Level Of Performance Improvement Research Articles

A Multitask Cross-Lingual Summary Method Based on ABO Mechanism

Recent cross-lingual summarization research has pursued the use of a unified end-to-end model which has demonstrated a certain level of improvement in performance and effectiveness, but this approach stitches together multiple tasks and makes the computation more complex. Less work has focused on alignment relationships across languages, which has led to persistent problems of summary misordering and loss of key information. For this reason, we first simplify the multitasking by converting the translation task into an equal proportion of cross-lingual summary tasks so that the model can perform only cross-lingual summary tasks when generating cross-lingual summaries. In addition, we splice monolingual and cross-lingual summary sequences as an input so that the model can fully learn the core content of the corpus. Then, we propose a reinforced regularization method based on the model to improve its robustness, and build a targeted ABO mechanism to enhance the semantic relationship alignment and key information retention of the cross-lingual summaries. Ablation experiments are conducted on three datasets of different orders of magnitude to demonstrate the effective enhancement of the model by the optimization approach; they outperform the mainstream approaches on the cross-lingual summarization task and the monolingual summarization task for the full dataset. Finally, we validate the model’s capabilities on a cross-lingual summary dataset of professional domains, and the results demonstrate its superior performance and ability to improve cross-lingual sequencing.

“Honor List” and “Shame Roll”: Quasi-Experimental Evidence of the Effect of Performance Feedback under Political Control

Abstract This article examines how the use of an “honor list” and “shame roll” as a means of performance feedback can influence governments’ future performance improvement, focusing on a prominent performance management reform implemented in Chinese local governments. We draw upon classic behavioral theories of organizations to propose testable hypotheses. The empirical analyses use 3,300 observations based on the 333 grassroots governments of the capital city of China as the unit of analysis. Regression discontinuity design estimations show that entering the honor list reduces governments’ performance improvement in the next period, while entering the shame roll helps governments improve their performance. Moreover, the level of performance improvement is higher at the cutoff for both the honor list and shame roll if governments rely more on the higher authority’s fiscal resources. This study advances a more nuanced understanding of the performance feedback effect under political control and a rigid administrative hierarchy.

Geosynthetic performance against slope erosion caused by high intensity rainfall

Soil erosion can cause serious damage to the environment and significant economic losses since uncontrolled erosion processes have detrimental consequences for agriculture and may cause damage to existing civil infrastructure. Geosynthetic products to protect soils against erosion are available, such as geomats, geoblankets and geocells. This paper investigates the performance of geomats and geoblankets for the protection of slopes against erosion caused by intense rainfall by means of laboratory tests using a rainfall simulator. The influence of the presence of vegetation on the slope was also investigated. Two geomats and three geoblankets were tested. The results obtained showed that these products can provide efficient soil protection, but due attention must be paid to some factors such as the product's physical and hydraulic characteristics, good contact with the soil surface, soil cover ratio and endurance under high rainfall intensities. The results also showed that the presence of vegetation is beneficial against soil erosion, but the level of performance improvement brought by the vegetation will depend on geomat and geoblanket characteristics and properties.

The Degree of Practice of The Heads of The academic Departments at Al-Aqsa University to Manage Excellence and its Relation to Level of Improvement in Professional Performance of The Teaching Staff

The study aimed to determine the degree of practice of the heads of the academic departments at Al-Aqsa University to manage excellence, define the level of performance of faculty members, and examine whether there was a relationship between them. To achieve this, the descriptive approach was used by analyzing the information obtained through the study tools. Major findings include: the degree of management of excellence was medium (3.32), while the degree of job performance was moderate (3.28). The study also showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the majority of the study variables. The exception was in the field of human development, for the type of academic department, in favor of the departments of science and in the field of empowerment of gender in favor of males. The study also showed that there was a positive and strong relationship between the heads of the academic departments at Al-Aqsa University to manage excellence in all fields and the level of improvement in the performance of the faculty members. The study recommended the implementation of several practical measures to improve the level of both the management of excellence and performance
 Keywords: Excellence management, Job performance, University education.

Enhancing performance in service organisations: a case study based on value stream analysis in the telecommunications industry

Performance-enhancing efforts in the manufacturing industry have centred on ‘lean’ principles and philosophies since the early 1970s. Lean principles, philosophies, tools and methods have also been significantly deployed to enhance performance in service processes within the manufacturing industry, as well as the process industry (e.g. inspection, maintenance and modification-related). It has been observed that when the main business is mostly centred on service-providing processes, significantly less effort is put into exploiting the use of lean approaches to enhance performance. Therefore, it is vital to investigate the potential of ‘lean’ concepts’ implementation in a service-providing organisation. This manuscript is based on the value stream mapping and the value stream analysis (VSA) performed in a Polish telecommunication-industry-related service-providing company. A plain old telephone services-based case study is presented. The service-providing process is analysed in order to identify the current existing drawbacks and to propose improvements to enhance performance. Based on the current state value stream map and the VSA results, a future state value stream map was developed. Then, process efficiency was calculated in order to assess the level of performance improvement.

THE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF THZ ANTENNA VIA MODELING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DOPED GRAPHENE

The improvement of Terahertz (THz) antenna requires efficient (nano)materials to operate within the millimeter wave and THz spectrum. In this paper, doped graphene is used to improve the performance of two types of patch antennas, a rectangular and an elliptical antenna. The surface conductivity of conventional (non-doped) graphene is first modeled prior to the design and simulation of the two graphene based antennas in an electromagnetic solver. Next, different graphene models and their corresponding surface conductivities are computed based on different bias voltages or chemical doping. These configurations are then benchmarked against a similar antenna based on conventional metallic (copper) conductor to quantify their levels of performance improvement. The graphene based antennas showed significant improvements for most parameters of antenna than that of the conventional antenna. Besides that, the higher chemical potentials resulting from higher biasing voltages also resulted in this trend. Finally, the elliptical patch graphene antenna indicated better reflection performance, radiation efficiency and gain than a rectangular patch operating at the same resonant frequency.

The Progression of Male 100 m Sprinting with a Lower-Limb Amputation 1976–2012

Sprinting with a lower-limb amputation over 100 m has taken place in the Paralympic Games for over three decades. The aim of this paper is to statistically evaluate the performances and participation levels of such athletes during this period. The level of performance improvement over a 36-year period was proposed to be significantly greater than the able-bodied equivalent. Coupled with this, a major spike in amputee running performance improvement was shown to occur from 1984–1988. This supports previously recorded accounts of a major technological change being made at this time. Finally, whilst the average performance of the medallists has increased consistently over the 36-year history, the overall participation in the event fell significantly after 1988 and did not recover until 2012.

Performance Requirements on Remodeling Apartment Housing and TOPSIS Evaluation

Functional improvement needed in remodeling projects is determined by users in a complex manner since remodeling projects require performance improvement against deterioration. This study defines fundamental Remodeling Performance Criteria (RPC) for apartment housing by referring to performance criteria of both domestic and international performance-related systems. In this case study, performance evaluation of Construction Element Method (CEM) for remodeling projects was conducted based on RPC. For the objective evaluation of CEM, performance scores were calculated and normalized by using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model, which is used in a multicriteria decision-making method. The TOPSIS evaluation model allows for a comprehensive and comparative analysis on the performance of the remodeling solution. The TOPSIS model in this study suggests a standard logic of performance evaluation for aged buildings as it analyzes the degree of deterioration at the prior remodeling phase and predicts the performance improvement level for CEM at the remodeling planning phase.

Analytical analysis of applying packet fragmentation mechanism on IEEE 802.11b DCF network in non ideal channel with infinite load conditions

The analytical modeling and performance analysis of the 802.11 network in all its various extensions (802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11e, 802.11n, etc.) have already been widely explored over the past years. However, the packet fragmentation mechanism (PFM), which is proposed by the IEEE work group to reduce the impact of bit error rate (BER) on the packet error rate (PER), has not been considered in the analytical models proposed in the literature. Yet, the PFM constitutes a key parameter to achieve the best performances of 802.11 networks. In this paper, we extend the Bianchi's Markov chain model with the PFM and the PER. Then, we analyze the performance improvement level achieved with the PFM in an IEEE 802.11 network under the impact of BER and packet length. The proposed analysis has been applied on the basic access method of 802.11b network in saturated traffic conditions. So, we have analyzed the throughput and the mean response time of the 802.11 network. The obtained theoretical results are validated by simulation.

A comparison of neuropsychological dysfunction in first-episode psychosis patients with unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia

The severity and profile of cognitive dysfunction in first episode schizophrenia and psychotic affective disorders were compared before and after antipsychotic treatment. Parallel recruitment of consecutively admitted study-eligible first-episode psychotic patients (30 schizophrenia, 22 bipolar with psychosis, and 21 psychotic depression) reduced confounds of acute and chronic disease/medication effects as well as differential treatment and course. Patient groups completed a neuropsychological battery and were demographically similar to healthy controls (n=41) studied in parallel. Prior to treatment, schizophrenia patients displayed significant deficits in all cognitive domains. The two psychotic affective groups were also impaired overall, generally performing intermediate between the schizophrenia and healthy comparison groups. No profile differences in neuropsychological deficits were observed across patient groups. Following 6 weeks of treatment, no patient group improved more than practice effects seen in healthy individuals, and level of performance improvement was similar for affective psychosis and schizophrenia groups. Although less severe in psychotic affective disorders, similar profiles of generalized neuropsychological deficits were observed across patient groups. Recovery of cognitive function after clinical stabilization was similar in mood disorders and schizophrenia. To the extent that these findings are generalizable, neuropsychological deficits in psychotic affective disorders, like schizophrenia, may be trait-like deficits with persistent functional implications.

How Does Outsourcing Affect Performance Dynamics? Evidence from the Automobile Industry

This paper examines the impact of vertical integration on the dynamics of performance over the automobile product development life cycle. Building on recent work in organizational economics and strategy, we evaluate the relationship between vertical integration and different dimensions of product performance. Outsourcing facilitates access to cutting-edge technology and the use of high-powered performance contracts. Vertical integration allows firms to adapt to unforeseen contingencies and customer feedback, maintain balanced incentives over the life cycle, and develop firm-specific capabilities over time. Together, these effects highlight a crucial trade-off: while outsourcing is associated with higher levels of initial performance, vertical integration will be associated with performance improvement over the product life cycle. We test these ideas using detailed data from the luxury automobile segment, establishing three key results. First, initial performance is declining in the level of vertical integration. Second, the level of performance improvement is significantly increasing in the level of vertical integration. Finally, the impact of vertical integration is mediated by the level of preexisting capabilities, by the salience of opportunities to access external technology leaders, and by the scope for learning over the product life cycle. Together, the findings highlight a strategic governance trade-off between short-term performance and the evolution of firm capabilities.

A new lightpath establishing method for dynamic traffic grooming under the overlay model

This paper proposes the use of the saturated cut (SC) method to improve the network performance through efficient dynamic traffic grooming in IP/MPLS over WDM networks using an overlay model. With the SC information from the IP/MPLS layer, the optical layer can calculate a lightpath between two node sets rather than the earlier suggested approach of calculating such paths just between two nodes for better performance. We have used two criteria, bandwidth and path length, to find SCs and have proposed two algorithms which incorporate this in the path inflation control (PIC) policy proposed earlier. Two typical networks, NSF and COST239, were used for examining the network performance. The simulation results show that though both methods can significantly improve the overall network performance the SC method is more efficient for a sparse network like the NSF network rather than for a dense network like the COST239 network. Since calculating lightpaths for all node pairs for a SC is time consuming, we propose a considerably simpler heuristic approach that can provide almost the same level of performance improvement as the SC method but with much lower complexity.

Using Adaline Neural Network for Performance Improvement of Smart Antennas in TDD Wireless Communications

In time-division-duplex (TDD) mode wireless communications, downlink beamforming performance of a smart antenna system at the base station can be degraded due to variation of spatial signature vectors corresponding to mobile users especially in fast fading scenarios. To mitigate this, downlink beams must be controlled by properly adjusting their weight vectors in response to changing propagation dynamics. This can be achieved by modeling the spatial signature vectors in the uplink period and then predicting them to be used as beamforming weight vectors for the new mobile position in the downlink transmission period. We show that ADAptive LInear NEuron (ADALINE) network modeling based prediction of spatial signatures provides certain level of performance improvement compared to conventional beamforming method that employs spatial signature obtained in previous uplink interval. We compare the performance of ADALINE with autoregressive (AR) modeling based predictions under varying channel propagation (mobile speed, multipath angle spread, and number of multipaths), and filter order/delay conditions. ADALINE modeling outperforms AR modeling in terms of downlink SNR improvement and relative error improvement especially under high mobile speeds, i.e., V = 100 km/h.

Improving health care systems performance: a human factors approach.

Under contract from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) promote improvement in health care system performance. With the QIO contract cycle that began in the fall of 1999, CMS adopted a broad national improvement agenda emphasizing 24 quality measures from 6 clinical topic areas. The Utah QIO developed a human factors and organizational safety management-based intervention strategy for the inpatient clinical topic areas, borrowing approaches and principles previously applied in hospital-based medication systems safety improvement efforts. Evaluation used measures and methods established by CMS to assess the adequacy of QIO performance nationwide. Comparison of statewide inpatient quality indicator performance rates in 1998 and 2000 showed absolute improvement on 15 of the 16 measures used. The average reduction in the failure rate for these clinical topic areas in Utah was 27.3%; this was the highest rate of improvement for any state in the nation. Utah's overall ranking on the combined inpatient clinical topic areas went from 16th at baseline to first at follow-up. The evaluation demonstrates exceptional levels of performance improvement in Utah hospitals when compared with national trends. It is, however, neither possible to uniquely isolate the effects of the QIO intervention from larger trends operating statewide, nor can the contributions of the various facets of the QIO intervention be disaggregated. The application of human factors and organizational safety management principles represents a promising strategy for accelerating the pace of improvement in health care.

Genetic algorithms and hybrid neural network modelling for aluminium stress—strain prediction

This paper addresses the design of genetic algorithms in developing a hybrid neural network model for aluminium alloy flow stress prediction. The hybrid neural network model consists of a parallel grey-box model structure, with the resulting predictions combining the outputs from the constitutive equations and a neural network. Previous work shows that the hybrid neural network model can deliver better model performance than a neural network model or the constitutive equations. However, the level of performance improvement of the hybrid model depends on the quality of the constitutive model used. This motivates the search for a better constitutive model, with genetic algorithms being employed to optimize its parameters. The advantage of genetic algorithms is that they do not require any gradient information nor continuity assumption in searching for the best parameters. A number of genetic optimization schemes, with different coding schemes (such as binary coding and real-value chromosomes) and different genetic operators for selection, crossover and mutation, have been investigated. The real-value coded genetic algorithms converge much more rapidly and are more efficient since there is no need for chromosome encoding and decoding. Compared with previous work, the resulting hybrid model performance has been improved, mainly in the generalization capability and with a simpler neural network structure. Also, the model response surfaces are much smoother and more metallurgically convincing.

Achievement training: A re-assessment of the technique and its impact on the development of supervisory and managerial talent in Southern Africa

Against a scenario of an ever-increasing demand for a greater number of managers and supervisors - particularly Black talent - into the Southern African economies. this paper explores the real contribution Achievement Training has been making over the past four years. Specifically its contribution to developing managerial and supervisory talent is explored and its concomitant contribution to alleviate the critical 1:42 manager to worker ratio currently being experienced on this sub-continent.The Nasser Achievement Training Process has its origins in the work of Harvard Professor David McClelland's three-band theory. The development of this process is examined from both a construct and pedagogics point of view for purposes of critically reviewing its nature and impact.A longitudinal analysis of the results of some 2 985 prospective managers/supervisors who were exposed to the Achievement Training process reveals a number of very positive trends. The results indicate significant levels of improvement in performance on-the-job as adjudged by the immediate line managers on 10 work-related managerial supervisory dimensions.What is even more significant is that some 60% of the participants received promotions of between 1 and 4 levels during the observation period - the majority being Black. These results indicate the powerful nature of this Achievement Training process.The author argues that despite the significance of these results, this training process needs to be organic by nature. A restructuring of the contents has been proposed in order to equip even-better the latent managerial talent within the organization. Also the critical role of a well-trained Mentor has come into sharp focus as being a major facilitator in growing this managerial and supervisory talent at the fastest possible pace.

Paper 4: Induction System Development for High-Performance Direct-Injection Diesel Engines

This paper describes some of the techniques employed by the author's company in the development of induction systems for direct-injection engines. Emphasis is placed upon those methods amenable to use during the day-to-day performance development of several engine types simultaneously. The induction system has two functions to perform: ( a) to provide maximum gravimetric aspiration, and ( b) to generate optimum and consistent swirl. These requirements are investigated using digital computers, air flow and swirl rigs, and engine experimental results. The effects of port size, port shape, valve timing, engine speed, and heat transfer on volumetric efficiency are presented in simplified theoretical and experimental forms. The behaviour of ports is discussed and a method of correlation of air swirl rig and engine results is presented. Experimental data is included, demonstrating the importance of correct swirl match. Fully machined inlet ports are discussed together with reasons for their adoption. The principles of induction pulse tuning are briefly enumerated and typical results included. Iso-fuel consumption curves are included to show the present level of d.i. engine performance. The paper concludes with a tentative hypothesis to explain engine swirl response, and suggests the general level of performance improvement likely during the next few years.