Performance Assessment Research Articles

The Benchmarking Exercise Programme for Older People (BEPOP): Design, Results and Recommendations from The First Wave of Data Collection.

The Benchmarking Exercise Programme for Older People (BEPOP) service improvement project seeks to determine and promote the exercise training characteristics associated with positive outcomes for resistance exercise for older people living with, or at risk of, sarcopenia or physical frailty. Mixed-methods service improvement project. Ten UK National Health Service physiotherapist-led therapy services delivering exercise interventions for older people submitted anonymized data for up to 20 consecutive patients. A multidisciplinary expert panel generated a report and recommendations with site-specific benchmarking data and feedback. In parallel, participating physiotherapy team members were interviewed to elicit feedback on BEPOP rationale, processes and perceived value. Data from 188 patients were included, mean age 80 years (range 60-101). 115 (61%) received objective assessment of strength-based physical performance. Bodyweight exercises (173 [92%]) and resistance bands (49 [26%]) were the commonest exercise modalities. Exercises progressed predominantly through increased repetitions (163 [87%]) rather than increased load. 50 (30%) had no reassessment of outcomes; only 68 (41%) were signposted to follow-on exercise services. Staff interviews identified themes around knowledge, diagnosis, data collection and practice reflection. BEPOP was feasible to deliver and generated actionable insights for service improvement via improved diagnosis, measurement and progression of resistance exercise.

Assessment of green development level performance in G20 countries: A dynamic evaluation framework

To achieve sustainable development goals and foster future prosperity globally, the promotion of green development is essential. Nevertheless, persistent regional disparities in green development among the G20 nations stem from differing economic and environmental conditions in dynamic contexts. In light of these conditions, it is essential for governments to evaluate their country's current green development performance in comparison with higher-performing nations and to learn from their experiences. This study introduces a new dynamic evaluation framework that integrates the importance of evaluation indicators using the dynamic entropy weighting method, a Dynamic Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method, and principal component analysis. This framework serves as a tool for G20 countries to assess their green development levels between 2015 and 2021. A key contribution of this study is the facilitation of the G20's ability to implement relevant reform measures and monitor green development progress in a dynamic environment. This framework can serve as a model for similar evaluations in other regions globally. The study's main findings indicate that G20 countries with high levels of green development possess strong economic foundations and prioritise the balanced development of their economies, societies, environments, and innovation.

CENN: Capsule-enhanced neural network with innovative metrics for robust speech emotion recognition

Speech emotion recognition (SER) plays a pivotal role in enhancing Human-computer interaction (HCI) systems. This paper introduces a groundbreaking Capsule-enhanced neural network (CENN) that significantly advances the state of SER through a robust and reproducible deep learning framework. The CENN architecture seamlessly integrates advanced components, including Multi-head attention (MHA), residual module, and capsule module, which collectively enhance the model's capacity to capture both global and local features essential for precise emotion classification. A key contribution of this work is the development of a comprehensive reproducibility framework, featuring novel metrics: General learning reproducibility (GLR) and Correct learning reproducibility (CLR). These metrics, alongside their fractional and perfect variants, offer a multi-dimensional evaluation of the model's consistency and correctness across multiple executions, thereby ensuring the reliability and credibility of the results. To tackle the persistent challenge of overfitting in deep learning models, we propose an innovative overfitting metric that considers the intricate relationship between training and testing errors, model complexity, and data complexity. This metric, in conjunction with the newly introduced generalization and robustness metrics, provides a holistic assessment of the model's performance, guiding the application of regularization techniques to maintain generalizability and resilience. Extensive experiments conducted on benchmark SER datasets demonstrate that the CENN model not only surpasses existing approaches in terms of accuracy but also sets a new benchmark in reproducibility. This work establishes a new paradigm for deep learning model development in SER, underscoring the vital importance of reproducibility and offering a rigorous framework for future research.

Accuracy assessment of the turbomachinery performance maps correction models used in dynamic characteristics of supercritical CO2 Brayton power cycle

The supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle (SCO2BC) has emerged as a promising next-generation power generation technology due to its potential for high thermal efficiency and compact components design. Dynamic modeling of SCO2BC is crucial for understanding and analyzing its performance under design and off-design conditions. Turbomachines are critical components in SCO2BC dynamic models. While turbomachinery components are often modeled using their design-point turbomachinery performance maps (TPM), these maps become less accurate during off-design operations. Despite the existence of various TPM correction methods that ensure model validity, the implementation of the accurate ones within dynamic SCO2BC models remains scarce in the literature. This is crucial as it potentially compromises the accuracy of the obtained results. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the errors in the existing literature TPM correction models (in dynamic SCO2BC simulation) by comparing them against dynamic SCO2BC models employing a highly accurate correction method. Thus, in the current work, the common TPM correction methods from the literature are implemented in SCO2BC dynamic models and compared against a baseline mode, which uses the highly-accurate Pham method (at both the component and cycle levels). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work to address this research gap for the SCO2BC dynamic simulations and on both component and cycle levels. Additionally, another novelty is the usage of Simcenter Amesim software to dynamically model the SCO2BC aided with Pham model. Multible dynamic models for both the turbomachines of SCO2BC and the whole cycle are constructed and equipped with the different TPM correction methods found in literature to compare their dynamic behaviour that of Pham model. The Ideal Gas Compressibility factor (IGZ) method demonstrates a better performance than the other tested methods, as it exhibits the lowest discrepancy compared to the Pham model. Many of the other tested methods show significant errors. Furthermore, a popular hybrid correction combining IGZ and Pham (IGZ-Ph) is also investigated. Surprisingly, while seemingly beneficial, this hybrid approach negatively impacts accuracy, even resulting in predictions as if no correction was applied.

Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis and track and field jump performance across different specialties: Sex differences and electrode configuration.

The assessment of athletic performance using non-invasive methods has been a significant focus in research aimed at measuring physiological parameters. This study explores the application of bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) among track and field athletes, with a focus on sex differences, electrode configuration, and the correlation between BIVA parameters and jump performances. This cross-sectional study involved 61 Italian track and field athletes: 31 females and 30 males (age: 21.4 ± 3.8; 21.1 ± 2.6 years; stature: 166.1 ± 6.1; 180.1 ± 5.0 cm; body mass: 57.4 ± 9.7; 72.5 ± 10.5 kg, respectively). Anthropometric measurements, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and athletic jump performance were conducted. The RXc graph, two-sample Hotelling's T2 test for BIVA, and one-way ANOVA for specialty comparisons were employed. Pearson and Spearman's tests evaluated the correlations between BIVA parameters and jump performance. Differences in bioimpedance values were observed between athlete groups. Lateral asymmetries were more pronounced in females. Correlations between BIVA and jump performance also varied by sex and electrode configuration, ranging from r = -0.072, p = 0.699-r = 0.555, p = 0.001 in females, and from r = 0.204, p = 0.281-r = 0.691, p = 0.001 in males. This study highlights the utility of BIVA in providing rapid and non-invasive assessments of body composition and its relationship with jump performance, considering variations in athlete sex and electrode configuration.

Increased understanding of building operation performance through Occupant-Centric Key Performance Indicators

This article introduces a novel framework for Occupant-Centric Key Performance Indicators (OC KPIs) which aims to increase the understanding of building performance by aligning with occupant presence during the operation phase. Unlike traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), OC KPIs can better emphasize the usefulness of energy use in the building to provide service and indoor comfort to occupants when they are actually present. Within this framework, the study explores 52 traditional KPIs and OC KPIs focusing on heating use, electricity use, domestic hot and cold water, thermal comfort, and air quality. The study case is a multi-story residential low-energy building located in Denmark (five apartments, 16 rooms). The findings suggest that incorporating occupancy data in the OC KPI calculations enables a deeper understanding of energy-related occupant behavior and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). These include 1) the potential for installing a more advanced heating control algorithm by analyzing occupancy over time in relation to heating use, and 2) the identification of significant appliance-related behavior in correspondence with load matching, which can be used for predictive maintenance (e.g., degradation) or personalized energy use feedback. Furthermore, OC KPIs shows the potential to help detect energy use inefficiencies due to system anomalies/faults and/or occupant behavior, and insufficient IEQ indicate and guide towards savings opportunities. In addition to the developed framework, the article discusses the implications of the comparison between the traditional and OC KPIs and the practical implementation of OC KPIs, supporting a paradigm shift towards a more occupant-centric assessment of building performance.

Assessment of physio-morphological traits, genetic variability, and growth performance among amaranth (Amaranthus species) genotypes from Ethiopia

Amaranths are a type of plant that belongs to the NAD-malic enzyme-type C4 metabolism category. They have a unique C4 anatomy, which is present in their bracts, cotyledons, and leaves. This allows them to produce food through the C4 photosynthetic pathway and rapidly adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions. In this study, 120 amaranth genotypes were evaluated for physio-morphological traits, genetic variability, and growth performance assessment from Ethiopia. The results of the analysis of variance showed that all examined physio-morphological parameters, except the rate of photosynthesis and stomata conductance, had mean squares that varied considerably (P < 0.001) owing to genotypes. The estimates of genetic variability, heritability, and expected genetic advance indicated an incredible extent of genetic diversity among amaranth genotypes, with a significant selection pressure for these traits in the population to produce better genotypes for improved amaranth. Selection based on desirable features such as leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit, transpiration rate, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, leaf area, plant height, leaf number, and root weight can be useful in achieving the intended genetic gains for improvement since these traits appear to be more controlled by additive gene activity. Thus, selection in amaranth genotypes may consider these desired yield-related features. Moreover, the study showed that certain genotypes (ALE-073) exhibited better intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), transpiration rate (E), and leaf number (LN), resulting in better grain yield. Understanding the relationship between LA and E can help in selecting crops for high E and may provide an avenue to improve leaf yield. Furthermore, some of the selected genotypes in this study could be used as potential parents for improving the genetic gain in amaranth breeding programs. The study concluded that there was additive gene action present since the Ch a, Ch b, TCh, and Tca markers exhibited 100% heritability. This showed that the use of these characteristics for selection, which indicated a potentially exploitable variation, would be more effective and successful in the long run in breeding programs than the use of other traits for splitting generations.

Performance and economic viability assessment of a novel CO2 adsorbent for manufacturing and integration with coal power plants

This study assesses the performance and economic feasibility of a novel CO2 adsorbent for post-combustion capture in DOE/NETL’s 650 MWnet SubC PC power plant (case B11B). Bench-scale tests showed an initial adsorption capacity of 16.3 wt%, which decreased to 12.1 wt% after 41 adsorption–desorption cycles due to induced particle aggregation by over-humidification. With a conservative adsorption capacity of 8.8 wt% and 695 adsorption–desorption cycles, an adsorbent replenishment rate of 10 tonnes/h is necessary to capture 90% of CO2. The breakeven sale price of the adsorbent produced at this rate is $1,293/tonne, which is 40 to 80 times lower than prices for K2CO3 adsorbents reported in the literature (e.g., K2CO3/TiO2, K2CO3/ZrO2) while providing better capture performances. Sensitivity analysis reveals that increasing the plant production rate from 10 to 40 tonnes/h reduces the sale price by 8%. The study also compares the CO2 capture cost to Cansolv, an integrated solvent-based technology. The novel adsorbent requires 2.4 GJ/tonne of CO2 for regeneration, lower than Cansolv’s 2.7 GJ/tonne. With conservative performance estimates, the capture cost is $54/tonne of CO2, slightly higher than Cansolv’s $45/tonne. To achieve lower or comparable capture costs to Cansolv, the adsorbent should meet one of the following conditions at a commercial scale: minimum 950 cycles, 16 wt% capture capacity, 50% of the adsorbent recovery, or a reduced cost to $646/tonne by upscaling the manufactury to 75 tonnes/h.

TiO2-loaded phosphogypsum-modified biochar for the removal of ofloxacin and Cu2+: Performance, mechanisms, and toxicity assessment

The combined contamination of antibiotics and heavy metals usually occurs in aquaculture wastewater and has high ecological toxicity. Currently, most research only focuses on the removal of a single heavy metal or organic pollutant, and there is little research on the simultaneous removal of both. Therefore, to effectively treat them, this study prepared TiO2-loaded phosphogypsum-modified biochar (TYBC450) for adsorption and photocatalytic removal of ofloxacin (OFL) and copper (Cu2+). The removal performance and mechanisms of OFL and Cu2+ were explored, and their ecological toxicity was assessed through zebrafish acute toxicity experiments. The results suggested a synergistic effect between OFL and Cu2+. The adsorption efficiency of TYBC450 for OFL and Cu2+ was 88.16 % and 90.87 % (the adsorption capacities were 1.75 and 3.65 mg/g, respectively). Bridging, precipitation, and complexation effects were the main co-adsorption mechanisms. The photocatalytic efficiency of OFL and Cu2+ was 91.23 % and 72.09 % (the rate constants were 0.0101 and 0.0045 min−1, respectively). OFL acted as a hole-trapping agent, while Cu2+ acted as an electron acceptor, hindering the combination of e- and h+. There were 12 intermediates in the OFL degradation process, which had lower toxicity than the mother organism. Both the cyclic regeneration and actual aquaculture wastewater application tests indicated that TYBC450 had potential application prospects.

Relative fuel property variation of gas-pressurized and conventional torrefaction for biochar performance assessment

Relative fuel property variation of gas-pressurized and conventional torrefaction for biochar performance assessment

Thermal and mechanical performance assessment of composite (CPCM) for energy storage

Phase change materials (PCMs) face obstacles in being widely used due to issues with heat transfer and maintaining their shape. In this research, instead of using binders, the Hexadecane (H) is melted in such a way that the capillary forces of the molten wax allow it to be impregnated into the low-density polyethylene (P) molecules and bind it together as a composite. It was found that the hot melt extrusion (HME) combines the two materials at the micro-scale, forming a phase change composite (CPCM) with various geometries that possesses superior latent heat and shape stability during phase transition. The structure can incorporate a higher percentage of PCM (60%) using this method, which also results in lower costs. According to the thermal analysis, (H60P40) provides great thermal stability and can store a lot of energy per unit of weight. It has a high capacity of storing latent heat at 129.56 J/g and can also prevent Hexadecane leakage. Based on the mechanical properties results, hexadecane acts like plasticizer thus the addition of PCM decreases Young's modulus, stress in break, and stress at yield. This trend is observed as the PCM content increases. The high values of elongation at break also indicates the strong plasticizing properties of PCM. Based on the obtained results, the CPCMs as a potential candidate for an application in buildings for thermal regulation, reducing energy consumption, and reducing indoor temperature swing.

Magnetic Performance Assessment of the S-PRESSO Superconducting Undulator Mock-Up

Magnetic Performance Assessment of the S-PRESSO Superconducting Undulator Mock-Up

Performance Assessment of CPU Scheduling Algorithms: A Scenario-Based Approach with FCFS, RR, and SJF

Performance Assessment of CPU Scheduling Algorithms: A Scenario-Based Approach with FCFS, RR, and SJF

HydroSAR: A Cloud-Based Service for the Monitoring of Inundation Events in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is one of the most flood-prone regions in the world, yet heavy cloud cover and limited in situ observations have hampered efforts to monitor the impact of heavy rainfall, flooding, and inundation during severe weather events. This paper introduces HydroSAR, a Sentinel-1 SAR-based hazard monitoring service which was co-developed with in-region partners to provide year-round, low-latency weather hazard information across the HKH. This paper describes the end user-focused concept and overall design of the HydroSAR service. It introduces the main processing algorithms behind HydroSAR’s broad product portfolio, which includes qualitative visual layers as well as quantitative products measuring the surface water extent and water depth. We summarize the cloud-based implementation of the developed service, which provides the capability to scale automatically with the event size. A performance assessment of our quantitative algorithms is described, demonstrating the capabilities to map the flood extent and water depth with an accuracy of &gt;90% and &lt;1 m, respectively. An application of the HydroSAR service to the 2023 South Asia monsoon seasons showed that monsoon floods peaked near 6 August 2023 and covered 11.6% of Bangladesh in water. At the peak of the flood season, nearly 13.5% of Bangladesh’s agriculture areas were affected.

Experimental research of corroded concrete beams with natural cooling after fire considering the bond deterioration

The residual bearing capacity after fire is of great significance for safety assessment and repair of building structures. To accurately evaluate the residual strength of corroded beam after natural cooling, this study investigated the residual bearing capacity of corroded beam considering the bond deterioration after fire exposure. First, the bond behavior and flexural-deformation capacity was conducted by pullout test and bending test after corrosion erosion and fire temperatures damage. The bond deterioration test shows that when the temperature rises above 200℃ and the corrosion level exceeds 4.3%, the bond strength decreases by 16.5%. At the temperature reaches 600℃ or the corrosion degree reaches 13.8%, the bond behavior damage exceeds 50%. The bending test indicates that corrosion and high temperature damage both decrease the bending bearing capacity of the beam, but the influence of high temperature damage on the residual bearing capacity is greater than that of corrosion. The bond property deterioration decreases the strain value of the tensile rebar during the bending process, and decreases the bending capacity of the beam. Finally, a bond-slip constitutive model suitable for corroded beams after fire is proposed, which is applied to the calculation of the ultimate moment of the beam. The modified value of beam bearing capacity considering bond deterioration has better collimation and higher safety margin. The bond-slip constitutive model and the modified calculation method of bending moment of beam are helpful to provide more accurate performance assessment of beam after the coupling effect of corrosion and fire damage.

Multi-scale correlation analysis between geometric parameters and solar radiation in high density urban environment——Case study in Nanjing

This study explores the impact of multi-scale urban morphology on solar radiation in high-density environments, focusing on Nanjing as a case study. Using Grasshopper, the research decomposed urban models into four scales—district, block group, block, and plot—and analyzed eight morphological indicators, including site coverage (SC), floor area ratio (FAR), and block surface ratio (BSR). Solar radiation was simulated for the entire year, the summer solstice, and the winter solstice. Key findings reveal that different scales exhibit varying influences on solar radiation. At the district scale, BSR shows the highest correlation with annual solar radiation (R2 = 0.96), while at the neighborhood cluster scale, the minimum distance between buildings (DBmin) is most correlated (R2 = 0.7). At the block scale, BSR significantly correlates with summer solar radiation (R2 = 0.55). At the plot scale, no single indicator strongly correlates with solar radiation, but a combination of indicators is more relevant. These findings enable rapid solar performance assessments in urban design, promoting efficient solar energy use.

Performance assessment of deep borehole heat exchanger heating system under different heating modes

Abstract With the transition towards renewable energy sources, particularly as we move away from fossil fuels, there has been a constant evolution of deep borehole heat exchanger (DBHE) coupled heat pump heating technology. On the basis of the heat-exchanging properties of circulating fluid in the DBHE heating system, this paper clarifies the setup forms of this system, and elucidates the influence of heat extraction performance. After analysis and research, it can be concluded that the direct supply mode shows a more prominent decline in water temperature compared to the coupled heat pump and coupled plate heat exchanger modes. The imported and exported water temperatures when heating ends were recorded as 9.98°C and 16°C, respectively. The imported and exported water temperatures for both the direct supply and the coupled plate heat exchanger modes tend to be similar at 19.6°C and 25.5°C at a temperature of 7°C. Heat pump not only enhances the heat exchange features of ground source heat pump (GSHP) heating system, but also defines the configuration of heat extraction performance of DBHE. The system power consumption in the coupled plate heat exchanger mode is lower than that in the heat pump mode which is conducive to stable operation. Therefore, the best design form of the DBHE Heating System is the heat pump coupled plate exchange mode.

Seismic Performance Assessment of Multitiered Steel Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames Designed to 2010 and 2022 AISC Seismic Provisions

Seismic Performance Assessment of Multitiered Steel Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames Designed to 2010 and 2022 AISC Seismic Provisions

Multi-metal-doped transition metal compounds for high-performance asymmetric capacitive deionization

To address the limited ion adsorption capacity of carbon-based capacitive deionization (CDI) which primarily relies on double-layer mechanism, recent efforts have focused on the rational design and development of efficient Faradaic materials for CDI applications. In this study, we synthesized and applied Co- and Mn-doped transition metal compounds (Cu₂O@MCF) as the electrodes for asymmetric CDI using a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized electrodes were analyzed using various characterization techniques, to confirm the successful doping and structural integrity. Electrochemical performance assessments revealed significant improvements in ion-capture capacity and overall desalination efficiency. Specifically, the optimized asymmetric CDI cell configuration, consisting of Cu₂O@MCF(Cl) as an anode and Cu₂O@MCF(Na) as a cathode, led to a significant increase in salt adsorption capacity (27.42 mg/g) over conventional symmetric carbon electrodes (11.22 mg/g), an increase of over 2.4 times. Furthermore, the synthesized electrodes demonstrated effective phosphate ion removal, highlighting their potential applicability in wastewater treatment. The findings suggest that multi-metal doping significantly enhances electrode performance by synergistically combining electric double-layer capacitance and pseudocapacitance effects, due to their unique morphological and electrochemical properties. These results contribute to sustainable water treatment and resource recovery efforts, showcasing the effectiveness of the materials in improving CDI performance and opening new avenues for their application in environmental cleanup and resource management.

A case study comparing seismic retrofitting techniques for a historically significant masonry building’s minaret

Historical masonry structures are extremely susceptible to earthquakes due to their characteristic features. Seismic performance and corresponding damage patterns vary between these buildings. Even though the main structure was undamaged, many minarets suffered damage or collapsed due to the transmission of large forces from the main mass to the minaret and the abrupt changes in cross-section due to the geometry of the minaret. This study uses an ancient masonry mosque as a case study, whose minaret and main building are constructed as a single structure. The mosque’s minaret under seismic excitation is the focus of this study. The adopted model is called Alaeddin Bey Mosque in Muş, Türkiye. The seismic performance assessment of the minaret, considering various retrofitting options, is mainly based on four critical parameters: base shear, acceleration, displacement, and maximum tensile forces in all three dimensions. The analyzed retrofitting methods include base isolation located in the basement of the mosque, viscous dampers placed only in the upper part of the minaret, Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer fabric fitted to only the minaret, and steel plates applied to only the minaret. Representative structural models of the mosque have been modelled with SAP2000 software. The main novelty of this study is the use of viscous dampers in the minaret. It is the first time a design methodology has been introduced for viscous damper applications in minarets. This methodology aims to prevent local damage to the minaret due to the forces generated by the dampers, while also considering the constraints of limited internal space within the minaret. The finding of this study shows that viscous damper application yields significantly better results compared to the application of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer fabric and steel plates. However, although base isolation reduces the tensile stress values throughout the entire mosque to levels well below the material’s strength, viscous damper application in the minaret significantly reduces tensile stresses only in the minaret. As a result, viscous dampers are recommended for damage reduction in the minaret only. Otherwise, base isolation should be considered for reducing stress values throughout the entire mosque including the minaret. This study contributes towards the development of new seismic retrofitting methods for historic masonry buildings ‘minaret.