team interviewed a total of 18 organizations, consisting of five NASA Centers, five industry organizations, four defense services organizations, and four university or university R and D laboratory organizations. A software assurance representative also participated in each of the interviews to focus on assurance and software safety best practices. Interviewees provided a wealth of information on each topic area that included: software policy, software acquisition, software assurance, testing, training, maintaining rigor in small projects, metrics, and use of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) framework, as well as a number of special topics that came up in the discussions. NASA's software engineering practices compared favorably with the external organizations in most benchmark areas, but in every topic, there were ways in which NASA could improve its practices. Compared to defense services organizations and some of the industry organizations, one of NASA's notable weaknesses involved communication with contractors regarding its policies and requirements for acquired software. One of NASA's strengths

  10. Benchmarking reference services: step by step.

    PubMed

    Buchanan, H S; Marshall, J G

    1996-01-01

    This article is a companion to an introductory article on benchmarking published in an earlier issue of Medical Reference Services Quarterly. Librarians interested in benchmarking often ask the following questions: How do I determine what to benchmark; how do I form a benchmarking team; how do I identify benchmarking partners; what's the best way to collect and analyze benchmarking information; and what will I do with the data? Careful planning is a critical success factor of any benchmarking project, and these questions must be answered before embarking on a benchmarking study. This article summarizes the steps necessary to conduct benchmarking research. Relevant examples of each benchmarking step are provided.

  11. Safe sleep, day and night: mothers' experiences regarding infant sleep safety.

    PubMed

    Lau, Annie; Hall, Wendy

    2016-10-01

    To explore Canadian mothers' experiences with infant sleep safety. Parents decide when, how and where to place their infants to sleep. It is anticipated that they will follow international Sudden Infant Death Syndrome prevention sleep safety guidelines. Limited evidence is available for how parents take up guidelines; no studies have explored Canadian mothers' experiences regarding infant sleep safety. An inductive qualitative descriptive study using some elements of grounded theory, including concurrent data collection and analysis and memoing. Semi-structured interviews and constant comparative analysis were employed to explore infant sleep safety experiences of 14 Canadian mothers residing in Metro Vancouver. Data collection commenced in December 2012 and ended in July 2013. The core theme, Infant Sleep Safety Cycle, represents a cyclical process encompassing sleep safety from the prenatal period to the first six months of infants' lives. The cyclical process includes five segments: mothers' expectations of sleep safety, their struggles with reality as opposed to maternal visions, modifications of expectations, provision of rationale for choices and shifts in mothers' views of infants' developmental capabilities. Mothers' experiences were influenced by four factors: perceptions of everyone's needs, familial influences, attitudes and judgments from outsiders and resource availability and accessibility. To manage infants' sleep, mothers reframed sleep safety guidelines and downplayed the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome for all forms of sleep at all times. Healthcare providers can support mothers' efforts to manage their infants' sleep challenges. During prenatal and postpartum periods, providers' interventions can influence mothers' efforts to adhere to sleep safety principles. The study findings support healthcare providers' efforts to assist mothers to modify expectations and develop strategies to support sleep safety principles while acknowledging their

  12. Revisiting Yasinsky and Henry`s benchmark using modern nodal codes

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

    Feltus, M.A.; Becker, M.W.

    1995-12-31

    The numerical experiments analyzed by Yasinsky and Henry are quite trivial by comparison with today`s standards because they used the finite difference code WIGLE for their benchmark. Also, this problem is a simple slab (one-dimensional) case with no feedback mechanisms. This research attempts to obtain STAR (Ref. 2) and NEM (Ref. 3) code results in order to produce a more modern kinetics benchmark with results comparable WIGLE.

  13. Issues in Benchmarking Human Reliability Analysis Methods: A Literature Review

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

    Ronald L. Boring; Stacey M. L. Hendrickson; John A. Forester

    There is a diversity of human reliability analysis (HRA) methods available for use in assessing human performance within probabilistic risk assessments (PRA). Due to the significant differences in the methods, including the scope, approach, and underlying models, there is a need for an empirical comparison investigating the validity and reliability of the methods. To accomplish this empirical comparison, a benchmarking study comparing and evaluating HRA methods in assessing operator performance in simulator experiments is currently underway. In order to account for as many effects as possible in the construction of this benchmarking study, a literature review was conducted, reviewing pastmore » benchmarking studies in the areas of psychology and risk assessment. A number of lessons learned through these studies are presented in order to aid in the design of future HRA benchmarking endeavors.« less

  14. Test One to Test Many: A Unified Approach to Quantum Benchmarks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Ge; Chiribella, Giulio

    2018-04-01

    Quantum benchmarks are routinely used to validate the experimental demonstration of quantum information protocols. Many relevant protocols, however, involve an infinite set of input states, of which only a finite subset can be used to test the quality of the implementation. This is a problem, because the benchmark for the finitely many states used in the test can be higher than the original benchmark calculated for infinitely many states. This situation arises in the teleportation and storage of coherent states, for which the benchmark of 50% fidelity is commonly used in experiments, although finite sets of coherent states normally lead to higher benchmarks. Here, we show that the average fidelity over all coherent states can be indirectly probed with a single setup, requiring only two-mode squeezing, a 50-50 beam splitter, and homodyne detection. Our setup enables a rigorous experimental validation of quantum teleportation, storage, amplification, attenuation, and purification of noisy coherent states. More generally, we prove that every quantum benchmark can be tested by preparing a single entangled state and measuring a single observable.

  15. The KMAT: Benchmarking Knowledge Management.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    de Jager, Martha

    Provides an overview of knowledge management and benchmarking, including the benefits and methods of benchmarking (e.g., competitive, cooperative, collaborative, and internal benchmarking). Arthur Andersen's KMAT (Knowledge Management Assessment Tool) is described. The KMAT is a collaborative benchmarking tool, designed to help organizations make…

  16. The Paucity Problem: Where Have All the Space Reactor Experiments Gone?

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

    Bess, John D.; Marshall, Margaret A.

    2016-10-01

    The Handbooks of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) together contain a plethora of documented and evaluated experiments essential in the validation of nuclear data, neutronics codes, and modeling of various nuclear systems. Unfortunately, only a minute selection of handbook data (twelve evaluations) are of actual experimental facilities and mockups designed specifically for space nuclear research. There is a paucity problem, such that the multitude of space nuclear experimental activities performed in the past several decades have yet to be recovered and made available in such detail that themore » international community could benefit from these valuable historical research efforts. Those experiments represent extensive investments in infrastructure, expertise, and cost, as well as constitute significantly valuable resources of data supporting past, present, and future research activities. The ICSBEP and IRPhEP were established to identify and verify comprehensive sets of benchmark data; evaluate the data, including quantification of biases and uncertainties; compile the data and calculations in a standardized format; and formally document the effort into a single source of verified benchmark data. See full abstract in attached document.« less

  17. Benchmarks for target tracking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dunham, Darin T.; West, Philip D.

    2011-09-01

    The term benchmark originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made, into which an angle-iron could be placed to bracket ("bench") a leveling rod, thus ensuring that the leveling rod can be repositioned in exactly the same place in the future. A benchmark in computer terms is the result of running a computer program, or a set of programs, in order to assess the relative performance of an object by running a number of standard tests and trials against it. This paper will discuss the history of simulation benchmarks that are being used by multiple branches of the military and agencies of the US government. These benchmarks range from missile defense applications to chemical biological situations. Typically, a benchmark is used with Monte Carlo runs in order to tease out how algorithms deal with variability and the range of possible inputs. We will also describe problems that can be solved by a benchmark.

  18. Safety vs. privacy: elderly persons' experiences of a mobile safety alarm.

    PubMed

    Melander-Wikman, Anita; Fältholm, Ylva; Gard, Gunvor

    2008-07-01

    The demographic development indicates an increased elderly population in Sweden in the future. One of the greatest challenges for a society with an ageing population is to provide high-quality health and social care. New information and communication technology and services can be used to further improve health care. To enable elderly persons to stay at home as long as possible, various kinds of technology, such as safety alarms, are used at home. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of elderly persons through testing a mobile safety alarm and their reasoning about safety, privacy and mobility. The mobile safety alarm tested was a prototype in development. Five elderly persons with functional limitations and four healthy elderly persons from a pensioner's organisation tested the alarm. The mobile alarm with a drop sensor and a positioning device was tested for 6 weeks. This intervention was evaluated with qualitative interviews, and analysed with latent content analysis. The result showed four main categories: feeling safe, being positioned and supervised, being mobile, and reflecting on new technology. From these categories, the overarching category 'Safety and mobility are more important than privacy' emerged. The mobile safety alarm was perceived to offer an increased opportunity for mobility in terms of being more active and as an aid for self-determination. The fact that the informants were located by means of the positioning device was not experienced as violating privacy as long as they could decide how to use the alarm. It was concluded that this mobile safety alarm was experienced as a tool to be active and mobile. As a way to keep self-determination and empowerment, the individual has to make a 'cost-benefit' analysis where privacy is sacrificed to the benefit of mobility and safety. The participants were actively contributing to the development process.

  19. Benchmarking and the laboratory

    PubMed Central

    Galloway, M; Nadin, L

    2001-01-01

    This article describes how benchmarking can be used to assess laboratory performance. Two benchmarking schemes are reviewed, the Clinical Benchmarking Company's Pathology Report and the College of American Pathologists' Q-Probes scheme. The Clinical Benchmarking Company's Pathology Report is undertaken by staff based in the clinical management unit, Keele University with appropriate input from the professional organisations within pathology. Five annual reports have now been completed. Each report is a detailed analysis of 10 areas of laboratory performance. In this review, particular attention is focused on the areas of quality, productivity, variation in clinical practice, skill mix, and working hours. The Q-Probes scheme is part of the College of American Pathologists programme in studies of quality assurance. The Q-Probes scheme and its applicability to pathology in the UK is illustrated by reviewing two recent Q-Probe studies: routine outpatient test turnaround time and outpatient test order accuracy. The Q-Probes scheme is somewhat limited by the small number of UK laboratories that have participated. In conclusion, as a result of the government's policy in the UK, benchmarking is here to stay. Benchmarking schemes described in this article are one way in which pathologists can demonstrate that they are providing a cost effective and high quality service. Key Words: benchmarking • pathology PMID:11477112

  20. Benchmarking Academic Libraries: An Australian Case Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robertson, Margaret; Trahn, Isabella

    1997-01-01

    Discusses experiences and outcomes of benchmarking at the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) library that compared acquisitions, cataloging, document delivery, and research support services with those of the University of New South Wales. Highlights include results as a catalyst for change, and the use of common output and performance…

  1. Benchmarking for Higher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, Norman, Ed.; Lund, Helen, Ed.

    The chapters in this collection explore the concept of benchmarking as it is being used and developed in higher education (HE). Case studies and reviews show how universities in the United Kingdom are using benchmarking to aid in self-regulation and self-improvement. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction to Benchmarking" (Norman Jackson…

  2. Overview of TPC Benchmark E: The Next Generation of OLTP Benchmarks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hogan, Trish

    Set to replace the aging TPC-C, the TPC Benchmark E is the next generation OLTP benchmark, which more accurately models client database usage. TPC-E addresses the shortcomings of TPC-C. It has a much more complex workload, requires the use of RAID-protected storage, generates much less I/O, and is much cheaper and easier to set up, run, and audit. After a period of overlap, it is expected that TPC-E will become the de facto OLTP benchmark.

  3. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire as a Tool for Benchmarking Safety Culture in the NICU

    PubMed Central

    Profit, Jochen; Etchegaray, Jason; Petersen, Laura A; Sexton, J Bryan; Hysong, Sylvia J; Mei, Minghua; Thomas, Eric J

    2014-01-01

    background NICU safety culture, as measured by the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), varies widely. Associations with clinical outcomes in the adult ICU setting make the SAQ an attractive tool for comparing clinical performance between hospitals. Little information is available on the use of the SAQ for this purpose in the NICU setting. objectives To determine whether the dimensions of safety culture measured by the SAQ give consistent results when used as a NICU performance measure. methods Cross-sectional survey of caregivers in twelve NICUs, using the six scales of the SAQ: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, perceptions of management, and working conditions. NICUs were ranked by quantifying their contribution to overall risk-adjusted variation across the scales. Spearman Rank Correlation coefficients were used to test for consistency in scale performance. We then examined whether performance in the top four NICUs in one scale predicted top four performance in others. results There were 547 respondents in twelve NICUs. Of fifteen NICU-level correlations in performance ranking, two were greater than 0.7, seven were between 0.4 and 0.69, the six remaining were less than 0.4. We found a trend towards significance in comparing the distribution of performance in the top four NICUs across domains with a binomial distribution p = .051, indicating generally consistent performance across dimensions of safety culture. conclusion A culture of safety permeates many aspects of patient care and organizational functioning. The SAQ may be a useful tool for comparative performance assessments among NICUs. PMID:22337935

  4. The Schultz MIDI Benchmarking Toolbox for MIDI interfaces, percussion pads, and sound cards.

    PubMed

    Schultz, Benjamin G

    2018-04-17

    The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) was readily adopted for auditory sensorimotor synchronization experiments. These experiments typically use MIDI percussion pads to collect responses, a MIDI-USB converter (or MIDI-PCI interface) to record responses on a PC and manipulate feedback, and an external MIDI sound module to generate auditory feedback. Previous studies have suggested that auditory feedback latencies can be introduced by these devices. The Schultz MIDI Benchmarking Toolbox (SMIDIBT) is an open-source, Arduino-based package designed to measure the point-to-point latencies incurred by several devices used in the generation of response-triggered auditory feedback. Experiment 1 showed that MIDI messages are sent and received within 1 ms (on average) in the absence of any external MIDI device. Latencies decreased when the baud rate increased above the MIDI protocol default (31,250 bps). Experiment 2 benchmarked the latencies introduced by different MIDI-USB and MIDI-PCI interfaces. MIDI-PCI was superior to MIDI-USB, primarily because MIDI-USB is subject to USB polling. Experiment 3 tested three MIDI percussion pads. Both the audio and MIDI message latencies were significantly greater than 1 ms for all devices, and there were significant differences between percussion pads and instrument patches. Experiment 4 benchmarked four MIDI sound modules. Audio latencies were significantly greater than 1 ms, and there were significant differences between sound modules and instrument patches. These experiments suggest that millisecond accuracy might not be achievable with MIDI devices. The SMIDIBT can be used to benchmark a range of MIDI devices, thus allowing researchers to make informed decisions when choosing testing materials and to arrive at an acceptable latency at their discretion.

  5. Benchmarking reference services: an introduction.

    PubMed

    Marshall, J G; Buchanan, H S

    1995-01-01

    Benchmarking is based on the common sense idea that someone else, either inside or outside of libraries, has found a better way of doing certain things and that your own library's performance can be improved by finding out how others do things and adopting the best practices you find. Benchmarking is one of the tools used for achieving continuous improvement in Total Quality Management (TQM) programs. Although benchmarking can be done on an informal basis, TQM puts considerable emphasis on formal data collection and performance measurement. Used to its full potential, benchmarking can provide a common measuring stick to evaluate process performance. This article introduces the general concept of benchmarking, linking it whenever possible to reference services in health sciences libraries. Data collection instruments that have potential application in benchmarking studies are discussed and the need to develop common measurement tools to facilitate benchmarking is emphasized.

  6. Resonance Parameter Adjustment Based on Integral Experiments

    DOE PAGES

    Sobes, Vladimir; Leal, Luiz; Arbanas, Goran; ...

    2016-06-02

    Our project seeks to allow coupling of differential and integral data evaluation in a continuous-energy framework and to use the generalized linear least-squares (GLLS) methodology in the TSURFER module of the SCALE code package to update the parameters of a resolved resonance region evaluation. We recognize that the GLLS methodology in TSURFER is identical to the mathematical description of a Bayesian update in SAMMY, the SAMINT code was created to use the mathematical machinery of SAMMY to update resolved resonance parameters based on integral data. Traditionally, SAMMY used differential experimental data to adjust nuclear data parameters. Integral experimental data, suchmore » as in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments Project, remain a tool for validation of completed nuclear data evaluations. SAMINT extracts information from integral benchmarks to aid the nuclear data evaluation process. Later, integral data can be used to resolve any remaining ambiguity between differential data sets, highlight troublesome energy regions, determine key nuclear data parameters for integral benchmark calculations, and improve the nuclear data covariance matrix evaluation. Moreover, SAMINT is not intended to bias nuclear data toward specific integral experiments but should be used to supplement the evaluation of differential experimental data. Using GLLS ensures proper weight is given to the differential data.« less

  7. Benchmarking: A Method for Continuous Quality Improvement in Health

    PubMed Central

    Ettorchi-Tardy, Amina; Levif, Marie; Michel, Philippe

    2012-01-01

    Benchmarking, a management approach for implementing best practices at best cost, is a recent concept in the healthcare system. The objectives of this paper are to better understand the concept and its evolution in the healthcare sector, to propose an operational definition, and to describe some French and international experiences of benchmarking in the healthcare sector. To this end, we reviewed the literature on this approach's emergence in the industrial sector, its evolution, its fields of application and examples of how it has been used in the healthcare sector. Benchmarking is often thought to consist simply of comparing indicators and is not perceived in its entirety, that is, as a tool based on voluntary and active collaboration among several organizations to create a spirit of competition and to apply best practices. The key feature of benchmarking is its integration within a comprehensive and participatory policy of continuous quality improvement (CQI). Conditions for successful benchmarking focus essentially on careful preparation of the process, monitoring of the relevant indicators, staff involvement and inter-organizational visits. Compared to methods previously implemented in France (CQI and collaborative projects), benchmarking has specific features that set it apart as a healthcare innovation. This is especially true for healthcare or medical–social organizations, as the principle of inter-organizational visiting is not part of their culture. Thus, this approach will need to be assessed for feasibility and acceptability before it is more widely promoted. PMID:23634166

  8. Benchmarking: a method for continuous quality improvement in health.

    PubMed

    Ettorchi-Tardy, Amina; Levif, Marie; Michel, Philippe

    2012-05-01

    Benchmarking, a management approach for implementing best practices at best cost, is a recent concept in the healthcare system. The objectives of this paper are to better understand the concept and its evolution in the healthcare sector, to propose an operational definition, and to describe some French and international experiences of benchmarking in the healthcare sector. To this end, we reviewed the literature on this approach's emergence in the industrial sector, its evolution, its fields of application and examples of how it has been used in the healthcare sector. Benchmarking is often thought to consist simply of comparing indicators and is not perceived in its entirety, that is, as a tool based on voluntary and active collaboration among several organizations to create a spirit of competition and to apply best practices. The key feature of benchmarking is its integration within a comprehensive and participatory policy of continuous quality improvement (CQI). Conditions for successful benchmarking focus essentially on careful preparation of the process, monitoring of the relevant indicators, staff involvement and inter-organizational visits. Compared to methods previously implemented in France (CQI and collaborative projects), benchmarking has specific features that set it apart as a healthcare innovation. This is especially true for healthcare or medical-social organizations, as the principle of inter-organizational visiting is not part of their culture. Thus, this approach will need to be assessed for feasibility and acceptability before it is more widely promoted.

  9. Experimental power density distribution benchmark in the TRIGA Mark II reactor

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

    Snoj, L.; Stancar, Z.; Radulovic, V.

    2012-07-01

    In order to improve the power calibration process and to benchmark the existing computational model of the TRIGA Mark II reactor at the Josef Stefan Inst. (JSI), a bilateral project was started as part of the agreement between the French Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA) and the Ministry of higher education, science and technology of Slovenia. One of the objectives of the project was to analyze and improve the power calibration process of the JSI TRIGA reactor (procedural improvement and uncertainty reduction) by using absolutely calibrated CEA fission chambers (FCs). This is one of the fewmore » available power density distribution benchmarks for testing not only the fission rate distribution but also the absolute values of the fission rates. Our preliminary calculations indicate that the total experimental uncertainty of the measured reaction rate is sufficiently low that the experiments could be considered as benchmark experiments. (authors)« less

  10. University Safety Culture: A Work-in-Progress?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lyons, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Safety management systems in Australian higher education organisations are under-researched. Limited workplace safety information can be found in the various reports on university human resources benchmarking programs, and typically they show only descriptive statistics. With the commencement of new consultation-focused regulations applying to…

  11. Toxicological Benchmarks for Screening Potential Contaminants of Concern for Effects on Terrestrial Plants

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

    Suter, G.W. II

    1993-01-01

    One of the initial stages in ecological risk assessment for hazardous waste sites is screening contaminants to determine which of them are worthy of further consideration as contaminants of potential concern. This process is termed contaminant screening. It is performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals to benchmark concentrations. Currently, no standard benchmark concentrations exist for assessing contaminants in soil with respect to their toxicity to plants. This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for this purpose (phytotoxicity benchmarks), a set of data concerning effects of chemicals in soil or soil solution on plants, and a setmore » of phytotoxicity benchmarks for 38 chemicals potentially associated with United States Department of Energy (DOE) sites. In addition, background information on the phytotoxicity and occurrence of the chemicals in soils is presented, and literature describing the experiments from which data were drawn for benchmark derivation is reviewed. Chemicals that are found in soil at concentrations exceeding both the phytotoxicity benchmark and the background concentration for the soil type should be considered contaminants of potential concern.« less

  12. Benchmarking in Academic Pharmacy Departments

    PubMed Central

    Chisholm-Burns, Marie; Nappi, Jean; Gubbins, Paul O.; Ross, Leigh Ann

    2010-01-01

    Benchmarking in academic pharmacy, and recommendations for the potential uses of benchmarking in academic pharmacy departments are discussed in this paper. Benchmarking is the process by which practices, procedures, and performance metrics are compared to an established standard or best practice. Many businesses and industries use benchmarking to compare processes and outcomes, and ultimately plan for improvement. Institutions of higher learning have embraced benchmarking practices to facilitate measuring the quality of their educational and research programs. Benchmarking is used internally as well to justify the allocation of institutional resources or to mediate among competing demands for additional program staff or space. Surveying all chairs of academic pharmacy departments to explore benchmarking issues such as department size and composition, as well as faculty teaching, scholarly, and service productivity, could provide valuable information. To date, attempts to gather this data have had limited success. We believe this information is potentially important, urge that efforts to gather it should be continued, and offer suggestions to achieve full participation. PMID:21179251

  13. Benchmarking in academic pharmacy departments.

    PubMed

    Bosso, John A; Chisholm-Burns, Marie; Nappi, Jean; Gubbins, Paul O; Ross, Leigh Ann

    2010-10-11

    Benchmarking in academic pharmacy, and recommendations for the potential uses of benchmarking in academic pharmacy departments are discussed in this paper. Benchmarking is the process by which practices, procedures, and performance metrics are compared to an established standard or best practice. Many businesses and industries use benchmarking to compare processes and outcomes, and ultimately plan for improvement. Institutions of higher learning have embraced benchmarking practices to facilitate measuring the quality of their educational and research programs. Benchmarking is used internally as well to justify the allocation of institutional resources or to mediate among competing demands for additional program staff or space. Surveying all chairs of academic pharmacy departments to explore benchmarking issues such as department size and composition, as well as faculty teaching, scholarly, and service productivity, could provide valuable information. To date, attempts to gather this data have had limited success. We believe this information is potentially important, urge that efforts to gather it should be continued, and offer suggestions to achieve full participation.

  14. Performance of Landslide-HySEA tsunami model for NTHMP benchmarking validation process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Macias, Jorge

    2017-04-01

    In its FY2009 Strategic Plan, the NTHMP required that all numerical tsunami inundation models be verified as accurate and consistent through a model benchmarking process. This was completed in 2011, but only for seismic tsunami sources and in a limited manner for idealized solid underwater landslides. Recent work by various NTHMP states, however, has shown that landslide tsunami hazard may be dominant along significant parts of the US coastline, as compared to hazards from other tsunamigenic sources. To perform the above-mentioned validation process, a set of candidate benchmarks were proposed. These benchmarks are based on a subset of available laboratory date sets for solid slide experiments and deformable slide experiments, and include both submarine and subaerial slides. A benchmark based on a historic field event (Valdez, AK, 1964) close the list of proposed benchmarks. The Landslide-HySEA model has participated in the workshop that was organized at Texas A&M University - Galveston, on January 9-11, 2017. The aim of this presentation is to show some of the numerical results obtained for Landslide-HySEA in the framework of this benchmarking validation/verification effort. Acknowledgements. This research has been partially supported by the Junta de Andalucía research project TESELA (P11-RNM7069), the Spanish Government Research project SIMURISK (MTM2015-70490-C02-01-R) and Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. The GPU computations were performed at the Unit of Numerical Methods (University of Malaga).

  15. Benchmark Evaluation of the HTR-PROTEUS Absorber Rod Worths (Core 4)

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

    John D. Bess; Leland M. Montierth

    2014-06-01

    PROTEUS was a zero-power research reactor at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. The critical assembly was constructed from a large graphite annulus surrounding a central cylindrical cavity. Various experimental programs were investigated in PROTEUS; during the years 1992 through 1996, it was configured as a pebble-bed reactor and designated HTR-PROTEUS. Various critical configurations were assembled with each accompanied by an assortment of reactor physics experiments including differential and integral absorber rod measurements, kinetics, reaction rate distributions, water ingress effects, and small sample reactivity effects [1]. Four benchmark reports were previously prepared and included in the March 2013 editionmore » of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook) [2] evaluating eleven critical configurations. A summary of that effort was previously provided [3] and an analysis of absorber rod worth measurements for Cores 9 and 10 have been performed prior to this analysis and included in PROTEUS-GCR-EXP-004 [4]. In the current benchmark effort, absorber rod worths measured for Core Configuration 4, which was the only core with a randomly-packed pebble loading, have been evaluated for inclusion as a revision to the HTR-PROTEUS benchmark report PROTEUS-GCR-EXP-002.« less

  16. Nonparametric estimation of benchmark doses in environmental risk assessment

    PubMed Central

    Piegorsch, Walter W.; Xiong, Hui; Bhattacharya, Rabi N.; Lin, Lizhen

    2013-01-01

    Summary An important statistical objective in environmental risk analysis is estimation of minimum exposure levels, called benchmark doses (BMDs), that induce a pre-specified benchmark response in a dose-response experiment. In such settings, representations of the risk are traditionally based on a parametric dose-response model. It is a well-known concern, however, that if the chosen parametric form is misspecified, inaccurate and possibly unsafe low-dose inferences can result. We apply a nonparametric approach for calculating benchmark doses, based on an isotonic regression method for dose-response estimation with quantal-response data (Bhattacharya and Kong, 2007). We determine the large-sample properties of the estimator, develop bootstrap-based confidence limits on the BMDs, and explore the confidence limits’ small-sample properties via a short simulation study. An example from cancer risk assessment illustrates the calculations. PMID:23914133

  17. Results Oriented Benchmarking: The Evolution of Benchmarking at NASA from Competitive Comparisons to World Class Space Partnerships

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bell, Michael A.

    1999-01-01

    Informal benchmarking using personal or professional networks has taken place for many years at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognized early on, the need to formalize the benchmarking process for better utilization of resources and improved benchmarking performance. The need to compete in a faster, better, cheaper environment has been the catalyst for formalizing these efforts. A pioneering benchmarking consortium was chartered at KSC in January 1994. The consortium known as the Kennedy Benchmarking Clearinghouse (KBC), is a collaborative effort of NASA and all major KSC contractors. The charter of this consortium is to facilitate effective benchmarking, and leverage the resulting quality improvements across KSC. The KBC acts as a resource with experienced facilitators and a proven process. One of the initial actions of the KBC was to develop a holistic methodology for Center-wide benchmarking. This approach to Benchmarking integrates the best features of proven benchmarking models (i.e., Camp, Spendolini, Watson, and Balm). This cost-effective alternative to conventional Benchmarking approaches has provided a foundation for consistent benchmarking at KSC through the development of common terminology, tools, and techniques. Through these efforts a foundation and infrastructure has been built which allows short duration benchmarking studies yielding results gleaned from world class partners that can be readily implemented. The KBC has been recognized with the Silver Medal Award (in the applied research category) from the International Benchmarking Clearinghouse.

  18. FireHose Streaming Benchmarks

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

    Karl Anderson, Steve Plimpton

    2015-01-27

    The FireHose Streaming Benchmarks are a suite of stream-processing benchmarks defined to enable comparison of streaming software and hardware, both quantitatively vis-a-vis the rate at which they can process data, and qualitatively by judging the effort involved to implement and run the benchmarks. Each benchmark has two parts. The first is a generator which produces and outputs datums at a high rate in a specific format. The second is an analytic which reads the stream of datums and is required to perform a well-defined calculation on the collection of datums, typically to find anomalous datums that have been created inmore » the stream by the generator. The FireHose suite provides code for the generators, sample code for the analytics (which users are free to re-implement in their own custom frameworks), and a precise definition of each benchmark calculation.« less

  19. Evaluating Productivity Predictions Under Elevated CO2 Conditions: Multi-Model Benchmarking Across FACE Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowdery, E.; Dietze, M.

    2016-12-01

    As atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, it is critical that terrestrial ecosystem models can accurately predict ecological responses to the changing environment. Current predictions of net primary productivity (NPP) in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration are highly variable and contain a considerable amount of uncertainty.The Predictive Ecosystem Analyzer (PEcAn) is an informatics toolbox that wraps around an ecosystem model and can be used to help identify which factors drive uncertainty. We tested a suite of models (LPJ-GUESS, MAESPA, GDAY, CLM5, DALEC, ED2), which represent a range from low to high structural complexity, across a range of Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments: the Kennedy Space Center Open Top Chamber Experiment, the Rhinelander FACE experiment, the Duke Forest FACE experiment and the Oak Ridge Experiment on CO2 Enrichment. These tests were implemented in a novel benchmarking workflow that is automated, repeatable, and generalized to incorporate different sites and ecological models. Observational data from the FACE experiments represent a first test of this flexible, extensible approach aimed at providing repeatable tests of model process representation.To identify and evaluate the assumptions causing inter-model differences we used PEcAn to perform model sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, not only to assess the components of NPP, but also to examine system processes such nutrient uptake and and water use. Combining the observed patterns of uncertainty between multiple models with results of the recent FACE-model data synthesis project (FACE-MDS) can help identify which processes need further study and additional data constraints. These findings can be used to inform future experimental design and in turn can provide informative starting point for data assimilation.

  20. Advanced missions safety. Volume 3: Appendices. Part 2: Experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hinton, M. G., Jr.

    1972-01-01

    Supporting documentation pertaining to the hazards of transporting experimental equipment on the Earth Orbit Shuttle is presented. The subjects discussed are: (1) experiment and hardware definition, (2) hazard analysis, (3) preventive measure assessment, (4) preventive measures statements, (5) remedial measure assessment, and (6) experiment interaction safety considerations.

  1. Flooding Experiments and Modeling for Improved Reactor Safety

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

    Solmos, M.; Hogan, K. J.; Vierow, K.

    2008-09-14

    Countercurrent two-phase flow and “flooding” phenomena in light water reactor systems are being investigated experimentally and analytically to improve reactor safety of current and future reactors. The aspects that will be better clarified are the effects of condensation and tube inclination on flooding in large diameter tubes. The current project aims to improve the level of understanding of flooding mechanisms and to develop an analysis model for more accurate evaluations of flooding in the pressurizer surge line of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Interest in flooding has recently increased because Countercurrent Flow Limitation (CCFL) in the AP600 pressurizer surge linemore » can affect the vessel refill rate following a small break LOCA and because analysis of hypothetical severe accidents with the current flooding models in reactor safety codes shows that these models represent the largest uncertainty in analysis of steam generator tube creep rupture. During a hypothetical station blackout without auxiliary feedwater recovery, should the hot leg become voided, the pressurizer liquid will drain to the hot leg and flooding may occur in the surge line. The flooding model heavily influences the pressurizer emptying rate and the potential for surge line structural failure due to overheating and creep rupture. The air-water test results in vertical tubes are presented in this paper along with a semi-empirical correlation for the onset of flooding. The unique aspects of the study include careful experimentation on large-diameter tubes and an integrated program in which air-water testing provides benchmark knowledge and visualization data from which to conduct steam-water testing.« less

  2. 2015/2016 Quality Risk Management Benchmarking Survey.

    PubMed

    Waldron, Kelly; Ramnarine, Emma; Hartman, Jeffrey

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates the concept of quality risk management (QRM) maturity as it applies to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, using the results and analysis from a QRM benchmarking survey conducted in 2015 and 2016. QRM maturity can be defined as the effectiveness and efficiency of a quality risk management program, moving beyond "check-the-box" compliance with guidelines such as ICH Q9 Quality Risk Management , to explore the value QRM brings to business and quality operations. While significant progress has been made towards full adoption of QRM principles and practices across industry, the full benefits of QRM have not yet been fully realized. The results of the QRM Benchmarking Survey indicate that the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries are approximately halfway along the journey towards full QRM maturity. LAY ABSTRACT: The management of risks associated with medicinal product quality and patient safety are an important focus for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. These risks are identified, analyzed, and controlled through a defined process called quality risk management (QRM), which seeks to protect the patient from potential quality-related risks. This paper summarizes the outcomes of a comprehensive survey of industry practitioners performed in 2015 and 2016 that aimed to benchmark the level of maturity with regard to the application of QRM. The survey results and subsequent analysis revealed that the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries have made significant progress in the management of quality risks over the last ten years, and they are roughly halfway towards reaching full maturity of QRM. © PDA, Inc. 2017.

  3. Transforming primary care in the New Orleans safety-net: the patient experience.

    PubMed

    Schmidt, Laura A; Rittenhouse, Diane R; Wu, Kevin J; Wiley, James A

    2013-02-01

    The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a key service delivery innovation in health reform. However, there are growing questions about whether the changes in clinics promoted by the PCMH model lead to improvements in the patient experience. To test the hypothesis that PCMH improvements in safety-net primary care clinics are associated with a more positive patient experience. Multilevel cross-sectional analysis of patients nested within the primary care clinics that serve them. Primary care clinic leaders and patients throughout the City of New Orleans health care safety-net. Dependent variables included patient ratings of accessibility, coordination, and confidence in the quality/safety of care. The key independent variable was a score measuring PCMH structural and process improvements at the clinic level. Approximately two thirds of patients in New Orleans gave positive ratings to their clinics on access and quality/safety, but only one third did for care coordination. In all but the largest clinics, patient experiences of care coordination were positively associated with the clinic's use of PCMH structural and process changes. Results for patient ratings of access and quality/safety were mixed. Among primary care clinics in the New Orleans safety-net, use of more PCMH improvements at the clinic level led to more positive patient rating of care coordination, but not of accessibility or confidence in quality/safety. Ongoing efforts to pilot, demonstrate, implement, and evaluate the PCMH should consider how the impact of medical practice transformation could vary across different aspects of the patient experience.

  4. Benchmarking Using Basic DBMS Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crolotte, Alain; Ghazal, Ahmad

    The TPC-H benchmark proved to be successful in the decision support area. Many commercial database vendors and their related hardware vendors used these benchmarks to show the superiority and competitive edge of their products. However, over time, the TPC-H became less representative of industry trends as vendors keep tuning their database to this benchmark-specific workload. In this paper, we present XMarq, a simple benchmark framework that can be used to compare various software/hardware combinations. Our benchmark model is currently composed of 25 queries that measure the performance of basic operations such as scans, aggregations, joins and index access. This benchmark model is based on the TPC-H data model due to its maturity and well-understood data generation capability. We also propose metrics to evaluate single-system performance and compare two systems. Finally we illustrate the effectiveness of this model by showing experimental results comparing two systems under different conditions.

  5. Benchmarking Tool Kit.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Canadian Health Libraries Association.

    Nine Canadian health libraries participated in a pilot test of the Benchmarking Tool Kit between January and April, 1998. Although the Tool Kit was designed specifically for health libraries, the content and approach are useful to other types of libraries as well. Used to its full potential, benchmarking can provide a common measuring stick to…

  6. Benchmarking of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis practice with ENT.UK guidelines.

    PubMed

    Al-Qahtani, Ali S

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to benchmark our guidelines of prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ENT surgical population against ENT.UK guidelines, and also to encourage healthcare providers to utilize benchmarking as an effective method of improving performance. The study design is prospective descriptive analysis. The setting of this study is tertiary referral centre (Assir Central Hospital, Abha, Saudi Arabia). In this study, we are benchmarking our practice guidelines of the prevention of VTE in the ENT surgical population against that of ENT.UK guidelines to mitigate any gaps. ENT guidelines 2010 were downloaded from the ENT.UK Website. Our guidelines were compared with the possibilities that either our performance meets or fall short of ENT.UK guidelines. Immediate corrective actions will take place if there is quality chasm between the two guidelines. ENT.UK guidelines are evidence-based and updated which may serve as role-model for adoption and benchmarking. Our guidelines were accordingly amended to contain all factors required in providing a quality service to ENT surgical patients. While not given appropriate attention, benchmarking is a useful tool in improving quality of health care. It allows learning from others' practices and experiences, and works towards closing any quality gaps. In addition, benchmarking clinical outcomes is critical for quality improvement and informing decisions concerning service provision. It is recommended to be included on the list of quality improvement methods of healthcare services.

  7. Validating the performance of correlated fission multiplicity implementation in radiation transport codes with subcritical neutron multiplication benchmark experiments

    DOE PAGES

    Arthur, Jennifer; Bahran, Rian; Hutchinson, Jesson; ...

    2018-06-14

    Historically, radiation transport codes have uncorrelated fission emissions. In reality, the particles emitted by both spontaneous and induced fissions are correlated in time, energy, angle, and multiplicity. This work validates the performance of various current Monte Carlo codes that take into account the underlying correlated physics of fission neutrons, specifically neutron multiplicity distributions. The performance of 4 Monte Carlo codes - MCNP®6.2, MCNP®6.2/FREYA, MCNP®6.2/CGMF, and PoliMi - was assessed using neutron multiplicity benchmark experiments. In addition, MCNP®6.2 simulations were run using JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0, rather than ENDF/B-VII.1, data for 239Pu and 240Pu. The sensitive benchmark parameters that in this workmore » represent the performance of each correlated fission multiplicity Monte Carlo code include the singles rate, the doubles rate, leakage multiplication, and Feynman histograms. Although it is difficult to determine which radiation transport code shows the best overall performance in simulating subcritical neutron multiplication inference benchmark measurements, it is clear that correlations exist between the underlying nuclear data utilized by (or generated by) the various codes, and the correlated neutron observables of interest. This could prove useful in nuclear data validation and evaluation applications, in which a particular moment of the neutron multiplicity distribution is of more interest than the other moments. It is also quite clear that, because transport is handled by MCNP®6.2 in 3 of the 4 codes, with the 4th code (PoliMi) being based on an older version of MCNP®, the differences in correlated neutron observables of interest are most likely due to the treatment of fission event generation in each of the different codes, as opposed to the radiation transport.« less

  8. Validating the performance of correlated fission multiplicity implementation in radiation transport codes with subcritical neutron multiplication benchmark experiments

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

    Arthur, Jennifer; Bahran, Rian; Hutchinson, Jesson

    Historically, radiation transport codes have uncorrelated fission emissions. In reality, the particles emitted by both spontaneous and induced fissions are correlated in time, energy, angle, and multiplicity. This work validates the performance of various current Monte Carlo codes that take into account the underlying correlated physics of fission neutrons, specifically neutron multiplicity distributions. The performance of 4 Monte Carlo codes - MCNP®6.2, MCNP®6.2/FREYA, MCNP®6.2/CGMF, and PoliMi - was assessed using neutron multiplicity benchmark experiments. In addition, MCNP®6.2 simulations were run using JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0, rather than ENDF/B-VII.1, data for 239Pu and 240Pu. The sensitive benchmark parameters that in this workmore » represent the performance of each correlated fission multiplicity Monte Carlo code include the singles rate, the doubles rate, leakage multiplication, and Feynman histograms. Although it is difficult to determine which radiation transport code shows the best overall performance in simulating subcritical neutron multiplication inference benchmark measurements, it is clear that correlations exist between the underlying nuclear data utilized by (or generated by) the various codes, and the correlated neutron observables of interest. This could prove useful in nuclear data validation and evaluation applications, in which a particular moment of the neutron multiplicity distribution is of more interest than the other moments. It is also quite clear that, because transport is handled by MCNP®6.2 in 3 of the 4 codes, with the 4th code (PoliMi) being based on an older version of MCNP®, the differences in correlated neutron observables of interest are most likely due to the treatment of fission event generation in each of the different codes, as opposed to the radiation transport.« less

  9. Use of benchmarking and public reporting for infection control in four high-income countries.

    PubMed

    Haustein, Thomas; Gastmeier, Petra; Holmes, Alison; Lucet, Jean-Christophe; Shannon, Richard P; Pittet, Didier; Harbarth, Stephan

    2011-06-01

    Benchmarking of surveillance data for health-care-associated infection (HCAI) has been used for more than three decades to inform prevention strategies and improve patients' safety. In recent years, public reporting of HCAI indicators has been mandated in several countries because of an increasing demand for transparency, although many methodological issues surrounding benchmarking remain unresolved and are highly debated. In this Review, we describe developments in benchmarking and public reporting of HCAI indicators in England, France, Germany, and the USA. Although benchmarking networks in these countries are derived from a common model and use similar methods, approaches to public reporting have been more diverse. The USA and England have predominantly focused on reporting of infection rates, whereas France has put emphasis on process and structure indicators. In Germany, HCAI indicators of individual institutions are treated confidentially and are not disseminated publicly. Although evidence for a direct effect of public reporting of indicators alone on incidence of HCAIs is weak at present, it has been associated with substantial organisational change. An opportunity now exists to learn from the different strategies that have been adopted. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Analyzing the BBOB results by means of benchmarking concepts.

    PubMed

    Mersmann, O; Preuss, M; Trautmann, H; Bischl, B; Weihs, C

    2015-01-01

    We present methods to answer two basic questions that arise when benchmarking optimization algorithms. The first one is: which algorithm is the "best" one? and the second one is: which algorithm should I use for my real-world problem? Both are connected and neither is easy to answer. We present a theoretical framework for designing and analyzing the raw data of such benchmark experiments. This represents a first step in answering the aforementioned questions. The 2009 and 2010 BBOB benchmark results are analyzed by means of this framework and we derive insight regarding the answers to the two questions. Furthermore, we discuss how to properly aggregate rankings from algorithm evaluations on individual problems into a consensus, its theoretical background and which common pitfalls should be avoided. Finally, we address the grouping of test problems into sets with similar optimizer rankings and investigate whether these are reflected by already proposed test problem characteristics, finding that this is not always the case.

  11. Nurses' experiences and perspectives on medication safety practices: an explorative qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Smeulers, Marian; Onderwater, Astrid T; van Zwieten, Myra C B; Vermeulen, Hester

    2014-04-01

    To explore nurses' experiences with and perspectives on preventing medication administration errors. Insight into nurses' experiences with and perspectives on preventing medication administration errors is important and can be utilised to tailor and implement safety practices. A qualitative interview study of 20 nurses in an academic medical centre was conducted between March and December of 2011. Three themes emerged from this study: (1) nurses' roles and responsibilities in medication safety: aside from safe preparation and administration, the clinical reasoning of nurses is essential for medication safety; (2) nurses' ability to work safely: knowledge of risks and nurses' work circumstances influence their ability to work safely; and (3) nurses' acceptance of safety practices: advantages, feasibility and appropriateness are important incentives for acceptance of a safety practice. Nurses' experiences coincide with the assumption that they are in a pre-eminent position to enable safe medication management; however, their ability to adequately perform this role depends on sufficient knowledge to assess the risks of medication administration and on the circumstances in which they work. Safe medication management requires a learning climate and professional practice environment that enables further development of professional nursing skills and knowledge. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. The Isprs Benchmark on Indoor Modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khoshelham, K.; Díaz Vilariño, L.; Peter, M.; Kang, Z.; Acharya, D.

    2017-09-01

    Automated generation of 3D indoor models from point cloud data has been a topic of intensive research in recent years. While results on various datasets have been reported in literature, a comparison of the performance of different methods has not been possible due to the lack of benchmark datasets and a common evaluation framework. The ISPRS benchmark on indoor modelling aims to address this issue by providing a public benchmark dataset and an evaluation framework for performance comparison of indoor modelling methods. In this paper, we present the benchmark dataset comprising several point clouds of indoor environments captured by different sensors. We also discuss the evaluation and comparison of indoor modelling methods based on manually created reference models and appropriate quality evaluation criteria. The benchmark dataset is available for download at: benchmark-on-indoor-modelling.html"target="_blank">http://www2.isprs.org/commissions/comm4/wg5/benchmark-on-indoor-modelling.html.

  13. Developing Benchmarks for Solar Radio Bursts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Biesecker, D. A.; White, S. M.; Gopalswamy, N.; Black, C.; Domm, P.; Love, J. J.; Pierson, J.

    2016-12-01

    Solar radio bursts can interfere with radar, communication, and tracking signals. In severe cases, radio bursts can inhibit the successful use of radio communications and disrupt a wide range of systems that are reliant on Position, Navigation, and Timing services on timescales ranging from minutes to hours across wide areas on the dayside of Earth. The White House's Space Weather Action Plan has asked for solar radio burst intensity benchmarks for an event occurrence frequency of 1 in 100 years and also a theoretical maximum intensity benchmark. The solar radio benchmark team was also asked to define the wavelength/frequency bands of interest. The benchmark team developed preliminary (phase 1) benchmarks for the VHF (30-300 MHz), UHF (300-3000 MHz), GPS (1176-1602 MHz), F10.7 (2800 MHz), and Microwave (4000-20000) bands. The preliminary benchmarks were derived based on previously published work. Limitations in the published work will be addressed in phase 2 of the benchmark process. In addition, deriving theoretical maxima requires additional work, where it is even possible to, in order to meet the Action Plan objectives. In this presentation, we will present the phase 1 benchmarks and the basis used to derive them. We will also present the work that needs to be done in order to complete the final, or phase 2 benchmarks.

  14. Using the Tritium Plasma Experiment to evaluate ITER PFC safety

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Longhurst, Glen R.; Anderl, Robert A.; Bartlit, John R.; Causey, Rion A.; Haines, John R.

    The Tritium Plasma Experiment was assembled at Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore to investigate interactions between dense plasmas at low energies and plasma-facing component materials. This apparatus has the unique capability of replicating plasma conditions in a tokamak divertor with particle flux densities of 2 x 10(exp 19) ions/((sq cm)(s)) and a plasma temperature of about 15 eV using a plasma that includes tritium. With the closure of the Tritium Research Laboratory at Livermore, the experiment was moved to the Tritium Systems Test Assembly facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. An experimental program has been initiated there using the Tritium Plasma Experiment to examine safety issues related to tritium in plasma-facing components, particularly the ITER divertor. Those issues include tritium retention and release characteristics, tritium permeation rates and transient times to coolant streams, surface modification and erosion by the plasma, the effects of thermal loads and cycling, and particulate production. A considerable lack of data exists in these areas for many of the materials, especially beryllium, being considered for use in ITER. Not only will basic material behavior with respect to safety issues in the divertor environment be examined, but innovative techniques for optimizing performance with respect to tritium safety by material modification and process control will be investigated. Supplementary experiments will be carried out at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory to expand and clarify results obtained on the Tritium Plasma Experiment.

  15. Safety profile: fifteen years of clinical experience with ibuprofen.

    PubMed

    Royer, G L; Seckman, C E; Welshman, I R

    1984-07-13

    Since its introduction in the United States in 1974, ibuprofen (Motrin, Upjohn) has been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of pain, dysmenorrhea, inflammation, and fever. A careful review of pre-registration and postmarketing data from both patients and normal subjects clearly indicates ibuprofen's remarkable safety profile compared with that of aspirin and other commonly prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Continued safety can be anticipated on the basis of the past 15 years of review experience.

  16. Toxicological benchmarks for screening potential contaminants of concern for effects on terrestrial plants: 1994 revision

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

    Will, M.E.; Suter, G.W. II

    1994-09-01

    One of the initial stages in ecological risk assessment for hazardous waste sites is screening contaminants to determine which of them are worthy of further consideration as contaminants of potential concern. This process is termed contaminant screening. It is performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals to benchmark concentrations. Currently, no standard benchmark concentrations exist for assessing contaminants in soil with respect to their toxicity to plants. This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for this purpose (phytotoxicity benchmarks), a set of data concerning effects of chemicals in soil or soil solution on plants, and a setmore » of phytotoxicity benchmarks for 38 chemicals potentially associated with United States Department of Energy (DOE) sites. In addition, background information on the phytotoxicity and occurrence of the chemicals in soils is presented, and literature describing the experiments from which data were drawn for benchmark derivation is reviewed. Chemicals that are found in soil at concentrations exceeding both the phytotoxicity benchmark and the background concentration for the soil type should be considered contaminants of potential concern.« less

  17. PReSaFe: A model of barriers and facilitators to patients providing feedback on experiences of safety.

    PubMed

    De Brún, Aoife; Heavey, Emily; Waring, Justin; Dawson, Pamela; Scott, Jason

    2017-08-01

    The importance of involving patients in reporting on safety is increasingly recognized. Whilst studies have identified barriers to clinician incident reporting, few have explored barriers and facilitators to patient reporting of safety experiences. This paper explores patient perspectives on providing feedback on safety experiences. Patients (n=28) were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews when given a survey about their experiences of safety following hospital discharge. Transcripts were thematically analysed using NVivo10. Patients were recruited from four hospitals in the UK. Three themes were identified as barriers and facilitators to patient involvement in providing feedback on their safety experiences. The first, cognitive-cultural, found that whilst safety was a priority for most, some felt the term was not relevant to them because safety was the "default" position, and/or because safety could not be disentangled from the overall experience of care. The structural-procedural theme indicated that reporting was facilitated when patients saw the process as straightforward, but that disinclination or perceived inability to provide feedback was a barrier. Finally, learning and change illustrated that perception of the impact of feedback could facilitate or inhibit reporting. When collecting patient feedback on experiences of safety, it is important to consider what may help or hinder this process, beyond the process alone. We present a staged model of prerequisite barriers and facilitators and hypothesize that each stage needs to be achieved for patients to provide feedback on safety experiences. Implications for collecting meaningful data on patients' safety experiences are considered. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. 2-D Circulation Control Airfoil Benchmark Experiments Intended for CFD Code Validation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Englar, Robert J.; Jones, Gregory S.; Allan, Brian G.; Lin, Johb C.

    2009-01-01

    A current NASA Research Announcement (NRA) project being conducted by Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) personnel and NASA collaborators includes the development of Circulation Control (CC) blown airfoils to improve subsonic aircraft high-lift and cruise performance. The emphasis of this program is the development of CC active flow control concepts for both high-lift augmentation, drag control, and cruise efficiency. A collaboration in this project includes work by NASA research engineers, whereas CFD validation and flow physics experimental research are part of NASA s systematic approach to developing design and optimization tools for CC applications to fixed-wing aircraft. The design space for CESTOL type aircraft is focusing on geometries that depend on advanced flow control technologies that include Circulation Control aerodynamics. The ability to consistently predict advanced aircraft performance requires improvements in design tools to include these advanced concepts. Validation of these tools will be based on experimental methods applied to complex flows that go beyond conventional aircraft modeling techniques. This paper focuses on recent/ongoing benchmark high-lift experiments and CFD efforts intended to provide 2-D CFD validation data sets related to NASA s Cruise Efficient Short Take Off and Landing (CESTOL) study. Both the experimental data and related CFD predictions are discussed.

  19. Integral Full Core Multi-Physics PWR Benchmark with Measured Data

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

    Forget, Benoit; Smith, Kord; Kumar, Shikhar

    In recent years, the importance of modeling and simulation has been highlighted extensively in the DOE research portfolio with concrete examples in nuclear engineering with the CASL and NEAMS programs. These research efforts and similar efforts worldwide aim at the development of high-fidelity multi-physics analysis tools for the simulation of current and next-generation nuclear power reactors. Like all analysis tools, verification and validation is essential to guarantee proper functioning of the software and methods employed. The current approach relies mainly on the validation of single physic phenomena (e.g. critical experiment, flow loops, etc.) and there is a lack of relevantmore » multiphysics benchmark measurements that are necessary to validate high-fidelity methods being developed today. This work introduces a new multi-cycle full-core Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) depletion benchmark based on two operational cycles of a commercial nuclear power plant that provides a detailed description of fuel assemblies, burnable absorbers, in-core fission detectors, core loading and re-loading patterns. This benchmark enables analysts to develop extremely detailed reactor core models that can be used for testing and validation of coupled neutron transport, thermal-hydraulics, and fuel isotopic depletion. The benchmark also provides measured reactor data for Hot Zero Power (HZP) physics tests, boron letdown curves, and three-dimensional in-core flux maps from 58 instrumented assemblies. The benchmark description is now available online and has been used by many groups. However, much work remains to be done on the quantification of uncertainties and modeling sensitivities. This work aims to address these deficiencies and make this benchmark a true non-proprietary international benchmark for the validation of high-fidelity tools. This report details the BEAVRS uncertainty quantification for the first two cycle of operations and serves as the final report of the

  20. Internal Quality Assurance Benchmarking. ENQA Workshop Report 20

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blackstock, Douglas; Burquel, Nadine; Comet, Nuria; Kajaste, Matti; dos Santos, Sergio Machado; Marcos, Sandra; Moser, Marion; Ponds, Henri; Scheuthle, Harald; Sixto, Luis Carlos Velon

    2012-01-01

    The Internal Quality Assurance group of ENQA (IQA Group) has been organising a yearly seminar for its members since 2007. The main objective is to share experiences concerning the internal quality assurance of work processes in the participating agencies. The overarching theme of the 2011 seminar was how to use benchmarking as a tool for…

  1. HyspIRI Low Latency Concept and Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mandl, Dan

    2010-01-01

    Topics include HyspIRI low latency data ops concept, HyspIRI data flow, ongoing efforts, experiment with Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS) approach to injecting new algorithms into SensorWeb, low fidelity HyspIRI IPM testbed, compute cloud testbed, open cloud testbed environment, Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF) and OCC collaboration with Starlight, delay tolerant network (DTN) protocol benchmarking, and EO-1 configuration for preliminary DTN prototype.

  2. Modelling solute dispersion in periodic heterogeneous porous media: Model benchmarking against intermediate scale experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Majdalani, Samer; Guinot, Vincent; Delenne, Carole; Gebran, Hicham

    2018-06-01

    This paper is devoted to theoretical and experimental investigations of solute dispersion in heterogeneous porous media. Dispersion in heterogenous porous media has been reported to be scale-dependent, a likely indication that the proposed dispersion models are incompletely formulated. A high quality experimental data set of breakthrough curves in periodic model heterogeneous porous media is presented. In contrast with most previously published experiments, the present experiments involve numerous replicates. This allows the statistical variability of experimental data to be accounted for. Several models are benchmarked against the data set: the Fickian-based advection-dispersion, mobile-immobile, multirate, multiple region advection dispersion models, and a newly proposed transport model based on pure advection. A salient property of the latter model is that its solutions exhibit a ballistic behaviour for small times, while tending to the Fickian behaviour for large time scales. Model performance is assessed using a novel objective function accounting for the statistical variability of the experimental data set, while putting equal emphasis on both small and large time scale behaviours. Besides being as accurate as the other models, the new purely advective model has the advantages that (i) it does not exhibit the undesirable effects associated with the usual Fickian operator (namely the infinite solute front propagation speed), and (ii) it allows dispersive transport to be simulated on every heterogeneity scale using scale-independent parameters.

  3. Benchmarking expert system tools

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Riley, Gary

    1988-01-01

    As part of its evaluation of new technologies, the Artificial Intelligence Section of the Mission Planning and Analysis Div. at NASA-Johnson has made timing tests of several expert system building tools. Among the production systems tested were Automated Reasoning Tool, several versions of OPS5, and CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System), an expert system builder developed by the AI section. Also included in the test were a Zetalisp version of the benchmark along with four versions of the benchmark written in Knowledge Engineering Environment, an object oriented, frame based expert system tool. The benchmarks used for testing are studied.

  4. Closed-Loop Neuromorphic Benchmarks

    PubMed Central

    Stewart, Terrence C.; DeWolf, Travis; Kleinhans, Ashley; Eliasmith, Chris

    2015-01-01

    Evaluating the effectiveness and performance of neuromorphic hardware is difficult. It is even more difficult when the task of interest is a closed-loop task; that is, a task where the output from the neuromorphic hardware affects some environment, which then in turn affects the hardware's future input. However, closed-loop situations are one of the primary potential uses of neuromorphic hardware. To address this, we present a methodology for generating closed-loop benchmarks that makes use of a hybrid of real physical embodiment and a type of “minimal” simulation. Minimal simulation has been shown to lead to robust real-world performance, while still maintaining the practical advantages of simulation, such as making it easy for the same benchmark to be used by many researchers. This method is flexible enough to allow researchers to explicitly modify the benchmarks to identify specific task domains where particular hardware excels. To demonstrate the method, we present a set of novel benchmarks that focus on motor control for an arbitrary system with unknown external forces. Using these benchmarks, we show that an error-driven learning rule can consistently improve motor control performance across a randomly generated family of closed-loop simulations, even when there are up to 15 interacting joints to be controlled. PMID:26696820

  5. Planning the Unplanned Experiment: Assessing the Efficacy of Standards for Safety Critical Software

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Graydon, Patrick J.; Holloway, C. Michael

    2015-01-01

    We need well-founded means of determining whether software is t for use in safety-critical applications. While software in industries such as aviation has an excellent safety record, the fact that software aws have contributed to deaths illustrates the need for justi ably high con dence in software. It is often argued that software is t for safety-critical use because it conforms to a standard for software in safety-critical systems. But little is known about whether such standards `work.' Reliance upon a standard without knowing whether it works is an experiment; without collecting data to assess the standard, this experiment is unplanned. This paper reports on a workshop intended to explore how standards could practicably be assessed. Planning the Unplanned Experiment: Assessing the Ecacy of Standards for Safety Critical Software (AESSCS) was held on 13 May 2014 in conjunction with the European Dependable Computing Conference (EDCC). We summarize and elaborate on the workshop's discussion of the topic, including both the presented positions and the dialogue that ensued.

  6. Benchmark gas core critical experiment.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kunze, J. F.; Lofthouse, J. H.; Cooper, C. G.; Hyland, R. E.

    1972-01-01

    A critical experiment with spherical symmetry has been conducted on the gas core nuclear reactor concept. The nonspherical perturbations in the experiment were evaluated experimentally and produce corrections to the observed eigenvalue of approximately 1% delta k. The reactor consisted of a low density, central uranium hexafluoride gaseous core, surrounded by an annulus of void or low density hydrocarbon, which in turn was surrounded with a 97-cm-thick heavy water reflector.

  7. Benchmarking of Neutron Production of Heavy-Ion Transport Codes

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

    Remec, Igor; Ronningen, Reginald M.; Heilbronn, Lawrence

    Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in design and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondary neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models andmore » codes and additional benchmarking are required.« less

  8. Nuclear Data Activities in Support of the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Westfall, R. M.; McKnight, R. D.

    2005-05-01

    The DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) provides the technical infrastructure maintenance for those technologies applied in the evaluation and performance of safe fissionable-material operations in the DOE complex. These technologies include an Analytical Methods element for neutron transport as well as the development of sensitivity/uncertainty methods, the performance of Critical Experiments, evaluation and qualification of experiments as Benchmarks, and a comprehensive Nuclear Data program coordinated by the NCSP Nuclear Data Advisory Group (NDAG). The NDAG gathers and evaluates differential and integral nuclear data, identifies deficiencies, and recommends priorities on meeting DOE criticality safety needs to the NCSP Criticality Safety Support Group (CSSG). Then the NDAG identifies the required resources and unique capabilities for meeting these needs, not only for performing measurements but also for data evaluation with nuclear model codes as well as for data processing for criticality safety applications. The NDAG coordinates effort with the leadership of the National Nuclear Data Center, the Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG), and the Working Party on International Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC) of the OECD/NEA Nuclear Science Committee. The overall objective is to expedite the issuance of new data and methods to the DOE criticality safety user. This paper describes these activities in detail, with examples based upon special studies being performed in support of criticality safety for a variety of DOE operations.

  9. Research on computer systems benchmarking

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, Alan Jay (Principal Investigator)

    1996-01-01

    This grant addresses the topic of research on computer systems benchmarking and is more generally concerned with performance issues in computer systems. This report reviews work in those areas during the period of NASA support under this grant. The bulk of the work performed concerned benchmarking and analysis of CPUs, compilers, caches, and benchmark programs. The first part of this work concerned the issue of benchmark performance prediction. A new approach to benchmarking and machine characterization was reported, using a machine characterizer that measures the performance of a given system in terms of a Fortran abstract machine. Another report focused on analyzing compiler performance. The performance impact of optimization in the context of our methodology for CPU performance characterization was based on the abstract machine model. Benchmark programs are analyzed in another paper. A machine-independent model of program execution was developed to characterize both machine performance and program execution. By merging these machine and program characterizations, execution time can be estimated for arbitrary machine/program combinations. The work was continued into the domain of parallel and vector machines, including the issue of caches in vector processors and multiprocessors. All of the afore-mentioned accomplishments are more specifically summarized in this report, as well as those smaller in magnitude supported by this grant.

  10. Leadership for safety: industrial experience.

    PubMed

    Flin, R; Yule, S

    2004-12-01

    The importance of leadership for effective safety management has been the focus of research attention in industry for a number of years, especially in energy and manufacturing sectors. In contrast, very little research into leadership and safety has been carried out in medical settings. A selective review of the industrial safety literature for leadership research with possible application in health care was undertaken. Emerging findings show the importance of participative, transformational styles for safety performance at all levels of management. Transactional styles with attention to monitoring and reinforcement of workers' safety behaviours have been shown to be effective at the supervisory level. Middle managers need to be involved in safety and foster open communication, while ensuring compliance with safety systems. They should allow supervisors a degree of autonomy for safety initiatives. Senior managers have a prime influence on the organisation's safety culture. They need to continuously demonstrate a visible commitment to safety, best indicated by the time they devote to safety matters.

  11. Leadership for safety: industrial experience

    PubMed Central

    Flin, R; Yule, S

    2004-01-01

    The importance of leadership for effective safety management has been the focus of research attention in industry for a number of years, especially in energy and manufacturing sectors. In contrast, very little research into leadership and safety has been carried out in medical settings. A selective review of the industrial safety literature for leadership research with possible application in health care was undertaken. Emerging findings show the importance of participative, transformational styles for safety performance at all levels of management. Transactional styles with attention to monitoring and reinforcement of workers' safety behaviours have been shown to be effective at the supervisory level. Middle managers need to be involved in safety and foster open communication, while ensuring compliance with safety systems. They should allow supervisors a degree of autonomy for safety initiatives. Senior managers have a prime influence on the organisation's safety culture. They need to continuously demonstrate a visible commitment to safety, best indicated by the time they devote to safety matters. PMID:15576692

  12. Model Prediction Results for 2007 Ultrasonic Benchmark Problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Hak-Joon; Song, Sung-Jin

    2008-02-01

    The World Federation of NDE Centers (WFNDEC) has addressed two types of problems for the 2007 ultrasonic benchmark problems: prediction of side-drilled hole responses with 45° and 60° refracted shear waves, and effects of surface curvatures on the ultrasonic responses of flat-bottomed hole. To solve this year's ultrasonic benchmark problems, we applied multi-Gaussian beam models for calculation of ultrasonic beam fields and the Kirchhoff approximation and the separation of variables method for calculation of far-field scattering amplitudes of flat-bottomed holes and side-drilled holes respectively In this paper, we present comparison results of model predictions to experiments for side-drilled holes and discuss effect of interface curvatures on ultrasonic responses by comparison of peak-to-peak amplitudes of flat-bottomed hole responses with different sizes and interface curvatures.

  13. RETRANO3 benchmarks for Beaver Valley plant transients and FSAR analyses

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

    Beaumont, E.T.; Feltus, M.A.

    1993-01-01

    Any best-estimate code (e.g., RETRANO3) results must be validated against plant data and final safety analysis report (FSAR) predictions. The need for two independent means of benchmarking is necessary to ensure that the results were not biased toward a particular data set and to have a certain degree of accuracy. The code results need to be compared with previous results and show improvements over previous code results. Ideally, the two best means of benchmarking a thermal hydraulics code are comparing results from previous versions of the same code along with actual plant data. This paper describes RETRAN03 benchmarks against RETRAN02more » results, actual plant data, and FSAR predictions. RETRAN03, the Electric Power Research Institute's latest version of the RETRAN thermal-hydraulic analysis codes, offers several upgrades over its predecessor, RETRAN02 Mod5. RETRAN03 can use either implicit or semi-implicit numerics, whereas RETRAN02 Mod5 uses only semi-implicit numerics. Another major upgrade deals with slip model options. RETRAN03 added several new models, including a five-equation model for more accurate modeling of two-phase flow. RETPAN02 Mod5 should give similar but slightly more conservative results than RETRAN03 when executed with RETRAN02 Mod5 options.« less

  14. Safety and governance issues for neonatal transport services.

    PubMed

    Ratnavel, Nandiran

    2009-08-01

    Neonatal transport is a subspecialty within the field of neonatology. Transport services are developing rapidly in the United Kingdom (UK) with network demographics and funding patterns leading to a broad spectrum of service provision. Applying principles of clinical governance and safety to such a diverse landscape of transport services is challenging but finally receiving much needed attention. To understand issues of risk management associated with this branch of retrieval medicine one needs to look at the infrastructure of transport teams, arrangements for governance, risk identification, incident reporting, feedback and learning from experience. One also needs to look at audit processes, training, communication and ways of team working. Adherence to current recommendations for equipment and vehicle design are vital. The national picture for neonatal transport is evolving. This is an excellent time to start benchmarking and sharing best practice with a view to optimising safety and reducing risk.

  15. Copper benchmark experiment for the testing of JEFF-3.2 nuclear data for fusion applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Angelone, M.; Flammini, D.; Loreti, S.; Moro, F.; Pillon, M.; Villar, R.; Klix, A.; Fischer, U.; Kodeli, I.; Perel, R. L.; Pohorecky, W.

    2017-09-01

    A neutronics benchmark experiment on a pure Copper block (dimensions 60 × 70 × 70 cm3) aimed at testing and validating the recent nuclear data libraries for fusion applications was performed in the frame of the European Fusion Program at the 14 MeV ENEA Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG). Reaction rates, neutron flux spectra and doses were measured using different experimental techniques (e.g. activation foils techniques, NE213 scintillator and thermoluminescent detectors). This paper first summarizes the analyses of the experiment carried-out using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo code and the European JEFF-3.2 library. Large discrepancies between calculation (C) and experiment (E) were found for the reaction rates both in the high and low neutron energy range. The analysis was complemented by sensitivity/uncertainty analyses (S/U) using the deterministic and Monte Carlo SUSD3D and MCSEN codes, respectively. The S/U analyses enabled to identify the cross sections and energy ranges which are mostly affecting the calculated responses. The largest discrepancy among the C/E values was observed for the thermal (capture) reactions indicating severe deficiencies in the 63,65Cu capture and elastic cross sections at lower rather than at high energy. Deterministic and MC codes produced similar results. The 14 MeV copper experiment and its analysis thus calls for a revision of the JEFF-3.2 copper cross section and covariance data evaluation. A new analysis of the experiment was performed with the MCNP5 code using the revised JEFF-3.3-T2 library released by NEA and a new, not yet distributed, revised JEFF-3.2 Cu evaluation produced by KIT. A noticeable improvement of the C/E results was obtained with both new libraries.

  16. Making Benchmark Testing Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Herman, Joan L.; Baker, Eva L.

    2005-01-01

    Many schools are moving to develop benchmark tests to monitor their students' progress toward state standards throughout the academic year. Benchmark tests can provide the ongoing information that schools need to guide instructional programs and to address student learning problems. The authors discuss six criteria that educators can use to…

  17. Posttest examination of Sodium Loop Safety Facility experiments. [LMFBR

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

    Holland, J.W.

    In-reactor, safety experiments performed in the Sodium Loop Safety Facility (SLSF) rely on comprehensive posttest examinations (PTE) to characterize the postirradiation condition of the cladding, fuel, and other test-subassembly components. PTE information and on-line instrumentation data, are analyzed to identify the sequence of events and the severity of the accident for each experiment. Following in-reactor experimentation, the SLSF loop and test assembly are transported to the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) for initial disassembly. Goals of the HFEF-phase of the PTE are to retrieve the fuel bundle by dismantling the loop and withdrawing the test assembly, to assess the macro-conditionmore » of the fuel bundle by nondestructive examination techniques, and to prepare the fuel bundle for shipment to the Alpha-Gamma Hot Cell Facility (AGHCF) at Argonne National Laboratory.« less

  18. HS06 Benchmark for an ARM Server

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kluth, Stefan

    2014-06-01

    We benchmarked an ARM cortex-A9 based server system with a four-core CPU running at 1.1 GHz. The system used Ubuntu 12.04 as operating system and the HEPSPEC 2006 (HS06) benchmarking suite was compiled natively with gcc-4.4 on the system. The benchmark was run for various settings of the relevant gcc compiler options. We did not find significant influence from the compiler options on the benchmark result. The final HS06 benchmark result is 10.4.

  19. Quality and safety in medical care: what does the future hold?

    PubMed

    Liang, Bryan A; Mackey, Tim

    2011-11-01

    The rapid changes in health care policy, embracing quality and safety mandates, have culminated in programs and initiatives under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. To review the context of, and anticipated quality and patient safety mandates for, delivery systems, incentives under health care reform, and models for future accountability for outcomes of care. Assessment of the provisions of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, other reform efforts, and reform initiatives focusing on future quality and safety provisions for health care providers. Health care reform and other efforts focus on consumerism in the context of price. Quality and safety efforts will be structured using financial incentives, best-practices research, and new delivery models that focus on reaching benchmarks while reducing costs. In addition, patient experience will be a key component of reimbursement, and a move toward "retail" approaches directed at the individual patient may supplant traditional "wholesale" efforts at attracting employers. Quality and safety have always been of prime importance in medicine. However, in the future, under health care reform and associated initiatives, a shift in the paradigm of medicine will integrate quality and safety measurement with financial incentives and a new emphasis on consumerism.

  20. Benchmark Evaluation of Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor Minor Actinide Depletion Measurements

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

    Hess, J. D.; Gauld, I. C.; Gulliford, J.

    2017-01-01

    Historic measurements of actinide samples in the Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) are of interest for modern nuclear data and simulation validation. Samples of various higher-actinide isotopes were irradiated for 492 effective full-power days and radiochemically assayed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). Limited data were available regarding the PFR irradiation; a six-group neutron spectra was available with some power history data to support a burnup depletion analysis validation study. Under the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA), the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Projectmore » (IRPhEP) and Spent Fuel Isotopic Composition (SFCOMPO) Project are collaborating to recover all measurement data pertaining to these measurements, including collaboration with the United Kingdom to obtain pertinent reactor physics design and operational history data. These activities will produce internationally peer-reviewed benchmark data to support validation of minor actinide cross section data and modern neutronic simulation of fast reactors with accompanying fuel cycle activities such as transportation, recycling, storage, and criticality safety.« less

  1. NAS Grid Benchmarks. 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    VanderWijngaart, Rob; Frumkin, Michael; Biegel, Bryan A. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    We provide a paper-and-pencil specification of a benchmark suite for computational grids. It is based on the NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) and is called the NAS Grid Benchmarks (NGB). NGB problems are presented as data flow graphs encapsulating an instance of a slightly modified NPB task in each graph node, which communicates with other nodes by sending/receiving initialization data. Like NPB, NGB specifies several different classes (problem sizes). In this report we describe classes S, W, and A, and provide verification values for each. The implementor has the freedom to choose any language, grid environment, security model, fault tolerance/error correction mechanism, etc., as long as the resulting implementation passes the verification test and reports the turnaround time of the benchmark.

  2. The Zoo, Benchmarks & You: How To Reach the Oregon State Benchmarks with Zoo Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    2002

    This document aligns Oregon state educational benchmarks and standards with Oregon Zoo resources. Benchmark areas examined include English, mathematics, science, social studies, and career and life roles. Brief descriptions of the programs offered by the zoo are presented. (SOE)

  3. The Concepts "Benchmarks and Benchmarking" Used in Education Planning: Teacher Education as Example

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steyn, H. J.

    2015-01-01

    Planning in education is a structured activity that includes several phases and steps that take into account several kinds of information (Steyn, Steyn, De Waal & Wolhuter, 2002: 146). One of the sets of information that are usually considered is the (so-called) "benchmarks" and "benchmarking" regarding the focus of a…

  4. Translational benchmark risk analysis

    PubMed Central

    Piegorsch, Walter W.

    2010-01-01

    Translational development – in the sense of translating a mature methodology from one area of application to another, evolving area – is discussed for the use of benchmark doses in quantitative risk assessment. Illustrations are presented with traditional applications of the benchmark paradigm in biology and toxicology, and also with risk endpoints that differ from traditional toxicological archetypes. It is seen that the benchmark approach can apply to a diverse spectrum of risk management settings. This suggests a promising future for this important risk-analytic tool. Extensions of the method to a wider variety of applications represent a significant opportunity for enhancing environmental, biomedical, industrial, and socio-economic risk assessments. PMID:20953283

  5. A benchmark study of the sea-level equation in GIA modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinec, Zdenek; Klemann, Volker; van der Wal, Wouter; Riva, Riccardo; Spada, Giorgio; Simon, Karen; Blank, Bas; Sun, Yu; Melini, Daniele; James, Tom; Bradley, Sarah

    2017-04-01

    The sea-level load in glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) is described by the so called sea-level equation (SLE), which represents the mass redistribution between ice sheets and oceans on a deforming earth. Various levels of complexity of SLE have been proposed in the past, ranging from a simple mean global sea level (the so-called eustatic sea level) to the load with a deforming ocean bottom, migrating coastlines and a changing shape of the geoid. Several approaches to solve the SLE have been derived, from purely analytical formulations to fully numerical methods. Despite various teams independently investigating GIA, there has been no systematic intercomparison amongst the solvers through which the methods may be validated. The goal of this paper is to present a series of benchmark experiments designed for testing and comparing numerical implementations of the SLE. Our approach starts with simple load cases even though the benchmark will not result in GIA predictions for a realistic loading scenario. In the longer term we aim for a benchmark with a realistic loading scenario, and also for benchmark solutions with rotational feedback. The current benchmark uses an earth model for which Love numbers have been computed and benchmarked in Spada et al (2011). In spite of the significant differences in the numerical methods employed, the test computations performed so far show a satisfactory agreement between the results provided by the participants. The differences found can often be attributed to the different approximations inherent to the various algorithms. Literature G. Spada, V. R. Barletta, V. Klemann, R. E. M. Riva, Z. Martinec, P. Gasperini, B. Lund, D. Wolf, L. L. A. Vermeersen, and M. A. King, 2011. A benchmark study for glacial isostatic adjustment codes. Geophys. J. Int. 185: 106-132 doi:10.1111/j.1365-

  6. Benchmarking of neutron production of heavy-ion transport codes

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

    Remec, I.; Ronningen, R. M.; Heilbronn, L.

    Document available in abstract form only, full text of document follows: Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in design and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondarymore » neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models and codes and additional benchmarking are required. (authors)« less

  7. Medical school benchmarking - from tools to programmes.

    PubMed

    Wilkinson, Tim J; Hudson, Judith N; Mccoll, Geoffrey J; Hu, Wendy C Y; Jolly, Brian C; Schuwirth, Lambert W T

    2015-02-01

    Benchmarking among medical schools is essential, but may result in unwanted effects. To apply a conceptual framework to selected benchmarking activities of medical schools. We present an analogy between the effects of assessment on student learning and the effects of benchmarking on medical school educational activities. A framework by which benchmarking can be evaluated was developed and applied to key current benchmarking activities in Australia and New Zealand. The analogy generated a conceptual framework that tested five questions to be considered in relation to benchmarking: what is the purpose? what are the attributes of value? what are the best tools to assess the attributes of value? what happens to the results? and, what is the likely "institutional impact" of the results? If the activities were compared against a blueprint of desirable medical graduate outcomes, notable omissions would emerge. Medical schools should benchmark their performance on a range of educational activities to ensure quality improvement and to assure stakeholders that standards are being met. Although benchmarking potentially has positive benefits, it could also result in perverse incentives with unforeseen and detrimental effects on learning if it is undertaken using only a few selected assessment tools.

  8. HPC Analytics Support. Requirements for Uncertainty Quantification Benchmarks

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

    Paulson, Patrick R.; Purohit, Sumit; Rodriguez, Luke R.

    2015-05-01

    This report outlines techniques for extending benchmark generation products so they support uncertainty quantification by benchmarked systems. We describe how uncertainty quantification requirements can be presented to candidate analytical tools supporting SPARQL. We describe benchmark data sets for evaluating uncertainty quantification, as well as an approach for using our benchmark generator to produce data sets for generating benchmark data sets.

  9. Issues in Benchmark Metric Selection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crolotte, Alain

    It is true that a metric can influence a benchmark but will esoteric metrics create more problems than they will solve? We answer this question affirmatively by examining the case of the TPC-D metric which used the much debated geometric mean for the single-stream test. We will show how a simple choice influenced the benchmark and its conduct and, to some extent, DBMS development. After examining other alternatives our conclusion is that the “real” measure for a decision-support benchmark is the arithmetic mean.

  10. Experience With Laser Safety In The USA--A Review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sliney, David H.

    1986-10-01

    Following several research programs in the 1960's aimed at studying the adverse biological effects of lasers and other optical radiation sources, laser occupational exposure limits were set and general safety standards were developed. Today, the experience from laser accidents and the development of new lasers and new applications have altered the format of the exposure limits and the safety procedures. It is critically important to distinguish between different biological injury mechanisms. The biological effects of ultraviolet radiation upon the skin and eye are additive over a period of at least one workday, and require different safety procedures. The scattered UV irradiance from excimer lasers may be quite hazardous, depending upon wavelength and action spectra. Since laser technology is young, the exposure of an individual in natural sunlight must be studied to evaluate the potential for chronic effects. The safety measures necessary in the use of lasers depend upon a hazard evaluation. The appropriate control measures and alternate means of enclosure, baffling, and operational control measures are presented. Present laser safety standards are explained briefly. Eye protective techniques and eyewear are considered for a variety of sources. The optical properties of enclosure materials are also discussed.

  11. Benchmarking clinical photography services in the NHS.

    PubMed

    Arbon, Giles

    2015-01-01

    Benchmarking is used in services across the National Health Service (NHS) using various benchmarking programs. Clinical photography services do not have a program in place and services have to rely on ad hoc surveys of other services. A trial benchmarking exercise was undertaken with 13 services in NHS Trusts. This highlights valuable data and comparisons that can be used to benchmark and improve services throughout the profession.

  12. Method and system for benchmarking computers

    DOEpatents

    Gustafson, John L.

    1993-09-14

    A testing system and method for benchmarking computer systems. The system includes a store containing a scalable set of tasks to be performed to produce a solution in ever-increasing degrees of resolution as a larger number of the tasks are performed. A timing and control module allots to each computer a fixed benchmarking interval in which to perform the stored tasks. Means are provided for determining, after completion of the benchmarking interval, the degree of progress through the scalable set of tasks and for producing a benchmarking rating relating to the degree of progress for each computer.

  13. Examining psychosocial and physical hazards in the Ghanaian mining industry and their implications for employees' safety experience.

    PubMed

    Amponsah-Tawiah, Kwesi; Jain, Aditya; Leka, Stavroula; Hollis, David; Cox, Tom

    2013-06-01

    In addition to hazardous conditions that are prevalent in mines, there are various physical and psychosocial risk factors that can affect mine workers' safety and health. Without due diligence to mine safety, these risk factors can affect workers' safety experience, in terms of near misses, disabling injuries and accidents experienced or witnessed by workers. This study sets out to examine the effects of physical and psychosocial risk factors on workers' safety experience in a sample of Ghanaian miners. 307 participants from five mining companies responded to a cross sectional survey examining physical and psychosocial hazards and their implications for employees' safety experience. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models indicated that mining conditions, equipment, ambient conditions, support and security, and work demands and control are significant predictors of near misses, disabling injuries, and accidents experienced or witnessed by workers. The type of mine had important implications for workers' safety experience. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

  14. Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments in ISS Resupply Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ruff, Gary A.; Urban, David

    2013-01-01

    Our understanding of the fire safety risk in manned spacecraft has been limited by the small scale of the testing we have been able to conduct in low-gravity. Fire growth and spread cannot be expected to scale linearly with sample size so we cannot make accurate predictions of the behavior of realistic scale fires in spacecraft based on the limited low-g testing to date. As a result, spacecraft fire safety protocols are necessarily very conservative and costly. Future crewed missions are expected to be longer in duration than previous exploration missions outside of low-earth orbit and accordingly, more complex in terms of operations, logistics, and safety. This will increase the challenge of ensuring a fire-safe environment for the crew throughout the mission. Based on our fundamental uncertainty of the behavior of fires in low-gravity, the need for realistic scale testing at reduced gravity has been demonstrated. To address this concern, a spacecraft fire safety research project is underway to reduce the uncertainty and risk in the design of spacecraft fire safety systems by testing at nearly full scale in low-gravity. This project is supported by the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Program Office in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The activity of this project is supported by an international topical team of fire experts from other space agencies to maximize the utility of the data and to ensure the widest possible scrutiny of the concept. The large-scale space flight experiment will be conducted on three missions; each in an Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus vehicle after it has deberthed from the ISS. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew allows the fire products to be released into the cabin. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the

  15. Ultracool dwarf benchmarks with Gaia primaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marocco, F.; Pinfield, D. J.; Cook, N. J.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Montes, D.; Caballero, J. A.; Gálvez-Ortiz, M. C.; Gromadzki, M.; Jones, H. R. A.; Kurtev, R.; Smart, R. L.; Zhang, Z.; Cabrera Lavers, A. L.; García Álvarez, D.; Qi, Z. X.; Rickard, M. J.; Dover, L.

    2017-10-01

    We explore the potential of Gaia for the field of benchmark ultracool/brown dwarf companions, and present the results of an initial search for metal-rich/metal-poor systems. A simulated population of resolved ultracool dwarf companions to Gaia primary stars is generated and assessed. Of the order of ˜24 000 companions should be identifiable outside of the Galactic plane (|b| > 10 deg) with large-scale ground- and space-based surveys including late M, L, T and Y types. Our simulated companion parameter space covers 0.02 ≤ M/M⊙ ≤ 0.1, 0.1 ≤ age/Gyr ≤ 14 and -2.5 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0.5, with systems required to have a false alarm probability <10-4, based on projected separation and expected constraints on common distance, common proper motion and/or common radial velocity. Within this bulk population, we identify smaller target subsets of rarer systems whose collective properties still span the full parameter space of the population, as well as systems containing primary stars that are good age calibrators. Our simulation analysis leads to a series of recommendations for candidate selection and observational follow-up that could identify ˜500 diverse Gaia benchmarks. As a test of the veracity of our methodology and simulations, our initial search uses UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey to select secondaries, with the parameters of primaries taken from Tycho-2, Radial Velocity Experiment, Large sky Area Multi-Object fibre Spectroscopic Telescope and Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution. We identify and follow up 13 new benchmarks. These include M8-L2 companions, with metallicity constraints ranging in quality, but robust in the range -0.39 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.36, and with projected physical separation in the range 0.6 < s/kau < 76. Going forward, Gaia offers a very high yield of benchmark systems, from which diverse subsamples may be able to calibrate a range of foundational ultracool/sub-stellar theory and observation.

  16. Introduction to benchmark dose methods and U.S. EPA's benchmark dose software (BMDS) version 2.1.1

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

    Davis, J. Allen, E-mail: davis.allen@epa.gov; Gift, Jeffrey S.; Zhao, Q. Jay

    2011-07-15

    Traditionally, the No-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level (NOAEL) approach has been used to determine the point of departure (POD) from animal toxicology data for use in human health risk assessments. However, this approach is subject to substantial limitations that have been well defined, such as strict dependence on the dose selection, dose spacing, and sample size of the study from which the critical effect has been identified. Also, the NOAEL approach fails to take into consideration the shape of the dose-response curve and other related information. The benchmark dose (BMD) method, originally proposed as an alternative to the NOAEL methodology in the 1980s, addressesmore » many of the limitations of the NOAEL method. It is less dependent on dose selection and spacing, and it takes into account the shape of the dose-response curve. In addition, the estimation of a BMD 95% lower bound confidence limit (BMDL) results in a POD that appropriately accounts for study quality (i.e., sample size). With the recent advent of user-friendly BMD software programs, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS), BMD has become the method of choice for many health organizations world-wide. This paper discusses the BMD methods and corresponding software (i.e., BMDS version 2.1.1) that have been developed by the U.S. EPA, and includes a comparison with recently released European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) BMD guidance.« less

  17. Experiments to ensure Space Station fire safety - A challenge

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Youngblood, W. W.; Seiser, K. M.

    1988-01-01

    Three experiments have been formulated in order to address prominent fire safety requirements aboard the NASA Space Shuttle; these experiments are to be conducted as part of a Space Station-based Technology Development Mission for the growth phase of Space Station construction and operation. The experiments are: (1) an investigation of the flame-spread rate and combustion-product evolution in the burning of typical spacecraft materials in low gravity; (2) an evaluation of the interaction of fires and candidate fire extinguishers in low gravity; and (3) an investigation of the persistence and propagation of smoldering and deep-seated combustion in low gravity.

  18. 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

  19. Benchmarking Gas Path Diagnostic Methods: A Public Approach

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Simon, Donald L.; Bird, Jeff; Davison, Craig; Volponi, Al; Iverson, R. Eugene

    2008-01-01

    Recent technology reviews have identified the need for objective assessments of engine health management (EHM) technology. The need is two-fold: technology developers require relevant data and problems to design and validate new algorithms and techniques while engine system integrators and operators need practical tools to direct development and then evaluate the effectiveness of proposed solutions. This paper presents a publicly available gas path diagnostic benchmark problem that has been developed by the Propulsion and Power Systems Panel of The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) to help address these needs. The problem is coded in MATLAB (The MathWorks, Inc.) and coupled with a non-linear turbofan engine simulation to produce "snap-shot" measurements, with relevant noise levels, as if collected from a fleet of engines over their lifetime of use. Each engine within the fleet will experience unique operating and deterioration profiles, and may encounter randomly occurring relevant gas path faults including sensor, actuator and component faults. The challenge to the EHM community is to develop gas path diagnostic algorithms to reliably perform fault detection and isolation. An example solution to the benchmark problem is provided along with associated evaluation metrics. A plan is presented to disseminate this benchmark problem to the engine health management technical community and invite technology solutions.

  20. The safety experience of New Zealand adventure tourism operators.

    PubMed

    Bentley, Tim A; Page, Stephen; Walker, Linda

    2004-01-01

    This survey examined parameters of the New Zealand adventure tourism industry client injury risk. The research also sought to establish priorities for intervention to reduce adventure tourism risk, and identify client injury control measures currently in place (or absent) in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry, with a view to establishing guidelines for the development of effective adventure tourism safety management systems. This 2003 survey builds upon an exploratory study of New Zealand adventure tourism safety conducted by us during 1999. A postal questionnaire was used to survey all identifiable New Zealand adventure tourism operators. The questionnaire asked respondents about their recorded client injury experience, perceptions of client injury risk factors, safety management practices, and barriers to safety. Some 27 adventure tourism activities were represented among the responding sample (n=96). The highest client injury risk was reported in the snow sports, bungee jumping and horse riding sectors, although serious underreporting of minor injuries was evident across the industry. Slips, trips and falls (STF) were the major client injury mechanisms, and a range of risk factors for client injuries were identified. Safety management measures were inconsistently applied across the industry. The industry should consider the implications of poor injury reporting standards and safety management practices generally. Specifically, the industry should consider risk management that focuses on minor (e.g., STF) as well as catastrophic events.

  1. Benchmarking--Measuring and Comparing for Continuous Improvement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henczel, Sue

    2002-01-01

    Discussion of benchmarking focuses on the use of internal and external benchmarking by special librarians. Highlights include defining types of benchmarking; historical development; benefits, including efficiency, improved performance, increased competitiveness, and better decision making; problems, including inappropriate adaptation; developing a…

  2. EPA's Benchmark Dose Modeling Software

    EPA Science Inventory

    The EPA developed the Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS) as a tool to help Agency risk assessors facilitate applying benchmark dose (BMD) method’s to EPA’s human health risk assessment (HHRA) documents. The application of BMD methods overcomes many well know limitations ...

  3. 42 CFR 440.330 - Benchmark health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Benchmark health benefits coverage. 440.330 Section 440.330 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.330 Benchmark health benefits coverage. Benchmark coverage is health...

  4. Machine characterization and benchmark performance prediction

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Saavedra-Barrera, Rafael H.

    1988-01-01

    From runs of standard benchmarks or benchmark suites, it is not possible to characterize the machine nor to predict the run time of other benchmarks which have not been run. A new approach to benchmarking and machine characterization is reported. The creation and use of a machine analyzer is described, which measures the performance of a given machine on FORTRAN source language constructs. The machine analyzer yields a set of parameters which characterize the machine and spotlight its strong and weak points. Also described is a program analyzer, which analyzes FORTRAN programs and determines the frequency of execution of each of the same set of source language operations. It is then shown that by combining a machine characterization and a program characterization, we are able to predict with good accuracy the run time of a given benchmark on a given machine. Characterizations are provided for the Cray-X-MP/48, Cyber 205, IBM 3090/200, Amdahl 5840, Convex C-1, VAX 8600, VAX 11/785, VAX 11/780, SUN 3/50, and IBM RT-PC/125, and for the following benchmark programs or suites: Los Alamos (BMK8A1), Baskett, Linpack, Livermore Loops, Madelbrot Set, NAS Kernels, Shell Sort, Smith, Whetstone and Sieve of Erathostenes.

  5. A systematic review of evidence on the links between patient experience and clinical safety and effectiveness

    PubMed Central

    Doyle, Cathal; Lennox, Laura; Bell, Derek

    2013-01-01

    Objective To explore evidence on the links between patient experience and clinical safety and effectiveness outcomes. Design Systematic review. Setting A wide range of settings within primary and secondary care including hospitals and primary care centres. Participants A wide range of demographic groups and age groups. Primary and secondary outcome measures A broad range of patient safety and clinical effectiveness outcomes including mortality, physical symptoms, length of stay and adherence to treatment. Results This study, summarising evidence from 55 studies, indicates consistent positive associations between patient experience, patient safety and clinical effectiveness for a wide range of disease areas, settings, outcome measures and study designs. It demonstrates positive associations between patient experience and self-rated and objectively measured health outcomes; adherence to recommended clinical practice and medication; preventive care (such as health-promoting behaviour, use of screening services and immunisation); and resource use (such as hospitalisation, length of stay and primary-care visits). There is some evidence of positive associations between patient experience and measures of the technical quality of care and adverse events. Overall, it was more common to find positive associations between patient experience and patient safety and clinical effectiveness than no associations. Conclusions The data presented display that patient experience is positively associated with clinical effectiveness and patient safety, and support the case for the inclusion of patient experience as one of the central pillars of quality in healthcare. It supports the argument that the three dimensions of quality should be looked at as a group and not in isolation. Clinicians should resist sidelining patient experience as too subjective or mood-oriented, divorced from the ‘real’ clinical work of measuring safety and effectiveness. PMID:23293244

  6. Computational Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Database

    National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

    SRD 101 NIST Computational Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Database (Web, free access)   The NIST Computational Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Database is a collection of experimental and ab initio thermochemical properties for a selected set of molecules. The goals are to provide a benchmark set of molecules for the evaluation of ab initio computational methods and allow the comparison between different ab initio computational methods for the prediction of thermochemical properties.

  7. TRIPOLI-4® - MCNP5 ITER A-lite neutronic model benchmarking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jaboulay, J.-C.; Cayla, P.-Y.; Fausser, C.; Lee, Y.-K.; Trama, J.-C.; Li-Puma, A.

    2014-06-01

    The aim of this paper is to present the capability of TRIPOLI-4®, the CEA Monte Carlo code, to model a large-scale fusion reactor with complex neutron source and geometry. In the past, numerous benchmarks were conducted for TRIPOLI-4® assessment on fusion applications. Experiments (KANT, OKTAVIAN, FNG) analysis and numerical benchmarks (between TRIPOLI-4® and MCNP5) on the HCLL DEMO2007 and ITER models were carried out successively. In this previous ITER benchmark, nevertheless, only the neutron wall loading was analyzed, its main purpose was to present MCAM (the FDS Team CAD import tool) extension for TRIPOLI-4®. Starting from this work a more extended benchmark has been performed about the estimation of neutron flux, nuclear heating in the shielding blankets and tritium production rate in the European TBMs (HCLL and HCPB) and it is presented in this paper. The methodology to build the TRIPOLI-4® A-lite model is based on MCAM and the MCNP A-lite model (version 4.1). Simplified TBMs (from KIT) have been integrated in the equatorial-port. Comparisons of neutron wall loading, flux, nuclear heating and tritium production rate show a good agreement between the two codes. Discrepancies are mainly included in the Monte Carlo codes statistical error.

  8. Internal Benchmarking for Institutional Effectiveness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ronco, Sharron L.

    2012-01-01

    Internal benchmarking is an established practice in business and industry for identifying best in-house practices and disseminating the knowledge about those practices to other groups in the organization. Internal benchmarking can be done with structures, processes, outcomes, or even individuals. In colleges or universities with multicampuses or a…

  9. Investigating the experiences of New Zealand MRI technologists: Exploring intra-orbital metallic foreign body safety practices

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

    Jacobs, Philippa K; Henwood, Suzanne; River Radiology, Victoria Clinic, 750 Victoria Street, Hamilton, Waikato

    2013-12-15

    Qualitative research is lacking regarding the experiences of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologists and their involvement in workplace safety practices. This article provides a gateway to explore, describe and document experiences of MRI technologists in New Zealand (NZ) pertaining to intra-orbital metallic foreign body (IMFB) safety practices. This phenomenological study describes the experiences of seven MRI technologists all with a minimum of 5 years' NZ work experience in MRI. The MRI technologists were interviewed face-to-face regarding their professional IMFB workplace experiences in order to explore historical, current and potential issues. Findings demonstrated that aspects of organization and administration are fundamentallymore » important to MRI technologists. Varying levels of education and knowledge, as well as experience and skills gained, have significantly impacted on MRI technologists’ level of confidence and control in IMFB practices. Participants’ descriptions of their experiences in practice regarding decision-making capabilities further highlight the complexity of these themes. A model was developed to demonstrate the interrelated nature of the themes and the complexity of the situation in totality. Findings of this study have provided insight into the experiences of MRI technologists pertaining to IMFB safety practices and highlighted inconsistencies. It is hoped that these findings will contribute to and improve the level of understanding of MRI technologists and the practices and protocols involved in IMFB safety screening. The scarcity of available literature regarding IMFB safety practices highlights that more research is required to investigate additional aspects that could improve MRI technologists’ experiences.« less

  10. Benchmark for Strategic Performance Improvement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gohlke, Annette

    1997-01-01

    Explains benchmarking, a total quality management tool used to measure and compare the work processes in a library with those in other libraries to increase library performance. Topics include the main groups of upper management, clients, and staff; critical success factors for each group; and benefits of benchmarking. (Author/LRW)

  11. Beyond Benchmarking: Value-Adding Metrics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitz-enz, Jac

    2007-01-01

    HR metrics has grown up a bit over the past two decades, moving away from simple benchmarking practices and toward a more inclusive approach to measuring institutional performance and progress. In this article, the acknowledged "father" of human capital performance benchmarking provides an overview of several aspects of today's HR metrics…

  12. The NAS kernel benchmark program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bailey, D. H.; Barton, J. T.

    1985-01-01

    A collection of benchmark test kernels that measure supercomputer performance has been developed for the use of the NAS (Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation) program at the NASA Ames Research Center. This benchmark program is described in detail and the specific ground rules are given for running the program as a performance test.

  13. Gatemon Benchmarking and Two-Qubit Operation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Casparis, Lucas; Larsen, Thorvald; Olsen, Michael; Petersson, Karl; Kuemmeth, Ferdinand; Krogstrup, Peter; Nygard, Jesper; Marcus, Charles

    Recent experiments have demonstrated superconducting transmon qubits with semiconductor nanowire Josephson junctions. These hybrid gatemon qubits utilize field effect tunability singular to semiconductors to allow complete qubit control using gate voltages, potentially a technological advantage over conventional flux-controlled transmons. Here, we present experiments with a two-qubit gatemon circuit. We characterize qubit coherence and stability and use randomized benchmarking to demonstrate single-qubit gate errors of ~0.5 % for all gates, including voltage-controlled Z rotations. We show coherent capacitive coupling between two gatemons and coherent SWAP operations. Finally, we perform a two-qubit controlled-phase gate with an estimated fidelity of ~91 %, demonstrating the potential of gatemon qubits for building scalable quantum processors. We acknowledge financial support from Microsoft Project Q and the Danish National Research Foundation.

  14. How do I know if my forecasts are better? Using benchmarks in hydrological ensemble prediction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pappenberger, F.; Ramos, M. H.; Cloke, H. L.; Wetterhall, F.; Alfieri, L.; Bogner, K.; Mueller, A.; Salamon, P.

    2015-03-01

    The skill of a forecast can be assessed by comparing the relative proximity of both the forecast and a benchmark to the observations. Example benchmarks include climatology or a naïve forecast. Hydrological ensemble prediction systems (HEPS) are currently transforming the hydrological forecasting environment but in this new field there is little information to guide researchers and operational forecasters on how benchmarks can be best used to evaluate their probabilistic forecasts. In this study, it is identified that the forecast skill calculated can vary depending on the benchmark selected and that the selection of a benchmark for determining forecasting system skill is sensitive to a number of hydrological and system factors. A benchmark intercomparison experiment is then undertaken using the continuous ranked probability score (CRPS), a reference forecasting system and a suite of 23 different methods to derive benchmarks. The benchmarks are assessed within the operational set-up of the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) to determine those that are 'toughest to beat' and so give the most robust discrimination of forecast skill, particularly for the spatial average fields that EFAS relies upon. Evaluating against an observed discharge proxy the benchmark that has most utility for EFAS and avoids the most naïve skill across different hydrological situations is found to be meteorological persistency. This benchmark uses the latest meteorological observations of precipitation and temperature to drive the hydrological model. Hydrological long term average benchmarks, which are currently used in EFAS, are very easily beaten by the forecasting system and the use of these produces much naïve skill. When decomposed into seasons, the advanced meteorological benchmarks, which make use of meteorological observations from the past 20 years at the same calendar date, have the most skill discrimination. They are also good at discriminating skill in low flows and for all

  15. DASHBOARDS & CONTROL CHARTS EXPERIENCES IN IMPROVING SAFETY AT HANFORD WASHINGTON

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

    PREVETTE, S.S.

    2006-02-27

    The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the integration of safety methodology, quality tools, leadership, and teamwork at Hanford and their significant positive impact on safe performance of work. Dashboards, Leading Indicators, Control charts, Pareto Charts, Dr. W. Edward Deming's Red Bead Experiment, and Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge have been the principal tools and theory of an integrated management system. Coupled with involved leadership and teamwork, they have led to significant improvements in worker safety and protection, and environmental restoration at one of the nation's largest nuclear cleanup sites.

  16. How Benchmarking and Higher Education Came Together

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levy, Gary D.; Ronco, Sharron L.

    2012-01-01

    This chapter introduces the concept of benchmarking and how higher education institutions began to use benchmarking for a variety of purposes. Here, benchmarking is defined as a strategic and structured approach whereby an organization compares aspects of its processes and/or outcomes to those of another organization or set of organizations to…

  17. Benchmarks--Standards Comparisons. Math Competencies: EFF Benchmarks Comparison [and] Reading Competencies: EFF Benchmarks Comparison [and] Writing Competencies: EFF Benchmarks Comparison.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kent State Univ., OH. Ohio Literacy Resource Center.

    This document is intended to show the relationship between Ohio's Standards and Competencies, Equipped for the Future's (EFF's) Standards and Components of Performance, and Ohio's Revised Benchmarks. The document is divided into three parts, with Part 1 covering mathematics instruction, Part 2 covering reading instruction, and Part 3 covering…

  18. Benchmarking the ATLAS software through the Kit Validation engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De Salvo, Alessandro; Brasolin, Franco

    2010-04-01

    The measurement of the experiment software performance is a very important metric in order to choose the most effective resources to be used and to discover the bottlenecks of the code implementation. In this work we present the benchmark techniques used to measure the ATLAS software performance through the ATLAS offline testing engine Kit Validation and the online portal Global Kit Validation. The performance measurements, the data collection, the online analysis and display of the results will be presented. The results of the measurement on different platforms and architectures will be shown, giving a full report on the CPU power and memory consumption of the Monte Carlo generation, simulation, digitization and reconstruction of the most CPU-intensive channels. The impact of the multi-core computing on the ATLAS software performance will also be presented, comparing the behavior of different architectures when increasing the number of concurrent processes. The benchmark techniques described in this paper have been used in the HEPiX group since the beginning of 2008 to help defining the performance metrics for the High Energy Physics applications, based on the real experiment software.

  19. Benchmarking worker nodes using LHCb productions and comparing with HEPSpec06

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Charpentier, P.

    2017-10-01

    In order to estimate the capabilities of a computing slot with limited processing time, it is necessary to know with a rather good precision its “power”. This allows for example pilot jobs to match a task for which the required CPU-work is known, or to define the number of events to be processed knowing the CPU-work per event. Otherwise one always has the risk that the task is aborted because it exceeds the CPU capabilities of the resource. It also allows a better accounting of the consumed resources. The traditional way the CPU power is estimated in WLCG since 2007 is using the HEP-Spec06 benchmark (HS06) suite that was verified at the time to scale properly with a set of typical HEP applications. However, the hardware architecture of processors has evolved, all WLCG experiments moved to using 64-bit applications and use different compilation flags from those advertised for running HS06. It is therefore interesting to check the scaling of HS06 with the HEP applications. For this purpose, we have been using CPU intensive massive simulation productions from the LHCb experiment and compared their event throughput to the HS06 rating of the worker nodes. We also compared it with a much faster benchmark script that is used by the DIRAC framework used by LHCb for evaluating at run time the performance of the worker nodes. This contribution reports on the finding of these comparisons: the main observation is that the scaling with HS06 is no longer fulfilled, while the fast benchmarks have a better scaling but are less precise. One can also clearly see that some hardware or software features when enabled on the worker nodes may enhance their performance beyond expectation from either benchmark, depending on external factors.

  20. Benchmarking: A Process for Improvement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peischl, Thomas M.

    One problem with the outcome-based measures used in higher education is that they measure quantity but not quality. Benchmarking, or the use of some external standard of quality to measure tasks, processes, and outputs, is partially solving that difficulty. Benchmarking allows for the establishment of a systematic process to indicate if outputs…

  1. Benchmarking in national health service procurement in Scotland.

    PubMed

    Walker, Scott; Masson, Ron; Telford, Ronnie; White, David

    2007-11-01

    The paper reports the results of a study on benchmarking activities undertaken by the procurement organization within the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland, namely National Procurement (previously Scottish Healthcare Supplies Contracts Branch). NHS performance is of course politically important, and benchmarking is increasingly seen as a means to improve performance, so the study was carried out to determine if the current benchmarking approaches could be enhanced. A review of the benchmarking activities used by the private sector, local government and NHS organizations was carried out to establish a framework of the motivations, benefits, problems and costs associated with benchmarking. This framework was used to carry out the research through case studies and a questionnaire survey of NHS procurement organizations both in Scotland and other parts of the UK. Nine of the 16 Scottish Health Boards surveyed reported carrying out benchmarking during the last three years. The findings of the research were that there were similarities in approaches between local government and NHS Scotland Health, but differences between NHS Scotland and other UK NHS procurement organizations. Benefits were seen as significant and it was recommended that National Procurement should pursue the formation of a benchmarking group with members drawn from NHS Scotland and external benchmarking bodies to establish measures to be used in benchmarking across the whole of NHS Scotland.

  2. Comparing two safety culture surveys: safety attitudes questionnaire and hospital survey on patient safety.

    PubMed

    Etchegaray, Jason M; Thomas, Eric J

    2012-06-01

    To examine the reliability and predictive validity of two patient safety culture surveys-Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) and Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS)-when administered to the same participants. Also to determine the ability to convert HSOPS scores to SAQ scores. Employees working in intensive care units in 12 hospitals within a large hospital system in the southern United States were invited to anonymously complete both safety culture surveys electronically. All safety culture dimensions from both surveys (with the exception of HSOPS's Staffing) had adequate levels of reliability. Three of HSOPS's outcomes-frequency of event reporting, overall perceptions of patient safety, and overall patient safety grade-were significantly correlated with SAQ and HSOPS dimensions of culture at the individual level, with correlations ranging from r=0.41 to 0.65 for the SAQ dimensions and from r=0.22 to 0.72 for the HSOPS dimensions. Neither the SAQ dimensions nor the HSOPS dimensions predicted the fourth HSOPS outcome-number of events reported within the last 12 months. Regression analyses indicated that HSOPS safety culture dimensions were the best predictors of frequency of event reporting and overall perceptions of patient safety while SAQ and HSOPS dimensions both predicted patient safety grade. Unit-level analyses were not conducted because indices did not indicate that aggregation was appropriate. Scores were converted between the surveys, although much variance remained unexplained. Given that the SAQ and HSOPS had similar reliability and predictive validity, investigators and quality and safety leaders should consider survey length, content, sensitivity to change and the ability to benchmark when selecting a patient safety culture survey.

  3. Hospital benchmarking: are U.S. eye hospitals ready?

    PubMed

    de Korne, Dirk F; van Wijngaarden, Jeroen D H; Sol, Kees J C A; Betz, Robert; Thomas, Richard C; Schein, Oliver D; Klazinga, Niek S

    2012-01-01

    Benchmarking is increasingly considered a useful management instrument to improve quality in health care, but little is known about its applicability in hospital settings. The aims of this study were to assess the applicability of a benchmarking project in U.S. eye hospitals and compare the results with an international initiative. We evaluated multiple cases by applying an evaluation frame abstracted from the literature to five U.S. eye hospitals that used a set of 10 indicators for efficiency benchmarking. Qualitative analysis entailed 46 semistructured face-to-face interviews with stakeholders, document analyses, and questionnaires. The case studies only partially met the conditions of the evaluation frame. Although learning and quality improvement were stated as overall purposes, the benchmarking initiative was at first focused on efficiency only. No ophthalmic outcomes were included, and clinicians were skeptical about their reporting relevance and disclosure. However, in contrast with earlier findings in international eye hospitals, all U.S. hospitals worked with internal indicators that were integrated in their performance management systems and supported benchmarking. Benchmarking can support performance management in individual hospitals. Having a certain number of comparable institutes provide similar services in a noncompetitive milieu seems to lay fertile ground for benchmarking. International benchmarking is useful only when these conditions are not met nationally. Although the literature focuses on static conditions for effective benchmarking, our case studies show that it is a highly iterative and learning process. The journey of benchmarking seems to be more important than the destination. Improving patient value (health outcomes per unit of cost) requires, however, an integrative perspective where clinicians and administrators closely cooperate on both quality and efficiency issues. If these worlds do not share such a relationship, the added

  4. ASIS healthcare security benchmarking study.

    PubMed

    2001-01-01

    Effective security has aligned itself into the everyday operations of a healthcare organization. This is evident in every regional market segment, regardless of size, location, and provider clinical expertise or organizational growth. This research addresses key security issues from an acute care provider to freestanding facilities, from rural hospitals and community hospitals to large urban teaching hospitals. Security issues and concerns are identified and addressed daily by senior and middle management. As provider campuses become larger and more diverse, the hospitals surveyed have identified critical changes and improvements that are proposed or pending. Mitigating liabilities and improving patient, visitor, and/or employee safety are consequential to the performance and viability of all healthcare providers. Healthcare organizations have identified the requirement to compete for patient volume and revenue. The facility that can deliver high-quality healthcare in a comfortable, safe, secure, and efficient atmosphere will have a significant competitive advantage over a facility where patient or visitor security and safety is deficient. Continuing changes in healthcare organizations' operating structure and healthcare geographic layout mean changes in leadership and direction. These changes have led to higher levels of corporate responsibility. As a result, each organization participating in this benchmark study has added value and will derive value for the overall benefit of the healthcare providers throughout the nation. This study provides a better understanding of how the fundamental security needs of security in healthcare organizations are being addressed and its solutions identified and implemented.

  5. Benchmark Factors in Student Retention.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waggener, Anna T.; Smith, Constance K.

    The first purpose of this study was to identify significant factors affecting the first benchmark in retaining students in college--the decision to enroll in the first fall semester after orientation. The second purpose was to examine enrollment decisions at the second benchmark--the decision to re-enroll in the second fall semester after freshman…

  6. Planning the Unplanned Experiment: Towards Assessing the Efficacy of Standards for Safety-Critical Software

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Graydon, Patrick J.; Holloway, C. M.

    2015-01-01

    Safe use of software in safety-critical applications requires well-founded means of determining whether software is fit for such use. While software in industries such as aviation has a good safety record, little is known about whether standards for software in safety-critical applications 'work' (or even what that means). It is often (implicitly) argued that software is fit for safety-critical use because it conforms to an appropriate standard. Without knowing whether a standard works, such reliance is an experiment; without carefully collecting assessment data, that experiment is unplanned. To help plan the experiment, we organized a workshop to develop practical ideas for assessing software safety standards. In this paper, we relate and elaborate on the workshop discussion, which revealed subtle but important study design considerations and practical barriers to collecting appropriate historical data and recruiting appropriate experimental subjects. We discuss assessing standards as written and as applied, several candidate definitions for what it means for a standard to 'work,' and key assessment strategies and study techniques and the pros and cons of each. Finally, we conclude with thoughts about the kinds of research that will be required and how academia, industry, and regulators might collaborate to overcome the noted barriers.

  7. Toxicological Benchmarks for Screening Potential Contaminants of Concern for Effects on Soil and Litter Invertebrates and Heterotrophic Process

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

    Will, M.E.

    1994-01-01

    This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for the purpose of ''contaminant screening,'' performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals. The work was performed under Work Breakdown Structure 1.4.12.2.3.04.07.02 (Activity Data Sheet 8304). In addition, this report presents sets of data concerning the effects of chemicals in soil on invertebrates and soil microbial processes, benchmarks for chemicals potentially associated with United States Department of Energy sites, and literature describing the experiments from which data were drawn for benchmark derivation.

  8. SP2Bench: A SPARQL Performance Benchmark

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmidt, Michael; Hornung, Thomas; Meier, Michael; Pinkel, Christoph; Lausen, Georg

    A meaningful analysis and comparison of both existing storage schemes for RDF data and evaluation approaches for SPARQL queries necessitates a comprehensive and universal benchmark platform. We present SP2Bench, a publicly available, language-specific performance benchmark for the SPARQL query language. SP2Bench is settled in the DBLP scenario and comprises a data generator for creating arbitrarily large DBLP-like documents and a set of carefully designed benchmark queries. The generated documents mirror vital key characteristics and social-world distributions encountered in the original DBLP data set, while the queries implement meaningful requests on top of this data, covering a variety of SPARQL operator constellations and RDF access patterns. In this chapter, we discuss requirements and desiderata for SPARQL benchmarks and present the SP2Bench framework, including its data generator, benchmark queries and performance metrics.

  9. Benchmarking in a differentially heated rotating annulus experiment: Multiple equilibria in the light of laboratory experiments and simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vincze, Miklos; Harlander, Uwe; Borchert, Sebastian; Achatz, Ulrich; Baumann, Martin; Egbers, Christoph; Fröhlich, Jochen; Hertel, Claudia; Heuveline, Vincent; Hickel, Stefan; von Larcher, Thomas; Remmler, Sebastian

    2014-05-01

    modes. Thus certain "benchmarks" have been created that can later be used as test cases for atmospheric numerical model validation. Both in the experiments and in the numerics multiple equilibrium states have been observed in the form of hysteretic behavior depending on the initial conditions. The precise quantification of these state and wave mode transitions may shed light to some aspects of the basic underlying dynamics of the baroclinic annulus configuration, still to be understood.

  10. Energy benchmarking of commercial buildings: a low-cost pathway toward urban sustainability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cox, Matt; Brown, Marilyn A.; Sun, Xiaojing

    2013-09-01

    US cities are beginning to experiment with a regulatory approach to address information failures in the real estate market by mandating the energy benchmarking of commercial buildings. Understanding how a commercial building uses energy has many benefits; for example, it helps building owners and tenants identify poor-performing buildings and subsystems and it enables high-performing buildings to achieve greater occupancy rates, rents, and property values. This paper estimates the possible impacts of a national energy benchmarking mandate through analysis chiefly utilizing the Georgia Tech version of the National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS). Correcting input discount rates results in a 4.0% reduction in projected energy consumption for seven major classes of equipment relative to the reference case forecast in 2020, rising to 8.7% in 2035. Thus, the official US energy forecasts appear to overestimate future energy consumption by underestimating investments in energy-efficient equipment. Further discount rate reductions spurred by benchmarking policies yield another 1.3-1.4% in energy savings in 2020, increasing to 2.2-2.4% in 2035. Benchmarking would increase the purchase of energy-efficient equipment, reducing energy bills, CO2 emissions, and conventional air pollution. Achieving comparable CO2 savings would require more than tripling existing US solar capacity. Our analysis suggests that nearly 90% of the energy saved by a national benchmarking policy would benefit metropolitan areas, and the policy’s benefits would outweigh its costs, both to the private sector and society broadly.

  11. Benchmark problems and solutions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tam, Christopher K. W.

    1995-01-01

    The scientific committee, after careful consideration, adopted six categories of benchmark problems for the workshop. These problems do not cover all the important computational issues relevant to Computational Aeroacoustics (CAA). The deciding factor to limit the number of categories to six was the amount of effort needed to solve these problems. For reference purpose, the benchmark problems are provided here. They are followed by the exact or approximate analytical solutions. At present, an exact solution for the Category 6 problem is not available.

  12. featsel: A framework for benchmarking of feature selection algorithms and cost functions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reis, Marcelo S.; Estrela, Gustavo; Ferreira, Carlos Eduardo; Barrera, Junior

    In this paper, we introduce featsel, a framework for benchmarking of feature selection algorithms and cost functions. This framework allows the user to deal with the search space as a Boolean lattice and has its core coded in C++ for computational efficiency purposes. Moreover, featsel includes Perl scripts to add new algorithms and/or cost functions, generate random instances, plot graphs and organize results into tables. Besides, this framework already comes with dozens of algorithms and cost functions for benchmarking experiments. We also provide illustrative examples, in which featsel outperforms the popular Weka workbench in feature selection procedures on data sets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository.

  13. 42 CFR 440.335 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 440... and Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.335 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has an aggregate...

  14. 42 CFR 440.335 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 440... and Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.335 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has an aggregate...

  15. Benchmarking specialty hospitals, a scoping review on theory and practice.

    PubMed

    Wind, A; van Harten, W H

    2017-04-04

    Although benchmarking may improve hospital processes, research on this subject is limited. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of publications on benchmarking in specialty hospitals and a description of study characteristics. We searched PubMed and EMBASE for articles published in English in the last 10 years. Eligible articles described a project stating benchmarking as its objective and involving a specialty hospital or specific patient category; or those dealing with the methodology or evaluation of benchmarking. Of 1,817 articles identified in total, 24 were included in the study. Articles were categorized into: pathway benchmarking, institutional benchmarking, articles on benchmark methodology or -evaluation and benchmarking using a patient registry. There was a large degree of variability:(1) study designs were mostly descriptive and retrospective; (2) not all studies generated and showed data in sufficient detail; and (3) there was variety in whether a benchmarking model was just described or if quality improvement as a consequence of the benchmark was reported upon. Most of the studies that described a benchmark model described the use of benchmarking partners from the same industry category, sometimes from all over the world. Benchmarking seems to be more developed in eye hospitals, emergency departments and oncology specialty hospitals. Some studies showed promising improvement effects. However, the majority of the articles lacked a structured design, and did not report on benchmark outcomes. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of benchmarking to improve quality in specialty hospitals, robust and structured designs are needed including a follow up to check whether the benchmark study has led to improvements.

  16. The National Practice Benchmark for oncology, 2014 report on 2013 data.

    PubMed

    Towle, Elaine L; Barr, Thomas R; Senese, James L

    2014-11-01

    The National Practice Benchmark (NPB) is a unique tool to measure oncology practices against others across the country in a way that allows meaningful comparisons despite differences in practice size or setting. In today's economic environment every oncology practice, regardless of business structure or affiliation, should be able to produce, monitor, and benchmark basic metrics to meet current business pressures for increased efficiency and efficacy of care. Although we recognize that the NPB survey results do not capture the experience of all oncology practices, practices that can and do participate demonstrate exceptional managerial capability, and this year those practices are recognized for their participation. In this report, we continue to emphasize the methodology introduced last year in which we reported medical revenue net of the cost of the drugs as net medical revenue for the hematology/oncology product line. The effect of this is to capture only the gross margin attributable to drugs as revenue. New this year, we introduce six measures of clinical data density and expand the radiation oncology benchmarks. Copyright © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  17. A benchmark for subduction zone modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Keken, P.; King, S.; Peacock, S.

    2003-04-01

    Our understanding of subduction zones hinges critically on the ability to discern its thermal structure and dynamics. Computational modeling has become an essential complementary approach to observational and experimental studies. The accurate modeling of subduction zones is challenging due to the unique geometry, complicated rheological description and influence of fluid and melt formation. The complicated physics causes problems for the accurate numerical solution of the governing equations. As a consequence it is essential for the subduction zone community to be able to evaluate the ability and limitations of various modeling approaches. The participants of a workshop on the modeling of subduction zones, held at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI, USA in 2002, formulated a number of case studies to be developed into a benchmark similar to previous mantle convection benchmarks (Blankenbach et al., 1989; Busse et al., 1991; Van Keken et al., 1997). Our initial benchmark focuses on the dynamics of the mantle wedge and investigates three different rheologies: constant viscosity, diffusion creep, and dislocation creep. In addition we investigate the ability of codes to accurate model dynamic pressure and advection dominated flows. Proceedings of the workshop and the formulation of the benchmark are available at www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~keken/subduction02.html We strongly encourage interested research groups to participate in this benchmark. At Nice 2003 we will provide an update and first set of benchmark results. Interested researchers are encouraged to contact one of the authors for further details.

  18. A chemical EOR benchmark study of different reservoir simulators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goudarzi, Ali; Delshad, Mojdeh; Sepehrnoori, Kamy

    2016-09-01

    Interest in chemical EOR processes has intensified in recent years due to the advancements in chemical formulations and injection techniques. Injecting Polymer (P), surfactant/polymer (SP), and alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) are techniques for improving sweep and displacement efficiencies with the aim of improving oil production in both secondary and tertiary floods. There has been great interest in chemical flooding recently for different challenging situations. These include high temperature reservoirs, formations with extreme salinity and hardness, naturally fractured carbonates, and sandstone reservoirs with heavy and viscous crude oils. More oil reservoirs are reaching maturity where secondary polymer floods and tertiary surfactant methods have become increasingly important. This significance has added to the industry's interest in using reservoir simulators as tools for reservoir evaluation and management to minimize costs and increase the process efficiency. Reservoir simulators with special features are needed to represent coupled chemical and physical processes present in chemical EOR processes. The simulators need to be first validated against well controlled lab and pilot scale experiments to reliably predict the full field implementations. The available data from laboratory scale include 1) phase behavior and rheological data; and 2) results of secondary and tertiary coreflood experiments for P, SP, and ASP floods under reservoir conditions, i.e. chemical retentions, pressure drop, and oil recovery. Data collected from corefloods are used as benchmark tests comparing numerical reservoir simulators with chemical EOR modeling capabilities such as STARS of CMG, ECLIPSE-100 of Schlumberger, REVEAL of Petroleum Experts. The research UTCHEM simulator from The University of Texas at Austin is also included since it has been the benchmark for chemical flooding simulation for over 25 years. The results of this benchmark comparison will be utilized to improve

  19. Benchmarking: your performance measurement and improvement tool.

    PubMed

    Senn, G F

    2000-01-01

    Many respected professional healthcare organizations and societies today are seeking to establish data-driven performance measurement strategies such as benchmarking. Clinicians are, however, resistant to "benchmarking" that is based on financial data alone, concerned that it may be adverse to the patients' best interests. Benchmarking of clinical procedures that uses physician's codes such as Current Procedural Terminology (CPTs) has greater credibility with practitioners. Better Performers, organizations that can perform procedures successfully at lower cost and in less time, become the "benchmark" against which other organizations can measure themselves. The Better Performers' strategies can be adopted by other facilities to save time or money while maintaining quality patient care.

  20. A Uranium Bioremediation Reactive Transport Benchmark

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

    Yabusaki, Steven B.; Sengor, Sevinc; Fang, Yilin

    A reactive transport benchmark problem set has been developed based on in situ uranium bio-immobilization experiments that have been performed at a former uranium mill tailings site in Rifle, Colorado, USA. Acetate-amended groundwater stimulates indigenous microorganisms to catalyze the reduction of U(VI) to a sparingly soluble U(IV) mineral. The interplay between the flow, acetate loading periods and rates, microbially-mediated and geochemical reactions leads to dynamic behavior in metal- and sulfate-reducing bacteria, pH, alkalinity, and reactive mineral surfaces. The benchmark is based on an 8.5 m long one-dimensional model domain with constant saturated flow and uniform porosity. The 159-day simulation introducesmore » acetate and bromide through the upgradient boundary in 14-day and 85-day pulses separated by a 10 day interruption. Acetate loading is tripled during the second pulse, which is followed by a 50 day recovery period. Terminal electron accepting processes for goethite, phyllosilicate Fe(III), U(VI), and sulfate are modeled using Monod-type rate laws. Major ion geochemistry modeled includes mineral reactions, as well as aqueous and surface complexation reactions for UO2++, Fe++, and H+. In addition to the dynamics imparted by the transport of the acetate pulses, U(VI) behavior involves the interplay between bioreduction, which is dependent on acetate availability, and speciation-controlled surface complexation, which is dependent on pH, alkalinity and available surface complexation sites. The general difficulty of this benchmark is the large number of reactions (74), multiple rate law formulations, a multisite uranium surface complexation model, and the strong interdependency and sensitivity of the reaction processes. Results are presented for three simulators: HYDROGEOCHEM, PHT3D, and PHREEQC.« less

  1. Benchmark Airport Charges

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    deWit, A.; Cohn, N.

    1999-01-01

    The Netherlands Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) commissioned Hague Consulting Group (HCG) to complete a benchmark study of airport charges at twenty eight airports in Europe and around the world, based on 1996 charges. This study followed previous DGCA research on the topic but included more airports in much more detail. The main purpose of this new benchmark study was to provide insight into the levels and types of airport charges worldwide and into recent changes in airport charge policy and structure, This paper describes the 1996 analysis. It is intended that this work be repeated every year in order to follow developing trends and provide the most up-to-date information possible.

  2. Benchmark Airport Charges

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    de Wit, A.; Cohn, N.

    1999-01-01

    The Netherlands Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) commissioned Hague Consulting Group (HCG) to complete a benchmark study of airport charges at twenty eight airports in Europe and around the world, based on 1996 charges. This study followed previous DGCA research on the topic but included more airports in much more detail. The main purpose of this new benchmark study was to provide insight into the levels and types of airport charges worldwide and into recent changes in airport charge policy and structure. This paper describes the 1996 analysis. It is intended that this work be repeated every year in order to follow developing trends and provide the most up-to-date information possible.

  3. 42 CFR 440.330 - Benchmark health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.330 Benchmark health benefits coverage. Benchmark coverage is health...) Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan Equivalent Coverage (FEHBP—Equivalent Health Insurance Coverage). A benefit plan equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit...

  4. 42 CFR 440.330 - Benchmark health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.330 Benchmark health benefits coverage. Benchmark coverage is health...) Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan Equivalent Coverage (FEHBP—Equivalent Health Insurance Coverage). A benefit plan equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit...

  5. 42 CFR 440.330 - Benchmark health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.330 Benchmark health benefits coverage. Benchmark coverage is health...) Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan Equivalent Coverage (FEHBP—Equivalent Health Insurance Coverage). A benefit plan equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit...

  6. 42 CFR 440.330 - Benchmark health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.330 Benchmark health benefits coverage. Benchmark coverage is health...) Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan Equivalent Coverage (FEHBP—Equivalent Health Insurance Coverage). A benefit plan equivalent to the standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit...

  7. Dimensions of Safety Climate among Iranian Nurses.

    PubMed

    Konjin, Z Naghavi; Shokoohi, Y; Zarei, F; Rahimzadeh, M; Sarsangi, V

    2015-10-01

    Workplace safety has been a concern of workers and managers for decades. Measuring safety climate is crucial in improving safety performance. It is also a method of benchmarking safety perception. To develop and validate a psychometrics scale for measuring nurses' safety climate. Literature review, subject matter experts and nurse's judgment were used in items developing. Content validity and reliability for new tool were tested by content validity index (CVI) and test-retest analysis, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation was used to improve the interpretation of latent factors. A 40-item scale in 6 factors was developed, which could explain 55% of the observed variance. The 6 factors included employees' involvement in safety and management support, compliance with safety rules, safety training and accessibility to personal protective equipment, hindrance to safe work, safety communication and job pressure, and individual risk perception. The proposed scale can be used in identifying the needed areas to implement interventions in safety climate of nurses.

  8. Toxicological benchmarks for screening potential contaminants of concern for effects on soil and litter invertebrates and heterotrophic process

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

    Will, M.E.; Suter, G.W. II

    1994-09-01

    One of the initial stages in ecological risk assessments for hazardous waste sites is the screening of contaminants to determine which of them are worthy of further consideration as {open_quotes}contaminants of potential concern.{close_quotes} This process is termed {open_quotes}contaminant screening.{close_quotes} It is performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals to benchmark concentrations. Currently, no standard benchmark concentrations exist for assessing contaminants in soil with respect to their toxicity to soil- and litter-dwelling invertebrates, including earthworms, other micro- and macroinvertebrates, or heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for this purpose, sets of data concerningmore » effects of chemicals in soil on invertebrates and soil microbial processes, and benchmarks for chemicals potentially associated with United States Department of Energy sites. In addition, literature describing the experiments from which data were drawn for benchmark derivation. Chemicals that are found in soil at concentrations exceeding both the benchmarks and the background concentration for the soil type should be considered contaminants of potential concern.« less

  9. The Patient Safety Leadership Academy at the University of Pennsylvania: the first cohort's learning experience.

    PubMed

    Wurster, Angela B; Pearson, Kathy; Sonnad, Seema S; Mullen, James L; Kaiser, Larry R

    2007-01-01

    We based the Patient Safety Leadership Academy (PSLA) on the premise that improving management skills could improve patient safety and employee satisfaction. Fellows completed baseline surveys on leadership skills knowledge, patient safety knowledge, and program goals. They completed the same surveys 7 months later at the final PSLA session. The fellows also completed a survey assessing how PSLA improved expertise and comparing PSLA to other patient safety learning opportunities. Matched pairs t tests were used to compare baseline and postprogram results. Baseline scores indicated appropriateness of focusing on leadership, with average leadership knowledge (2.48) significantly lower than patient safety knowledge (3.22). For patient safety, postprogram results were significant for 8 of 10 questions. All results were significant for leadership. Fellows also rated skills covered by the curriculum on a scale of 1 to 10. For all areas, the median score for knowledge gained was 7. When compared with other patient safety learning experiences, participants rated PSLA as 4 or 5, where 1 indicated the other experience much more valuable and 5 much more valuable. PSLA demonstrates that leadership skills are perceived as important by physicians and managers in surgical areas. This study demonstrated that a leadership skills approach to patient safety training could improve knowledge in specific leadership areas and general patient safety.

  10. Implementation of Programmatic Quality and the Impact on Safety

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Huls, Dale Thomas; Meehan, Kevin

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of a programmatic quality assurance discipline within the International Space Station Program and the resulting impact on safety. NASA culture has continued to stress safety at the expense of quality when both are extremely important and both can equally influence the success or failure of a Program or Mission. Although safety was heavily criticized in the media after Colimbiaa, strong case can be made that it was the failure of quality processes and quality assurance in all processes that eventually led to the Columbia accident. Consequently, it is possible to have good quality processes without safety, but it is impossible to have good safety processes without quality. The ISS Program quality assurance function was analyzed as representative of the long-term manned missions that are consistent with the President s Vision for Space Exploration. Background topics are as follows: The quality assurance organizational structure within the ISS Program and the interrelationships between various internal and external organizations. ISS Program quality roles and responsibilities with respect to internal Program Offices and other external organizations such as the Shuttle Program, JSC Directorates, NASA Headquarters, NASA Contractors, other NASA Centers, and International Partner/participants will be addressed. A detailed analysis of implemented quality assurance responsibilities and functions with respect to NASA Headquarters, the JSC S&MA Directorate, and the ISS Program will be presented. Discussions topics are as follows: A comparison of quality and safety resources in terms of staffing, training, experience, and certifications. A benchmark assessment of the lessons learned from the Columbia Accident Investigation (CAB) Report (and follow-up reports and assessments), NASA Benchmarking, and traditional quality assurance activities against ISS quality procedures and practices. The lack of a coherent operational

  11. 40 CFR 141.172 - Disinfection profiling and benchmarking.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... benchmarking. 141.172 Section 141.172 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... Disinfection-Systems Serving 10,000 or More People § 141.172 Disinfection profiling and benchmarking. (a... sanitary surveys conducted by the State. (c) Disinfection benchmarking. (1) Any system required to develop...

  12. Raising Quality and Achievement. A College Guide to Benchmarking.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Owen, Jane

    This booklet introduces the principles and practices of benchmarking as a way of raising quality and achievement at further education colleges in Britain. Section 1 defines the concept of benchmarking. Section 2 explains what benchmarking is not and the steps that should be taken before benchmarking is initiated. The following aspects and…

  13. Benchmarking forensic mental health organizations.

    PubMed

    Coombs, Tim; Taylor, Monica; Pirkis, Jane

    2011-04-01

    This paper describes the forensic mental health forums that were conducted as part of the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project (NMHBP). These forums encouraged participating organizations to compare their performance on a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) with that of their peers. Four forensic mental health organizations took part in the NMHBP. Representatives from these organizations attended eight benchmarking forums at which they documented their performance against previously agreed KPIs. They also undertook three special projects which explored some of the factors that might explain inter-organizational variation in performance. The inter-organizational range for many of the indicators was substantial. Observing this led participants to conduct the special projects to explore three factors which might help explain the variability - seclusion practices, delivery of community mental health services, and provision of court liaison services. The process of conducting the special projects gave participants insights into the practices and structures employed by their counterparts, and provided them with some important lessons for quality improvement. The forensic mental health benchmarking forums have demonstrated that benchmarking is feasible and likely to be useful in improving service performance and quality.

  14. How to Advance TPC Benchmarks with Dependability Aspects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almeida, Raquel; Poess, Meikel; Nambiar, Raghunath; Patil, Indira; Vieira, Marco

    Transactional systems are the core of the information systems of most organizations. Although there is general acknowledgement that failures in these systems often entail significant impact both on the proceeds and reputation of companies, the benchmarks developed and managed by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) still maintain their focus on reporting bare performance. Each TPC benchmark has to pass a list of dependability-related tests (to verify ACID properties), but not all benchmarks require measuring their performances. While TPC-E measures the recovery time of some system failures, TPC-H and TPC-C only require functional correctness of such recovery. Consequently, systems used in TPC benchmarks are tuned mostly for performance. In this paper we argue that nowadays systems should be tuned for a more comprehensive suite of dependability tests, and that a dependability metric should be part of TPC benchmark publications. The paper discusses WHY and HOW this can be achieved. Two approaches are introduced and discussed: augmenting each TPC benchmark in a customized way, by extending each specification individually; and pursuing a more unified approach, defining a generic specification that could be adjoined to any TPC benchmark.

  15. A Methodology for Benchmarking Relational Database Machines,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-01-01

    user benchmarks is to compare the multiple users to the best-case performance The data for each query classification coll and the performance...called a benchmark. The term benchmark originates from the markers used by sur - veyors in establishing common reference points for their measure...formatted databases. In order to further simplify the problem, we restrict our study to those DBMs which support the relational model. A sur - vey

  16. Protein Models Docking Benchmark 2

    PubMed Central

    Anishchenko, Ivan; Kundrotas, Petras J.; Tuzikov, Alexander V.; Vakser, Ilya A.

    2015-01-01

    Structural characterization of protein-protein interactions is essential for our ability to understand life processes. However, only a fraction of known proteins have experimentally determined structures. Such structures provide templates for modeling of a large part of the proteome, where individual proteins can be docked by template-free or template-based techniques. Still, the sensitivity of the docking methods to the inherent inaccuracies of protein models, as opposed to the experimentally determined high-resolution structures, remains largely untested, primarily due to the absence of appropriate benchmark set(s). Structures in such a set should have pre-defined inaccuracy levels and, at the same time, resemble actual protein models in terms of structural motifs/packing. The set should also be large enough to ensure statistical reliability of the benchmarking results. We present a major update of the previously developed benchmark set of protein models. For each interactor, six models were generated with the model-to-native Cα RMSD in the 1 to 6 Å range. The models in the set were generated by a new approach, which corresponds to the actual modeling of new protein structures in the “real case scenario,” as opposed to the previous set, where a significant number of structures were model-like only. In addition, the larger number of complexes (165 vs. 63 in the previous set) increases the statistical reliability of the benchmarking. We estimated the highest accuracy of the predicted complexes (according to CAPRI criteria), which can be attained using the benchmark structures. The set is available at http://dockground.bioinformatics.ku.edu. PMID:25712716

  17. [Do you mean benchmarking?].

    PubMed

    Bonnet, F; Solignac, S; Marty, J

    2008-03-01

    The purpose of benchmarking is to settle improvement processes by comparing the activities to quality standards. The proposed methodology is illustrated by benchmark business cases performed inside medical plants on some items like nosocomial diseases or organization of surgery facilities. Moreover, the authors have built a specific graphic tool, enhanced with balance score numbers and mappings, so that the comparison between different anesthesia-reanimation services, which are willing to start an improvement program, is easy and relevant. This ready-made application is even more accurate as far as detailed tariffs of activities are implemented.

  18. Benchmarking, Total Quality Management, and Libraries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaughnessy, Thomas W.

    1993-01-01

    Discussion of the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) in higher education and academic libraries focuses on the identification, collection, and use of reliable data. Methods for measuring quality, including benchmarking, are described; performance measures are considered; and benchmarking techniques are examined. (11 references) (MES)

  19. Radiation Detection Computational Benchmark Scenarios

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

    Shaver, Mark W.; Casella, Andrew M.; Wittman, Richard S.

    2013-09-24

    Modeling forms an important component of radiation detection development, allowing for testing of new detector designs, evaluation of existing equipment against a wide variety of potential threat sources, and assessing operation performance of radiation detection systems. This can, however, result in large and complex scenarios which are time consuming to model. A variety of approaches to radiation transport modeling exist with complementary strengths and weaknesses for different problems. This variety of approaches, and the development of promising new tools (such as ORNL’s ADVANTG) which combine benefits of multiple approaches, illustrates the need for a means of evaluating or comparing differentmore » techniques for radiation detection problems. This report presents a set of 9 benchmark problems for comparing different types of radiation transport calculations, identifying appropriate tools for classes of problems, and testing and guiding the development of new methods. The benchmarks were drawn primarily from existing or previous calculations with a preference for scenarios which include experimental data, or otherwise have results with a high level of confidence, are non-sensitive, and represent problem sets of interest to NA-22. From a technical perspective, the benchmarks were chosen to span a range of difficulty and to include gamma transport, neutron transport, or both and represent different important physical processes and a range of sensitivity to angular or energy fidelity. Following benchmark identification, existing information about geometry, measurements, and previous calculations were assembled. Monte Carlo results (MCNP decks) were reviewed or created and re-run in order to attain accurate computational times and to verify agreement with experimental data, when present. Benchmark information was then conveyed to ORNL in order to guide testing and development of hybrid calculations. The results of those ADVANTG calculations were then sent to

  20. Reactor Physics Measurements and Benchmark Specifications for Oak Ridge Highly Enriched Uranium Sphere (ORSphere)

    DOE PAGES

    Marshall, Margaret A.

    2014-11-04

    In the early 1970s Dr. John T. Mihalczo (team leader), J.J. Lynn, and J.R. Taylor performed experiments at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) with highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal (called Oak Ridge Alloy or ORALLOY) in an effort to recreate GODIVA I results with greater accuracy than those performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1950s. The purpose of the Oak Ridge ORALLOY Sphere (ORSphere) experiments was to estimate the unreflected and unmoderated critical mass of an idealized sphere of uranium metal corrected to a density, purity, and enrichment such that it could be compared with themore » GODIVA I experiments. Additionally, various material reactivity worths, the surface material worth coefficient, the delayed neutron fraction, the prompt neutron decay constant, relative fission density, and relative neutron importance were all measured. The critical assembly, material reactivity worths, the surface material worth coefficient, and the delayed neutron fraction were all evaluated as benchmark experiment measurements. The reactor physics measurements are the focus of this paper; although for clarity the critical assembly benchmark specifications are briefly discussed.« less

  1. Structural Benchmark Creep Testing for Microcast MarM-247 Advanced Stirling Convertor E2 Heater Head Test Article SN18

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krause, David L.; Brewer, Ethan J.; Pawlik, Ralph

    2013-01-01

    This report provides test methodology details and qualitative results for the first structural benchmark creep test of an Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) heater head of ASC-E2 design heritage. The test article was recovered from a flight-like Microcast MarM-247 heater head specimen previously used in helium permeability testing. The test article was utilized for benchmark creep test rig preparation, wall thickness and diametral laser scan hardware metrological developments, and induction heater custom coil experiments. In addition, a benchmark creep test was performed, terminated after one week when through-thickness cracks propagated at thermocouple weld locations. Following this, it was used to develop a unique temperature measurement methodology using contact thermocouples, thereby enabling future benchmark testing to be performed without the use of conventional welded thermocouples, proven problematic for the alloy. This report includes an overview of heater head structural benchmark creep testing, the origin of this particular test article, test configuration developments accomplished using the test article, creep predictions for its benchmark creep test, qualitative structural benchmark creep test results, and a short summary.

  2. Benchmarking Helps Measure Union Programs, Operations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mann, Jerry

    2001-01-01

    Explores three examples of benchmarking by college student unions. Focuses on how a union can collect information from other unions for use as benchmarking standards for the purposes of selling a concept or justifying program increases, or for comparing a union's financial performance to other unions. (EV)

  3. Present Status and Extensions of the Monte Carlo Performance Benchmark

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoogenboom, J. Eduard; Petrovic, Bojan; Martin, William R.

    2014-06-01

    The NEA Monte Carlo Performance benchmark started in 2011 aiming to monitor over the years the abilities to perform a full-size Monte Carlo reactor core calculation with a detailed power production for each fuel pin with axial distribution. This paper gives an overview of the contributed results thus far. It shows that reaching a statistical accuracy of 1 % for most of the small fuel zones requires about 100 billion neutron histories. The efficiency of parallel execution of Monte Carlo codes on a large number of processor cores shows clear limitations for computer clusters with common type computer nodes. However, using true supercomputers the speedup of parallel calculations is increasing up to large numbers of processor cores. More experience is needed from calculations on true supercomputers using large numbers of processors in order to predict if the requested calculations can be done in a short time. As the specifications of the reactor geometry for this benchmark test are well suited for further investigations of full-core Monte Carlo calculations and a need is felt for testing other issues than its computational performance, proposals are presented for extending the benchmark to a suite of benchmark problems for evaluating fission source convergence for a system with a high dominance ratio, for coupling with thermal-hydraulics calculations to evaluate the use of different temperatures and coolant densities and to study the correctness and effectiveness of burnup calculations. Moreover, other contemporary proposals for a full-core calculation with realistic geometry and material composition will be discussed.

  4. Benchmark Study of Global Clean Energy Manufacturing | Advanced

    Science.gov Websites

    Manufacturing Research | NREL Benchmark Study of Global Clean Energy Manufacturing Benchmark Study of Global Clean Energy Manufacturing Through a first-of-its-kind benchmark study, the Clean Energy Technology End Product.' The study examined four clean energy technologies: wind turbine components

  5. Benchmarking: contexts and details matter.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Siyuan

    2017-07-05

    Benchmarking is an essential step in the development of computational tools. We take this opportunity to pitch in our opinions on tool benchmarking, in light of two correspondence articles published in Genome Biology.Please see related Li et al. and Newman et al. correspondence articles: www.dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1256-5 and www.dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1257-4.

  6. Collegiate Aviation Research and Education Solutions to Critical Safety Issues

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bowen, Brent (Editor)

    2002-01-01

    This Conference Proceedings is a collection of 6 abstracts and 3 papers presented April 19-20, 2001 in Denver, CO. The conference focus was "Best Practices and Benchmarking in Collegiate and Industry Programs". Topics covered include: satellite-based aviation navigation; weather safety training; human-behavior and aircraft maintenance issues; disaster preparedness; the collegiate aviation emergency response checklist; aviation safety research; and regulatory status of maintenance resource management.

  7. Benchmarking a Visual-Basic based multi-component one-dimensional reactive transport modeling tool

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torlapati, Jagadish; Prabhakar Clement, T.

    2013-01-01

    We present the details of a comprehensive numerical modeling tool, RT1D, which can be used for simulating biochemical and geochemical reactive transport problems. The code can be run within the standard Microsoft EXCEL Visual Basic platform, and it does not require any additional software tools. The code can be easily adapted by others for simulating different types of laboratory-scale reactive transport experiments. We illustrate the capabilities of the tool by solving five benchmark problems with varying levels of reaction complexity. These literature-derived benchmarks are used to highlight the versatility of the code for solving a variety of practical reactive transport problems. The benchmarks are described in detail to provide a comprehensive database, which can be used by model developers to test other numerical codes. The VBA code presented in the study is a practical tool that can be used by laboratory researchers for analyzing both batch and column datasets within an EXCEL platform.

  8. MoMaS reactive transport benchmark using PFLOTRAN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, H.

    2017-12-01

    MoMaS benchmark was developed to enhance numerical simulation capability for reactive transport modeling in porous media. The benchmark was published in late September of 2009; it is not taken from a real chemical system, but realistic and numerically challenging tests. PFLOTRAN is a state-of-art massively parallel subsurface flow and reactive transport code that is being used in multiple nuclear waste repository projects at Sandia National Laboratories including Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and Used Fuel Disposition. MoMaS benchmark has three independent tests with easy, medium, and hard chemical complexity. This paper demonstrates how PFLOTRAN is applied to this benchmark exercise and shows results of the easy benchmark test case which includes mixing of aqueous components and surface complexation. Surface complexations consist of monodentate and bidentate reactions which introduces difficulty in defining selectivity coefficient if the reaction applies to a bulk reference volume. The selectivity coefficient becomes porosity dependent for bidentate reaction in heterogeneous porous media. The benchmark is solved by PFLOTRAN with minimal modification to address the issue and unit conversions were made properly to suit PFLOTRAN.

  9. Benchmarking and Threshold Standards in Higher Education. Staff and Educational Development Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Helen, Ed.; Armstrong, Michael, Ed.; Brown, Sally, Ed.

    This book explores the issues involved in developing standards in higher education, examining the practical issues involved in benchmarking and offering a critical analysis of the problems associated with this developmental tool. The book focuses primarily on experience in the United Kingdom (UK), but looks also at international activity in this…

  10. International E-Benchmarking: Flexible Peer Development of Authentic Learning Principles in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leppisaari, Irja; Vainio, Leena; Herrington, Jan; Im, Yeonwook

    2011-01-01

    More and more, social technologies and virtual work methods are facilitating new ways of crossing boundaries in professional development and international collaborations. This paper examines the peer development of higher education teachers through the experiences of the IVBM project (International Virtual Benchmarking, 2009-2010). The…

  11. Benchmarking hypercube hardware and software

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grunwald, Dirk C.; Reed, Daniel A.

    1986-01-01

    It was long a truism in computer systems design that balanced systems achieve the best performance. Message passing parallel processors are no different. To quantify the balance of a hypercube design, an experimental methodology was developed and the associated suite of benchmarks was applied to several existing hypercubes. The benchmark suite includes tests of both processor speed in the absence of internode communication and message transmission speed as a function of communication patterns.

  12. Benchmarking for Excellence and the Nursing Process

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sleboda, Claire

    1999-01-01

    Nursing is a service profession. The services provided are essential to life and welfare. Therefore, setting the benchmark for high quality care is fundamental. Exploring the definition of a benchmark value will help to determine a best practice approach. A benchmark is the descriptive statement of a desired level of performance against which quality can be judged. It must be sufficiently well understood by managers and personnel in order that it may serve as a standard against which to measure value.

  13. Practicing Surgeons Lead in Quality Care, Safety, and Cost Control

    PubMed Central

    Shively, Eugene H.; Heine, Michael J.; Schell, Robert H.; Sharpe, J Neal; Garrison, R Neal; Vallance, Steven R.; DeSimone, Kenneth J.S.; Polk, Hiram C.

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To report the experiences of 66 surgical specialists from 15 different hospitals who performed 43 CPT-based procedures more than 16,000 times. Summary Background Data: Surgeons are under increasing pressure to demonstrate patient safety data as quantitated by objective and subjective outcomes that meet or exceed the standards of benchmark institutions or databases. Methods: Data from 66 surgical specialists on 43 CPT-based procedures were accessioned over a 4-year period. The hospitals vary from a small 30-bed hospital to large teaching hospitals. All reported deaths and complications were verified from hospital and office records and compared with benchmarks. Results: Over a 4-year inclusive period (1999–2002), 16,028 elective operations were accessioned. There was a total 1.4% complication rate and 0.05% death rate. A system has been developed for tracking outcomes. A wide range of improvements have been identified. These include the following: 1) improved classification of indications for systemic prophylactic antibiotic use and reduction in the variety of drugs used, 2) shortened length of stay for standard procedures in different surgical specialties, 3) adherence to strict indicators for selected operative procedures, 4) less use of costly diagnostic procedures, 5) decreased use of expensive home health services, 6) decreased use of very expensive drugs, 7) identification of the unnecessary expense of disposable laparoscopic devices, 8) development of a method to compare a one-surgeon hospital with his peers, and 9) development of unique protocols for interaction of anesthesia and surgery. The system also provides a very good basis for confirmation of patient safety and improvement therein. Conclusions: Since 1998, Quality Surgical Solutions, PLLC, has developed simple physician-authored protocols for delivering high-quality and cost-effective surgery that measure up to benchmark institutions. We have discovered wide areas for improvements in

  14. FDA Benchmark Medical Device Flow Models for CFD Validation.

    PubMed

    Malinauskas, Richard A; Hariharan, Prasanna; Day, Steven W; Herbertson, Luke H; Buesen, Martin; Steinseifer, Ulrich; Aycock, Kenneth I; Good, Bryan C; Deutsch, Steven; Manning, Keefe B; Craven, Brent A

    Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is increasingly being used to develop blood-contacting medical devices. However, the lack of standardized methods for validating CFD simulations and blood damage predictions limits its use in the safety evaluation of devices. Through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiative, two benchmark models of typical device flow geometries (nozzle and centrifugal blood pump) were tested in multiple laboratories to provide experimental velocities, pressures, and hemolysis data to support CFD validation. In addition, computational simulations were performed by more than 20 independent groups to assess current CFD techniques. The primary goal of this article is to summarize the FDA initiative and to report recent findings from the benchmark blood pump model study. Discrepancies between CFD predicted velocities and those measured using particle image velocimetry most often occurred in regions of flow separation (e.g., downstream of the nozzle throat, and in the pump exit diffuser). For the six pump test conditions, 57% of the CFD predictions of pressure head were within one standard deviation of the mean measured values. Notably, only 37% of all CFD submissions contained hemolysis predictions. This project aided in the development of an FDA Guidance Document on factors to consider when reporting computational studies in medical device regulatory submissions. There is an accompanying podcast available for this article. Please visit the journal's Web site (www.asaiojournal.com) to listen.

  15. Toward Scalable Benchmarks for Mass Storage Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Miller, Ethan L.

    1996-01-01

    This paper presents guidelines for the design of a mass storage system benchmark suite, along with preliminary suggestions for programs to be included. The benchmarks will measure both peak and sustained performance of the system as well as predicting both short- and long-term behavior. These benchmarks should be both portable and scalable so they may be used on storage systems from tens of gigabytes to petabytes or more. By developing a standard set of benchmarks that reflect real user workload, we hope to encourage system designers and users to publish performance figures that can be compared with those of other systems. This will allow users to choose the system that best meets their needs and give designers a tool with which they can measure the performance effects of improvements to their systems.

  16. Benchmarking and validation activities within JEFF project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabellos, O.; Alvarez-Velarde, F.; Angelone, M.; Diez, C. J.; Dyrda, J.; Fiorito, L.; Fischer, U.; Fleming, M.; Haeck, W.; Hill, I.; Ichou, R.; Kim, D. H.; Klix, A.; Kodeli, I.; Leconte, P.; Michel-Sendis, F.; Nunnenmann, E.; Pecchia, M.; Peneliau, Y.; Plompen, A.; Rochman, D.; Romojaro, P.; Stankovskiy, A.; Sublet, J. Ch.; Tamagno, P.; Marck, S. van der

    2017-09-01

    The challenge for any nuclear data evaluation project is to periodically release a revised, fully consistent and complete library, with all needed data and covariances, and ensure that it is robust and reliable for a variety of applications. Within an evaluation effort, benchmarking activities play an important role in validating proposed libraries. The Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion (JEFF) Project aims to provide such a nuclear data library, and thus, requires a coherent and efficient benchmarking process. The aim of this paper is to present the activities carried out by the new JEFF Benchmarking and Validation Working Group, and to describe the role of the NEA Data Bank in this context. The paper will also review the status of preliminary benchmarking for the next JEFF-3.3 candidate cross-section files.

  17. Got spirit? The spiritual climate scale, psychometric properties, benchmarking data and future directions.

    PubMed

    Doram, Keith; Chadwick, Whitney; Bokovoy, Joni; Profit, Jochen; Sexton, Janel D; Sexton, J Bryan

    2017-02-11

    Organizations that encourage the respectful expression of diverse spiritual views have higher productivity and performance, and support employees with greater organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Within healthcare, there is a paucity of studies which define or intervene on the spiritual needs of healthcare workers, or examine the effects of a pro-spirituality environment on teamwork and patient safety. Our objective was to describe a novel survey scale for evaluating spiritual climate in healthcare workers, evaluate its psychometric properties, provide benchmarking data from a large faith-based healthcare system, and investigate relationships between spiritual climate and other predictors of patient safety and job satisfaction. Cross-sectional survey study of US healthcare workers within a large, faith-based health system. Seven thousand nine hundred twenty three of 9199 eligible healthcare workers across 325 clinical areas within 16 hospitals completed our survey in 2009 (86% response rate). The spiritual climate scale exhibited good psychometric properties (internal consistency: Cronbach α = .863). On average 68% (SD 17.7) of respondents of a given clinical area expressed good spiritual climate, although assessments varied widely (14 to 100%). Spiritual climate correlated positively with teamwork climate (r = .434, p < .001) and safety climate (r = .489, p < .001). Healthcare workers reporting good spiritual climate were less likely to have intentions to leave, to be burned out, or to experience disruptive behaviors in their unit and more likely to have participated in executive rounding (p < .001 for each variable). The spiritual climate scale exhibits good psychometric properties, elicits results that vary widely by clinical area, and aligns well with other culture constructs that have been found to correlate with clinical and organizational outcomes.

  18. Early experience of a safety net provider reorganizing into an accountable care organization.

    PubMed

    Hacker, Karen; Santos, Palmira; Thompson, Douglas; Stout, Somava S; Bearse, Adriana; Mechanic, Robert E

    2014-08-01

    Although safety net providers will benefit from health insurance expansions under the Affordable Care Act, they also face significant challenges in the postreform environment. Some have embraced the concept of the accountable care organization to help improve quality and efficiency while addressing financial shortfalls. The experience of Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) in Massachusetts, where health care reform began six years ago, provides insight into the opportunities and challenges of this approach in the safety net. CHA's strategies include care redesign, financial realignment, workforce transformation, and development of external partnerships. Early results show some improvement in access, patient experience, quality, and utilization; however, the potential efficiencies will not eliminate CHA's current operating deficit. The patient population, payer mix, service mix, cost structure, and political requirements reduce the likelihood of financial sustainability without significant changes in these factors, increased public funding, or both. Thus the future of safety net institutions, regardless of payment and care redesign success, remains at risk. Copyright © 2014 by Duke University Press.

  19. Benchmarking short sequence mapping tools

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The development of next-generation sequencing instruments has led to the generation of millions of short sequences in a single run. The process of aligning these reads to a reference genome is time consuming and demands the development of fast and accurate alignment tools. However, the current proposed tools make different compromises between the accuracy and the speed of mapping. Moreover, many important aspects are overlooked while comparing the performance of a newly developed tool to the state of the art. Therefore, there is a need for an objective evaluation method that covers all the aspects. In this work, we introduce a benchmarking suite to extensively analyze sequencing tools with respect to various aspects and provide an objective comparison. Results We applied our benchmarking tests on 9 well known mapping tools, namely, Bowtie, Bowtie2, BWA, SOAP2, MAQ, RMAP, GSNAP, Novoalign, and mrsFAST (mrFAST) using synthetic data and real RNA-Seq data. MAQ and RMAP are based on building hash tables for the reads, whereas the remaining tools are based on indexing the reference genome. The benchmarking tests reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each tool. The results show that no single tool outperforms all others in all metrics. However, Bowtie maintained the best throughput for most of the tests while BWA performed better for longer read lengths. The benchmarking tests are not restricted to the mentioned tools and can be further applied to others. Conclusion The mapping process is still a hard problem that is affected by many factors. In this work, we provided a benchmarking suite that reveals and evaluates the different factors affecting the mapping process. Still, there is no tool that outperforms all of the others in all the tests. Therefore, the end user should clearly specify his needs in order to choose the tool that provides the best results. PMID:23758764

  20. Benchmarking on Tsunami Currents with ComMIT

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharghi vand, N.; Kanoglu, U.

    2015-12-01

    There were no standards for the validation and verification of tsunami numerical models before 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Even, number of numerical models has been used for inundation mapping effort, evaluation of critical structures, etc. without validation and verification. After 2004, NOAA Center for Tsunami Research (NCTR) established standards for the validation and verification of tsunami numerical models (Synolakis et al. 2008 Pure Appl. Geophys. 165, 2197-2228), which will be used evaluation of critical structures such as nuclear power plants against tsunami attack. NCTR presented analytical, experimental and field benchmark problems aimed to estimate maximum runup and accepted widely by the community. Recently, benchmark problems were suggested by the US National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program Mapping & Modeling Benchmarking Workshop: Tsunami Currents on February 9-10, 2015 at Portland, Oregon, USA (http://nws.weather.gov/nthmp/index.html). These benchmark problems concentrated toward validation and verification of tsunami numerical models on tsunami currents. Three of the benchmark problems were: current measurement of the Japan 2011 tsunami in Hilo Harbor, Hawaii, USA and in Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand, and single long-period wave propagating onto a small-scale experimental model of the town of Seaside, Oregon, USA. These benchmark problems were implemented in the Community Modeling Interface for Tsunamis (ComMIT) (Titov et al. 2011 Pure Appl. Geophys. 168, 2121-2131), which is a user-friendly interface to the validated and verified Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) (Titov and Synolakis 1995 J. Waterw. Port Coastal Ocean Eng. 121, 308-316) model and is developed by NCTR. The modeling results are compared with the required benchmark data, providing good agreements and results are discussed. Acknowledgment: The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant

  1. Adaptive unified continuum FEM modeling of a 3D FSI benchmark problem.

    PubMed

    Jansson, Johan; Degirmenci, Niyazi Cem; Hoffman, Johan

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, we address a 3D fluid-structure interaction benchmark problem that represents important characteristics of biomedical modeling. We present a goal-oriented adaptive finite element methodology for incompressible fluid-structure interaction based on a streamline diffusion-type stabilization of the balance equations for mass and momentum for the entire continuum in the domain, which is implemented in the Unicorn/FEniCS software framework. A phase marker function and its corresponding transport equation are introduced to select the constitutive law, where the mesh tracks the discontinuous fluid-structure interface. This results in a unified simulation method for fluids and structures. We present detailed results for the benchmark problem compared with experiments, together with a mesh convergence study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Benchmarking child and adolescent mental health organizations.

    PubMed

    Brann, Peter; Walter, Garry; Coombs, Tim

    2011-04-01

    This paper describes aspects of the child and adolescent benchmarking forums that were part of the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project (NMHBP). These forums enabled participating child and adolescent mental health organizations to benchmark themselves against each other, with a view to understanding variability in performance against a range of key performance indicators (KPIs). Six child and adolescent mental health organizations took part in the NMHBP. Representatives from these organizations attended eight benchmarking forums at which they documented their performance against relevant KPIs. They also undertook two special projects designed to help them understand the variation in performance on given KPIs. There was considerable inter-organization variability on many of the KPIs. Even within organizations, there was often substantial variability over time. The variability in indicator data raised many questions for participants. This challenged participants to better understand and describe their local processes, prompted them to collect additional data, and stimulated them to make organizational comparisons. These activities fed into a process of reflection about their performance. Benchmarking has the potential to illuminate intra- and inter-organizational performance in the child and adolescent context.

  3. Benchmarks: The Development of a New Approach to Student Evaluation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larter, Sylvia

    The Toronto Board of Education Benchmarks are libraries of reference materials that demonstrate student achievement at various levels. Each library contains video benchmarks, print benchmarks, a staff handbook, and summary and introductory documents. This book is about the development and the history of the benchmark program. It has taken over 3…

  4. 42 CFR 457.430 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 457... STATES State Plan Requirements: Coverage and Benefits § 457.430 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has...

  5. 42 CFR 457.430 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 457... STATES State Plan Requirements: Coverage and Benefits § 457.430 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has...

  6. 42 CFR 457.430 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 457... STATES State Plan Requirements: Coverage and Benefits § 457.430 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has...

  7. 42 CFR 440.335 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 440.335 Section 440.335 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND... and Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.335 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a...

  8. 42 CFR 440.335 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. 440.335 Section 440.335 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND... and Benchmark-Equivalent Coverage § 440.335 Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage. (a...

  9. Clear, Complete, and Justified Problem Formulations for Aquatic Life Benchmark Values: Specifying the Dimensions

    EPA Science Inventory

    Nations that develop water quality benchmark values have relied primarily on standard data and methods. However, experience with chemicals such as Se, ammonia, and tributyltin has shown that standard methods do not adequately address some taxa, modes of exposure and effects. Deve...

  10. CLEAR, COMPLETE, AND JUSTIFIED PROBLEM FORMULATIONS FOR AQUATIC LIFE BENCHMARK VALUES: SPECIFYING THE DIMENSIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Nations that develop water quality benchmark values have relied primarily on standard data and methods. However, experience with chemicals such as Se, ammonia, and tributyltin has shown that standard methods do not adequately address some taxa, modes of exposure and effects. Deve...

  11. Taking the Battle Upstream: Towards a Benchmarking Role for NATO

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    Benchmark.........................................................................................14 Figure 8. World Bank Benchmarking Work on Quality...Search of a Benchmarking Theory for the Public Sector.” 16     Figure 8. World Bank Benchmarking Work on Quality of Governance One of the most...the Ministries of Defense in the countries in which it works ). Another interesting innovation is that for comparison purposes, McKinsey categorized

  12. Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Advanced testing methods now allow pesticides to be detected in water at very low levels. These small amounts of pesticides detected in drinking water or source water for drinking water do not necessarily indicate a health risk. The EPA has developed human health benchmarks for 363 pesticides to enable our partners to better determine whether the detection of a pesticide in drinking water or source waters for drinking water may indicate a potential health risk and to help them prioritize monitoring efforts.The table below includes benchmarks for acute (one-day) and chronic (lifetime) exposures for the most sensitive populations from exposure to pesticides that may be found in surface or ground water sources of drinking water. The table also includes benchmarks for 40 pesticides in drinking water that have the potential for cancer risk. The HHBP table includes pesticide active ingredients for which Health Advisories or enforceable National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (e.g., maximum contaminant levels) have not been developed.

  13. Fire safety experiments on MIR Orbital Station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Egorov, S. D.; Belayev, A. YU.; Klimin, L. P.; Voiteshonok, V. S.; Ivanov, A. V.; Semenov, A. V.; Zaitsev, E. N.; Balashov, E. V.; Andreeva, T. V.

    1995-01-01

    The process of heterogeneous combustion of most materials under zero-g without forced motion of air is practically impossible. However, ventilation is required to support astronauts' life and cool equipment. The presence of ventilation flows in station compartments at accidental ignition can cause a fire. An additional, but exceedingly important parameter of the fire risk of solid materials under zero-g is the minimum air gas velocity at which the extinction of materials occurs. Therefore, the conception of fire safety can be based on temporarily lowering the intensity of ventilation and even turning it off. The information on the limiting conditions of combustion under natural conditions is needed from both scientific and practical points of view. It will enable us to judge the reliability of results of ground-based investigations and develop a conception of fire safety of inhabited sealed compartments of space stations to by provided be means of nontraditional and highly-effective methods without both employing large quantities of fire-extinguishing compounds and hard restrictions on use of polymers. In this connection, an experimental installation was created to study the process of heterogeneous combustion of solid non-metals and to determine the conditions of its extinction under microgravity. This installation was delivered to the orbital station 'Mir' and the cosmonauts Viktorenko and Kondakova performed initial experiments on it in late 1994. The experimental installation consists of a combustion chamber with an electrical systems for ignition of samples, a device for cleaning air from combustion products, an air suction unit, air pipes and a control panel. The whole experiment is controlled by telemetry and recorded with two video cameras located at two different places. Besides the picture, parameters are recorded to determine the velocity of the air flow incoming to the samples, the time points of switching on/off the devices, etc. The combustion chamber

  14. Evaluation of control strategies using an oxidation ditch benchmark.

    PubMed

    Abusam, A; Keesman, K J; Spanjers, H; van, Straten G; Meinema, K

    2002-01-01

    This paper presents validation and implementation results of a benchmark developed for a specific full-scale oxidation ditch wastewater treatment plant. A benchmark is a standard simulation procedure that can be used as a tool in evaluating various control strategies proposed for wastewater treatment plants. It is based on model and performance criteria development. Testing of this benchmark, by comparing benchmark predictions to real measurements of the electrical energy consumptions and amounts of disposed sludge for a specific oxidation ditch WWTP, has shown that it can (reasonably) be used for evaluating the performance of this WWTP. Subsequently, the validated benchmark was then used in evaluating some basic and advanced control strategies. Some of the interesting results obtained are the following: (i) influent flow splitting ratio, between the first and the fourth aerated compartments of the ditch, has no significant effect on the TN concentrations in the effluent, and (ii) for evaluation of long-term control strategies, future benchmarks need to be able to assess settlers' performance.

  15. Benchmarking to improve the quality of cystic fibrosis care.

    PubMed

    Schechter, Michael S

    2012-11-01

    Benchmarking involves the ascertainment of healthcare programs with most favorable outcomes as a means to identify and spread effective strategies for delivery of care. The recent interest in the development of patient registries for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been fueled in part by an interest in using them to facilitate benchmarking. This review summarizes reports of how benchmarking has been operationalized in attempts to improve CF care. Although certain goals of benchmarking can be accomplished with an exclusive focus on registry data analysis, benchmarking programs in Germany and the United States have supplemented these data analyses with exploratory interactions and discussions to better understand successful approaches to care and encourage their spread throughout the care network. Benchmarking allows the discovery and facilitates the spread of effective approaches to care. It provides a pragmatic alternative to traditional research methods such as randomized controlled trials, providing insights into methods that optimize delivery of care and allowing judgments about the relative effectiveness of different therapeutic approaches.

  16. Python/Lua Benchmarks

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

    Busby, L.

    This is an adaptation of the pre-existing Scimark benchmark code to a variety of Python and Lua implementations. It also measures performance of the Fparser expression parser and C and C++ code on a variety of simple scientific expressions.

  17. Hospital safety climate surveys: measurement issues.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Jeanette; Sarac, Cakil; Flin, Rhona

    2010-12-01

    Organizational safety culture relates to behavioural norms in the workplace and is usually assessed by safety climate surveys. These can be a diagnostic indicator on the state of safety in a hospital. This review examines recent studies using staff surveys of hospital safety climate, focussing on measurement issues. Four questionnaires (hospital survey on patient safety culture, safety attitudes questionnaire, patient safety climate in healthcare organizations, hospital safety climate scale), with acceptable psychometric properties, are now applied across countries and clinical settings. Comparisons for benchmarking must be made with caution in case of questionnaire modifications. Increasing attention is being paid to the unit and hospital level wherein distinct cultures may be located, as well as to associated measurement and study design issues. Predictive validity of safety climate is tested against safety behaviours/outcomes, with some relationships reported, although effects may be specific to professional groups/units. Few studies test the role of intervening variables that could influence the effect of climate on outcomes. Hospital climate studies are becoming a key component of healthcare safety management systems. Large datasets have established more reliable instruments that allow a more focussed investigation of the role of culture in the improvement and maintenance of staff's safety perceptions within units, as well as within hospitals.

  18. Drug research methodology. Volume 1, The alcohol-highway safety experience and its applicability to other drugs

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1980-03-01

    This report presents the findings of a workshop concerning the alcohol and highway safety experience, which includes research efforts to define the drinking-driving problem and societal responses to reduce the increased highway safety risk attributab...

  19. Benchmark problems for numerical implementations of phase field models

    DOE PAGES

    Jokisaari, A. M.; Voorhees, P. W.; Guyer, J. E.; ...

    2016-10-01

    Here, we present the first set of benchmark problems for phase field models that are being developed by the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While many scientific research areas use a limited set of well-established software, the growing phase field community continues to develop a wide variety of codes and lacks benchmark problems to consistently evaluate the numerical performance of new implementations. Phase field modeling has become significantly more popular as computational power has increased and is now becoming mainstream, driving the need for benchmark problems to validate and verifymore » new implementations. We follow the example set by the micromagnetics community to develop an evolving set of benchmark problems that test the usability, computational resources, numerical capabilities and physical scope of phase field simulation codes. In this paper, we propose two benchmark problems that cover the physics of solute diffusion and growth and coarsening of a second phase via a simple spinodal decomposition model and a more complex Ostwald ripening model. We demonstrate the utility of benchmark problems by comparing the results of simulations performed with two different adaptive time stepping techniques, and we discuss the needs of future benchmark problems. The development of benchmark problems will enable the results of quantitative phase field models to be confidently incorporated into integrated computational materials science and engineering (ICME), an important goal of the Materials Genome Initiative.« less

  20. Using Benchmarking To Influence Tuition and Fee Decisions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hubbell, Loren W. Loomis; Massa, Robert J.; Lapovsky, Lucie

    2002-01-01

    Discusses the use of benchmarking in managing enrollment. Using a case study, illustrates how benchmarking can help administrators develop strategies for planning and implementing admissions and pricing practices. (EV)

  1. High-energy neutron depth-dose distribution experiment.

    PubMed

    Ferenci, M S; Hertel, N E

    2003-01-01

    A unique set of high-energy neutron depth-dose benchmark experiments were performed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center/Weapons Neutron Research (LANSCE/WNR) complex. The experiments consisted of filtered neutron beams with energies up to 800 MeV impinging on a 30 x 30 x 30 cm3 liquid, tissue-equivalent phantom. The absorbed dose was measured in the phantom at various depths with tissue-equivalent ion chambers. This experiment is intended to serve as a benchmark experiment for the testing of high-energy radiation transport codes for the international radiation protection community.

  2. Benchmark study on glyphosate-resistant crop systems in the United States. Part 2: Perspectives.

    PubMed

    Owen, Micheal D K; Young, Bryan G; Shaw, David R; Wilson, Robert G; Jordan, David L; Dixon, Philip M; Weller, Stephen C

    2011-07-01

    A six-state, 5 year field project was initiated in 2006 to study weed management methods that foster the sustainability of genetically engineered (GE) glyphosate-resistant (GR) crop systems. The benchmark study field-scale experiments were initiated following a survey, conducted in the winter of 2005-2006, of farmer opinions on weed management practices and their views on GR weeds and management tactics. The main survey findings supported the premise that growers were generally less aware of the significance of evolved herbicide resistance and did not have a high recognition of the strong selection pressure from herbicides on the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds. The results of the benchmark study survey indicated that there are educational challenges to implement sustainable GR-based crop systems and helped guide the development of the field-scale benchmark study. Paramount is the need to develop consistent and clearly articulated science-based management recommendations that enable farmers to reduce the potential for HR weeds. This paper provides background perspectives about the use of GR crops, the impact of these crops and an overview of different opinions about the use of GR crops on agriculture and society, as well as defining how the benchmark study will address these issues. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. Benchmarking comparison and validation of MCNP photon interaction data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colling, Bethany; Kodeli, I.; Lilley, S.; Packer, L. W.

    2017-09-01

    The objective of the research was to test available photoatomic data libraries for fusion relevant applications, comparing against experimental and computational neutronics benchmarks. Photon flux and heating was compared using the photon interaction data libraries (mcplib 04p, 05t, 84p and 12p). Suitable benchmark experiments (iron and water) were selected from the SINBAD database and analysed to compare experimental values with MCNP calculations using mcplib 04p, 84p and 12p. In both the computational and experimental comparisons, the majority of results with the 04p, 84p and 12p photon data libraries were within 1σ of the mean MCNP statistical uncertainty. Larger differences were observed when comparing computational results with the 05t test photon library. The Doppler broadening sampling bug in MCNP-5 is shown to be corrected for fusion relevant problems through use of the 84p photon data library. The recommended libraries for fusion neutronics are 84p (or 04p) with MCNP6 and 84p if using MCNP-5.

  4. Measuring the FMCSA's safety objectives from March 2000 to September 2004.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-01-01

    The Volpe Center was requested by FMCSA to establish metrics and benchmarks against which to assess progress in attaining the FMCSA safety objectives. This was to be done objectively, emphasizing the use of SafeStat information. SafeStat (short for M...

  5. Benchmarking of Decision-Support Tools Used for Tiered Sustainable Remediation Appraisal.

    PubMed

    Smith, Jonathan W N; Kerrison, Gavin

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable remediation comprises soil and groundwater risk-management actions that are selected, designed, and operated to maximize net environmental, social, and economic benefit (while assuring protection of human health and safety). This paper describes a benchmarking exercise to comparatively assess potential differences in environmental management decision making resulting from application of different sustainability appraisal tools ranging from simple (qualitative) to more quantitative (multi-criteria and fully monetized cost-benefit analysis), as outlined in the SuRF-UK framework. The appraisal tools were used to rank remedial options for risk management of a subsurface petroleum release that occurred at a petrol filling station in central England. The remediation options were benchmarked using a consistent set of soil and groundwater data for each tier of sustainability appraisal. The ranking of remedial options was very similar in all three tiers, and an environmental management decision to select the most sustainable options at tier 1 would have been the same decision at tiers 2 and 3. The exercise showed that, for relatively simple remediation projects, a simple sustainability appraisal led to the same remediation option selection as more complex appraisal, and can be used to reliably inform environmental management decisions on other relatively simple land contamination projects.

  6. Listening to Excluded Young People's Experiences of e-Safety and Risk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cranmer, Sue

    2013-01-01

    This article reports on excluded young people's experiences with and management of e-safety and risk. It has importance in exploring these concerns given that excluded young people's voices are very often absent in education and technology research and yet they are potentially more at risk when using Information and Communication Technologies than…

  7. PMLB: a large benchmark suite for machine learning evaluation and comparison.

    PubMed

    Olson, Randal S; La Cava, William; Orzechowski, Patryk; Urbanowicz, Ryan J; Moore, Jason H

    2017-01-01

    The selection, development, or comparison of machine learning methods in data mining can be a difficult task based on the target problem and goals of a particular study. Numerous publicly available real-world and simulated benchmark datasets have emerged from different sources, but their organization and adoption as standards have been inconsistent. As such, selecting and curating specific benchmarks remains an unnecessary burden on machine learning practitioners and data scientists. The present study introduces an accessible, curated, and developing public benchmark resource to facilitate identification of the strengths and weaknesses of different machine learning methodologies. We compare meta-features among the current set of benchmark datasets in this resource to characterize the diversity of available data. Finally, we apply a number of established machine learning methods to the entire benchmark suite and analyze how datasets and algorithms cluster in terms of performance. From this study, we find that existing benchmarks lack the diversity to properly benchmark machine learning algorithms, and there are several gaps in benchmarking problems that still need to be considered. This work represents another important step towards understanding the limitations of popular benchmarking suites and developing a resource that connects existing benchmarking standards to more diverse and efficient standards in the future.

  8. 47 CFR 69.108 - Transport rate benchmark.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Transport rate benchmark. 69.108 Section 69.108... Computation of Charges § 69.108 Transport rate benchmark. (a) For transport charges computed in accordance... interoffice transmission using the telephone company's DS1 special access rates. (b) Initial transport rates...

  9. 47 CFR 69.108 - Transport rate benchmark.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Transport rate benchmark. 69.108 Section 69.108... Computation of Charges § 69.108 Transport rate benchmark. (a) For transport charges computed in accordance... interoffice transmission using the telephone company's DS1 special access rates. (b) Initial transport rates...

  10. Electric-Drive Vehicle Thermal Performance Benchmarking | Transportation

    Science.gov Websites

    studies are as follows: Characterize the thermal resistance and conductivity of various layers in the Research | NREL Electric-Drive Vehicle Thermal Performance Benchmarking Electric-Drive Vehicle Thermal Performance Benchmarking A photo of the internal components of an automotive inverter. NREL

  11. [Experience feedback committee: a method for patient safety improvement].

    PubMed

    François, P; Sellier, E; Imburchia, F; Mallaret, M-R

    2013-04-01

    An experience feedback committee (CREX, Comité de Retour d'EXpérience) is a method which contributes to the management of safety of care in a medical unit. Originally used for security systems of civil aviation, the method has been adapted to health care facilities and successfully implemented in radiotherapy units and in other specialties. We performed a brief review of the literature for studies reporting data on CREX established in hospitals. The review was performed using the main bibliographic databases and Google search results. The CREX is designed to analyse incidents reported by professionals. The method includes monthly meetings of a multi-professional committee that reviews the reported incidents, chooses a priority incident and designates a "pilot" responsible for investigating the incident. The investigation of the incident involves a systemic analysis method and a written synthesis presented at the next meeting of the committee. The committee agrees on actions for improvement that are suggested by the analysis and follows their implementation. Systems for the management of health care, including reporting systems, are organized into three levels: the medical unit, the hospital and the country as a triple loop learning process. The CREX is located in the base level, short loop of risk management and allows direct involvement of care professionals in patient safety. Safety of care has become a priority of health systems. In this context, the CREX can be a useful vehicle for the implementation of a safety culture in medical units. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  12. Robust Tomography using Randomized Benchmarking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silva, Marcus; Kimmel, Shelby; Johnson, Blake; Ryan, Colm; Ohki, Thomas

    2013-03-01

    Conventional randomized benchmarking (RB) can be used to estimate the fidelity of Clifford operations in a manner that is robust against preparation and measurement errors -- thus allowing for a more accurate and relevant characterization of the average error in Clifford gates compared to standard tomography protocols. Interleaved RB (IRB) extends this result to the extraction of error rates for individual Clifford gates. In this talk we will show how to combine multiple IRB experiments to extract all information about the unital part of any trace preserving quantum process. Consequently, one can compute the average fidelity to any unitary, not just the Clifford group, with tighter bounds than IRB. Moreover, the additional information can be used to design improvements in control. MS, BJ, CR and TO acknowledge support from IARPA under contract W911NF-10-1-0324.

  13. Unstructured Adaptive (UA) NAS Parallel Benchmark. Version 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Feng, Huiyu; VanderWijngaart, Rob; Biswas, Rupak; Mavriplis, Catherine

    2004-01-01

    We present a complete specification of a new benchmark for measuring the performance of modern computer systems when solving scientific problems featuring irregular, dynamic memory accesses. It complements the existing NAS Parallel Benchmark suite. The benchmark involves the solution of a stylized heat transfer problem in a cubic domain, discretized on an adaptively refined, unstructured mesh.

  14. BENCHMARKING SUSTAINABILITY ENGINEERING EDUCATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    The goals of this project are to develop and apply a methodology for benchmarking curricula in sustainability engineering and to identify individuals active in sustainability engineering education.

  15. Performance Evaluation of Supercomputers using HPCC and IMB Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Saini, Subhash; Ciotti, Robert; Gunney, Brian T. N.; Spelce, Thomas E.; Koniges, Alice; Dossa, Don; Adamidis, Panagiotis; Rabenseifner, Rolf; Tiyyagura, Sunil R.; Mueller, Matthias; hide

    2006-01-01

    The HPC Challenge (HPCC) benchmark suite and the Intel MPI Benchmark (IMB) are used to compare and evaluate the combined performance of processor, memory subsystem and interconnect fabric of five leading supercomputers - SGI Altix BX2, Cray XI, Cray Opteron Cluster, Dell Xeon cluster, and NEC SX-8. These five systems use five different networks (SGI NUMALINK4, Cray network, Myrinet, InfiniBand, and NEC IXS). The complete set of HPCC benchmarks are run on each of these systems. Additionally, we present Intel MPI Benchmarks (IMB) results to study the performance of 11 MPI communication functions on these systems.

  16. Sequoia Messaging Rate Benchmark

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

    Friedley, Andrew

    2008-01-22

    The purpose of this benchmark is to measure the maximal message rate of a single compute node. The first num_cores ranks are expected to reside on the 'core' compute node for which message rate is being tested. After that, the next num_nbors ranks are neighbors for the first core rank, the next set of num_nbors ranks are neighbors for the second core rank, and so on. For example, testing an 8-core node (num_cores = 8) with 4 neighbors (num_nbors = 4) requires 8 + 8 * 4 - 40 ranks. The first 8 of those 40 ranks are expected tomore » be on the 'core' node being benchmarked, while the rest of the ranks are on separate nodes.« less

  17. Using a health promotion model to promote benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Welby, Jane

    2006-07-01

    The North East (England) Neonatal Benchmarking Group has been established for almost a decade and has researched and developed a substantial number of evidence-based benchmarks. With no firm evidence that these were being used or that there was any standardisation of neonatal care throughout the region, the group embarked on a programme to review the benchmarks and determine what evidence-based guidelines were needed to support standardisation. A health promotion planning model was used by one subgroup to structure the programme; it enabled all members of the sub group to engage in the review process and provided the motivation and supporting documentation for implementation of changes in practice. The need for a regional guideline development group to complement the activity of the benchmarking group is being addressed.

  18. Electric load shape benchmarking for small- and medium-sized commercial buildings

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

    Luo, Xuan; Hong, Tianzhen; Chen, Yixing

    Small- and medium-sized commercial buildings owners and utility managers often look for opportunities for energy cost savings through energy efficiency and energy waste minimization. However, they currently lack easy access to low-cost tools that help interpret the massive amount of data needed to improve understanding of their energy use behaviors. Benchmarking is one of the techniques used in energy audits to identify which buildings are priorities for an energy analysis. Traditional energy performance indicators, such as the energy use intensity (annual energy per unit of floor area), consider only the total annual energy consumption, lacking consideration of the fluctuation ofmore » energy use behavior over time, which reveals the time of use information and represents distinct energy use behaviors during different time spans. To fill the gap, this study developed a general statistical method using 24-hour electric load shape benchmarking to compare a building or business/tenant space against peers. Specifically, the study developed new forms of benchmarking metrics and data analysis methods to infer the energy performance of a building based on its load shape. We first performed a data experiment with collected smart meter data using over 2,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in California. We then conducted a cluster analysis of the source data, and determined and interpreted the load shape features and parameters with peer group analysis. Finally, we implemented the load shape benchmarking feature in an open-access web-based toolkit (the Commercial Building Energy Saver) to provide straightforward and practical recommendations to users. The analysis techniques were generic and flexible for future datasets of other building types and in other utility territories.« less

  19. Electric load shape benchmarking for small- and medium-sized commercial buildings

    DOE PAGES

    Luo, Xuan; Hong, Tianzhen; Chen, Yixing; ...

    2017-07-28

    Small- and medium-sized commercial buildings owners and utility managers often look for opportunities for energy cost savings through energy efficiency and energy waste minimization. However, they currently lack easy access to low-cost tools that help interpret the massive amount of data needed to improve understanding of their energy use behaviors. Benchmarking is one of the techniques used in energy audits to identify which buildings are priorities for an energy analysis. Traditional energy performance indicators, such as the energy use intensity (annual energy per unit of floor area), consider only the total annual energy consumption, lacking consideration of the fluctuation ofmore » energy use behavior over time, which reveals the time of use information and represents distinct energy use behaviors during different time spans. To fill the gap, this study developed a general statistical method using 24-hour electric load shape benchmarking to compare a building or business/tenant space against peers. Specifically, the study developed new forms of benchmarking metrics and data analysis methods to infer the energy performance of a building based on its load shape. We first performed a data experiment with collected smart meter data using over 2,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in California. We then conducted a cluster analysis of the source data, and determined and interpreted the load shape features and parameters with peer group analysis. Finally, we implemented the load shape benchmarking feature in an open-access web-based toolkit (the Commercial Building Energy Saver) to provide straightforward and practical recommendations to users. The analysis techniques were generic and flexible for future datasets of other building types and in other utility territories.« less

  20. Provider Experience and the Comparative Safety of Laparoscopic and Open Colectomy.

    PubMed

    Sheetz, Kyle H; Norton, Edward C; Birkmeyer, John D; Dimick, Justin B

    2017-02-01

    To evaluate the comparative safety of laparoscopic and open colectomy across surgeons varying in experience with laparoscopy. National Medicare data (2008-2010) for beneficiaries undergoing laparoscopic or open colectomy. Using instrumental variable methods to address selection bias, we evaluated outcomes of laparoscopic and open colectomy. Our instrument was the regional use of laparoscopy in the year prior to a patient's operation. We then evaluated outcomes stratified by surgeons' annual volume of laparoscopic colectomy. Laparoscopic colectomy was associated with lower mortality (OR: 0.75, 95 percent CI: 0.70-0.78) and fewer complications than open surgery (OR: 0.82, 95 percent CI: 0.79-0.85). Increasing surgeon volume was associated with better outcomes for both procedures, but the relationship was stronger for laparoscopy. The comparative safety depended on surgeon volume. High-volume surgeons had 40 percent lower mortality (OR: 0.60, 95 percent CI: 0.55-0.65) and 30 percent fewer complications (OR: 0.70, 95 percent CI: 0.67-0.74) with laparoscopy. Conversely, low-volume surgeons had 7 percent higher mortality (OR: 1.07, 95 percent CI: 1.02-1.13) and 18 percent more complications (OR: 1.18, 95 percent CI: 1.12-1.24) with laparoscopy. This population-based study demonstrates that the comparative safety of laparoscopic and open colectomy is influenced by surgeon volume. Laparoscopic colectomy is only safer for patients whose surgeons have sufficient experience. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

  1. Kaiser Permanente's performance improvement system, Part 1: From benchmarking to executing on strategic priorities.

    PubMed

    Schilling, Lisa; Chase, Alide; Kehrli, Sommer; Liu, Amy Y; Stiefel, Matt; Brentari, Ruth

    2010-11-01

    By 2004, senior leaders at Kaiser Permanente, the largest not-for-profit health plan in the United States, recognizing variations across service areas in quality, safety, service, and efficiency, began developing a performance improvement (PI) system to realizing best-in-class quality performance across all 35 medical centers. MEASURING SYSTEMWIDE PERFORMANCE: In 2005, a Web-based data dashboard, "Big Q," which tracks the performance of each medical center and service area against external benchmarks and internal goals, was created. PLANNING FOR PI AND BENCHMARKING PERFORMANCE: In 2006, Kaiser Permanente national and regional continued planning the PI system, and in 2007, quality, medical group, operations, and information technology leaders benchmarked five high-performing organizations to identify capabilities required to achieve consistent best-in-class organizational performance. THE PI SYSTEM: The PI system addresses the six capabilities: leadership priority setting, a systems approach to improvement, measurement capability, a learning organization, improvement capacity, and a culture of improvement. PI "deep experts" (mentors) consult with national, regional, and local leaders, and more than 500 improvement advisors are trained to manage portfolios of 90-120 day improvement initiatives at medical centers. Between the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, performance across all Kaiser Permanente medical centers improved on the Big Q metrics. The lessons learned in implementing and sustaining PI as it becomes fully integrated into all levels of Kaiser Permanente can be generalized to other health care systems, hospitals, and other health care organizations.

  2. A Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA announced the availability of the final report, A Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central Appalachian Streams. This report describes a method to characterize the relationship between the extirpation (the effective extinction) of invertebrate genera and salinity (measured as conductivity) and from that relationship derives a freshwater aquatic life benchmark. This benchmark of 300 µS/cm may be applied to waters in Appalachian streams that are dominated by calcium and magnesium salts of sulfate and bicarbonate at circum-neutral to mildly alkaline pH. This report provides scientific evidence for a conductivity benchmark in a specific region rather than for the entire United States.

  3. Using benchmarks for radiation testing of microprocessors and FPGAs

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

    Quinn, Heather; Robinson, William H.; Rech, Paolo

    Performance benchmarks have been used over the years to compare different systems. These benchmarks can be useful for researchers trying to determine how changes to the technology, architecture, or compiler affect the system's performance. No such standard exists for systems deployed into high radiation environments, making it difficult to assess whether changes in the fabrication process, circuitry, architecture, or software affect reliability or radiation sensitivity. In this paper, we propose a benchmark suite for high-reliability systems that is designed for field-programmable gate arrays and microprocessors. As a result, we describe the development process and report neutron test data for themore » hardware and software benchmarks.« less

  4. Using benchmarks for radiation testing of microprocessors and FPGAs

    DOE PAGES

    Quinn, Heather; Robinson, William H.; Rech, Paolo; ...

    2015-12-17

    Performance benchmarks have been used over the years to compare different systems. These benchmarks can be useful for researchers trying to determine how changes to the technology, architecture, or compiler affect the system's performance. No such standard exists for systems deployed into high radiation environments, making it difficult to assess whether changes in the fabrication process, circuitry, architecture, or software affect reliability or radiation sensitivity. In this paper, we propose a benchmark suite for high-reliability systems that is designed for field-programmable gate arrays and microprocessors. As a result, we describe the development process and report neutron test data for themore » hardware and software benchmarks.« less

  5. Standardised Benchmarking in the Quest for Orthologs

    PubMed Central

    Altenhoff, Adrian M.; Boeckmann, Brigitte; Capella-Gutierrez, Salvador; Dalquen, Daniel A.; DeLuca, Todd; Forslund, Kristoffer; Huerta-Cepas, Jaime; Linard, Benjamin; Pereira, Cécile; Pryszcz, Leszek P.; Schreiber, Fabian; Sousa da Silva, Alan; Szklarczyk, Damian; Train, Clément-Marie; Bork, Peer; Lecompte, Odile; von Mering, Christian; Xenarios, Ioannis; Sjölander, Kimmen; Juhl Jensen, Lars; Martin, Maria J.; Muffato, Matthieu; Gabaldón, Toni; Lewis, Suzanna E.; Thomas, Paul D.; Sonnhammer, Erik; Dessimoz, Christophe

    2016-01-01

    The identification of evolutionarily related genes across different species—orthologs in particular—forms the backbone of many comparative, evolutionary, and functional genomic analyses. Achieving high accuracy in orthology inference is thus essential. Yet the true evolutionary history of genes, required to ascertain orthology, is generally unknown. Furthermore, orthologs are used for very different applications across different phyla, with different requirements in terms of the precision-recall trade-off. As a result, assessing the performance of orthology inference methods remains difficult for both users and method developers. Here, we present a community effort to establish standards in orthology benchmarking and facilitate orthology benchmarking through an automated web-based service (http://orthology.benchmarkservice.org). Using this new service, we characterise the performance of 15 well-established orthology inference methods and resources on a battery of 20 different benchmarks. Standardised benchmarking provides a way for users to identify the most effective methods for the problem at hand, sets a minimal requirement for new tools and resources, and guides the development of more accurate orthology inference methods. PMID:27043882

  6. Benchmarking CRISPR on-target sgRNA design.

    PubMed

    Yan, Jifang; Chuai, Guohui; Zhou, Chi; Zhu, Chenyu; Yang, Jing; Zhang, Chao; Gu, Feng; Xu, Han; Wei, Jia; Liu, Qi

    2017-02-15

    CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-based gene editing has been widely implemented in various cell types and organisms. A major challenge in the effective application of the CRISPR system is the need to design highly efficient single-guide RNA (sgRNA) with minimal off-target cleavage. Several tools are available for sgRNA design, while limited tools were compared. In our opinion, benchmarking the performance of the available tools and indicating their applicable scenarios are important issues. Moreover, whether the reported sgRNA design rules are reproducible across different sgRNA libraries, cell types and organisms remains unclear. In our study, a systematic and unbiased benchmark of the sgRNA predicting efficacy was performed on nine representative on-target design tools, based on six benchmark data sets covering five different cell types. The benchmark study presented here provides novel quantitative insights into the available CRISPR tools. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. Algorithm and Architecture Independent Benchmarking with SEAK

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

    Tallent, Nathan R.; Manzano Franco, Joseph B.; Gawande, Nitin A.

    2016-05-23

    Many applications of high performance embedded computing are limited by performance or power bottlenecks. We have designed the Suite for Embedded Applications & Kernels (SEAK), a new benchmark suite, (a) to capture these bottlenecks in a way that encourages creative solutions; and (b) to facilitate rigorous, objective, end-user evaluation for their solutions. To avoid biasing solutions toward existing algorithms, SEAK benchmarks use a mission-centric (abstracted from a particular algorithm) and goal-oriented (functional) specification. To encourage solutions that are any combination of software or hardware, we use an end-user black-box evaluation that can capture tradeoffs between performance, power, accuracy, size, andmore » weight. The tradeoffs are especially informative for procurement decisions. We call our benchmarks future proof because each mission-centric interface and evaluation remains useful despite shifting algorithmic preferences. It is challenging to create both concise and precise goal-oriented specifications for mission-centric problems. This paper describes the SEAK benchmark suite and presents an evaluation of sample solutions that highlights power and performance tradeoffs.« less

  8. Cross-industry benchmarking: is it applicable to the operating room?

    PubMed

    Marco, A P; Hart, S

    2001-01-01

    The use of benchmarking has been growing in nonmedical industries. This concept is being increasingly applied to medicine as the industry strives to improve quality and improve financial performance. Benchmarks can be either internal (set by the institution) or external (use other's performance as a goal). In some industries, benchmarking has crossed industry lines to identify breakthroughs in thinking. In this article, we examine whether the airline industry can be used as a source of external process benchmarking for the operating room.

  9. The national hydrologic bench-mark network

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cobb, Ernest D.; Biesecker, J.E.

    1971-01-01

    The United States is undergoing a dramatic growth of population and demands on its natural resources. The effects are widespread and often produce significant alterations of the environment. The hydrologic bench-mark network was established to provide data on stream basins which are little affected by these changes. The network is made up of selected stream basins which are not expected to be significantly altered by man. Data obtained from these basins can be used to document natural changes in hydrologic characteristics with time, to provide a better understanding of the hydrologic structure of natural basins, and to provide a comparative base for studying the effects of man on the hydrologic environment. There are 57 bench-mark basins in 37 States. These basins are in areas having a wide variety of climate and topography. The bench-mark basins and the types of data collected in the basins are described.

  10. Electronic availability of microgravity experiments safety and integration requirements documents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hogan, Jean M.

    1995-01-01

    This follow-on to NASA Contractor Report 195447, Microgravity Experiments Safety and Integration Requirements Document Tree, provides the details for accessing the systems that contain the official, electronic versions of the documents initially researched in NASA Contractor Report 195447. The data in this report serves as a valuable information source for the NASA Lewis Research Center Project Documentation Center (PDC), as well as for all developers of space experiments. The PDC has acquired the hardware, software, ID's, and passwords necessary to access most of these systems and is now able to provide customers with current document information as well as immediate delivery of available documents in either electronic or hard copy format.

  11. Performance Characteristics of the Multi-Zone NAS Parallel Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jin, Haoqiang; VanderWijngaart, Rob F.

    2003-01-01

    We describe a new suite of computational benchmarks that models applications featuring multiple levels of parallelism. Such parallelism is often available in realistic flow computations on systems of grids, but had not previously been captured in bench-marks. The new suite, named NPB Multi-Zone, is extended from the NAS Parallel Benchmarks suite, and involves solving the application benchmarks LU, BT and SP on collections of loosely coupled discretization meshes. The solutions on the meshes are updated independently, but after each time step they exchange boundary value information. This strategy provides relatively easily exploitable coarse-grain parallelism between meshes. Three reference implementations are available: one serial, one hybrid using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and OpenMP, and another hybrid using a shared memory multi-level programming model (SMP+OpenMP). We examine the effectiveness of hybrid parallelization paradigms in these implementations on three different parallel computers. We also use an empirical formula to investigate the performance characteristics of the multi-zone benchmarks.

  12. Length of stay benchmarks for inpatient rehabilitation after stroke.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Matthew; Britt, Eileen; McHale, Heather A; Teasell, Robert

    2012-01-01

    In Canada, no standardized benchmarks for length of stay (LOS) have been established for post-stroke inpatient rehabilitation. This paper describes the development of a severity specific median length of stay benchmarking strategy, assessment of its impact after one year of implementation in a Canadian rehabilitation hospital, and establishment of updated benchmarks that may be useful for comparison with other facilities across Canada. Patient data were retrospectively assessed for all patients admitted to a single post-acute stroke rehabilitation unit in Ontario, Canada between April 2005 and March 2008. Rehabilitation Patient Groups (RPGs) were used to establish stratified median length of stay benchmarks for each group that were incorporated into team rounds beginning in October 2009. Benchmark impact was assessed using mean LOS, FIM(®) gain, and discharge destination for each RPG group, collected prospectively for one year, compared against similar information from the previous calendar year. Benchmarks were then adjusted accordingly for future use. Between October 2009 and September 2010, a significant reduction in average LOS was noted compared to the previous year (35.3 vs. 41.2 days; p < 0.05). Reductions in LOS were noted in each RPG group including statistically significant reductions in 4 of the 7 groups. As intended, reductions in LOS were achieved with no significant reduction in mean FIM(®) gain or proportion of patients discharged home compared to the previous year. Adjusted benchmarks for LOS ranged from 13 to 48 days depending on the RPG group. After a single year of implementation, severity specific benchmarks helped the rehabilitation team reduce LOS while maintaining the same levels of functional gain and achieving the same rate of discharge to the community. © 2012 Informa UK, Ltd.

  13. Nonlinear viscoplasticity in ASPECT: benchmarking and applications to subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glerum, Anne; Thieulot, Cedric; Fraters, Menno; Blom, Constantijn; Spakman, Wim

    2018-03-01

    ASPECT (Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth's ConvecTion) is a massively parallel finite element code originally designed for modeling thermal convection in the mantle with a Newtonian rheology. The code is characterized by modern numerical methods, high-performance parallelism and extensibility. This last characteristic is illustrated in this work: we have extended the use of ASPECT from global thermal convection modeling to upper-mantle-scale applications of subduction.

    Subduction modeling generally requires the tracking of multiple materials with different properties and with nonlinear viscous and viscoplastic rheologies. To this end, we implemented a frictional plasticity criterion that is combined with a viscous diffusion and dislocation creep rheology. Because ASPECT uses compositional fields to represent different materials, all material parameters are made dependent on a user-specified number of fields.

    The goal of this paper is primarily to describe and verify our implementations of complex, multi-material rheology by reproducing the results of four well-known two-dimensional benchmarks: the indentor benchmark, the brick experiment, the sandbox experiment and the slab detachment benchmark. Furthermore, we aim to provide hands-on examples for prospective users by demonstrating the use of multi-material viscoplasticity with three-dimensional, thermomechanical models of oceanic subduction, putting ASPECT on the map as a community code for high-resolution, nonlinear rheology subduction modeling.

  14. Benchmarking biology research organizations using a new, dedicated tool.

    PubMed

    van Harten, Willem H; van Bokhorst, Leonard; van Luenen, Henri G A M

    2010-02-01

    International competition forces fundamental research organizations to assess their relative performance. We present a benchmark tool for scientific research organizations where, contrary to existing models, the group leader is placed in a central position within the organization. We used it in a pilot benchmark study involving six research institutions. Our study shows that data collection and data comparison based on this new tool can be achieved. It proved possible to compare relative performance and organizational characteristics and to generate suggestions for improvement for most participants. However, strict definitions of the parameters used for the benchmark and a thorough insight into the organization of each of the benchmark partners is required to produce comparable data and draw firm conclusions.

  15. EPA and EFSA approaches for Benchmark Dose modeling

    EPA Science Inventory

    Benchmark dose (BMD) modeling has become the preferred approach in the analysis of toxicological dose-response data for the purpose of deriving human health toxicity values. The software packages most often used are Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS, developed by EPA) and PROAST (de...

  16. Discovering and Implementing Best Practices to Strengthen SEAs: Collaborative Benchmarking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Building State Capacity and Productivity Center, 2013

    2013-01-01

    This paper is written for state educational agency (SEA) leaders who are considering the benefits of collaborative benchmarking, and it addresses the following questions: (1) What does benchmarking of best practices entail?; (2) How does "collaborative benchmarking" enhance the process?; (3) How do SEAs control the process so that "their" needs…

  17. 40 CFR 141.543 - How is the disinfection benchmark calculated?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How is the disinfection benchmark... Disinfection-Systems Serving Fewer Than 10,000 People Disinfection Benchmark § 141.543 How is the disinfection benchmark calculated? If your system is making a significant change to its disinfection practice, it must...

  18. 40 CFR 141.543 - How is the disinfection benchmark calculated?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How is the disinfection benchmark... Disinfection-Systems Serving Fewer Than 10,000 People Disinfection Benchmark § 141.543 How is the disinfection benchmark calculated? If your system is making a significant change to its disinfection practice, it must...

  19. 40 CFR 141.543 - How is the disinfection benchmark calculated?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false How is the disinfection benchmark... Disinfection-Systems Serving Fewer Than 10,000 People Disinfection Benchmark § 141.543 How is the disinfection benchmark calculated? If your system is making a significant change to its disinfection practice, it must...

  20. 40 CFR 141.543 - How is the disinfection benchmark calculated?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How is the disinfection benchmark... Disinfection-Systems Serving Fewer Than 10,000 People Disinfection Benchmark § 141.543 How is the disinfection benchmark calculated? If your system is making a significant change to its disinfection practice, it must...

  1. Towards Systematic Benchmarking of Climate Model Performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gleckler, P. J.

    2014-12-01

    The process by which climate models are evaluated has evolved substantially over the past decade, with the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) serving as a centralizing activity for coordinating model experimentation and enabling research. Scientists with a broad spectrum of expertise have contributed to the CMIP model evaluation process, resulting in many hundreds of publications that have served as a key resource for the IPCC process. For several reasons, efforts are now underway to further systematize some aspects of the model evaluation process. First, some model evaluation can now be considered routine and should not require "re-inventing the wheel" or a journal publication simply to update results with newer models. Second, the benefit of CMIP research to model development has not been optimal because the publication of results generally takes several years and is usually not reproducible for benchmarking newer model versions. And third, there are now hundreds of model versions and many thousands of simulations, but there is no community-based mechanism for routinely monitoring model performance changes. An important change in the design of CMIP6 can help address these limitations. CMIP6 will include a small set standardized experiments as an ongoing exercise (CMIP "DECK": ongoing Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima), so that modeling groups can submit them at any time and not be overly constrained by deadlines. In this presentation, efforts to establish routine benchmarking of existing and future CMIP simulations will be described. To date, some benchmarking tools have been made available to all CMIP modeling groups to enable them to readily compare with CMIP5 simulations during the model development process. A natural extension of this effort is to make results from all CMIP simulations widely available, including the results from newer models as soon as the simulations become available for research. Making the results from routine

  2. Nutrient cycle benchmarks for earth system land model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Q.; Riley, W. J.; Tang, J.; Zhao, L.

    2017-12-01

    Projecting future biosphere-climate feedbacks using Earth system models (ESMs) relies heavily on robust modeling of land surface carbon dynamics. More importantly, soil nutrient (particularly, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) dynamics strongly modulate carbon dynamics, such as plant sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Prevailing ESM land models all consider nitrogen as a potentially limiting nutrient, and several consider phosphorus. However, including nutrient cycle processes in ESM land models potentially introduces large uncertainties that could be identified and addressed by improved observational constraints. We describe the development of two nutrient cycle benchmarks for ESM land models: (1) nutrient partitioning between plants and soil microbes inferred from 15N and 33P tracers studies and (2) nutrient limitation effects on carbon cycle informed by long-term fertilization experiments. We used these benchmarks to evaluate critical hypotheses regarding nutrient cycling and their representation in ESMs. We found that a mechanistic representation of plant-microbe nutrient competition based on relevant functional traits best reproduced observed plant-microbe nutrient partitioning. We also found that for multiple-nutrient models (i.e., N and P), application of Liebig's law of the minimum is often inaccurate. Rather, the Multiple Nutrient Limitation (MNL) concept better reproduces observed carbon-nutrient interactions.

  3. MPI, HPF or OpenMP: A Study with the NAS Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jin, Hao-Qiang; Frumkin, Michael; Hribar, Michelle; Waheed, Abdul; Yan, Jerry; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

    1999-01-01

    Porting applications to new high performance parallel and distributed platforms is a challenging task. Writing parallel code by hand is time consuming and costly, but the task can be simplified by high level languages and would even better be automated by parallelizing tools and compilers. The definition of HPF (High Performance Fortran, based on data parallel model) and OpenMP (based on shared memory parallel model) standards has offered great opportunity in this respect. Both provide simple and clear interfaces to language like FORTRAN and simplify many tedious tasks encountered in writing message passing programs. In our study we implemented the parallel versions of the NAS Benchmarks with HPF and OpenMP directives. Comparison of their performance with the MPI implementation and pros and cons of different approaches will be discussed along with experience of using computer-aided tools to help parallelize these benchmarks. Based on the study,potentials of applying some of the techniques to realistic aerospace applications will be presented

  4. MPI, HPF or OpenMP: A Study with the NAS Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jin, H.; Frumkin, M.; Hribar, M.; Waheed, A.; Yan, J.; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

    1999-01-01

    Porting applications to new high performance parallel and distributed platforms is a challenging task. Writing parallel code by hand is time consuming and costly, but this task can be simplified by high level languages and would even better be automated by parallelizing tools and compilers. The definition of HPF (High Performance Fortran, based on data parallel model) and OpenMP (based on shared memory parallel model) standards has offered great opportunity in this respect. Both provide simple and clear interfaces to language like FORTRAN and simplify many tedious tasks encountered in writing message passing programs. In our study, we implemented the parallel versions of the NAS Benchmarks with HPF and OpenMP directives. Comparison of their performance with the MPI implementation and pros and cons of different approaches will be discussed along with experience of using computer-aided tools to help parallelize these benchmarks. Based on the study, potentials of applying some of the techniques to realistic aerospace applications will be presented.

  5. Scale/TSUNAMI Sensitivity Data for ICSBEP Evaluations

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

    Rearden, Bradley T; Reed, Davis Allan; Lefebvre, Robert A

    2011-01-01

    The Tools for Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis Methodology Implementation (TSUNAMI) software developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the Scale code system provide unique methods for code validation, gap analysis, and experiment design. For TSUNAMI analysis, sensitivity data are generated for each application and each existing or proposed experiment used in the assessment. The validation of diverse sets of applications requires potentially thousands of data files to be maintained and organized by the user, and a growing number of these files are available through the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (IHECSBE) distributed through themore » International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Program (ICSBEP). To facilitate the use of the IHECSBE benchmarks in rigorous TSUNAMI validation and gap analysis techniques, ORNL generated SCALE/TSUNAMI sensitivity data files (SDFs) for several hundred benchmarks for distribution with the IHECSBE. For the 2010 edition of IHECSBE, the sensitivity data were generated using 238-group cross-section data based on ENDF/B-VII.0 for 494 benchmark experiments. Additionally, ORNL has developed a quality assurance procedure to guide the generation of Scale inputs and sensitivity data, as well as a graphical user interface to facilitate the use of sensitivity data in identifying experiments and applying them in validation studies.« less

  6. Winning Strategy: Set Benchmarks of Early Success to Build Momentum for the Long Term

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spiro, Jody

    2012-01-01

    Change is a highly personal experience. Everyone participating in the effort has different reactions to change, different concerns, and different motivations for being involved. The smart change leader sets benchmarks along the way so there are guideposts and pause points instead of an endless change process. "Early wins"--a term used to describe…

  7. Benchmarking can add up for healthcare accounting.

    PubMed

    Czarnecki, M T

    1994-09-01

    In 1993, a healthcare accounting and finance benchmarking survey of hospital and nonhospital organizations gathered statistics about key common performance areas. A low response did not allow for statistically significant findings, but the survey identified performance measures that can be used in healthcare financial management settings. This article explains the benchmarking process and examines some of the 1993 study's findings.

  8. Writing Seveso II safety reports: new EU guidance reflecting 5 years' experience with the Directive.

    PubMed

    Wood, Maureen Heraty; Fabbri, Luciano; Struckl, Michael

    2008-09-15

    Since the coming into force of the Seveso II Directive, considerable experience has been acquired in regard to preparation of safety reports for establishments that fall under the requirements of this Directive. In light of this experience, the Amendment of the Seveso II Directive adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 16 December 2003, gave the European Commission the mandate "to review by 31 December 2006 in close cooperation with the Member States, the existing Guidance on the Preparation of a safety report (EUR 17690)". As a result, a technical working group of Member States representing the Seveso competent authorities and the European Commission's Major Accident Hazards Bureau was established to review and re-examine the guidance. The new guidance maintains the high-level and overarching character of the older version, but improves the document through better definition of conceptual elements of the safety report and greater alignment with Annex II of the Directive, which describes the essential elements of the safety report. This paper describes the new guidance in terms of its contribution to developing a harmonized conceptual framework for preparing and reviewing safety reports within the context of Seveso II implementation. Overall, the aim of the guidance is to provide concrete advice to operators and competent authorities on the logic and expectations underlying the safety report, so as to make both preparation and review of the report a more efficient and useful exercise for all parties involved.

  9. Benchmarks for Evaluation of Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-01-01

    publications: [1] E. Arikan , Attack Profiling for DDoS Benchmarks, MS Thesis, University of Delaware, August 2006. [2] J. Mirkovic, A. Hussain, B. Wilson...Sigmetrics 2007, June 2007 [5] J. Mirkovic, E. Arikan , S. Wei, S. Fahmy, R. Thomas, and P. Reiher Benchmarks for DDoS Defense Evaluation, Proceedings of the...Security Experimentation, June 2006. [9] J. Mirkovic, E. Arikan , S. Wei, S. Fahmy, R. Thomas, P. Reiher, Benchmarks for DDoS Defense Evaluation

  10. Benchmark matrix and guide: Part II.

    PubMed

    1991-01-01

    In the last issue of the Journal of Quality Assurance (September/October 1991, Volume 13, Number 5, pp. 14-19), the benchmark matrix developed by Headquarters Air Force Logistics Command was published. Five horizontal levels on the matrix delineate progress in TQM: business as usual, initiation, implementation, expansion, and integration. The six vertical categories that are critical to the success of TQM are leadership, structure, training, recognition, process improvement, and customer focus. In this issue, "Benchmark Matrix and Guide: Part II" will show specifically how to apply the categories of leadership, structure, and training to the benchmark matrix progress levels. At the intersection of each category and level, specific behavior objectives are listed with supporting behaviors and guidelines. Some categories will have objectives that are relatively easy to accomplish, allowing quick progress from one level to the next. Other categories will take considerable time and effort to complete. In the next issue, Part III of this series will focus on recognition, process improvement, and customer focus.

  11. A Competitive Benchmarking Study of Noncredit Program Administration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alstete, Jeffrey W.

    1996-01-01

    A benchmarking project to measure administrative processes and financial ratios received 57 usable replies from 300 noncredit continuing education programs. Programs with strong financial surpluses were identified and their processes benchmarked (including response to inquiries, registrants, registrant/staff ratio, new courses, class size,…

  12. The Learning Organisation: Results of a Benchmarking Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zairi, Mohamed

    1999-01-01

    Learning in corporations was assessed using these benchmarks: core qualities of creative organizations, characteristic of organizational creativity, attributes of flexible organizations, use of diversity and conflict, creative human resource management systems, and effective and successful teams. These benchmarks are key elements of the learning…

  13. Surveys and Benchmarks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bers, Trudy

    2012-01-01

    Surveys and benchmarks continue to grow in importance for community colleges in response to several factors. One is the press for accountability, that is, for colleges to report the outcomes of their programs and services to demonstrate their quality and prudent use of resources, primarily to external constituents and governing boards at the state…

  14. The Model Averaging for Dichotomous Response Benchmark Dose (MADr-BMD) Tool

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Providing quantal response models, which are also used in the U.S. EPA benchmark dose software suite, and generates a model-averaged dose response model to generate benchmark dose and benchmark dose lower bound estimates.

  15. Developing a benchmark for emotional analysis of music

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Yi-Hsuan; Soleymani, Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    Music emotion recognition (MER) field rapidly expanded in the last decade. Many new methods and new audio features are developed to improve the performance of MER algorithms. However, it is very difficult to compare the performance of the new methods because of the data representation diversity and scarcity of publicly available data. In this paper, we address these problems by creating a data set and a benchmark for MER. The data set that we release, a MediaEval Database for Emotional Analysis in Music (DEAM), is the largest available data set of dynamic annotations (valence and arousal annotations for 1,802 songs and song excerpts licensed under Creative Commons with 2Hz time resolution). Using DEAM, we organized the ‘Emotion in Music’ task at MediaEval Multimedia Evaluation Campaign from 2013 to 2015. The benchmark attracted, in total, 21 active teams to participate in the challenge. We analyze the results of the benchmark: the winning algorithms and feature-sets. We also describe the design of the benchmark, the evaluation procedures and the data cleaning and transformations that we suggest. The results from the benchmark suggest that the recurrent neural network based approaches combined with large feature-sets work best for dynamic MER. PMID:28282400

  16. Decoys Selection in Benchmarking Datasets: Overview and Perspectives

    PubMed Central

    Réau, Manon; Langenfeld, Florent; Zagury, Jean-François; Lagarde, Nathalie; Montes, Matthieu

    2018-01-01

    Virtual Screening (VS) is designed to prospectively help identifying potential hits, i.e., compounds capable of interacting with a given target and potentially modulate its activity, out of large compound collections. Among the variety of methodologies, it is crucial to select the protocol that is the most adapted to the query/target system under study and that yields the most reliable output. To this aim, the performance of VS methods is commonly evaluated and compared by computing their ability to retrieve active compounds in benchmarking datasets. The benchmarking datasets contain a subset of known active compounds together with a subset of decoys, i.e., assumed non-active molecules. The composition of both the active and the decoy compounds subsets is critical to limit the biases in the evaluation of the VS methods. In this review, we focus on the selection of decoy compounds that has considerably changed over the years, from randomly selected compounds to highly customized or experimentally validated negative compounds. We first outline the evolution of decoys selection in benchmarking databases as well as current benchmarking databases that tend to minimize the introduction of biases, and secondly, we propose recommendations for the selection and the design of benchmarking datasets. PMID:29416509

  17. Developing a benchmark for emotional analysis of music.

    PubMed

    Aljanaki, Anna; Yang, Yi-Hsuan; Soleymani, Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    Music emotion recognition (MER) field rapidly expanded in the last decade. Many new methods and new audio features are developed to improve the performance of MER algorithms. However, it is very difficult to compare the performance of the new methods because of the data representation diversity and scarcity of publicly available data. In this paper, we address these problems by creating a data set and a benchmark for MER. The data set that we release, a MediaEval Database for Emotional Analysis in Music (DEAM), is the largest available data set of dynamic annotations (valence and arousal annotations for 1,802 songs and song excerpts licensed under Creative Commons with 2Hz time resolution). Using DEAM, we organized the 'Emotion in Music' task at MediaEval Multimedia Evaluation Campaign from 2013 to 2015. The benchmark attracted, in total, 21 active teams to participate in the challenge. We analyze the results of the benchmark: the winning algorithms and feature-sets. We also describe the design of the benchmark, the evaluation procedures and the data cleaning and transformations that we suggest. The results from the benchmark suggest that the recurrent neural network based approaches combined with large feature-sets work best for dynamic MER.

  18. A large-scale benchmark of gene prioritization methods.

    PubMed

    Guala, Dimitri; Sonnhammer, Erik L L

    2017-04-21

    In order to maximize the use of results from high-throughput experimental studies, e.g. GWAS, for identification and diagnostics of new disease-associated genes, it is important to have properly analyzed and benchmarked gene prioritization tools. While prospective benchmarks are underpowered to provide statistically significant results in their attempt to differentiate the performance of gene prioritization tools, a strategy for retrospective benchmarking has been missing, and new tools usually only provide internal validations. The Gene Ontology(GO) contains genes clustered around annotation terms. This intrinsic property of GO can be utilized in construction of robust benchmarks, objective to the problem domain. We demonstrate how this can be achieved for network-based gene prioritization tools, utilizing the FunCoup network. We use cross-validation and a set of appropriate performance measures to compare state-of-the-art gene prioritization algorithms: three based on network diffusion, NetRank and two implementations of Random Walk with Restart, and MaxLink that utilizes network neighborhood. Our benchmark suite provides a systematic and objective way to compare the multitude of available and future gene prioritization tools, enabling researchers to select the best gene prioritization tool for the task at hand, and helping to guide the development of more accurate methods.

  19. A publicly available benchmark for biomedical dataset retrieval: the reference standard for the 2016 bioCADDIE dataset retrieval challenge

    PubMed Central

    Gururaj, Anupama E.; Chen, Xiaoling; Pournejati, Saeid; Alter, George; Hersh, William R.; Demner-Fushman, Dina; Ohno-Machado, Lucila

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The rapid proliferation of publicly available biomedical datasets has provided abundant resources that are potentially of value as a means to reproduce prior experiments, and to generate and explore novel hypotheses. However, there are a number of barriers to the re-use of such datasets, which are distributed across a broad array of dataset repositories, focusing on different data types and indexed using different terminologies. New methods are needed to enable biomedical researchers to locate datasets of interest within this rapidly expanding information ecosystem, and new resources are needed for the formal evaluation of these methods as they emerge. In this paper, we describe the design and generation of a benchmark for information retrieval of biomedical datasets, which was developed and used for the 2016 bioCADDIE Dataset Retrieval Challenge. In the tradition of the seminal Cranfield experiments, and as exemplified by the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC), this benchmark includes a corpus (biomedical datasets), a set of queries, and relevance judgments relating these queries to elements of the corpus. This paper describes the process through which each of these elements was derived, with a focus on those aspects that distinguish this benchmark from typical information retrieval reference sets. Specifically, we discuss the origin of our queries in the context of a larger collaborative effort, the biomedical and healthCAre Data Discovery Index Ecosystem (bioCADDIE) consortium, and the distinguishing features of biomedical dataset retrieval as a task. The resulting benchmark set has been made publicly available to advance research in the area of biomedical dataset retrieval. Database URL: https://biocaddie.org/benchmark-data PMID:29220453

  20. Using Smart Pumps to Understand and Evaluate Clinician Practice Patterns to Ensure Patient Safety

    PubMed Central

    Mansfield, Jennifer; Jarrett, Steven

    2013-01-01

    Background: Safety software installed on intravenous (IV) infusion pumps has been shown to positively impact the quality of patient care through avoidance of medication errors. The data derived from the use of smart pumps are often overlooked, although these data provide helpful insight into the delivery of quality patient care. Objective: The objectives of this report are to describe the value of implementing IV infusion safety software and analyzing the data and reports generated by this system. Case study: Based on experience at the Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), executive score cards provide an aggregate view of compliance rate, number of alerts, overrides, and edits. The report of serious errors averted (ie, critical catches) supplies the location, date, and time of the critical catch, thereby enabling management to pinpoint the end-user for educational purposes. By examining the number of critical catches, a return on investment may be calculated. Assuming 3,328 of these events each year, an estimated cost avoidance would be $29,120,000 per year for CHS. Other reports allow benchmarking between institutions. Conclusion: A review of the data about medication safety across CHS has helped garner support for a medication safety officer position with the goal of ultimately creating a safer environment for the patient. PMID:24474836

  1. NAS Grid Benchmarks: A Tool for Grid Space Exploration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frumkin, Michael; VanderWijngaart, Rob F.; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    We present an approach for benchmarking services provided by computational Grids. It is based on the NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) and is called NAS Grid Benchmark (NGB) in this paper. We present NGB as a data flow graph encapsulating an instance of an NPB code in each graph node, which communicates with other nodes by sending/receiving initialization data. These nodes may be mapped to the same or different Grid machines. Like NPB, NGB will specify several different classes (problem sizes). NGB also specifies the generic Grid services sufficient for running the bench-mark. The implementor has the freedom to choose any specific Grid environment. However, we describe a reference implementation in Java, and present some scenarios for using NGB.

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

    Van Der Marck, S. C.

    Three nuclear data libraries have been tested extensively using criticality safety benchmark calculations. The three libraries are the new release of the US library ENDF/B-VII.1 (2011), the new release of the Japanese library JENDL-4.0 (2011), and the OECD/NEA library JEFF-3.1 (2006). All calculations were performed with the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MCNP (version 4C3, as well as version 6-beta1). Around 2000 benchmark cases from the International Handbook of Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP) were used. The results were analyzed per ICSBEP category, and per element. Overall, the three libraries show similar performance on most criticality safety benchmarks. The largest differencesmore » are probably caused by elements such as Be, C, Fe, Zr, W. (authors)« less

  3. Simple Benchmark Specifications for Space Radiation Protection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singleterry, Robert C. Jr.; Aghara, Sukesh K.

    2013-01-01

    This report defines space radiation benchmark specifications. This specification starts with simple, monoenergetic, mono-directional particles on slabs and progresses to human models in spacecraft. This report specifies the models and sources needed to what the team performing the benchmark needs to produce in a report. Also included are brief descriptions of how OLTARIS, the NASA Langley website for space radiation analysis, performs its analysis.

  4. Safety culture and care: a program to prevent surgical errors.

    PubMed

    Hemingway, Maureen White; O'Malley, Catherine; Silvestri, Sandra

    2015-04-01

    Surgical errors are under scrutiny in health care as part of ensuring a culture of safety in which patients receive quality care. Hospitals use safety measures to compare their performance against industry benchmarks. To understand patient safety issues, health care providers must have processes in place to analyze and evaluate the quality of the care they provide. At one facility, efforts made to improve its quality and safety led to the development of a robust safety program with resources devoted to enhancing the culture of safety in the Perioperative Services department. Improvement initiatives included changing processes for safety reporting and performance improvement plans, adding resources and nurse roles, and creating communication strategies around adverse safety events and how to improve care. One key outcome included a 54% increase in the percentage of personnel who indicated in a survey that they would speak up if they saw something negatively affecting patient care. Copyright © 2015 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. IT-benchmarking of clinical workflows: concept, implementation, and evaluation.

    PubMed

    Thye, Johannes; Straede, Matthias-Christopher; Liebe, Jan-David; Hübner, Ursula

    2014-01-01

    Due to the emerging evidence of health IT as opportunity and risk for clinical workflows, health IT must undergo a continuous measurement of its efficacy and efficiency. IT-benchmarks are a proven means for providing this information. The aim of this study was to enhance the methodology of an existing benchmarking procedure by including, in particular, new indicators of clinical workflows and by proposing new types of visualisation. Drawing on the concept of information logistics, we propose four workflow descriptors that were applied to four clinical processes. General and specific indicators were derived from these descriptors and processes. 199 chief information officers (CIOs) took part in the benchmarking. These hospitals were assigned to reference groups of a similar size and ownership from a total of 259 hospitals. Stepwise and comprehensive feedback was given to the CIOs. Most participants who evaluated the benchmark rated the procedure as very good, good, or rather good (98.4%). Benchmark information was used by CIOs for getting a general overview, advancing IT, preparing negotiations with board members, and arguing for a new IT project.

  6. Benchmarking the cost efficiency of community care in Australian child and adolescent mental health services: implications for future benchmarking.

    PubMed

    Furber, Gareth; Brann, Peter; Skene, Clive; Allison, Stephen

    2011-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to benchmark the cost efficiency of community care across six child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) drawn from different Australian states. Organizational, contact and outcome data from the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project (NMHBP) data-sets were used to calculate cost per "treatment hour" and cost per episode for the six participating organizations. We also explored the relationship between intake severity as measured by the Health of the Nations Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) and cost per episode. The average cost per treatment hour was $223, with cost differences across the six services ranging from a mean of $156 to $273 per treatment hour. The average cost per episode was $3349 (median $1577) and there were significant differences in the CAMHS organizational medians ranging from $388 to $7076 per episode. HoNOSCA scores explained at best 6% of the cost variance per episode. These large cost differences indicate that community CAMHS have the potential to make substantial gains in cost efficiency through collaborative benchmarking. Benchmarking forums need considerable financial and business expertise for detailed comparison of business models for service provision.

  7. Proficiency performance benchmarks for removal of simulated brain tumors using a virtual reality simulator NeuroTouch.

    PubMed

    AlZhrani, Gmaan; Alotaibi, Fahad; Azarnoush, Hamed; Winkler-Schwartz, Alexander; Sabbagh, Abdulrahman; Bajunaid, Khalid; Lajoie, Susanne P; Del Maestro, Rolando F

    2015-01-01

    Assessment of neurosurgical technical skills involved in the resection of cerebral tumors in operative environments is complex. Educators emphasize the need to develop and use objective and meaningful assessment tools that are reliable and valid for assessing trainees' progress in acquiring surgical skills. The purpose of this study was to develop proficiency performance benchmarks for a newly proposed set of objective measures (metrics) of neurosurgical technical skills performance during simulated brain tumor resection using a new virtual reality simulator (NeuroTouch). Each participant performed the resection of 18 simulated brain tumors of different complexity using the NeuroTouch platform. Surgical performance was computed using Tier 1 and Tier 2 metrics derived from NeuroTouch simulator data consisting of (1) safety metrics, including (a) volume of surrounding simulated normal brain tissue removed, (b) sum of forces utilized, and (c) maximum force applied during tumor resection; (2) quality of operation metric, which involved the percentage of tumor removed; and (3) efficiency metrics, including (a) instrument total tip path lengths and (b) frequency of pedal activation. All studies were conducted in the Neurosurgical Simulation Research Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. A total of 33 participants were recruited, including 17 experts (board-certified neurosurgeons) and 16 novices (7 senior and 9 junior neurosurgery residents). The results demonstrated that "expert" neurosurgeons resected less surrounding simulated normal brain tissue and less tumor tissue than residents. These data are consistent with the concept that "experts" focused more on safety of the surgical procedure compared with novices. By analyzing experts' neurosurgical technical skills performance on these different metrics, we were able to establish benchmarks for goal proficiency performance training of neurosurgery residents. This

  8. A benchmarking method to measure dietary absorption efficiency of chemicals by fish.

    PubMed

    Xiao, Ruiyang; Adolfsson-Erici, Margaretha; Åkerman, Gun; McLachlan, Michael S; MacLeod, Matthew

    2013-12-01

    Understanding the dietary absorption efficiency of chemicals in the gastrointestinal tract of fish is important from both a scientific and a regulatory point of view. However, reported fish absorption efficiencies for well-studied chemicals are highly variable. In the present study, the authors developed and exploited an internal chemical benchmarking method that has the potential to reduce uncertainty and variability and, thus, to improve the precision of measurements of fish absorption efficiency. The authors applied the benchmarking method to measure the gross absorption efficiency for 15 chemicals with a wide range of physicochemical properties and structures. They selected 2,2',5,6'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB53) and decabromodiphenyl ethane as absorbable and nonabsorbable benchmarks, respectively. Quantities of chemicals determined in fish were benchmarked to the fraction of PCB53 recovered in fish, and quantities of chemicals determined in feces were benchmarked to the fraction of decabromodiphenyl ethane recovered in feces. The performance of the benchmarking procedure was evaluated based on the recovery of the test chemicals and precision of absorption efficiency from repeated tests. Benchmarking did not improve the precision of the measurements; after benchmarking, however, the median recovery for 15 chemicals was 106%, and variability of recoveries was reduced compared with before benchmarking, suggesting that benchmarking could account for incomplete extraction of chemical in fish and incomplete collection of feces from different tests. © 2013 SETAC.

  9. Integrating CFD, CAA, and Experiments Towards Benchmark Datasets for Airframe Noise Problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Choudhari, Meelan M.; Yamamoto, Kazuomi

    2012-01-01

    Airframe noise corresponds to the acoustic radiation due to turbulent flow in the vicinity of airframe components such as high-lift devices and landing gears. The combination of geometric complexity, high Reynolds number turbulence, multiple regions of separation, and a strong coupling with adjacent physical components makes the problem of airframe noise highly challenging. Since 2010, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has organized an ongoing series of workshops devoted to Benchmark Problems for Airframe Noise Computations (BANC). The BANC workshops are aimed at enabling a systematic progress in the understanding and high-fidelity predictions of airframe noise via collaborative investigations that integrate state of the art computational fluid dynamics, computational aeroacoustics, and in depth, holistic, and multifacility measurements targeting a selected set of canonical yet realistic configurations. This paper provides a brief summary of the BANC effort, including its technical objectives, strategy, and selective outcomes thus far.

  10. Benchmarks for Psychotherapy Efficacy in Adult Major Depression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Minami, Takuya; Wampold, Bruce E.; Serlin, Ronald C.; Kircher, John C.; Brown, George S.

    2007-01-01

    This study estimates pretreatment-posttreatment effect size benchmarks for the treatment of major depression in adults that may be useful in evaluating psychotherapy effectiveness in clinical practice. Treatment efficacy benchmarks for major depression were derived for 3 different types of outcome measures: the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression…

  11. [Benchmarking and other functions of ROM: back to basics].

    PubMed

    Barendregt, M

    2015-01-01

    Since 2011 outcome data in the Dutch mental health care have been collected on a national scale. This has led to confusion about the position of benchmarking in the system known as routine outcome monitoring (rom). To provide insight into the various objectives and uses of aggregated outcome data. A qualitative review was performed and the findings were analysed. Benchmarking is a strategy for finding best practices and for improving efficacy and it belongs to the domain of quality management. Benchmarking involves comparing outcome data by means of instrumentation and is relatively tolerant with regard to the validity of the data. Although benchmarking is a function of rom, it must be differentiated form other functions from rom. Clinical management, public accountability, research, payment for performance and information for patients are all functions of rom which require different ways of data feedback and which make different demands on the validity of the underlying data. Benchmarking is often wrongly regarded as being simply a synonym for 'comparing institutions'. It is, however, a method which includes many more factors; it can be used to improve quality and has a more flexible approach to the validity of outcome data and is less concerned than other rom functions about funding and the amount of information given to patients. Benchmarking can make good use of currently available outcome data.

  12. FDNS CFD Code Benchmark for RBCC Ejector Mode Operation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holt, James B.; Ruf, Joe

    1999-01-01

    Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis results are compared with benchmark quality test data from the Propulsion Engineering Research Center's (PERC) Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) experiments to verify fluid dynamic code and application procedures. RBCC engine flowpath development will rely on CFD applications to capture the multi-dimensional fluid dynamic interactions and to quantify their effect on the RBCC system performance. Therefore, the accuracy of these CFD codes must be determined through detailed comparisons with test data. The PERC experiments build upon the well-known 1968 rocket-ejector experiments of Odegaard and Stroup by employing advanced optical and laser based diagnostics to evaluate mixing and secondary combustion. The Finite Difference Navier Stokes (FDNS) code was used to model the fluid dynamics of the PERC RBCC ejector mode configuration. Analyses were performed for both Diffusion and Afterburning (DAB) and Simultaneous Mixing and Combustion (SMC) test conditions. Results from both the 2D and the 3D models are presented.

  13. Pooling knowledge and improving safety for contracted works at a large industrial park.

    PubMed

    Agnello, Patrizia; Ansaldi, Silvia; Bragatto, Paolo

    2015-01-01

    At a large chemical park maintenance is contracted by the major companies operating the plants to many small firms. The cultural and psychological isolation of contractor workers was recognized a root cause of severe accidents in the recent years. That problem is common in chemical industry. The knowledge sharing has been assumed a good key to involve contractors and sub contractors in safety culture and contributing to injuries prevention. The selection of personal protective equipment PPE for the maintenance works has been taken as benchmark to demonstrate the adequateness of the proposed approach. To support plant operators, contractors and subcontractors in PPE discussion, a method has been developed. Its core is a knowledge-base, organized in an Ontology, as suitable for inferring decisions. By means of this tool all stakeholders have merged experience and information and find out the right PPE, to be provided, with adequate training and information package. PPE selection requires sound competencies about process and environmental hazards, including major accident, preventive and protective measures, maintenance activities. These pieces of knowledge previously fragmented among plant operators and contractors, have to be pooled, and used to find out the adequate PPE for a number of maintenance works. The PPE selection is per se important, but it is also a good chance to break the contractors' isolation and involve them in safety objectives. Thus by pooling experience and practical knowledge, the common understanding of safety issues has been strengthened.

  14. Texas entry-year agriculture teachers' perceptions, practices, and preparation regarding safety and health in agricultural education.

    PubMed

    Hubert, D J; Ullrich, D R; Murphy, T H; Lindner, J R

    2001-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to gather benchmark data for the assessment of the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding agricultural safety issues and curricula held by Texas agricultural teachers with less than two full years of teaching experience (entry-year teachers). Seventy-four of 118 well-distributed teachers responded to this survey. Researchers concluded that more females were entering a traditionally male-dominated field. Overall, teachers addressed safety within units of instruction rather than as separate units. The most useful forms of new teaching resources that this group of teachers would like to see produced were safety videos and study guides, and class demonstration/simulation activities. There was a significant difference in rankings between teachers less than 26 years old and teachers more than 26 years old regarding the usefulness of transparencies as a new teaching resource (F = 5.00, p = 0.0268). Few teachers were currently CPR and first aid certified, even though most had received training and completed a general safety and/or health related course while in college. Teachers generally agreed philosophically with most practices and exhibited personal beliefs consistent with proper safety preparedness and practice in agricultural settings. However, many of these teachers failed to practice what was expected of safe tractor operators, such as wearing safety belts and allowing younger drivers to operate the equipment.

  15. Benchmarking with the BLASST Sessional Staff Standards Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luzia, Karina; Harvey, Marina; Parker, Nicola; McCormack, Coralie; Brown, Natalie R.

    2013-01-01

    Benchmarking as a type of knowledge-sharing around good practice within and between institutions is increasingly common in the higher education sector. More recently, benchmarking as a process that can contribute to quality enhancement has been deployed across numerous institutions with a view to systematising frameworks to assure and enhance the…

  16. Thermal Performance Benchmarking: Annual Report

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

    Moreno, Gilbert

    2016-04-08

    The goal for this project is to thoroughly characterize the performance of state-of-the-art (SOA) automotive power electronics and electric motor thermal management systems. Information obtained from these studies will be used to: Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of different thermal management strategies; establish baseline metrics for the thermal management systems; identify methods of improvement to advance the SOA; increase the publicly available information related to automotive traction-drive thermal management systems; help guide future electric drive technologies (EDT) research and development (R&D) efforts. The performance results combined with component efficiency and heat generation information obtained by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) maymore » then be used to determine the operating temperatures for the EDT components under drive-cycle conditions. In FY15, the 2012 Nissan LEAF power electronics and electric motor thermal management systems were benchmarked. Testing of the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid power electronics thermal management system started in FY15; however, due to time constraints it was not possible to include results for this system in this report. The focus of this project is to benchmark the thermal aspects of the systems. ORNL's benchmarking of electric and hybrid electric vehicle technology reports provide detailed descriptions of the electrical and packaging aspects of these automotive systems.« less

  17. [Towards a safety culture in the neonatal unit: Six years experience].

    PubMed

    Esqué Ruiz, M T; Moretones Suñol, M G; Rodríguez Miguélez, J M; Parés Tercero, S; Cortés Albuixech, R; Varón Ramírez, E M; Figueras Aloy, J

    2015-10-01

    A safety culture is the collective effort of an institution to direct its resources toward the goal of safety. An analysis is performed on the six years of experience of the Committee on the Safety of Neonatal Patient. A mailbox was created for the declaration of adverse events, and measures for their correction were devised, such as case studies, continuous education, prevention of nosocomial infections, as well as information on the work done and its assessment. A total of 1287 reports of adverse events were received during the six years, of which 600 (50.8%) occurred in the neonatal ICU, with 15 (1.2%) contributing to death, and 1282 (99.6%) considered preventable. Simple corrective measures (notification, security alerts, etc.) were applied in 559 (43.4%), intermediate measures (protocols, monthly newsletter, etc.) in 692 (53.8%), and more complex measures (causal analysis, scripts, continuous education seminars, prospective studies, etc.) in 66 (5.1%). As regards nosocomial infections, the prevention strategies implemented (hand washing, insertion and maintenance of catheters) directly affected their improvement. Two surveys were conducted to determine the level of satisfaction with the Committee on the Safety of Neonatal Patient. A rating 7.5/10 was obtained in the local survey, while using the Spanish version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture the rate was 7.26/10. A path to a culture of safety has been successfully started and carried out. Reporting the adverse events is the key to obtaining information on their nature, etiology and evolution, and to undertake possible prevention strategies. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  18. A performance improvement plan to increase nurse adherence to use of medication safety software.

    PubMed

    Gavriloff, Carrie

    2012-08-01

    Nurses can protect patients receiving intravenous (IV) medication by using medication safety software to program "smart" pumps to administer IV medications. After a patient safety event identified inconsistent use of medication safety software by nurses, a performance improvement team implemented the Deming Cycle performance improvement methodology. The combined use of improved direct care nurse communication, programming strategies, staff education, medication safety champions, adherence monitoring, and technology acquisition resulted in a statistically significant (p < .001) increase in nurse adherence to using medication safety software from 28% to above 85%, exceeding national benchmark adherence rates (Cohen, Cooke, Husch & Woodley, 2007; Carefusion, 2011). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent fuel Management and on the safety of Radioactive Waste Management: A UK Regulator's Perspective

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

    Lacey, D.; Bacon, M.L.

    The UK fully supports the objective of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management to achieve and maintain a high level of safety worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, through the enhancement of national measures and international co-operation, including where appropriate, safety-related co-operation. The UK's Health and Safety Executive, through its Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD), has been committed to the Convention since the initial negotiations to set up the Convention and provided the president of the first review meeting in 2003. It would be wrong of anymore » nation to believe that they have all the best solutions to managing spent fuel and radioactive waste. The process of compiling reports for the Convention review meetings provides a structured process through which every contracting party can review its provisions against a common set of standards and identify for itself possible areas of improvements. The sharing of reports and the asking and answering of questions then provides a further opportunity for both sharing of experience and learning. The UK was encouraged by the spirit of constructive discussion rather than negative criticism that pervaded the first review meeting that provided an incentive for all to learn and improve. While, as could be expected of the first meeting of such a group, not everything worked as well as could be hoped for, all parties seemed committed to learn from mistakes and to make the process more effective. Lessons were learned from the Nuclear Safety Convention on the process of submitting reports electronically and the UK actively supported aims to use IAEA requirements documents as an additional focus for reports. This should, we hope, provide for even better benchmarking of achievements and provide feedback for improvements of the IAEA requirements where appropriate. In summary, the UK finds the Joint Convention process to be a

  20. Safety review package for University of Central Florida flat-plate heat pipe experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chow, Louis C.

    1998-01-01

    A flat-plate heat pipe (FPHP) experiment has been set up for micro-gravity tests on a NASA supplied aircraft. This report presents an analysis on various components of the experimental setup to certify that it will satisfy the flight safety and operation requirements.

  1. Comparison of Origin 2000 and Origin 3000 Using NAS Parallel Benchmarks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Turney, Raymond D.

    2001-01-01

    This report describes results of benchmark tests on the Origin 3000 system currently being installed at the NASA Ames National Advanced Supercomputing facility. This machine will ultimately contain 1024 R14K processors. The first part of the system, installed in November, 2000 and named mendel, is an Origin 3000 with 128 R12K processors. For comparison purposes, the tests were also run on lomax, an Origin 2000 with R12K processors. The BT, LU, and SP application benchmarks in the NAS Parallel Benchmark Suite and the kernel benchmark FT were chosen to determine system performance and measure the impact of changes on the machine as it evolves. Having been written to measure performance on Computational Fluid Dynamics applications, these benchmarks are assumed appropriate to represent the NAS workload. Since the NAS runs both message passing (MPI) and shared-memory, compiler directive type codes, both MPI and OpenMP versions of the benchmarks were used. The MPI versions used were the latest official release of the NAS Parallel Benchmarks, version 2.3. The OpenMP versiqns used were PBN3b2, a beta version that is in the process of being released. NPB 2.3 and PBN 3b2 are technically different benchmarks, and NPB results are not directly comparable to PBN results.

  2. OWL2 benchmarking for the evaluation of knowledge based systems.

    PubMed

    Khan, Sher Afgun; Qadir, Muhammad Abdul; Abbas, Muhammad Azeem; Afzal, Muhammad Tanvir

    2017-01-01

    OWL2 semantics are becoming increasingly popular for the real domain applications like Gene engineering and health MIS. The present work identifies the research gap that negligible attention has been paid to the performance evaluation of Knowledge Base Systems (KBS) using OWL2 semantics. To fulfil this identified research gap, an OWL2 benchmark for the evaluation of KBS is proposed. The proposed benchmark addresses the foundational blocks of an ontology benchmark i.e. data schema, workload and performance metrics. The proposed benchmark is tested on memory based, file based, relational database and graph based KBS for performance and scalability measures. The results show that the proposed benchmark is able to evaluate the behaviour of different state of the art KBS on OWL2 semantics. On the basis of the results, the end users (i.e. domain expert) would be able to select a suitable KBS appropriate for his domain.

  3. Benchmarking and beyond. Information trends in home care.

    PubMed

    Twiss, Amanda; Rooney, Heather; Lang, Christine

    2002-11-01

    With today's benchmarking concepts and tools, agencies have the unprecedented opportunity to use information as a strategic advantage. Because agencies are demanding more and better information, benchmark functionality has grown increasingly sophisticated. Agencies now require a new type of analysis, focused on high-level executive summaries while reducing the current "data overload."

  4. Benchmarking strategies for measuring the quality of healthcare: problems and prospects.

    PubMed

    Lovaglio, Pietro Giorgio

    2012-01-01

    Over the last few years, increasing attention has been directed toward the problems inherent to measuring the quality of healthcare and implementing benchmarking strategies. Besides offering accreditation and certification processes, recent approaches measure the performance of healthcare institutions in order to evaluate their effectiveness, defined as the capacity to provide treatment that modifies and improves the patient's state of health. This paper, dealing with hospital effectiveness, focuses on research methods for effectiveness analyses within a strategy comparing different healthcare institutions. The paper, after having introduced readers to the principle debates on benchmarking strategies, which depend on the perspective and type of indicators used, focuses on the methodological problems related to performing consistent benchmarking analyses. Particularly, statistical methods suitable for controlling case-mix, analyzing aggregate data, rare events, and continuous outcomes measured with error are examined. Specific challenges of benchmarking strategies, such as the risk of risk adjustment (case-mix fallacy, underreporting, risk of comparing noncomparable hospitals), selection bias, and possible strategies for the development of consistent benchmarking analyses, are discussed. Finally, to demonstrate the feasibility of the illustrated benchmarking strategies, an application focused on determining regional benchmarks for patient satisfaction (using 2009 Lombardy Region Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire) is proposed.

  5. Benchmark Dataset for Whole Genome Sequence Compression.

    PubMed

    C L, Biji; S Nair, Achuthsankar

    2017-01-01

    The research in DNA data compression lacks a standard dataset to test out compression tools specific to DNA. This paper argues that the current state of achievement in DNA compression is unable to be benchmarked in the absence of such scientifically compiled whole genome sequence dataset and proposes a benchmark dataset using multistage sampling procedure. Considering the genome sequence of organisms available in the National Centre for Biotechnology and Information (NCBI) as the universe, the proposed dataset selects 1,105 prokaryotes, 200 plasmids, 164 viruses, and 65 eukaryotes. This paper reports the results of using three established tools on the newly compiled dataset and show that their strength and weakness are evident only with a comparison based on the scientifically compiled benchmark dataset. The sample dataset and the respective links are available @ https://sourceforge.net/projects/benchmarkdnacompressiondataset/.

  6. Scalable randomized benchmarking of non-Clifford gates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cross, Andrew; Magesan, Easwar; Bishop, Lev; Smolin, John; Gambetta, Jay

    Randomized benchmarking is a widely used experimental technique to characterize the average error of quantum operations. Benchmarking procedures that scale to enable characterization of n-qubit circuits rely on efficient procedures for manipulating those circuits and, as such, have been limited to subgroups of the Clifford group. However, universal quantum computers require additional, non-Clifford gates to approximate arbitrary unitary transformations. We define a scalable randomized benchmarking procedure over n-qubit unitary matrices that correspond to protected non-Clifford gates for a class of stabilizer codes. We present efficient methods for representing and composing group elements, sampling them uniformly, and synthesizing corresponding poly (n) -sized circuits. The procedure provides experimental access to two independent parameters that together characterize the average gate fidelity of a group element. We acknowledge support from ARO under Contract W911NF-14-1-0124.

  7. Development and initial validation of an Aviation Safety Climate Scale.

    PubMed

    Evans, Bronwyn; Glendon, A Ian; Creed, Peter A

    2007-01-01

    A need was identified for a consistent set of safety climate factors to provide a basis for aviation industry benchmarking. Six broad safety climate themes were identified from the literature and consultations with industry safety experts. Items representing each of the themes were prepared and administered to 940 Australian commercial pilots. Data from half of the sample (N=468) were used in an exploratory factor analysis that produced a 3-factor model of Management commitment and communication, Safety training and equipment, and Maintenance. A confirmatory factor analysis on the remaining half of the sample showed the 3-factor model to be an adequate fit to the data. The results of this study have produced a scale of safety climate for aviation that is both reliable and valid. This study developed a tool to assess the level of perceived safety climate, specifically of pilots, but may also, with minor modifications, be used to assess other groups' perceptions of safety climate.

  8. Safety assessment in the urban park environment in Alborz Province, Iran.

    PubMed

    Oostakhan, Morteza; Babaei, Aliakbar

    2013-01-01

    Urban parks, as one of the recreational and sports sectors, could cause serious injuries among different ages if the safety issues in their design are not considered. These injuries can result from the equipment in the park, including play and sports equipment, or even from environmental factors, too. Lack of safety benchmark in parks will impact on the development of future proposals. In this article, attempts are made to survey the important safety factors in the urban parks including playgrounds, fitness equipment, pedestrian surface and environmental factors into a risk assessment. Hence, a checklist of safety factors was used. A Yes or No descriptor was allocated to any factor for determining safety level. The study also suggests recommendations for future planning concerning existing failures for designers. It was found that the safety level of the regional and local parks differ from each other.

  9. Implementation of NAS Parallel Benchmarks in Java

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frumkin, Michael; Schultz, Matthew; Jin, Hao-Qiang; Yan, Jerry

    2000-01-01

    A number of features make Java an attractive but a debatable choice for High Performance Computing (HPC). In order to gauge the applicability of Java to the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) we have implemented NAS Parallel Benchmarks in Java. The performance and scalability of the benchmarks point out the areas where improvement in Java compiler technology and in Java thread implementation would move Java closer to Fortran in the competition for CFD applications.

  10. Data Race Benchmark Collection

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

    Liao, Chunhua; Lin, Pei-Hung; Asplund, Joshua

    2017-03-21

    This project is a benchmark suite of Open-MP parallel codes that have been checked for data races. The programs are marked to show which do and do not have races. This allows them to be leveraged while testing and developing race detection tools.

  11. The Medical Library Association Benchmarking Network: development and implementation.

    PubMed

    Dudden, Rosalind Farnam; Corcoran, Kate; Kaplan, Janice; Magouirk, Jeff; Rand, Debra C; Smith, Bernie Todd

    2006-04-01

    This article explores the development and implementation of the Medical Library Association (MLA) Benchmarking Network from the initial idea and test survey, to the implementation of a national survey in 2002, to the establishment of a continuing program in 2004. Started as a program for hospital libraries, it has expanded to include other nonacademic health sciences libraries. The activities and timelines of MLA's Benchmarking Network task forces and editorial board from 1998 to 2004 are described. The Benchmarking Network task forces successfully developed an extensive questionnaire with parameters of size and measures of library activity and published a report of the data collected by September 2002. The data were available to all MLA members in the form of aggregate tables. Utilization of Web-based technologies proved feasible for data intake and interactive display. A companion article analyzes and presents some of the data. MLA has continued to develop the Benchmarking Network with the completion of a second survey in 2004. The Benchmarking Network has provided many small libraries with comparative data to present to their administrators. It is a challenge for the future to convince all MLA members to participate in this valuable program.

  12. Implementation and verification of global optimization benchmark problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Posypkin, Mikhail; Usov, Alexander

    2017-12-01

    The paper considers the implementation and verification of a test suite containing 150 benchmarks for global deterministic box-constrained optimization. A C++ library for describing standard mathematical expressions was developed for this purpose. The library automate the process of generating the value of a function and its' gradient at a given point and the interval estimates of a function and its' gradient on a given box using a single description. Based on this functionality, we have developed a collection of tests for an automatic verification of the proposed benchmarks. The verification has shown that literary sources contain mistakes in the benchmarks description. The library and the test suite are available for download and can be used freely.

  13. Memory-Intensive Benchmarks: IRAM vs. Cache-Based Machines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Biswas, Rupak; Gaeke, Brian R.; Husbands, Parry; Li, Xiaoye S.; Oliker, Leonid; Yelick, Katherine A.; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The increasing gap between processor and memory performance has lead to new architectural models for memory-intensive applications. In this paper, we explore the performance of a set of memory-intensive benchmarks and use them to compare the performance of conventional cache-based microprocessors to a mixed logic and DRAM processor called VIRAM. The benchmarks are based on problem statements, rather than specific implementations, and in each case we explore the fundamental hardware requirements of the problem, as well as alternative algorithms and data structures that can help expose fine-grained parallelism or simplify memory access patterns. The benchmarks are characterized by their memory access patterns, their basic control structures, and the ratio of computation to memory operation.

  14. New NAS Parallel Benchmarks Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yarrow, Maurice; Saphir, William; VanderWijngaart, Rob; Woo, Alex; Kutler, Paul (Technical Monitor)

    1997-01-01

    NPB2 (NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) Parallel Benchmarks 2) is an implementation, based on Fortran and the MPI (message passing interface) message passing standard, of the original NAS Parallel Benchmark specifications. NPB2 programs are run with little or no tuning, in contrast to NPB vendor implementations, which are highly optimized for specific architectures. NPB2 results complement, rather than replace, NPB results. Because they have not been optimized by vendors, NPB2 implementations approximate the performance a typical user can expect for a portable parallel program on distributed memory parallel computers. Together these results provide an insightful comparison of the real-world performance of high-performance computers. New NPB2 features: New implementation (CG), new workstation class problem sizes, new serial sample versions, more performance statistics.

  15. Implementation of Programmatic Quality and the Impact on Safety

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huls, Dale T.; Meehan, Kevin M.

    2005-12-01

    The implementation of an inadequate programmatic quality assurance discipline has the potential to adversely affect safety and mission success. This is best demonstrated in the lessons provided by the Apollo 1 Apollo 13 Challenger, and Columbia accidents; NASA Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) benchmarking exchanges; and conclusions reached by the Shuttle Return-to-Flight Task Group established following the Columbia Shuttle accident. Examples from the ISS Program demonstrate continuing issues with programmatic quality. Failure to adequately address programmatic quality assurance issues has a real potential to lead to continued inefficiency, increases in program costs, and additional catastrophic accidents.

  16. Benchmark Simulations of the Thermal-Hydraulic Responses during EBR-II Inherent Safety Tests using SAM

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

    Hu, Rui; Sumner, Tyler S.

    2016-04-17

    An advanced system analysis tool SAM is being developed for fast-running, improved-fidelity, and whole-plant transient analyses at Argonne National Laboratory under DOE-NE’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. As an important part of code development, companion validation activities are being conducted to ensure the performance and validity of the SAM code. This paper presents the benchmark simulations of two EBR-II tests, SHRT-45R and BOP-302R, whose data are available through the support of DOE-NE’s Advanced Reactor Technology (ART) program. The code predictions of major primary coolant system parameter are compared with the test results. Additionally, the SAS4A/SASSYS-1 code simulationmore » results are also included for a code-to-code comparison.« less

  17. Development and application of freshwater sediment-toxicity benchmarks for currently used pesticides

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Nowell, Lisa H.; Norman, Julia E.; Ingersoll, Christopher G.; Moran, Patrick W.

    2016-01-01

    Sediment-toxicity benchmarks are needed to interpret the biological significance of currently used pesticides detected in whole sediments. Two types of freshwater sediment benchmarks for pesticides were developed using spiked-sediment bioassay (SSB) data from the literature. These benchmarks can be used to interpret sediment-toxicity data or to assess the potential toxicity of pesticides in whole sediment. The Likely Effect Benchmark (LEB) defines a pesticide concentration in whole sediment above which there is a high probability of adverse effects on benthic invertebrates, and the Threshold Effect Benchmark (TEB) defines a concentration below which adverse effects are unlikely. For compounds without available SSBs, benchmarks were estimated using equilibrium partitioning (EqP). When a sediment sample contains a pesticide mixture, benchmark quotients can be summed for all detected pesticides to produce an indicator of potential toxicity for that mixture. Benchmarks were developed for 48 pesticide compounds using SSB data and 81 compounds using the EqP approach. In an example application, data for pesticides measured in sediment from 197 streams across the United States were evaluated using these benchmarks, and compared to measured toxicity from whole-sediment toxicity tests conducted with the amphipod Hyalella azteca (28-d exposures) and the midge Chironomus dilutus (10-d exposures). Amphipod survival, weight, and biomass were significantly and inversely related to summed benchmark quotients, whereas midge survival, weight, and biomass showed no relationship to benchmarks. Samples with LEB exceedances were rare (n = 3), but all were toxic to amphipods (i.e., significantly different from control). Significant toxicity to amphipods was observed for 72% of samples exceeding one or more TEBs, compared to 18% of samples below all TEBs. Factors affecting toxicity below TEBs may include the presence of contaminants other than pesticides, physical

  18. Safety culture : a significant influence on safety in transportation

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-08-01

    An organizations safety culture can influence safety outcomes. Research and experience show that when safety culture is strong, accidents are less frequent and less severe. As a result, building and maintaining strong safety cultures should be a t...

  19. Benchmarking in Education: Tech Prep, a Case in Point. IEE Brief Number 8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Inger, Morton

    Benchmarking is a process by which organizations compare their practices, processes, and outcomes to standards of excellence in a systematic way. The benchmarking process entails the following essential steps: determining what to benchmark and establishing internal baseline data; identifying the benchmark; determining how that standard has been…

  20. Reevaluation of health risk benchmark for sustainable water practice through risk analysis of rooftop-harvested rainwater.

    PubMed

    Lim, Keah-Ying; Jiang, Sunny C

    2013-12-15

    produce based on the relative risk of HRW to reclaimed wastewater for irrigation of food crops. The appropriateness of the ≤10(-4) pppy risk benchmark for assessing safety level of HRW-irrigated fresh produce is questioned by considering the assumptions made for the QMRA model. Consequently, the need of an updated approach to assess appropriateness of sustainable water practice for making guidelines and policies is proposed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Possibilities and challenges of a large international benchmarking in pediatric diabetology-The SWEET experience.

    PubMed

    Witsch, Michael; Kosteria, Ioanna; Kordonouri, Olga; Alonso, Guy; Archinkova, Margarita; Besancon, Stephane; Birkebæk, Niels H; Bratina, Natasa; Cherubini, Valentino; Hanas, Ragnar; Hasnani, Dhruvi; Iotova, Violeta; Raposo, João Filipe; Schwandt, Anke; Sumnik, Zdenek; Svensson, Jannet; Veeze, Henk

    2016-10-01

    Despite the existence of evidence-based guidelines for the care of children with diabetes, widespread gaps in knowledge, attitude, and practice remain. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of benchmarking practices and results of this process within SWEET, moreover focusing on current challenges and future directions. Biannually, members electronically transfer de-identified clinic data for 37 parameters to the SWEET database. Each center receives benchmarking and data validation reports. In 2015, 48 centers have contributed data for 20 165 unique patients (51.6% male). After exclusion for missing data 19 131 patients remain for further analysis. The median age is 14.2 years, with a median diabetes duration 4.8 years; 96.0% of patients have type 1, 1.1% type 2, and 2.9% other diabetes types. Data completeness has increased over time. In 2015, median HbA1c of all patients' (diabetes type 1) medians was 7.8% (61.7 mmol/mol) with 39.1%, 41.4%, and 19.4% of patients having HbA1c < 7.5% (58 mmol/mol), 7.5%-9% (58-75 mmol/mol) and >9% (75 mmol/mol), respectively. Although HbA1c has been stable over time [7.7%-7.8% (60.7-61.7 mmol/mol)], there remains wide variation between centers. Fourteen centers achieve a median HbA1c <7.5% (58 mmol/mol). Our vision is that the participation in SWEET is encouraging members to deliver increasingly accurate and complete data. Dissemination of results and prospective projects serve as further motivation to improve data reporting. Comparing processes and outcomes will help members identify weaknesses and introduce innovative solutions, resulting in improved and more uniform care for patients with diabetes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Benchmarking Strategies for Measuring the Quality of Healthcare: Problems and Prospects

    PubMed Central

    Lovaglio, Pietro Giorgio

    2012-01-01

    Over the last few years, increasing attention has been directed toward the problems inherent to measuring the quality of healthcare and implementing benchmarking strategies. Besides offering accreditation and certification processes, recent approaches measure the performance of healthcare institutions in order to evaluate their effectiveness, defined as the capacity to provide treatment that modifies and improves the patient's state of health. This paper, dealing with hospital effectiveness, focuses on research methods for effectiveness analyses within a strategy comparing different healthcare institutions. The paper, after having introduced readers to the principle debates on benchmarking strategies, which depend on the perspective and type of indicators used, focuses on the methodological problems related to performing consistent benchmarking analyses. Particularly, statistical methods suitable for controlling case-mix, analyzing aggregate data, rare events, and continuous outcomes measured with error are examined. Specific challenges of benchmarking strategies, such as the risk of risk adjustment (case-mix fallacy, underreporting, risk of comparing noncomparable hospitals), selection bias, and possible strategies for the development of consistent benchmarking analyses, are discussed. Finally, to demonstrate the feasibility of the illustrated benchmarking strategies, an application focused on determining regional benchmarks for patient satisfaction (using 2009 Lombardy Region Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire) is proposed. PMID:22666140

  3. Development and Experimental Benchmark of Simulations to Predict Used Nuclear Fuel Cladding Temperatures during Drying and Transfer Operations

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

    Greiner, Miles

    Radial hydride formation in high-burnup used fuel cladding has the potential to radically reduce its ductility and suitability for long-term storage and eventual transport. To avoid this formation, the maximum post-reactor temperature must remain sufficiently low to limit the cladding hoop stress, and so that hydrogen from the existing circumferential hydrides will not dissolve and become available to re-precipitate into radial hydrides under the slow cooling conditions during drying, transfer and early dry-cask storage. The objective of this research is to develop and experimentallybenchmark computational fluid dynamics simulations of heat transfer in post-pool-storage drying operations, when high-burnup fuel cladding ismore » likely to experience its highest temperature. These benchmarked tools can play a key role in evaluating dry cask storage systems for extended storage of high-burnup fuels and post-storage transportation, including fuel retrievability. The benchmarked tools will be used to aid the design of efficient drying processes, as well as estimate variations of surface temperatures as a means of inferring helium integrity inside the canister or cask. This work will be conducted effectively because the principal investigator has experience developing these types of simulations, and has constructed a test facility that can be used to benchmark them.« less

  4. MIPS bacterial genomes functional annotation benchmark dataset.

    PubMed

    Tetko, Igor V; Brauner, Barbara; Dunger-Kaltenbach, Irmtraud; Frishman, Goar; Montrone, Corinna; Fobo, Gisela; Ruepp, Andreas; Antonov, Alexey V; Surmeli, Dimitrij; Mewes, Hans-Wernen

    2005-05-15

    Any development of new methods for automatic functional annotation of proteins according to their sequences requires high-quality data (as benchmark) as well as tedious preparatory work to generate sequence parameters required as input data for the machine learning methods. Different program settings and incompatible protocols make a comparison of the analyzed methods difficult. The MIPS Bacterial Functional Annotation Benchmark dataset (MIPS-BFAB) is a new, high-quality resource comprising four bacterial genomes manually annotated according to the MIPS functional catalogue (FunCat). These resources include precalculated sequence parameters, such as sequence similarity scores, InterPro domain composition and other parameters that could be used to develop and benchmark methods for functional annotation of bacterial protein sequences. These data are provided in XML format and can be used by scientists who are not necessarily experts in genome annotation. BFAB is available at http://mips.gsf.de/proj/bfab

  5. 42 CFR 440.335 - Benchmark-equivalent health benefits coverage.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...) Aggregate actuarial value. Benchmark-equivalent coverage is health benefits coverage that has an aggregate... planning services and supplies and other appropriate preventive services, as designated by the Secretary... State for purposes of comparison in establishing the aggregate actuarial value of the benchmark...

  6. Benchmarking in pathology: development of a benchmarking complexity unit and associated key performance indicators.

    PubMed

    Neil, Amanda; Pfeffer, Sally; Burnett, Leslie

    2013-01-01

    This paper details the development of a new type of pathology laboratory productivity unit, the benchmarking complexity unit (BCU). The BCU provides a comparative index of laboratory efficiency, regardless of test mix. It also enables estimation of a measure of how much complex pathology a laboratory performs, and the identification of peer organisations for the purposes of comparison and benchmarking. The BCU is based on the theory that wage rates reflect productivity at the margin. A weighting factor for the ratio of medical to technical staff time was dynamically calculated based on actual participant site data. Given this weighting, a complexity value for each test, at each site, was calculated. The median complexity value (number of BCUs) for that test across all participating sites was taken as its complexity value for the Benchmarking in Pathology Program. The BCU allowed implementation of an unbiased comparison unit and test listing that was found to be a robust indicator of the relative complexity for each test. Employing the BCU data, a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were developed, including three that address comparative organisational complexity, analytical depth and performance efficiency, respectively. Peer groups were also established using the BCU combined with simple organisational and environmental metrics. The BCU has enabled productivity statistics to be compared between organisations. The BCU corrects for differences in test mix and workload complexity of different organisations and also allows for objective stratification into peer groups.

  7. Parents' experience with child safety restraint in China.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xiaojun; Yang, Jingzhen; Peek-Asa, Corinne; Li, Liping

    2014-04-07

    Child safety restraints are effective measures in protecting children from an injury while traveling in a car. However, the rate of child restraint use is extremely low in Chinese cities. Parent drivers could play an important role in promoting child safety restraint use, but not all of them take active responsibility. This study used a qualitative approach and included 14 in-depth interviews among parents with a child, under the age of 6, living in Shantou City (7 child safety restraint users and 7 non-users). Purposive sampling was used to recruit eligible parent drivers who participated in a previous observation study. Interview data were collected from March to April 2013. The audio taped and transcribed data were coded and analyzed to identify key themes. Four key themes on child safety restraint emerged from the in-depth interviews with parents. These included 1) Having a child safety restraint installed in the rear seat with an adult sitting next to the restrained child is ideal, and child safety restraint is seen as an alternative when adult accompaniment is not available; 2) Having effective parental education strategies could help make a difference in child safety restraint use; 3) Inadequate promotion and parents' poor safety awareness contribute to the low rate of child safety restraint in China; 4) Mandatory legislation on child safety restraint use could be an effective approach. Inadequate promotion and low awareness of safe traveling by parents were closely linked to low child safety seat usage under the circumstance of no mandatory legislation. Future intervention efforts need to focus on increasing parents' safe travel awareness combined with CSS product promotion before the laws are enacted.

  8. Benchmarking and audit of breast units improves quality of care

    PubMed Central

    van Dam, P.A.; Verkinderen, L.; Hauspy, J.; Vermeulen, P.; Dirix, L.; Huizing, M.; Altintas, S.; Papadimitriou, K.; Peeters, M.; Tjalma, W.

    2013-01-01

    Quality Indicators (QIs) are measures of health care quality that make use of readily available hospital inpatient administrative data. Assessment quality of care can be performed on different levels: national, regional, on a hospital basis or on an individual basis. It can be a mandatory or voluntary system. In all cases development of an adequate database for data extraction, and feedback of the findings is of paramount importance. In the present paper we performed a Medline search on “QIs and breast cancer” and “benchmarking and breast cancer care”, and we have added some data from personal experience. The current data clearly show that the use of QIs for breast cancer care, regular internal and external audit of performance of breast units, and benchmarking are effective to improve quality of care. Adherence to guidelines improves markedly (particularly regarding adjuvant treatment) and there are data emerging showing that this results in a better outcome. As quality assurance benefits patients, it will be a challenge for the medical and hospital community to develop affordable quality control systems, which are not leading to excessive workload. PMID:24753926

  9. Teaching Benchmark Strategy for Fifth-Graders in Taiwan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Der-Ching; Lai, M. L.

    2013-01-01

    The key purpose of this study was how we taught the use of benchmark strategy when comparing fraction for fifth-graders in Taiwan. 26 fifth graders from a public elementary in south Taiwan were selected to join this study. Results of this case study showed that students had a much progress on the use of benchmark strategy when comparing fraction…

  10. 7 CFR 1709.5 - Determination of energy cost benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Determination of energy cost benchmarks. 1709.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.5 Determination of energy cost benchmarks. (a) The Administrator shall establish, using the most...

  11. 7 CFR 1709.5 - Determination of energy cost benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Determination of energy cost benchmarks. 1709.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.5 Determination of energy cost benchmarks. (a) The Administrator shall establish, using the most...

  12. 7 CFR 1709.5 - Determination of energy cost benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Determination of energy cost benchmarks. 1709.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.5 Determination of energy cost benchmarks. (a) The Administrator shall establish, using the most...

  13. 7 CFR 1709.5 - Determination of energy cost benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Determination of energy cost benchmarks. 1709.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.5 Determination of energy cost benchmarks. (a) The Administrator shall establish, using the most...

  14. 7 CFR 1709.5 - Determination of energy cost benchmarks.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Determination of energy cost benchmarks. 1709.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES General Requirements § 1709.5 Determination of energy cost benchmarks. (a) The Administrator shall establish, using the most...

  15. Nomenclatural Benchmarking: The roles of digital typification and telemicroscopy

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The process of nomenclatural benchmarking is the examination of type specimens of all available names to ascertain which currently accepted species the specimen bearing the name falls within. We propose a strategy for addressing four challenges for nomenclatural benchmarking. First, there is the mat...

  16. The Medical Library Association Benchmarking Network: development and implementation*

    PubMed Central

    Dudden, Rosalind Farnam; Corcoran, Kate; Kaplan, Janice; Magouirk, Jeff; Rand, Debra C.; Smith, Bernie Todd

    2006-01-01

    Objective: This article explores the development and implementation of the Medical Library Association (MLA) Benchmarking Network from the initial idea and test survey, to the implementation of a national survey in 2002, to the establishment of a continuing program in 2004. Started as a program for hospital libraries, it has expanded to include other nonacademic health sciences libraries. Methods: The activities and timelines of MLA's Benchmarking Network task forces and editorial board from 1998 to 2004 are described. Results: The Benchmarking Network task forces successfully developed an extensive questionnaire with parameters of size and measures of library activity and published a report of the data collected by September 2002. The data were available to all MLA members in the form of aggregate tables. Utilization of Web-based technologies proved feasible for data intake and interactive display. A companion article analyzes and presents some of the data. MLA has continued to develop the Benchmarking Network with the completion of a second survey in 2004. Conclusions: The Benchmarking Network has provided many small libraries with comparative data to present to their administrators. It is a challenge for the future to convince all MLA members to participate in this valuable program. PMID:16636702

  17. Modification and benchmarking of MCNP for low-energy tungsten spectra.

    PubMed

    Mercier, J R; Kopp, D T; McDavid, W D; Dove, S B; Lancaster, J L; Tucker, D M

    2000-12-01

    The MCNP Monte Carlo radiation transport code was modified for diagnostic medical physics applications. In particular, the modified code was thoroughly benchmarked for the production of polychromatic tungsten x-ray spectra in the 30-150 kV range. Validating the modified code for coupled electron-photon transport with benchmark spectra was supplemented with independent electron-only and photon-only transport benchmarks. Major revisions to the code included the proper treatment of characteristic K x-ray production and scoring, new impact ionization cross sections, and new bremsstrahlung cross sections. Minor revisions included updated photon cross sections, electron-electron bremsstrahlung production, and K x-ray yield. The modified MCNP code is benchmarked to electron backscatter factors, x-ray spectra production, and primary and scatter photon transport.

  18. The General Concept of Benchmarking and Its Application in Higher Education in Europe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nazarko, Joanicjusz; Kuzmicz, Katarzyna Anna; Szubzda-Prutis, Elzbieta; Urban, Joanna

    2009-01-01

    The purposes of this paper are twofold: a presentation of the theoretical basis of benchmarking and a discussion on practical benchmarking applications. Benchmarking is also analyzed as a productivity accelerator. The authors study benchmarking usage in the private and public sectors with due consideration of the specificities of the two areas.…

  19. Parents’ experience with child safety restraint in China

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Child safety restraints are effective measures in protecting children from an injury while traveling in a car. However, the rate of child restraint use is extremely low in Chinese cities. Parent drivers could play an important role in promoting child safety restraint use, but not all of them take active responsibility. Methods This study used a qualitative approach and included 14 in-depth interviews among parents with a child, under the age of 6, living in Shantou City (7 child safety restraint users and 7 non-users). Purposive sampling was used to recruit eligible parent drivers who participated in a previous observation study. Interview data were collected from March to April 2013. The audio taped and transcribed data were coded and analyzed to identify key themes. Results Four key themes on child safety restraint emerged from the in-depth interviews with parents. These included 1) Having a child safety restraint installed in the rear seat with an adult sitting next to the restrained child is ideal, and child safety restraint is seen as an alternative when adult accompaniment is not available; 2) Having effective parental education strategies could help make a difference in child safety restraint use; 3) Inadequate promotion and parents’ poor safety awareness contribute to the low rate of child safety restraint in China; 4) Mandatory legislation on child safety restraint use could be an effective approach. Conclusion Inadequate promotion and low awareness of safe traveling by parents were closely linked to low child safety seat usage under the circumstance of no mandatory legislation. Future intervention efforts need to focus on increasing parents’ safe travel awareness combined with CSS product promotion before the laws are enacted. PMID:24708776

  20. Workplace road safety risk management: An investigation into Australian practices.

    PubMed

    Warmerdam, Amanda; Newnam, Sharon; Sheppard, Dianne; Griffin, Mark; Stevenson, Mark

    2017-01-01

    In Australia, more than 30% of the traffic volume can be attributed to work-related vehicles. Although work-related driver safety has been given increasing attention in the scientific literature, it is uncertain how well this knowledge has been translated into practice in industry. It is also unclear how current practice in industry can inform scientific knowledge. The aim of the research was to use a benchmarking tool developed by the National Road Safety Partnership Program to assess industry maturity in relation to risk management practices. A total of 83 managers from a range of small, medium and large organisations were recruited through the Victorian Work Authority. Semi-structured interviews aimed at eliciting information on current organisational practices, as well as policy and procedures around work-related driving were conducted and the data mapped onto the benchmarking tool. Overall, the results demonstrated varying levels of maturity of risk management practices across organisations, highlighting the need to build accountability within organisations, improve communication practices, improve journey management, reduce vehicle-related risk, improve driver competency through an effective workplace road safety management program and review organisational incident and infringement management. The findings of the study have important implications for industry and highlight the need to review current risk management practices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Benchmarking neuromorphic vision: lessons learnt from computer vision

    PubMed Central

    Tan, Cheston; Lallee, Stephane; Orchard, Garrick

    2015-01-01

    Neuromorphic Vision sensors have improved greatly since the first silicon retina was presented almost three decades ago. They have recently matured to the point where they are commercially available and can be operated by laymen. However, despite improved availability of sensors, there remains a lack of good datasets, while algorithms for processing spike-based visual data are still in their infancy. On the other hand, frame-based computer vision algorithms are far more mature, thanks in part to widely accepted datasets which allow direct comparison between algorithms and encourage competition. We are presented with a unique opportunity to shape the development of Neuromorphic Vision benchmarks and challenges by leveraging what has been learnt from the use of datasets in frame-based computer vision. Taking advantage of this opportunity, in this paper we review the role that benchmarks and challenges have played in the advancement of frame-based computer vision, and suggest guidelines for the creation of Neuromorphic Vision benchmarks and challenges. We also discuss the unique challenges faced when benchmarking Neuromorphic Vision algorithms, particularly when attempting to provide direct comparison with frame-based computer vision. PMID:26528120

  2. Experimental Criticality Benchmarks for SNAP 10A/2 Reactor Cores

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

    Krass, A.W.

    2005-12-19

    This report describes computational benchmark models for nuclear criticality derived from descriptions of the Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) Critical Assembly (SCA)-4B experimental criticality program conducted by Atomics International during the early 1960's. The selected experimental configurations consist of fueled SNAP 10A/2-type reactor cores subject to varied conditions of water immersion and reflection under experimental control to measure neutron multiplication. SNAP 10A/2-type reactor cores are compact volumes fueled and moderated with the hydride of highly enriched uranium-zirconium alloy. Specifications for the materials and geometry needed to describe a given experimental configuration for a model using MCNP5 are provided. Themore » material and geometry specifications are adequate to permit user development of input for alternative nuclear safety codes, such as KENO. A total of 73 distinct experimental configurations are described.« less

  3. Benchmarking FEniCS for mantle convection simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vynnytska, L.; Rognes, M. E.; Clark, S. R.

    2013-01-01

    This paper evaluates the usability of the FEniCS Project for mantle convection simulations by numerical comparison to three established benchmarks. The benchmark problems all concern convection processes in an incompressible fluid induced by temperature or composition variations, and cover three cases: (i) steady-state convection with depth- and temperature-dependent viscosity, (ii) time-dependent convection with constant viscosity and internal heating, and (iii) a Rayleigh-Taylor instability. These problems are modeled by the Stokes equations for the fluid and advection-diffusion equations for the temperature and composition. The FEniCS Project provides a novel platform for the automated solution of differential equations by finite element methods. In particular, it offers a significant flexibility with regard to modeling and numerical discretization choices; we have here used a discontinuous Galerkin method for the numerical solution of the advection-diffusion equations. Our numerical results are in agreement with the benchmarks, and demonstrate the applicability of both the discontinuous Galerkin method and FEniCS for such applications.

  4. A suite of benchmark and challenge problems for enhanced geothermal systems

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

    White, Mark; Fu, Pengcheng; McClure, Mark

    A diverse suite of numerical simulators is currently being applied to predict or understand the performance of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). To build confidence and identify critical development needs for these analytical tools, the United States Department of Energy, Geothermal Technologies Office sponsored a Code Comparison Study (GTO-CCS), with participants from universities, industry, and national laboratories. A principal objective for the study was to create a community forum for improvement and verification of numerical simulators for EGS modeling. Teams participating in the study were those representing U.S. national laboratories, universities, and industries, and each team brought unique numerical simulation capabilitiesmore » to bear on the problems. Two classes of problems were developed during the study, benchmark problems and challenge problems. The benchmark problems were structured to test the ability of the collection of numerical simulators to solve various combinations of coupled thermal, hydrologic, geomechanical, and geochemical processes. This class of problems was strictly defined in terms of properties, driving forces, initial conditions, and boundary conditions. The challenge problems were based on the enhanced geothermal systems research conducted at Fenton Hill, near Los Alamos, New Mexico, between 1974 and 1995. The problems involved two phases of research, stimulation, development, and circulation in two separate reservoirs. The challenge problems had specific questions to be answered via numerical simulation in three topical areas: 1) reservoir creation/stimulation, 2) reactive and passive transport, and 3) thermal recovery. Whereas the benchmark class of problems were designed to test capabilities for modeling coupled processes under strictly specified conditions, the stated objective for the challenge class of problems was to demonstrate what new understanding of the Fenton Hill experiments could be realized via the application

  5. A One-group, One-dimensional Transport Benchmark in Cylindrical Geometry

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

    Barry Ganapol; Abderrafi M. Ougouag

    A 1-D, 1-group computational benchmark in cylndrical geometry is described. This neutron transport benchmark is useful for evaluating reactor concepts that possess azimuthal symmetry such as a pebble-bed reactor.

  6. A novel hybrid meta-heuristic technique applied to the well-known benchmark optimization problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abtahi, Amir-Reza; Bijari, Afsane

    2017-03-01

    In this paper, a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm, based on imperialistic competition algorithm (ICA), harmony search (HS), and simulated annealing (SA) is presented. The body of the proposed hybrid algorithm is based on ICA. The proposed hybrid algorithm inherits the advantages of the process of harmony creation in HS algorithm to improve the exploitation phase of the ICA algorithm. In addition, the proposed hybrid algorithm uses SA to make a balance between exploration and exploitation phases. The proposed hybrid algorithm is compared with several meta-heuristic methods, including genetic algorithm (GA), HS, and ICA on several well-known benchmark instances. The comprehensive experiments and statistical analysis on standard benchmark functions certify the superiority of the proposed method over the other algorithms. The efficacy of the proposed hybrid algorithm is promising and can be used in several real-life engineering and management problems.

  7. Key performance indicators to benchmark hospital information systems - a delphi study.

    PubMed

    Hübner-Bloder, G; Ammenwerth, E

    2009-01-01

    To identify the key performance indicators for hospital information systems (HIS) that can be used for HIS benchmarking. A Delphi survey with one qualitative and two quantitative rounds. Forty-four HIS experts from health care IT practice and academia participated in all three rounds. Seventy-seven performance indicators were identified and organized into eight categories: technical quality, software quality, architecture and interface quality, IT vendor quality, IT support and IT department quality, workflow support quality, IT outcome quality, and IT costs. The highest ranked indicators are related to clinical workflow support and user satisfaction. Isolated technical indicators or cost indicators were not seen as useful. The experts favored an interdisciplinary group of all the stakeholders, led by hospital management, to conduct the HIS benchmarking. They proposed benchmarking activities both in regular (annual) intervals as well as at defined events (for example after IT introduction). Most of the experts stated that in their institutions no HIS benchmarking activities are being performed at the moment. In the context of IT governance, IT benchmarking is gaining importance in the healthcare area. The found indicators reflect the view of health care IT professionals and researchers. Research is needed to further validate and operationalize key performance indicators, to provide an IT benchmarking framework, and to provide open repositories for a comparison of the HIS benchmarks of different hospitals.

  8. A proposed benchmark problem for cargo nuclear threat monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wesley Holmes, Thomas; Calderon, Adan; Peeples, Cody R.; Gardner, Robin P.

    2011-10-01

    There is currently a great deal of technical and political effort focused on reducing the risk of potential attacks on the United States involving radiological dispersal devices or nuclear weapons. This paper proposes a benchmark problem for gamma-ray and X-ray cargo monitoring with results calculated using MCNP5, v1.51. The primary goal is to provide a benchmark problem that will allow researchers in this area to evaluate Monte Carlo models for both speed and accuracy in both forward and inverse calculational codes and approaches for nuclear security applications. A previous benchmark problem was developed by one of the authors (RPG) for two similar oil well logging problems (Gardner and Verghese, 1991, [1]). One of those benchmarks has recently been used by at least two researchers in the nuclear threat area to evaluate the speed and accuracy of Monte Carlo codes combined with variance reduction techniques. This apparent need has prompted us to design this benchmark problem specifically for the nuclear threat researcher. This benchmark consists of conceptual design and preliminary calculational results using gamma-ray interactions on a system containing three thicknesses of three different shielding materials. A point source is placed inside the three materials lead, aluminum, and plywood. The first two materials are in right circular cylindrical form while the third is a cube. The entire system rests on a sufficiently thick lead base so as to reduce undesired scattering events. The configuration was arranged in such a manner that as gamma-ray moves from the source outward it first passes through the lead circular cylinder, then the aluminum circular cylinder, and finally the wooden cube before reaching the detector. A 2 in.×4 in.×16 in. box style NaI (Tl) detector was placed 1 m from the point source located in the center with the 4 in.×16 in. side facing the system. The two sources used in the benchmark are 137Cs and 235U.

  9. Ground truth and benchmarks for performance evaluation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takeuchi, Ayako; Shneier, Michael; Hong, Tsai Hong; Chang, Tommy; Scrapper, Christopher; Cheok, Geraldine S.

    2003-09-01

    Progress in algorithm development and transfer of results to practical applications such as military robotics requires the setup of standard tasks, of standard qualitative and quantitative measurements for performance evaluation and validation. Although the evaluation and validation of algorithms have been discussed for over a decade, the research community still faces a lack of well-defined and standardized methodology. The range of fundamental problems include a lack of quantifiable measures of performance, a lack of data from state-of-the-art sensors in calibrated real-world environments, and a lack of facilities for conducting realistic experiments. In this research, we propose three methods for creating ground truth databases and benchmarks using multiple sensors. The databases and benchmarks will provide researchers with high quality data from suites of sensors operating in complex environments representing real problems of great relevance to the development of autonomous driving systems. At NIST, we have prototyped a High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) system with a suite of sensors including a Riegl ladar, GDRS ladar, stereo CCD, several color cameras, Global Position System (GPS), Inertial Navigation System (INS), pan/tilt encoders, and odometry . All sensors are calibrated with respect to each other in space and time. This allows a database of features and terrain elevation to be built. Ground truth for each sensor can then be extracted from the database. The main goal of this research is to provide ground truth databases for researchers and engineers to evaluate algorithms for effectiveness, efficiency, reliability, and robustness, thus advancing the development of algorithms.

  10. Technical Report: Installed Cost Benchmarks and Deployment Barriers for

    Science.gov Websites

    Cost Benchmarks and Deployment Barriers for Residential Solar Photovoltaics with Energy Storage Q1 2016 Installed Cost Benchmarks and Deployment Barriers for Residential Solar with Energy Storage Researchers from NREL published a report that provides detailed component and system-level cost breakdowns for

  11. What Are the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks? Information Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ACT, Inc., 2013

    2013-01-01

    The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are the minimum ACT® college readiness assessment scores required for students to have a high probability of success in credit-bearing college courses--English Composition, social sciences courses, College Algebra, or Biology. This report identifies the College Readiness Benchmarks on the ACT Compass scale…

  12. Apples to Oranges: Benchmarking Vocational Education and Training Programmes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bogetoft, Peter; Wittrup, Jesper

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses methods for benchmarking vocational education and training colleges and presents results from a number of models. It is conceptually difficult to benchmark vocational colleges. The colleges typically offer a wide range of course programmes, and the students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We solve the…

  13. Implementation and validation of a conceptual benchmarking framework for patient blood management.

    PubMed

    Kastner, Peter; Breznik, Nada; Gombotz, Hans; Hofmann, Axel; Schreier, Günter

    2015-01-01

    Public health authorities and healthcare professionals are obliged to ensure high quality health service. Because of the high variability of the utilisation of blood and blood components, benchmarking is indicated in transfusion medicine. Implementation and validation of a benchmarking framework for Patient Blood Management (PBM) based on the report from the second Austrian Benchmark trial. Core modules for automatic report generation have been implemented with KNIME (Konstanz Information Miner) and validated by comparing the output with the results of the second Austrian benchmark trial. Delta analysis shows a deviation <0.1% for 95% (max. 1.4%). The framework provides a reliable tool for PBM benchmarking. The next step is technical integration with hospital information systems.

  14. Benchmarking multimedia performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zandi, Ahmad; Sudharsanan, Subramania I.

    1998-03-01

    With the introduction of faster processors and special instruction sets tailored to multimedia, a number of exciting applications are now feasible on the desktops. Among these is the DVD playback consisting, among other things, of MPEG-2 video and Dolby digital audio or MPEG-2 audio. Other multimedia applications such as video conferencing and speech recognition are also becoming popular on computer systems. In view of this tremendous interest in multimedia, a group of major computer companies have formed, Multimedia Benchmarks Committee as part of Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. to address the performance issues of multimedia applications. The approach is multi-tiered with three tiers of fidelity from minimal to full compliant. In each case the fidelity of the bitstream reconstruction as well as quality of the video or audio output are measured and the system is classified accordingly. At the next step the performance of the system is measured. In many multimedia applications such as the DVD playback the application needs to be run at a specific rate. In this case the measurement of the excess processing power, makes all the difference. All these make a system level, application based, multimedia benchmark very challenging. Several ideas and methodologies for each aspect of the problems will be presented and analyzed.

  15. Benchmarks Momentum on Increase

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McNeil, Michele

    2008-01-01

    No longer content with the patchwork quilt of assessments used to measure states' K-12 performance, top policy groups are pushing states toward international benchmarking as a way to better prepare students for a competitive global economy. The National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the standards-advocacy…

  16. Benchmarks: WICHE Region 2012

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Benchmarks: WICHE Region 2012 presents information on the West's progress in improving access to, success in, and financing of higher education. The information is updated annually to monitor change over time and encourage its use as a tool for informed discussion in policy and education communities. To establish a general context for the…

  17. Evaluation of the Pool Critical Assembly Benchmark with Explicitly-Modeled Geometry using MCNP6

    DOE PAGES

    Kulesza, Joel A.; Martz, Roger Lee

    2017-03-01

    Despite being one of the most widely used benchmarks for qualifying light water reactor (LWR) radiation transport methods and data, no benchmark calculation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Pool Critical Assembly (PCA) pressure vessel wall benchmark facility (PVWBF) using MCNP6 with explicitly modeled core geometry exists. As such, this paper provides results for such an analysis. First, a criticality calculation is used to construct the fixed source term. Next, ADVANTG-generated variance reduction parameters are used within the final MCNP6 fixed source calculations. These calculations provide unadjusted dosimetry results using three sets of dosimetry reaction cross sections of varyingmore » ages (those packaged with MCNP6, from the IRDF-2002 multi-group library, and from the ACE-formatted IRDFF v1.05 library). These results are then compared to two different sets of measured reaction rates. The comparison agrees in an overall sense within 2% and on a specific reaction- and dosimetry location-basis within 5%. Except for the neptunium dosimetry, the individual foil raw calculation-to-experiment comparisons usually agree within 10% but is typically greater than unity. Finally, in the course of developing these calculations, geometry that has previously not been completely specified is provided herein for the convenience of future analysts.« less

  18. SLSF in-reactor local fault safety experiment P4. Final report

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

    Thompson, D. H.; Holland, J. W.; Braid, T. H.

    The Sodium Loop Safety Facility (SLSF), a major facility in the US fast-reactor safety program, has been used to simulate a variety of sodium-cooled fast reactor accidents. SLSF experiment P4 was conducted to investigate the behavior of a "worse-than-case" local fault configuration. Objectives of this experiment were to eject molten fuel into a 37-pin bundle of full-length Fast-Test-Reactor-type fuel pins form heat-generating fuel canisters, to characterize the severity of any molten fuel-coolant interaction, and to demonstrate that any resulting blockage could either be tolerated during continued power operation or detected by global monitors to prevent fuel failure propagation. The designmore » goal for molten fuel release was 10 to 30 g. Explusion of molten fuel from fuel canisters caused failure of adjacent pins and a partial flow channel blockage in the fuel bundle during full-power operation. Molten fuel and fuel debris also lodged against the inner surface of the test subassembly hex-can wall. The total fuel disruption of 310 g evaluated from posttest examination data was in excellent agreement with results from the SLSF delayed neutron detection system, but exceeded the target molten fuel release by an order of magnitude. This report contains a summary description of the SLSF in-reactor loop and support systems and the experiment operations. results of the detailed macro- and microexamination of disrupted fuel and metal and results from the analysis of the on-line experimental data are described, as are the interpretations and conclusions drawn from the posttest evaluations. 60 refs., 74 figs.« less

  19. Advanced missions safety. Volume 2: Technical discussion, Part 2: Experiment safety, guidelines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hinton, M. G., Jr.

    1972-01-01

    A technical analysis of a portion of the advanced missions safety study is presented. The potential hazards introduced when experimental equipment is carried aboard the Earth Orbit Shuttle are identified. Safety guidelines and requirements for eliminating or reducing these hazards are recommended.

  20. Supporting Medical Home Transformation Through Evaluation of Patient Experience in a Large Culturally Diverse Primary Care Safety Net.

    PubMed

    Cook, Nicole; Hollar, T Lucas; Zunker, Christie; Peterson, Michael; Phillips, Teina; De Lucca, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The prevalence of chronic disease in the United States is rapidly increasing, with a disproportionate number of underserved, vulnerable patients sharing the burden. The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a care delivery model that has shown promise to improve primary care and address the burden of chronic illness. The purpose of this study was to (1) understand patient characteristics that might influence perceived patient experience in a large primary care safety net undergoing PCMH transformation; (2) identify community-level quality improvement opportunities to support ongoing transformation activities; and (3) establish a baseline of patient experience across the primary care safety net that could be used in repeated evaluations over the course of transformation. A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct this research. A total of 351 racially and ethnically diverse patients of 4 primary care safety net organizations in Broward County, Florida, were surveyed regarding their experience with access to care and coordination of care. Reported access to care and coordination of care. Patients with chronic disease who reported having visited the clinic 3 or more times in the past 12 months reported a better coordination of care experience than patients who had fewer than 3 visits in the past 12 months (odds ratio = 3.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.76-7.24). Patients without chronic disease who had been receiving care at the clinic for 2 or more years of care reported worse experience with access to care than patients with less than 2 years of care (odds ratio = 0.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.60.) Race, ethnicity, language, and education were not significant predictors of patient experience. Findings support ongoing efforts to improve patient engagement among all patients and to enhance resources to manage chronic disease, including community-based self-management programs, in primary care safety nets undergoing PCMH transformation.

  1. Effects of benchmarking on the quality of type 2 diabetes care: results of the OPTIMISE (Optimal Type 2 Diabetes Management Including Benchmarking and Standard Treatment) study in Greece

    PubMed Central

    Tsimihodimos, Vasilis; Kostapanos, Michael S.; Moulis, Alexandros; Nikas, Nikos; Elisaf, Moses S.

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To investigate the effect of benchmarking on the quality of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) care in Greece. Methods: The OPTIMISE (Optimal Type 2 Diabetes Management Including Benchmarking and Standard Treatment) study [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00681850] was an international multicenter, prospective cohort study. It included physicians randomized 3:1 to either receive benchmarking for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment targets (benchmarking group) or not (control group). The proportions of patients achieving the targets of the above-mentioned parameters were compared between groups after 12 months of treatment. Also, the proportions of patients achieving those targets at 12 months were compared with baseline in the benchmarking group. Results: In the Greek region, the OPTIMISE study included 797 adults with T2DM (570 in the benchmarking group). At month 12 the proportion of patients within the predefined targets for SBP and LDL-C was greater in the benchmarking compared with the control group (50.6 versus 35.8%, and 45.3 versus 36.1%, respectively). However, these differences were not statistically significant. No difference between groups was noted in the percentage of patients achieving the predefined target for HbA1c. At month 12 the increase in the percentage of patients achieving all three targets was greater in the benchmarking (5.9–15.0%) than in the control group (2.7–8.1%). In the benchmarking group more patients were on target regarding SBP (50.6% versus 29.8%), LDL-C (45.3% versus 31.3%) and HbA1c (63.8% versus 51.2%) at 12 months compared with baseline (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Conclusion: Benchmarking may comprise a promising tool for improving the quality of T2DM care. Nevertheless, target achievement rates of each, and of all three, quality indicators were suboptimal, indicating there are still unmet needs in the management of T2DM. PMID:26445642

  2. Benchmarking methods and data sets for ligand enrichment assessment in virtual screening.

    PubMed

    Xia, Jie; Tilahun, Ermias Lemma; Reid, Terry-Elinor; Zhang, Liangren; Wang, Xiang Simon

    2015-01-01

    Retrospective small-scale virtual screening (VS) based on benchmarking data sets has been widely used to estimate ligand enrichments of VS approaches in the prospective (i.e. real-world) efforts. However, the intrinsic differences of benchmarking sets to the real screening chemical libraries can cause biased assessment. Herein, we summarize the history of benchmarking methods as well as data sets and highlight three main types of biases found in benchmarking sets, i.e. "analogue bias", "artificial enrichment" and "false negative". In addition, we introduce our recent algorithm to build maximum-unbiased benchmarking sets applicable to both ligand-based and structure-based VS approaches, and its implementations to three important human histone deacetylases (HDACs) isoforms, i.e. HDAC1, HDAC6 and HDAC8. The leave-one-out cross-validation (LOO CV) demonstrates that the benchmarking sets built by our algorithm are maximum-unbiased as measured by property matching, ROC curves and AUCs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Benchmarking Methods and Data Sets for Ligand Enrichment Assessment in Virtual Screening

    PubMed Central

    Xia, Jie; Tilahun, Ermias Lemma; Reid, Terry-Elinor; Zhang, Liangren; Wang, Xiang Simon

    2014-01-01

    Retrospective small-scale virtual screening (VS) based on benchmarking data sets has been widely used to estimate ligand enrichments of VS approaches in the prospective (i.e. real-world) efforts. However, the intrinsic differences of benchmarking sets to the real screening chemical libraries can cause biased assessment. Herein, we summarize the history of benchmarking methods as well as data sets and highlight three main types of biases found in benchmarking sets, i.e. “analogue bias”, “artificial enrichment” and “false negative”. In addition, we introduced our recent algorithm to build maximum-unbiased benchmarking sets applicable to both ligand-based and structure-based VS approaches, and its implementations to three important human histone deacetylase (HDAC) isoforms, i.e. HDAC1, HDAC6 and HDAC8. The Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOO CV) demonstrates that the benchmarking sets built by our algorithm are maximum-unbiased in terms of property matching, ROC curves and AUCs. PMID:25481478

  4. Requirements for benchmarking personal image retrieval systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouguet, Jean-Yves; Dulong, Carole; Kozintsev, Igor; Wu, Yi

    2006-01-01

    It is now common to have accumulated tens of thousands of personal ictures. Efficient access to that many pictures can only be done with a robust image retrieval system. This application is of high interest to Intel processor architects. It is highly compute intensive, and could motivate end users to upgrade their personal computers to the next generations of processors. A key question is how to assess the robustness of a personal image retrieval system. Personal image databases are very different from digital libraries that have been used by many Content Based Image Retrieval Systems.1 For example a personal image database has a lot of pictures of people, but a small set of different people typically family, relatives, and friends. Pictures are taken in a limited set of places like home, work, school, and vacation destination. The most frequent queries are searched for people, and for places. These attributes, and many others affect how a personal image retrieval system should be benchmarked, and benchmarks need to be different from existing ones based on art images, or medical images for examples. The attributes of the data set do not change the list of components needed for the benchmarking of such systems as specified in2: - data sets - query tasks - ground truth - evaluation measures - benchmarking events. This paper proposed a way to build these components to be representative of personal image databases, and of the corresponding usage models.

  5. Test Facilities and Experience on Space Nuclear System Developments at the Kurchatov Institute

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ponomarev-Stepnoi, Nikolai N.; Garin, Vladimir P.; Glushkov, Evgeny S.; Kompaniets, George V.; Kukharkin, Nikolai E.; Madeev, Vicktor G.; Papin, Vladimir K.; Polyakov, Dmitry N.; Stepennov, Boris S.; Tchuniyaev, Yevgeny I.; Tikhonov, Lev Ya.; Uksusov, Yevgeny I.

    2004-02-01

    The complexity of space fission systems and rigidity of requirement on minimization of weight and dimension characteristics along with the wish to decrease expenditures on their development demand implementation of experimental works which results shall be used in designing, safety substantiation, and licensing procedures. Experimental facilities are intended to solve the following tasks: obtainment of benchmark data for computer code validations, substantiation of design solutions when computational efforts are too expensive, quality control in a production process, and ``iron'' substantiation of criticality safety design solutions for licensing and public relations. The NARCISS and ISKRA critical facilities and unique ORM facility on shielding investigations at the operating OR nuclear research reactor were created in the Kurchatov Institute to solve the mentioned tasks. The range of activities performed at these facilities within the implementation of the previous Russian nuclear power system programs is briefly described in the paper. This experience shall be analyzed in terms of methodological approach to development of future space nuclear systems (this analysis is beyond this paper). Because of the availability of these facilities for experiments, the brief description of their critical assemblies and characteristics is given in this paper.

  6. Benchmark tests of JENDL-3.2 for thermal and fast reactors

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

    Takano, Hideki; Akie, Hiroshi; Kikuchi, Yasuyuki

    1994-12-31

    Benchmark calculations for a variety of thermal and fast reactors have been performed by using the newly evaluated JENDL-3 Version-2 (JENDL-3.2) file. In the thermal reactor calculations for the uranium and plutonium fueled cores of TRX and TCA, the k{sub eff} and lattice parameters were well predicted. The fast reactor calculations for ZPPR-9 and FCA assemblies showed that the k{sub eff} reactivity worths of Doppler, sodium void and control rod, and reaction rate distribution were in a very good agreement with the experiments.

  7. Toxicological benchmarks for screening potential contaminants of concern for effects on aquatic biota: 1996 revision

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

    Suter, G.W. II; Tsao, C.L.

    1996-06-01

    This report presents potential screening benchmarks for protection of aquatic life form contaminants in water. Because there is no guidance for screening for benchmarks, a set of alternative benchmarks is presented herein. This report presents the alternative benchmarks for chemicals that have been detected on the Oak Ridge Reservation. It also presents the data used to calculate the benchmarks and the sources of the data. It compares the benchmarks and discusses their relative conservatism and utility. Also included is the updates of benchmark values where appropriate, new benchmark values, secondary sources are replaced by primary sources, and a more completemore » documentation of the sources and derivation of all values are presented.« less

  8. Implementation of the NAS Parallel Benchmarks in Java

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frumkin, Michael A.; Schultz, Matthew; Jin, Haoqiang; Yan, Jerry; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Several features make Java an attractive choice for High Performance Computing (HPC). In order to gauge the applicability of Java to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), we have implemented the NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) Parallel Benchmarks in Java. The performance and scalability of the benchmarks point out the areas where improvement in Java compiler technology and in Java thread implementation would position Java closer to Fortran in the competition for CFD applications.

  9. Lecture Notes on Criticality Safety Validation Using MCNP & Whisper

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

    Brown, Forrest B.; Rising, Michael Evan; Alwin, Jennifer Louise

    Training classes for nuclear criticality safety, MCNP documentation. The need for, and problems surrounding, validation of computer codes and data area considered first. Then some background for MCNP & Whisper is given--best practices for Monte Carlo criticality calculations, neutron spectra, S(α,β) thermal neutron scattering data, nuclear data sensitivities, covariance data, and correlation coefficients. Whisper is computational software designed to assist the nuclear criticality safety analyst with validation studies with the Monte Carlo radiation transport package MCNP. Whisper's methodology (benchmark selection – C k's, weights; extreme value theory – bias, bias uncertainty; MOS for nuclear data uncertainty – GLLS) and usagemore » are discussed.« less

  10. Issues in benchmarking human reliability analysis methods : a literature review.

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

    Lois, Erasmia; Forester, John Alan; Tran, Tuan Q.

    There is a diversity of human reliability analysis (HRA) methods available for use in assessing human performance within probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Due to the significant differences in the methods, including the scope, approach, and underlying models, there is a need for an empirical comparison investigating the validity and reliability of the methods. To accomplish this empirical comparison, a benchmarking study is currently underway that compares HRA methods with each other and against operator performance in simulator studies. In order to account for as many effects as possible in the construction of this benchmarking study, a literature review was conducted,more » reviewing past benchmarking studies in the areas of psychology and risk assessment. A number of lessons learned through these studies are presented in order to aid in the design of future HRA benchmarking endeavors.« less

  11. NAS Parallel Benchmark Results 11-96. 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bailey, David H.; Bailey, David; Chancellor, Marisa K. (Technical Monitor)

    1997-01-01

    The NAS Parallel Benchmarks have been developed at NASA Ames Research Center to study the performance of parallel supercomputers. The eight benchmark problems are specified in a "pencil and paper" fashion. In other words, the complete details of the problem to be solved are given in a technical document, and except for a few restrictions, benchmarkers are free to select the language constructs and implementation techniques best suited for a particular system. These results represent the best results that have been reported to us by the vendors for the specific 3 systems listed. In this report, we present new NPB (Version 1.0) performance results for the following systems: DEC Alpha Server 8400 5/440, Fujitsu VPP Series (VX, VPP300, and VPP700), HP/Convex Exemplar SPP2000, IBM RS/6000 SP P2SC node (120 MHz), NEC SX-4/32, SGI/CRAY T3E, SGI Origin200, and SGI Origin2000. We also report High Performance Fortran (HPF) based NPB results for IBM SP2 Wide Nodes, HP/Convex Exemplar SPP2000, and SGI/CRAY T3D. These results have been submitted by Applied Parallel Research (APR) and Portland Group Inc. (PGI). We also present sustained performance per dollar for Class B LU, SP and BT benchmarks.

  12. Engine Benchmarking - Final CRADA Report

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

    Wallner, Thomas

    Detailed benchmarking of the powertrains of three light-duty vehicles was performed. Results were presented and provided to CRADA partners. The vehicles included a MY2011 Audi A4, a MY2012 Mini Cooper and a MY2014 Nissan Versa.

  13. [Benchmarking of university trauma centers in Germany. Research and teaching].

    PubMed

    Gebhard, F; Raschke, M; Ruchholtz, S; Meffert, R; Marzi, I; Pohlemann, T; Südkamp, N; Josten, C; Zwipp, H

    2011-07-01

    Benchmarking is a very popular business process and meanwhile is used in research as well. The aim of the present study is to elucidate key numbers of German university trauma departments regarding research and teaching. The data set is based upon the monthly reports given by the administration in each university. As a result the study shows that only well-known parameters such as fund-raising and impact factors can be used to benchmark university-based trauma centers. The German federal system does not allow a nationwide benchmarking.

  14. Benchmarking for maximum value.

    PubMed

    Baldwin, Ed

    2009-03-01

    Speaking at the most recent Healthcare Estates conference, Ed Baldwin, of international built asset consultancy EC Harris LLP, examined the role of benchmarking and market-testing--two of the key methods used to evaluate the quality and cost-effectiveness of hard and soft FM services provided under PFI healthcare schemes to ensure they are offering maximum value for money.

  15. MARC calculations for the second WIPP structural benchmark problem

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

    Morgan, H.S.

    1981-05-01

    This report describes calculations made with the MARC structural finite element code for the second WIPP structural benchmark problem. Specific aspects of problem implementation such as element choice, slip line modeling, creep law implementation, and thermal-mechanical coupling are discussed in detail. Also included are the computational results specified in the benchmark problem formulation.

  16. Local implementation of the Essence of Care benchmarks.

    PubMed

    Jones, Sue

    To understand clinical practice benchmarking from the perspective of nurses working in a large acute NHS trust and to determine whether the nurses perceived that their commitment to Essence of Care led to improvements in care, the factors that influenced their role in the process and the organisational factors that influenced benchmarking. An ethnographic case study approach was adopted. Six themes emerged from the data. Two organisational issues emerged: leadership and the values and/or culture of the organisation. The findings suggested that the leadership ability of the Essence of Care link nurses and the value placed on this work by the organisation were key to the success of benchmarking. A model for successful implementation of the Essence of Care is proposed based on the findings of this study, which lends itself to testing by other organisations.

  17. Benchmarking for On-Scalp MEG Sensors.

    PubMed

    Xie, Minshu; Schneiderman, Justin F; Chukharkin, Maxim L; Kalabukhov, Alexei; Riaz, Bushra; Lundqvist, Daniel; Whitmarsh, Stephen; Hamalainen, Matti; Jousmaki, Veikko; Oostenveld, Robert; Winkler, Dag

    2017-06-01

    We present a benchmarking protocol for quantitatively comparing emerging on-scalp magnetoencephalography (MEG) sensor technologies to their counterparts in state-of-the-art MEG systems. As a means of validation, we compare a high-critical-temperature superconducting quantum interference device (high T c SQUID) with the low- T c SQUIDs of an Elekta Neuromag TRIUX system in MEG recordings of auditory and somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs) on one human subject. We measure the expected signal gain for the auditory-evoked fields (deeper sources) and notice some unfamiliar features in the on-scalp sensor-based recordings of SEFs (shallower sources). The experimental results serve as a proof of principle for the benchmarking protocol. This approach is straightforward, general to various on-scalp MEG sensors, and convenient to use on human subjects. The unexpected features in the SEFs suggest on-scalp MEG sensors may reveal information about neuromagnetic sources that is otherwise difficult to extract from state-of-the-art MEG recordings. As the first systematically established on-scalp MEG benchmarking protocol, magnetic sensor developers can employ this method to prove the utility of their technology in MEG recordings. Further exploration of the SEFs with on-scalp MEG sensors may reveal unique information about their sources.

  18. Initial development of a practical safety audit tool to assess fleet safety management practices.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Rebecca; Friswell, Rena; Mooren, Lori

    2012-07-01

    Work-related vehicle crashes are a common cause of occupational injury. Yet, there are few studies that investigate management practices used for light vehicle fleets (i.e. vehicles less than 4.5 tonnes). One of the impediments to obtaining and sharing information on effective fleet safety management is the lack of an evidence-based, standardised measurement tool. This article describes the initial development of an audit tool to assess fleet safety management practices in light vehicle fleets. The audit tool was developed by triangulating information from a review of the literature on fleet safety management practices and from semi-structured interviews with 15 fleet managers and 21 fleet drivers. A preliminary useability assessment was conducted with 5 organisations. The audit tool assesses the management of fleet safety against five core categories: (1) management, systems and processes; (2) monitoring and assessment; (3) employee recruitment, training and education; (4) vehicle technology, selection and maintenance; and (5) vehicle journeys. Each of these core categories has between 1 and 3 sub-categories. Organisations are rated at one of 4 levels on each sub-category. The fleet safety management audit tool is designed to identify the extent to which fleet safety is managed in an organisation against best practice. It is intended that the audit tool be used to conduct audits within an organisation to provide an indicator of progress in managing fleet safety and to consistently benchmark performance against other organisations. Application of the tool by fleet safety researchers is now needed to inform its further development and refinement and to permit psychometric evaluation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. A note on bound constraints handling for the IEEE CEC'05 benchmark function suite.

    PubMed

    Liao, Tianjun; Molina, Daniel; de Oca, Marco A Montes; Stützle, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    The benchmark functions and some of the algorithms proposed for the special session on real parameter optimization of the 2005 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC'05) have played and still play an important role in the assessment of the state of the art in continuous optimization. In this article, we show that if bound constraints are not enforced for the final reported solutions, state-of-the-art algorithms produce infeasible best candidate solutions for the majority of functions of the IEEE CEC'05 benchmark function suite. This occurs even though the optima of the CEC'05 functions are within the specified bounds. This phenomenon has important implications on algorithm comparisons, and therefore on algorithm designs. This article's goal is to draw the attention of the community to the fact that some authors might have drawn wrong conclusions from experiments using the CEC'05 problems.

  20. A new numerical benchmark for variably saturated variable-density flow and transport in porous media

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guevara, Carlos; Graf, Thomas

    2016-04-01

    In subsurface hydrological systems, spatial and temporal variations in solute concentration and/or temperature may affect fluid density and viscosity. These variations could lead to potentially unstable situations, in which a dense fluid overlies a less dense fluid. These situations could produce instabilities that appear as dense plume fingers migrating downwards counteracted by vertical upwards flow of freshwater (Simmons et al., Transp. Porous Medium, 2002). As a result of unstable variable-density flow, solute transport rates are increased over large distances and times as compared to constant-density flow. The numerical simulation of variable-density flow in saturated and unsaturated media requires corresponding benchmark problems against which a computer model is validated (Diersch and Kolditz, Adv. Water Resour, 2002). Recorded data from a laboratory-scale experiment of variable-density flow and solute transport in saturated and unsaturated porous media (Simmons et al., Transp. Porous Medium, 2002) is used to define a new numerical benchmark. The HydroGeoSphere code (Therrien et al., 2004) coupled with PEST (www.pesthomepage.org) are used to obtain an optimized parameter set capable of adequately representing the data set by Simmons et al., (2002). Fingering in the numerical model is triggered using random hydraulic conductivity fields. Due to the inherent randomness, a large number of simulations were conducted in this study. The optimized benchmark model adequately predicts the plume behavior and the fate of solutes. This benchmark is useful for model verification of variable-density flow problems in saturated and/or unsaturated media.

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