Evaluation Of Current Practice Research Articles

New Insights beyond Established Norms: A Scoping Review of Genetic Testing for Infertile Men.

From a diagnostic standpoint, certain approaches to genetic screening in clinical practice remain ambiguous in the era of assisted reproduction. Even the most current guidelines do not provide definite guidance on testing protocols, leaving clinicians to carefully determine which tests best serve patients struggling with infertility. The lack of uniformity in the current practice of male fertility evaluation can prove to be quite costly, thus necessitating healthcare practitioners to carefully appraise the necessity and weigh the advantages against potential economic and psychological detriments. The objective of this review is to map the existing literature on the general topic of the clinical indications of routine karyotyping and/or AZF screening in infertile men, identify key concepts, determine where the gaps are, and lastly, provide an overview of the conclusions drawn from a body of knowledge that varies widely in terms of methodologies or disciplines. A thorough search was conducted for the published findings up until July 2023, utilizing PubMed (MEDLINE). This comprehensive search involved the use of specific search keywords, either individually or in combination. The search terms employed were as follows: "Karyotype", "Klinefelter" or "KS" or "47,XXY", "AZF" or "Azoospermi*" and/or "microdeletion*" in the title or abstract. Once the titles and abstracts of selected articles were obtained, the complete texts of linked papers were meticulously scrutinized. A total of 191 records were identified from PubMed. During screening, 161 records (84.3%) were eliminated. Finally, 30 papers were included in this scoping review, which was conducted in 18 countries. The number of sequence tag sites (STSs) used in the studies varied from 5 to 59. The rate of AZF deletions among patients with NOA ranged from 1.3% to 53%. The mean frequency was estimated to be 5.6%. The rate of YCM among patients with XXY karyotype was nil in 19 out of 30 studies (63%), whilst, in the remaining studies, the rate varied from 0.8% to 67%. This review provides insights into managing male infertility. The presence of spermatozoa in ejaculation and successful surgical retrieval cannot be excluded for individuals with AZFb/AZFbc microdeletions. Screening for Y chromosome microdeletions is not needed for mosaic or classic KS. Only 1% of individuals with sperm concentration exceeding 1×106 sperm/mL and less than 5×106 sperm/mL exhibit AZF microdeletions; therefore, testing referral for such populations may need reassessment. Individuals with mosaic monosomy X karyotype and certain chromosomal anomalies should be referred for AZF deletion screening. These findings have implications for male infertility management and future research.

The difficult airway in trauma: What you need to know.

Airway evaluation and management is generally the first priority for treatment of trauma patients from the prehospital setting throughout their hospital stay. Delay in recognition of an airway problem, or inability to oxygenate or ventilate due to an inadequate airway, will lead to rapid death. Therefore, all clinicians involved in the care of trauma patients should have adequate knowledge of current best practices for airway evaluation and management. In addition, trauma providers should develop and maintain the skills needed to perform various airway maneuvers to establish and maintain an adequate airway. While elective airway management has the luxury of time for thorough airway evaluation, the airway management in the trauma setting does not allow this same opportunity. For this reason, all trauma airways should be presumed to be a difficult airway and teams should prepare accordingly. This review will summarize the best practices for airway evaluation and management for trauma patients from the prehospital setting through the emergency department.

Canadian Practice and Recommendations on Functional MRI to Lateralize Language in Epilepsy.

Identifying a patient's dominant language hemisphere is an important evaluation performed prior to epilepsy surgery and is commonly assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the lack of standardization and resultant heterogeneity of fMRI paradigms used in clinical practice limits the ability of cross-center comparisons to be made regarding language laterality results. Through surveying Canadian Epilepsy Centres in combination with reviewing supporting literature, current fMRI language lateralization practices for the clinical evaluation of patients with epilepsy were assessed. To encourage standardization of this practice, we outlined a two-part paradigm series that demonstrates widespread acceptance, reliability and accessibility in lateralizing various aspects of language functioning in individuals with average or near-average IQ and normal literacy skills. The collected data confirm a lack of standardization in fMRI laterality assessments leading to clinical heterogeneity in stimulation and control tasks, paradigm design and timing, laterality index calculations, thresholding values and analysis software and technique. We suggest a Sentence Completion (SC) and Word Generation (WG) paradigm series as it was most commonly employed across Canada, demonstrated reliability in lateralizing both receptive and expressive language areas in supporting literature, and could be readily intelligible to an inclusive population. Through providing recommendations for a two-part paradigm series, we hope to contribute to the standardization of this practice across Canada to reduce clinical heterogeneity, encourage communicability between institutions, and enhance methodologies for the surgical treatment of epilepsy for the benefit of all individuals living with epilepsy in Canada.

People, space use and objects: an UWB-based quantifying approach for post-occupancy evaluation of new architectural spaces

PurposeThis study was conducted to address the methodical shortcomings and high associated cost of understanding the use of new, poorly understood architectural spaces, such as makerspaces. The proposed quantified method of enhancing current post-occupancy evaluation (POE) practices aims to provide architects, engineers and building professionals with accessible and intuitive data that can be used to conduct comparative studies of spatial changes, understand changes over time (such as those resulting from COVID-19) and verify design intentions after construction through a quantified post-occupancy evaluation.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, we demonstrate the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to gather, analyze and visualize quantified data showing interactions between people, spaces and objects. The experiment was conducted in a makerspace over a four-day hackathon event with a team of four actively tracked participants.FindingsThe study shows that by moving beyond simply counting people in a space, a more nuanced pattern of interactions can be discovered, documented and analyzed. The ability to automatically visualize findings intuitively in 3D aids architects and visual thinkers to easily grasp the essence of interactions with minimal effort.Originality/valueBy providing a method for better understanding the spatial and temporal interactions between people, objects and spaces, our approach provides valuable feedback in POE. Specifically, our approach aids practitioners in comparing spaces, verifying design intent and speeding up knowledge building when developing new architectural spaces, such as makerspaces.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectives on Recommender Systems Evaluation

Evaluation plays a vital role in recommender systems—in research and practice—whether for confirming algorithmic concepts or assessing the operational validity of designs and applications. It may span the evaluation of early ideas and approaches up to elaborate implementations of systems integrated into everyday product settings; it may target a wide spectrum of different factors being evaluated. In this special issue, we explore recommender systems evaluation—theory and practice—while considering a diverse set of perspectives. These include recommender systems purposes, stakeholders, methodological approaches, and consequences. The collection of articles in this special issue offers insightful analyses of current recommender system evaluation practices, acknowledging their limitations, and setting out future research directions. As recommender systems evolve, the need for adequate evaluation methods and approaches increases. This special issue sheds light on areas undergoing development or requiring added attention from the research and practitioner communities in recommender systems. The compilation serves as a call to the recommender systems research community, motivating continued research and exploration of evaluation metrics, methods, and strategies.

On the Role of Morphological Information for Contextual Lemmatization

Abstract Lemmatization is a natural language processing (NLP) task that consists of producing, from a given inflected word, its canonical form or lemma. Lemmatization is one of the basic tasks that facilitate downstream NLP applications, and is of particular importance for high-inflected languages. Given that the process to obtain a lemma from an inflected word can be explained by looking at its morphosyntactic category, including fine-grained morphosyntactic information to train contextual lemmatizers has become common practice, without considering whether that is the optimum in terms of downstream performance. In order to address this issue, in this article we empirically investigate the role of morphological information to develop contextual lemmatizers in six languages within a varied spectrum of morphological complexity: Basque, Turkish, Russian, Czech, Spanish, and English. Furthermore, and unlike the vast majority of previous work, we also evaluate lemmatizers in out-of-domain settings, which constitutes, after all, their most common application use. The results of our study are rather surprising. It turns out that providing lemmatizers with fine-grained morphological features during training is not that beneficial, not even for agglutinative languages. In fact, modern contextual word representations seem to implicitly encode enough morphological information to obtain competitive contextual lemmatizers without seeing any explicit morphological signal. Moreover, our experiments suggest that the best lemmatizers out-of-domain are those using simple UPOS tags or those trained without morphology and, lastly, that current evaluation practices for lemmatization are not adequate to clearly discriminate between models.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY SURVEY ON: IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM AT NGOs

The Monitoring and Evaluation Department is considered one of the most important departments that can help business organizations measure the organizations’ progress and evaluate their efficiency in implementing strategies. Monitoring and evaluation systems allow project activities to be measured and analyzed. Moreover, it helps to identify problems early and adopt the necessary solutions. In addition, the Monitoring and Evaluation Department helps identify the resources needed for the project. A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is important for (NGOs), as it helps improve programs and determine whether they meet set objectives. This work is typically performed through data collection, analysis, and reporting. Furthermore, the monitoring and evaluation system helps achieve transparency and accountability, and provides donors, community members, and beneficiaries with key evidence for making decisions and actions throughout the duration of the project. The M&E system also helps determine whether the funds allocated to the project have been used effectively in achieving the desired Goals. The purpose of the survey paper was to highlight the importance of strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems in non-governmental organizations for the sake of integrated work between the systems and the workers in this unit within the organizations. This research aims to help employees in the monitoring and evaluation unit to complete the work in the fastest time, with less effort, and with more transparency and accuracy. By examining the different methodologies, tools and procedures of the system that helps this sector. This system also gives a comprehensive overview of current methodologies and best practices for monitoring and evaluation. Unfortunately, there is a gap in systems design, M&E through the planning process.

Current practices for nutritional evaluation and care during the treatment of pediatric oncology patients: a survey among AIEOP centers.

This study underscores the pressing need for unified recommendations to improve nutritional care and potentially enhance outcomes for pediatric cancer patients. • The assessment and support of nutrition are gaining interest in the overall care of children with cancer. • The assessment and management of nutritional needs in pediatric cancer patients, including those undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation, currently lack a systematic approach. • There is considerable variability in the nutritional assessment and support among Italian centers treating pediatric patients with cancer. • To enhance nutritional assessment and support for pediatric cancer patients, it is essential to establish shared national and international guidelines.

SNAPIG: a model to study nutrient digestion and absorption kinetics in growing pigs based on diet and ingredient properties

Current feed formulation and evaluation practices rely on static values for the nutritional value of feed ingredients and assume additivity. Hereby, the complex interplay among nutrients in the diet and the highly dynamic digestive processes are ignored. Nutrient digestion kinetics and diet × animal interactions should be acknowledged to improve future predictions of the nutritional value of complex diets. Therefore, an in silico nutrient-based mechanistic digestion model for growing pigs was developed: “SNAPIG” (Simulating Nutrient digestion and Absorption kinetics in PIGs). Aiming to predict the rate and extent of nutrient absorption from diets varying in ingredient composition and physicochemical properties, the model represents digestion kinetics of ingested protein, starch, fat, and non-starch polysaccharides, through passage, hydrolysis, absorption, and endogenous secretions of nutrients along the stomach, proximal small intestine, distal small intestine, and caecum + colon. Input variables are nutrient intake and the physicochemical properties (i.e. solubility, and rate and extent of degradability). Data on the rate and extent of starch and protein hydrolysis of different ingredients per digestive segment were derived from in vitro assays. Passage of digesta from the stomach was modelled as a function of feed intake level, dietary nutrient solubility and diet viscosity. Model evaluation included testing against independent data from in vivo studies on nutrient appearance in (portal) blood of growing pigs. When simulating diets varying in physicochemical properties and nutrient source, SNAPIG can explain variation in glucose absorption kinetics (postprandial time of peak, TOP: 20–100 min observed vs 25–98 min predicted), and predict variation in the extent of ileal protein and fat digestion (root mean square prediction errors (RMSPE) = 12 and 16%, disturbance error = 12 and 86%, and concordance correlation coefficient = 0.34 and 0.27). For amino acid absorption, the observed variation in postprandial TOP (61 ± 11 min) was poorly predicted despite accurate mean predictions (58 ± 34 min). Recalibrating protein digestion and amino acid absorption kinetics require data on net-portal nutrient appearance, combined with observations on digestion kinetics, in pigs fed diets varying in ingredient composition. Currently, SNAPIG can be used to forecast the time and extent of nutrient digestion and absorption when simulating diets varying in ingredient and nutrient composition. It enhances our quantitative understanding of nutrient digestion kinetics and identifies knowledge gaps in this field of research. Already useful as research tool, SNAPIG can be coupled with a postabsorptive metabolism model to predict the effects of dietary and feeding-strategies on the pig’s growth response.

Advancing Methods in Entrepreneurship Education Impact Research: The Benefits and Limitations of Register Data

With the increasing introduction of entrepreneurship education, supported by governments and policymakers, questions on their effect have occurred. Thus, several studies on their impact have also emerged over the years. However, many of these studies have issues related to control groups, students’ self-selection into the education, unclear objectives and vague descriptions of the education, or no contextual considerations in the studies’ design. In addition, although there have been many calls for studies investigating behavioural outcomes over a longer timeframe, few studies have answered the calls. As a continuous evaluation of graduates in many instances would be costly and time-consuming, not to mention the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient response rate over time, a potential source for evidence is register data, for instance, from public records. In this conceptual paper, I discuss the issues of the current evaluation practices of entrepreneurship education before the use of register data is introduced in consideration of long-term evaluation and common methodological issues. I present potential evaluation examples using register data on a particular program in entrepreneurship. The potential benefits and limitations of using such data are addressed, along with potential avenues for future research using register data in entrepreneurship education impact research.

A GIS-based method for assessing the economics of utility-scale photovoltaic systems

Solar photovoltaic capacities have experienced remarkable gains worldwide. The accelerated deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems has emphasized the need for methods and tools that can assist in planning and investment decisions of utility-scale photovoltaic systems to ensure a sustainable energy transition. This study bridges the gap between research and current solar PV project evaluation practices by proposing a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach for analyzing land eligibility and performing techno-economic assessments of utility-scale photovoltaic systems. To tackle the issue of country-specific cost elements, the model incorporates a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) breakdown often used by governmental and intergovernmental organizations. The proposed GIS-based model can assist in mapping the distribution of eligible land for utility-scale solar systems while considering exclusion constraints, estimating PV capacity and generation potentials, as well as determining the average LCOE of utility-scale solar photovoltaic systems at a spatial resolution of 100 m. The GIS-based approach is demonstrated through the case study of Poland. The model estimates that 3.61% of the total area of Poland is suitable for the installation of utility-scale solar PV systems. Implementing PV installations in these areas would result in solar capacities ranging from 394.64 to 563.77 GW. Furthermore, the findings of the case study indicate that the LCOE would range from €0.043/kWh to €0.049/kWh, with a national average of €0.045/kWh. The proposed approach can be utilized to develop national and regional strategies focused on large-scale PV installations, facilitating the attainment of renewable energy goals. The study fills a significant gap in the literature as it provides a GIS-based tool for planning the sustainable development of utility-scale PV systems at the regional scale. In addition, it is the first to comprehensively assess the capacity and generation potential of utility-scale solar photovoltaics in Poland at the NUTS-2 level.

An overview of current evaluation methods of postgraduate dental specialty residents.

A lack of contemporary dental literature exists on evaluating dental residents in postgraduate education, with no standardized criteria or information on technology adoption. This study aims to understand current evaluation methods in dental residency programs and compare them to existing literature. A survey with 22 questions was sent to program directors of 749 ADA/CODA (American Dental Association/Commission on Dental Accreditation)-accredited postgraduate dental residencies. The questions focused on evaluation frequency, faculty involvement, submission methods, and electronic software usage. The survey response rate was 30.2% (226 responses). Results show that 98% of program directors are involved in evaluations, but require more support from auxiliary faculty. Evaluations are typically submitted twice or four times a year, with 12% of programs wanting increased frequency. Face-to-face delivery of feedback is considered crucial. While desktop computers are widely used for evaluation submission, 55% of programs utilize mobile devices, which correlates with higher program director satisfaction. The most popular evaluation software includes New Innovations, MEd Hub, and Qualtrics. Overall, 86.96% of program directors are satisfied with current evaluation practices. Areas needing improvement are non-program director faculty involvement, resident response/feedback, and software navigation. This study found that a majority of program directors of the postgraduate dental education system are using electronic technology for their resident evaluation systems and are satisfied with their current mechanism of evaluation.

Controlling Inputter Variability in Vignette Studies Assessing Web-Based Symptom Checkers: Evaluation of Current Practice and Recommendations for Isolated Accuracy Metrics.

The rapid growth of web-based symptom checkers (SCs) is not matched by advances in quality assurance. Currently, there are no widely accepted criteria assessing SCs' performance. Vignette studies are widely used to evaluate SCs, measuring the accuracy of outcome. Accuracy behaves as a composite metric as it is affected by a number of individual SC- and tester-dependent factors. In contrast to clinical studies, vignette studies have a small number of testers. Hence, measuring accuracy alone in vignette studies may not provide a reliable assessment of performance due to tester variability. This study aims to investigate the impact of tester variability on the accuracy of outcome of SCs, using clinical vignettes. It further aims to investigate the feasibility of measuring isolated aspects of performance. Healthily's SC was assessed using 114 vignettes by 3 groups of 3 testers who processed vignettes with different instructions: free interpretation of vignettes (free testers), specified chief complaints (partially free testers), and specified chief complaints with strict instruction for answering additional symptoms (restricted testers). κ statistics were calculated to assess agreement of top outcome condition and recommended triage. Crude and adjusted accuracy was measured against a gold standard. Adjusted accuracy was calculated using only results of consultations identical to the vignette, following a review and selection process. A feasibility study for assessing symptom comprehension of SCs was performed using different variations of 51 chief complaints across 3 SCs. Intertester agreement of most likely condition and triage was, respectively, 0.49 and 0.51 for the free tester group, 0.66 and 0.66 for the partially free group, and 0.72 and 0.71 for the restricted group. For the restricted group, accuracy ranged from 43.9% to 57% for individual testers, averaging 50.6% (SD 5.35%). Adjusted accuracy was 56.1%. Assessing symptom comprehension was feasible for all 3 SCs. Comprehension scores ranged from 52.9% and 68%. We demonstrated that by improving standardization of the vignette testing process, there is a significant improvement in the agreement of outcome between testers. However, significant variability remained due to uncontrollable tester-dependent factors, reflected by varying outcome accuracy. Tester-dependent factors, combined with a small number of testers, limit the reliability and generalizability of outcome accuracy when used as a composite measure in vignette studies. Measuring and reporting different aspects of SC performance in isolation provides a more reliable assessment of SC performance. We developed an adjusted accuracy measure using a review and selection process to assess data algorithm quality. In addition, we demonstrated that symptom comprehension with different input methods can be feasibly compared. Future studies reporting accuracy need to apply vignette testing standardization and isolated metrics.

Stakeholder Experience Evaluating Whole-School Practice Designed to Improve Educational Outcomes for Autistic Students

Abstract Team participation in whole-school action research can assist the educational reform required for autistic students. Little is known about the experience of school community stakeholders engaged in the first stage of an implementation science process: evaluation of current practice. This study was designed to explore stakeholder experience and knowledge gained following a process of evaluation of whole-school practice related to the education of autistic students. A collective case study was employed across two Australian secondary schools, with team meetings designed to provide an opportunity for the self-evaluation process to take place and the data for the study to be generated. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the dialogue between participants during focus group discussions with each team. Findings are represented through six themes that provide insight for future practice. Both stakeholder teams reported that the evaluation process was a positive experience to engage in and resulted in a strengthening of knowledge about good practice for autistic students. Findings provide encouragement to other school teams engaging in a similar process; however, future teams may need to feel ready for this work and might benefit from the structure of a wider action-research cycle aligned to implementation science processes.

Information Security Risk Management in Yemeni Banks: An Evaluation of Current Practices

Information Security Risk Management in Yemeni Banks: An Evaluation of Current Practices

MP53-20 INITIAL UROLOGIC EVALUATION FOR ANORECTAL MALFORMATIONS: A PCPLC RETROSPECTIVE

You have accessJournal of UrologyCME1 Apr 2023MP53-20 INITIAL UROLOGIC EVALUATION FOR ANORECTAL MALFORMATIONS: A PCPLC RETROSPECTIVE Jennifer Ahn, Caitlin Smith, Samuel Rice-Townsend, Lauren Nicassio, Jeffery Avansino, Megan Durham, Jason Frischer, Casey Calkins, Rebecca Rentea, Matthew Ralls, Megan Fuller, Richard Wood, Michael Rollins, Justin Lee, Ron Reeder, Belinda Dickie, Payam Saadai, Mark Cain, and Paul Merguerian Jennifer AhnJennifer Ahn More articles by this author , Caitlin SmithCaitlin Smith More articles by this author , Samuel Rice-TownsendSamuel Rice-Townsend More articles by this author , Lauren NicassioLauren Nicassio More articles by this author , Jeffery AvansinoJeffery Avansino More articles by this author , Megan DurhamMegan Durham More articles by this author , Jason FrischerJason Frischer More articles by this author , Casey CalkinsCasey Calkins More articles by this author , Rebecca RenteaRebecca Rentea More articles by this author , Matthew RallsMatthew Ralls More articles by this author , Megan FullerMegan Fuller More articles by this author , Richard WoodRichard Wood More articles by this author , Michael RollinsMichael Rollins More articles by this author , Justin LeeJustin Lee More articles by this author , Ron ReederRon Reeder More articles by this author , Belinda DickieBelinda Dickie More articles by this author , Payam SaadaiPayam Saadai More articles by this author , Mark CainMark Cain More articles by this author , and Paul MerguerianPaul Merguerian More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003301.20AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Urologic anomalies such as hydronephrosis, solitary kidney, and vesicoureteral reflux are common in individuals with anorectal malformations (ARM). These can lead to renal damage if not detected and managed appropriately. Optimal detection and surveillance strategies have not yet been established. We aim to evaluate current urologic evaluation practices in individuals with anorectal malformation utilizing a multi-center registry. METHODS: We performed a multicenter retrospective study of children with ARM evaluated at sites participating in the Pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium (PCPLC). We included all subjects with ARM who had a colostomy or PSARP within 12 months of birth and were also seen at a PCPLC site within 3 months of birth or ARM diagnosis. The primary outcome was the proportion of subjects undergoing urologic evaluation within 12 months of ARM diagnosis. The secondary outcome was proportion of screened subjects with urologic anomalies. We evaluated associations between urologic evaluation and clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. p-value <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 427 subjects with ARM from 13 institutions were included, and only 22% (93/427) of subjects had a recorded urologic evaluation within 12 months of ARM diagnosis. For imaging studies performed within 12 months of ARM diagnosis, 25% (112/427) underwent renal ultrasound, 8% (34/427) had a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), and 1% had a renal scan performed. Kidney anomalies were reported in 58 subjects, with hydronephrosis seen most commonly, followed by horseshoe kidney and ectopic kidney. Vesicoureteral reflux was detected in 20 subjects, comprising 59% of those who had a VCUG performed. On univariate analysis, having a renal ultrasound performed within 12 months of ARM diagnosis was not associated with clinical characteristics, such as ARM complexity or spine/sacrum status. It was associated with Hispanic ethnicity (OR 1.73, CI 1.04, 2.84, p=0.034). CONCLUSIONS: Timely urologic evaluation was recorded only 25% of the time, with a high proportion yielding expected anomalies such as hydronephrosis and vesicoureteral reflux. This suggests many potentially harmful conditions may be going undetected or unrecorded, and routine early evaluation should be standardized. Source of Funding: none © 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 209Issue Supplement 4April 2023Page: e720 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Jennifer Ahn More articles by this author Caitlin Smith More articles by this author Samuel Rice-Townsend More articles by this author Lauren Nicassio More articles by this author Jeffery Avansino More articles by this author Megan Durham More articles by this author Jason Frischer More articles by this author Casey Calkins More articles by this author Rebecca Rentea More articles by this author Matthew Ralls More articles by this author Megan Fuller More articles by this author Richard Wood More articles by this author Michael Rollins More articles by this author Justin Lee More articles by this author Ron Reeder More articles by this author Belinda Dickie More articles by this author Payam Saadai More articles by this author Mark Cain More articles by this author Paul Merguerian More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

Evaluating public health strategies for climate adaptation: Challenges and opportunities from the climate ready states and cities initiative

Evaluation generates critical evidence about the effectiveness of health-focused climate adaptation, who receives what benefits, and how to improve program quality. However, using evaluation to improve climate adaptation outcomes with timeliness and context-specificity is uniquely challenging. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports health departments to implement adaptation initiatives through the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiative (CRSCI) grant and minimize negative health impacts of climate change via the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework, which includes evaluation. In this paper, we present current evaluation practice by describing the health-focused adaptation actions that were evaluated among CRSCI recipients, the evaluation approaches they used, and the barriers and enablers encountered. Using a mixed methods approach, we abstracted annual progress report and standardized performance measure data to characterize evaluation activities across 18 grant recipients using basic quantitative descriptive analysis. Through structured interviews with three grant recipients and standard team-based qualitative coding and analysis techniques, we developed qualitative case studies to explore evaluation barriers and enablers in richer context. Recipients reported 76 evaluations over the reporting period (2018–2021). Evaluated programs commonly addressed extreme weather (50.0%), followed by heat (27.6%). The most common purpose was to monitor implementation or improve delivery (57.9%). Case studies highlighted barriers to successful evaluation such as limited specialized evaluation expertise and staff time. Enablers included staff motivation to justify program expansion, strong relationships with community partners, and use of evaluation plans. Case studies revealed diverse strategies to seek input from stakeholders disproportionately impacted by climate change and to reduce health disparities. The experiences of CDC grant recipients provide an opportunity to better understand the barriers and enablers of climate and health evaluation practice and to identify practical strategies to expand the value of evaluation in this nascent field.

Comprehensive Review and Recommendations for Evaluation of Sexual Potency of Male in Context of Current Indian legal system

To discuss the current practice, standard procedures and recommendations for evaluation of male impotence/sexual dysfunction in context of the Indian legal system. Evaluation of a man for potency is done for various reasons like accusation of rape, non-consummation of marriage in a plea for annulment or compensation claims arising out of damage to sexual function secondary to accidents or any other means. Such evaluation is done after requisition by investigating officers in criminal cases or by the person himself in civil cases to verify or rule out allegations of impotence. It is a common practice for Indian police to request a potency examination in almost every case of sexual assault, despite the fact that the examination has very little impact on the outcome of the case in court. In the Indian scenario, even after a complete evaluation for impotence, medicolegal opinion is framed in a nebulous double negative format rather than a precise scientific manner. The Indian courts would welcome such examination in relevant case and desire that the experts frame objective and unequivocal opinions. Various articles, books, court judgments were reviewed to determine the current practice followed in determination of sexual potency in males. Asystematic effort is made to make the examination completely justifiable with a more objective and scientific opinion.

Arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen Und Ihre Evaluierung: Eine Bestandsaufnahme

( Title: Active Labor Market Policy and its Evaluation: The Current State of Affairs) Despite the considerable effort and the large financial expenditures spent on measures of Active Labor Market Policy in Germany, relatively little is known about their actual impact. To the contrary, past evaluation efforts typically failed to construct a credible counterfactual situation - a precise statement of what would have happened in the absence of the policy intervention. This paper argues that Germany lags clearly behind the current evaluation practice of other advanced economies, and in information about the efficacy of its policies. The paper discusses the methodological problems surrounding the evaluation of policy interventions and possible empirical strategies for their solution. The available scientific evidence on the impact of labor market programs is surveyed briefly, and several lessons are extracted on the design of future programs and their evaluation.

Intangible Outcomes

Human life – and therefore the scope of human goals – includes dimensions that are both visible and countable (e.g., money, weight, attendance or tested proficiency) as well the invisible and intangible (e.g., hope, trust, faith, love, joy, peace). Furthermore, the visible and tangible aspects of life are intrinsically connected to and dependent on the invisible and intangible aspects - much as the visible branches and fruit of a tree are connected to and dependent on an underlying and hidden root structure. While the importance of intangibles can be understood intuitively, it can also be illustrated: 73% of all chartable giving in the U.S. goes to organizations that are explicitly religious, and 118,280 nonprofit organizations are so strongly identified with the intangibles of hope, trust, faith, love, joy, peace that they included one of these words in their name. While the intangible realities of human life are explicitly relevant to a large proportion of organizations we seek to serve, it is essentially ignored by current evaluation practice: only 10 articles within the American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions in Evaluation and Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation included even minimal reference to the most common intangibles. New evaluation theory and methodology to address this gap will be needed, and cross-disciplinary exploration with psychology, philosophy and sociology should guide this development. In the meantime, useful questions about intangibles can be drawn from the AEA guiding principles and addressing these can provide a useful starting point for evaluators seeking to consider intangibles within their evaluations.