Assessment Of Alternative Options Research Articles

Pre-project Comparative Environmental Assessment of Alternative Locations for a Production Facility

The technology of a pre-project comparative assessment of alternative options for locating production facilities, developed by the St. Petersburg ecological project company Eco-Express-Service, is presented. Comparison of options is carried out on the basis of a multi-criteria score-rating assessment in two stages: first, the determination and comparison of values of the environmental safety criteria, then a generalized summary assessment across the totality of the criteria. To bring the obtained results into a general comparative scoring, four competitive methods are used, differing in the degree of detail of the accounting for the indicator significance of the criteria and the ratio of different types of object sites. The stages of technology application are illustrated with concrete examples. The main positive effects and advantages of its use are due to the increased environmental safety of construction and significant (by an order of magnitude) savings of the federal, regional and local budgets and investors owing eliminating unfavorable placement options for the object at the early stages of development.

Penilaian Kinerja Dosen Dengan Menggunakan Metode AHP Studi Kasus di STIE Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta

An increasingly rapid technological progress in the era of globalization in the business world, so do not rule out the possibility that a decision-making is something that is very vital in determining the decisions to be taken in the face of competitive business world. Decision making can be influenced by several aspects, this can affect the speed of decision making by the decision maker in which decisions must be quick and accurate. Lecturer Performance Assessment Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process is a decision support system that aims to assess faculty performance according to certain criteria. This system of faculty performance appraisal criteria to map a hierarchy, where each hierarchy will be performed pairwise comparison, the pairwise comparisons between criteria, so to get a comparison of the relative importance of criteria with each other. The results of this comparison is then analyzed to obtain the priority of each criterion. Once completed and performed an assessment of alternative options to be compared and calculated to obtain the best alternatives according to established criteria.

High-intensity handgrip training lowers blood pressure and increases heart rate complexity among postmenopausal women: a pilot study.

Handgrip exercise is an emerging strategy for resting blood pressure (BP) reduction requiring minimal time and exercise effort. However, the research literature is currently limited to handgrip protocol designs predominantly prescribing sustained grip contractions, with little assessment of alternative options. Furthermore, our understanding of the utility of handgrip exercise would be strengthened by an evaluation of the physiological mechanisms driving BP reductions and an assessment of the interindividual response variability. As such, this research was designed to perform an initial evaluation of the pragmatic effectiveness of a novel at-home, high-intensity, unilateral (nondominant) handgrip exercise training program in reducing resting BP, while simultaneously exploring mediators of BP change including a neurocardiac index of autonomic nervous control [heart rate (HR) variability], measures of arterial stiffness (radial augmentation index and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity), and cardiovascular reactivity to psychophysiological stressors. Postmenopausal women were recruited to complete 8 weeks of handgrip exercise training. Aforementioned measures of resting BP and mediators of BP change were acquired at the midway point and end of training. All participants (n=17) completed training with high self-reported adherence (96.9%) and improvement in grip strength (2.7±2.4kg, P<0.05). Handgrip training reduced resting systolic BP (-5.1±7.7 mmHg, P<0.05) and improved HR complexity (sample entropy: 0.24±0.31, P<0.05), without significant changes to resting diastolic BP, HR, or arterial stiffness (all P>0.05). This pilot study successfully shows the potential utility of high-intensity intermittent handgrip exercise for improvements in cardiovascular health among postmenopausal women, with additional research required to further explore the underlying physiological mechanisms driving such improvements.

Decision Support for Strategic Water Management: Mdss in the Large Dam Context

Based on findings from a review of the effectiveness of large dam projects worldwide, the World Commission on Dams (WCD) has stressed the need for an assessment of alternative options to improve decision-making processes in water resources and energy development. Besides the importance of rights affected and risks caused by the projects, the need to consider equity issues was also emphasized. Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) methods were recommended to support decision-making in a cross-disciplinary context. The aim of this paper is to test the potential of the recently developed MULINO methodology and DSS tool (mDSS) in support of the implementation of the WCD recommendations in future dam projects. Superimposing the DPSIR approach (Driving force—Pressure—State—Impact—Response) and multi-criteria analysis methodology, mDSS was applied in a theoretical re-assessment of the decision to undertake the Ceyhan Aslantas Dam Project, which took place in Turkey in the early 1970s. Using the information available from the case study of the WCD, the application of mDSS provides insight into the values prevailing among decision makers, stakeholders and experts in the region with respect to the notion of sustainability. An exploration of the uncertainties associated with the information supporting the planning process, and of their possible effects on decision-making, is also specifically addressed. Applications of sensitivity and sustainability analysis were enlightening with regard to the specification of methodological advancements. Referring to large infrastructure projects, the problem of structuring needs to be revised. Allowing for the identification of descriptive, as well as value-oriented, normative criteria, the analytical potential of the mDSS tool is strengthened with regard to sustainability.

Donor support to human resource capacity building in Namibia: experience of resident technical assistance support for workplace learning and assessment of alternative options

AbstractThe initiation and implementation of development programmes in developing countries places demands on professional staff to acquire new skills and adopt new approaches to drive new development paradigms. It has been found that formal training plays a relatively small part in learning new skills in the workplace, compared with informal learning‐by‐doing within a supportive institutional environment. This paper describes and contrasts the ways in which two donor funded technical assistance projects in Namibia applied four learning support strategies identified in the literature. The experiences described suggest that resident technical assistance can offer types of support for workplace learning and institutional development through mentoring and backstopping, that alternative short term assistance or training course oriented projects lack. It is concluded therefore, that in seeking alternatives to capacity building through resident technical assistance, donors and recipient countries should assess the options not only in terms of skills transferred, but also in terms of building confidence to undertake new areas of work and the development of institutional processes supportive of workplace learning. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.