Rate Of Performance Improvement Research Articles

New Developments in Web Based Monitoring at the CMS Experiment

The rate of performance improvements of the LHC at CERN has had a strong influence on the characteristics of the monitoring tools developed for the experiments. We present some of the latest additions to the suite of Web Based Monitoring services for the CMS experiment, and explore the aspects that address the roughly 20-fold increase in peak instantaneous luminosity over the course of 2011. One of these user-friendly tools allows collaborators to easily view, and make correlations among, accelerator configuration information such as bunch patterns, measured quantities such as intensities, vacuum pressures, and background conditions, as well as derived quantities such as luminosity and the number of simultaneous interactions per beam crossing. An additional tool summarizes the daily, weekly, and yearly luminosity and efficiency. Finally, we discuss a trigger cross section and rate fitting service that uses data from previous runs to validate current running conditions, as well as to serve as a predictive extrapolation tool for developing triggers for higher luminosity running.

Utilization of parboiled rice polish based diet with supplementation of phytase and carbohydrase in growing ducklings

A total of 60 day old straight run pekin ducklings were fed ad libitum on 6 diets viz, D1- 15% parboiled rice polish (PRP) based diet, D2- D1 + Mixed enzyme (Carbohydrase 120 ppm/kg + phytase 1000FYT/kg), D3- 25% parboiled rice polish (PRP) based diet, D4 - D3 + Mixed enzyme ( Carbohydrase 120 ppm/kg + phytase 1000FYT/kg), D5-35% parboiled rice polish (PRP) based diet, D6 - D5+ Mixed enzyme ( Carbohydrase 120 ppm/kg + phytase 1000FYT/kg) for 84 days. Diets were supplied two stages containing 22.5, 22.5, 22.8% CP for starter and 16.4, 16.9, 17% CP for finisher. Increasing PRP levels without enzyme decreased live weight, feed intake and feed conversion but increase profitability without affecting livability. Addition of mixed enzyme promoted growth, feed conversion significantly (P<0.01), but did not alter livability. The rate of improvement in performance for enzyme supplementation increased with increasing level of dietary PRP. Therefore, it was concluded that it is possible to reduce costly grain by using PRP in duck ration and supplementation of phytase and carbohydrase in PRP diet may be beneficial to improve performance of ducks. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbau.v10i1.12100 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 10(1): 101–106, 2012

Does increased model complexity improve description of phosphorus dynamics in a large treatment wetland?

As the structure of ecological models grows more complex, it becomes increasingly important to identify the appropriate level of complexity for reliable process description and prediction. Here, a suite of mechanistic biogeochemical models with different levels of complexity for representing phosphorus cycling processes was developed and tested against observations from a large treatment wetland. The study site was the 147-ha Cell 4 of Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West, which was designed to help protect the greater Everglades, FL, USA, from nutrient over-enrichment. Six biogeochemical models of differing complexity were coupled with a pre-calibrated two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of Cell 4 and tested against field data. We provide guidance for evaluating a set of models with varying level of complexity using key model attributes that influence the suitability of a model or a set of models. Considerations of model accuracy, complexity, and explanatory depth are combined into a single indicator of model effectiveness. Results revealed that the most complex model structure may not necessarily be the most effective in simulating the dynamics of total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the wetland. The rate of improvement in the model performance decreased as model complexity increased. Although the most complex model reproduced the field observations best, the marginal improvement in model performance compared to simpler models was outweighed by the higher costs of increased complexity. Highly detailed representations of system structures may not be useful to simulate TP dynamics in treatment wetlands if comprehensive data sets are not available to constrain each pathway. It is crucial for model developers and users to evaluate model structures of differing complexity to identify the appropriate level of complexity for given data and questions of interest.

Interaction Among Self-Efficacy, Goal Orientation, and Unrealistic Goal-Setting on Videogame-Based Training Performance

This study sought to investigate what happens to trainee performance when an individual sets an unrealistically difficult performance goal early in training, which results in a large goal-performance discrepancy. Data from 185 trainees participating in a videogame-based training environment demonstrated that a single large discrepancy negatively impacts immediate subsequent training performance. Moreover, performance avoid goal orientation and self-efficacy were found to jointly moderate the impact of the discrepancy for both trainees' immediate subsequent performance and their rate of performance improvement across the training program. These findings highlight the importance of realistic goal-setting and trainee self-efficacy for optimizing videogame-based training success.

Feedback type as a moderator of the relationship between achievement goals and feedback reactions

The aim of the current study is to shed new light on the inconsistent relationship between performance‐approach (PAp) goals and feedback reactions by examining feedback type as a moderator. Results of a field experiment (N = 939) using a web‐based work simulation task showed that the effect of achievement‐approach goals was moderated by feedback type. Relative to individuals pursuing mastery‐approach goals, individuals pursuing PAp goals responded more negatively to comparative feedback but not to task‐referenced feedback. In line with the hypothesized mediated moderation model, the interaction between achievement goals and feedback type also indirectly affected task performance through feedback reactions. Providing employees with feedback is a key psychological principle used in a wide range of human resource and performance management instruments (e.g., developmental assessment centres, multi‐source/360° feedback, training, selection, performance appraisal, management education, computer‐adaptive testing, and coaching). The current study suggests that organizations need to strike a balance between encouraging learning and encouraging performance, as too much emphasis on comparative performance (both in goal inducement and in feedback style) may be detrimental to employees' reactions and rate of performance improvement.

Indian Banking: Value Creation for Competitive Advantage in the Global Environment

Problem statement: Today, organizations are willing to achieve quality as a source of competitive advantage. Therefore, their performance evaluation and quality improvement is essential. One of the international models in this field is Baldrige health care model. Approach: The study aimed to evaluate Performance Evaluation a teaching Hospital Affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences Based on Baldrige Excellence Model. Performance was evaluated by two types Baldrige questionnaire (i.e., process and result criteria). Six process criteria (Leadership; Strategic Planning; Focus on Patients, Other Customers and Markets; Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management; Workforce Focus; and Process Management) with 12 sub-criteria, were evaluated based on four factors of Approach, Deployment, Learning and Integration. Results criteria with six sub- criteria were evaluated based on four factors of performance level, rate and breath of performance improvement, comparative and benchmark data and relevance of evaluation result scales. Results: The teaching hospital obtained 145/21 scores (26/40 percent) out of a total of 550 points in process criteria and 90/37 scores (20/08 percent) out of a total of 450 points in result criteria. Studied hospital obtained the highest score in Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management 28/1 scores (31/22 percent). In Sum, the hospital obtained 235/58 scores (23/55 percent) out of 1000 points. Conclusion: Scores obtained by hospital showed the first level of excellence. The outcome of this study clearly indicates that Baldrige model criteria act as a powerful tool to analyze the quality performance of the hospitals. The researchers attempted to create a common language and a roadmap in order to follow the path of excellence in health care organizations in Iran.

Identification of a rapid eye movement sleep window for learning of the win-shift radial arm maze task for male Sprague-Dawley rats

This study identified a rapid eye movement sleep window (RSW) for the eight-arm win-shift radial arm maze (RAM) task. The RSW is defined as a period of time after training during which rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is necessary for efficient learning of a task. Rats were trained over a 15-day period on the win-shift RAM task. After daily training, groups of rats were deprived of REM sleep using the flowerpot technique or were returned to their cages to serve as controls. Groups were deprived of REM sleep during separate 4-h intervals, such that the entire 24-h time-period after training was investigated for the effects of REM sleep deprivation on learning. The results of the analyses of variance that were calculated for latency to completion data and a measure of the rate of performance improvements, and a survival analysis that was calculated using the first day of maze completion as a censoring variable, indicated that the RSW for the win-shift task is 0-4 h post-training.

Iterative Adaptive Kronecker MIMO Radar Beamformer: Description and Convergence Analysis

We introduce an iterative procedure for design of adaptive KL-variate linear beamformers that are structured as the Kronecker product of K-variate (transmit) and L-variate (receive) beamformers. We focus on MIMO radar applications for scenarios where only joint transmit and receive adaptive beamforming can efficiently mitigate multi-mode propagated backscatter interference. This is because the direction-of-departure (DoD) on one interference mode, and the direction-of-arrival (DoA) on the other, coincide with those of a target, respectively. We introduce a Markov model for the adaptive iterative routine, specify its convergence condition, and derive final (stable) signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) performance characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate high accuracy of the analytical derivations. In addition, we demonstrate, that for the considered class of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar interference scenarios, the diagonally loaded sample matrix inversion (SMI) algorithm provides additional performance improvement and convergence rate for this iterative adaptive Kronecker beamformer.

Effects of Conjugated Equine Estrogens on Cognition and Affect in Postmenopausal Women With Prior Hysterectomy

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Study of Cognitive Aging studies have investigated the effects of specific treatment regimens containing a combination of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) or CEE only on longitudinal changes in domain-specific cognitive function in older postmenopausal women. In the previous reports, CEE + MPA had a deleterious impact on verbal memory but appeared to have a positive effect on figural memory over time in older postmenopausal women. The present study tests the possibility that CEE alone (unopposed by MPA) could protect against age-related declines in both verbal and figural memory. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigated the effects of CEE alone on changes in domain-specific cognitive function and affect in older postmenopausal women. The study was conducted between 1999 and 2004 at 14 WHI clinical centers. The study subjects were 886 postmenopausal women (mean age, 74 years) with prior hysterectomy who were free of probable dementia and were enrolled in the WHI and WHI Memory Study CEE-Alone trial for a mean of 3 years and followed for an additional 2.7 years. Participants were randomized to receive one daily tablet containing CEE, 0.625 mg or a matching placebo. The primary outcome measures were mean differences in annual rates of change of specific cognitive functions and affect, adjusted for time since randomization using analyses of covariance. The data showed that CEE alone had no significant effects on cognitive functions and affect. Compared with the placebo, women in the CEE only group had significantly lower scores on a measure of spatial rotational ability (P < 0.01) after an average of 3 years of treatment, but over the additional 2.7 years of treatment there was a greater rate of improvement in spatial rotational performance indicating some recovery of their initially poorer performance. These findings show that CEE does not improve cognitive domains, including figural memory or affect in postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy. Accordingly, it does not slow the decline of age-related changes in memory in this population. Spatial rotational ability was lower after 3 years of CE treatment but appears to recover with continued treatment.

Performance Evaluation of a Dynamically Switchable SIMD/MIMD Processor by Using an Image Recognition Application

We have developed an “XC core” processor that achieves low cost, high performance, and low power consumption through the use of a highly parallel SIMD architecture (the SIMD mode), as well as achieves high flexibility by morphing into a MIMD architecture (MIMD mode). In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of the MIMD mode by using a white line detection algorithm for open roads. Our evaluation shows that the algorithm can be processed in real time (less than 33ms) by using the MIMD mode to execute verification of white line segments, which is a part of the algorithm not suitable to be executed by the SIMD mode. We also show that the verification can be executed five times faster by using region of interest (ROI) transfer instructions to efficiently transfer the ROI of an image. Furthermore, we also measured the execution time in the MIMD mode with changing the number of processing units (PUs) used, from 2 to 4, 8, 16 and 32. The measured results show that the performance improvement rate slows down when using more than 16 PUs in the MIMD mode, mainly due to insufficient parallelism in the verification process. Overall, a 10.68 times speedup was achieved by using 32 PUs in the MIMD mode, compared with only using the SIMD mode.

Keynote Address—The Innovator's Prescription: An Examination of the Future of Health Care Through the Lenses of Disruptive Innovation

Keynote Address—The Innovator's Prescription: An Examination of the Future of Health Care Through the Lenses of Disruptive Innovation

Assembly time minimization for an electronic component placement machine

In this study, a new algorithm for a particular component placement machine is proposed. Also, a pairwise exchange procedure is designed and applied after the proposed algorithm. In the analyzed machine, previously proposed algorithms were mounting the components from lightest to heaviest where we propose to mount the components from heaviest to lightest. This method brings new opportunities in terms of performance gain on typical Printed Circuit Boards produced in the industry. The new algorithm is compared with former approaches on synthetically generated instances. It outperforms the former approaches by 1.54 percent on printed circuit boards with 100 components to be placed. It gives better results in 96 out of 100 instances. Applying the designed pairwise exchange procedure after the proposed algorithm further improves the total assembly time. Moreover, by taking advantage of inherent design of the analyzed PCBs, other promising improvement procedures are also suggested for minimizing total assembly time. By applying all the suggested techniques to the problem instances, performance improvement rate reaches up to 4.5 percent when compared with previous studies. Since the architecture and working principles of widely used new technology placement machines are very similar to the one analyzed here, the improvement techniques developed here can easily be generalized to them.

Nonfinancial Performance Measures and Promotion‐Based Incentives

ABSTRACTIn this paper, I examine the sensitivity of promotion and demotion decisions for lower‐level managers to financial and nonfinancial measures of their performance and investigate the extent to which the behavior of lower‐level managers reflects promotion‐based incentives. Additionally, I test for learning versus effort‐allocation effects of promotion‐based incentives. I find that promotion and demotion decisions for store managers of a major U.S.‐based fast‐food retailer (QSR) are sensitive to nonfinancial performance measures of service quality and employee retention after controlling for financial performance. The likelihood of demotion in this organization is also sensitive to nonfinancial performance on the dimension of service quality, while the probability of exit is primarily sensitive to financial performance measures rather than nonfinancial performance measures. I also find evidence that the behavior of lower‐level managers is consistent with the incentives created by the weighting of nonfinancial performance measures in promotion decisions. Managers in locations where there is a higher ex ante probability of promotion and a higher potential reward upon promotion demonstrate significantly higher levels and rates of performance improvement in service quality. Finally, consistent with promotion‐based incentives inducing both effort‐allocation and learning effects, I find that performance‐improvement rates for service quality: (1) are higher in prepromotion periods in markets where promotions occur, (2) decrease immediately after the occurrence of a promotion in the same market area, and (3) remain higher than in markets where promotions do not occur. These findings provide some of the first empirical evidence on an alternative to the explicit weighting of nonfinancial metrics in compensation contracts as a mechanism for generating improvements in nonfinancial dimensions of performance.

Medical Student Acquisition of Clinical Working Knowledge

Background: Working knowledge of physicians manifests as a combination of diagnostic pattern recognition and clinical data interpretation (analytic fact checking). Purpose: The purpose was to study medical student acquisition of these abilities as a function of years of medical training/experience. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving students who had completed 0, 1, 2, and 3 years of medical school. All students at all levels of training took the same tests of diagnostic pattern recognition and clinical data interpretation. Percent correct scores were calculated and used to estimate learning curves. A cohort of family physicians also took the test to provide a benchmark. Results: Student diagnostic pattern recognition and clinical data interpretation ability demonstrated a steady upward growth curve but leveled off in Year 3. Diagnostic pattern recognition performance was consistently higher than clinical data interpretation performance. The rate of diagnostic performance gain with training and experience was also higher. Conclusions: Medical students acquired diagnostic pattern recognition ability and all years of medical training contributed. The rate of clinical data interpretation performance improvement was slower, and the absolute performance level was lower. What was surprising was the lower rate of improvement in diagnostic pattern recognition and clinical data interpretation performance for students during their 1st year of clinical training. Students' understanding of findings and their relationships to disease processes may be affected by their limited patient experience.

Evaluating Initiatives to Reduce Seclusion and Restraint

The use of institutional measures of control such as seclusion and restraint within psychiatric hospitals is common and arguably countertherapeutic; however, little is known about how best to reduce the use of these measures. The development and implementation of new institutional strategies to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint are important. Although traditional performance improvement (PI) project methodology might seem well-suited to helping managers and administrators identify effective hospital-wide interventions to decrease seclusion and restraint rates, the Logic of the standard PI model precludes managers from making valid inferences about which interventions actually cause change. This article presents a model (derivative of the multiple baseline time-series design with randomization) for testing individual elements of a Large-scale PI project to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint in a behavioral healthcare organization. The proposed model is flexible, accommodates overlapping organizational initiatives, and simultaneously allows for meaningful inferences to be made about the active components of the interventions. The ability to make meaningful inferences is important because, if the initiatives to reduce seclusion and restraint rates work, other healthcare organizations would benefit from knowing Key Words which specific interventions actually Lead engagement model to change and which interventions have multiple baseline design Little impact on secLusion and restraint performance improvement rates. Early experiences with this model psychiatry from a hospital manager's perspective sanctuary trauma are discussed, along with the costs and benefits of using it.

Intervention to enhance skilled arm and hand movements after stroke: A feasibility study using a new virtual reality system

BackgroundRehabilitation programs designed to develop skill in upper extremity (UE) function after stroke require progressive practice that engage and challenge the learner. Virtual realty (VR) provides a unique environment where the presentation of stimuli can be controlled systematically for optimal challenge by adapting task difficulty as performance improves. We describe four VR tasks that were developed and tested to improve arm and hand movement skills for individuals with hemiparesis.MethodsTwo participants with chronic post-stroke paresis and different levels of motor severity attended 12 training sessions lasting 1 to 2 hours each over a 3-week period. Behavior measures and questionnaires were administered pre-, mid-, and post-training.ResultsBoth participants improved VR task performance across sessions. The less impaired participant averaged more time on task, practiced a greater number of blocks per session, and progressed at a faster rate over sessions than the more impaired participant. Impairment level did not change but both participants improved functional ability after training. The less impaired participant increased the number of blocks moved on the Box & Blocks test while the more impaired participant achieved 4 more items on the Functional Test of the Hemiparetic UE.ConclusionTwo participants with differing motor severity were able to engage in VR based practice and improve performance over 12 training sessions. We were able to successfully provide individualized, progressive practice based on each participant's level of movement ability and rate of performance improvement.

Gender Effects on Reaction Time Variability and Trial-to-Trial Performance: Reply to Deary and Der (2005)

ABSTRACT Deary and Der (2005) reported significant gender effects on intraindividual variability in choice reaction time (CRT), and suggested several potential causes. In their procedure it was not possible to examine RTs on a trial-to-trial basis. We therefore investigate an additional possible cause: that men and women differ in their rate of performance improvement across trials, creating an apparent difference in variability. Using data from a large online CRT study, we replicate the finding that women are more variable in RT than men. However, we also demonstrate an interaction between gender and trial number for RT: women were initially slower than men, but became faster than men across a block. When the first two trials of the block are excluded, the gender effects on RT variability disappear.

LEARNING OF A NOVEL VISUO-POSTURAL CO-ORDINATION TASK IN ADULTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

A behavioural study was conducted to investigate how cerebellar dysfunction associated with multiple sclerosis affects the ability to learn a novel visuo-postural co-ordination task. A prospective design, 2 group by 1 treatment (4 practice blocks). Ten patients with multiple sclerosis diagnosed with cerebellar ataxia and 10 age-matched healthy controls. Participants stood over a dual force platform (ERBE Balance System) and performed visually guided lateral weight-shifting movements. The task required subjects to gradually transfer weight between sides while maintaining each foot's force vector within visually specified force constraints ranging from 0% to 100% of bodyweight with maximum allowed variation set to +/-20%. The time required to complete the task and the number of spatial errors (noted each time the foot's vector exceeded the +/-20% force constraint) were recorded. Training consisted of 3 blocks of 5 trials separated by 1-minute intervals and followed by 5 retention trials. Statistics revealed a significant decrease in movement time and spatial errors across trial blocks in both groups; however, the group with multiple sclerosis showed a limited and slower rate of performance improvement characterized by increased within- and between-subject variability. These findings may have important implications in the design of rehabilitation protocols for improving motor skill performance in adults with multiple sclerosis.

An Empirical Investigation of Implicit Incentives for Nonfinancial Performance Improvement

In this paper, I examine the sensitivity of promotion and demotion decisions for lower-level managers to financial and nonfinancial measures of their performance. Additionally, I investigate the extent to which the behavior of lower-level managers reflects promotion-based incentives for improving nonfinancial dimensions of performance. I find that promotion and demotion decisions for store managers of a major U.S. based fast-food retailer (QSR) are sensitive to nonfinancial performance measures of service quality and employee retention after controlling for financial performance. The likelihood of demotion in this organization is also sensitive to nonfinancial performance on the dimension of service quality, while the probability of termination (voluntary or involuntary) is primarily sensitive to financial performance measures rather than nonfinancial performance measures. I also find some evidence that the behavior of lower-level managers is consistent with the incentives created by the weighting of nonfinancial performance measures in promotion decisions at QSR. Operators in locations where there is a higher ex ante probability of promotion demonstrate significantly higher levels and rates of performance improvement in service quality. These findings provide some of the first empirical evidence on an alternative to the explicit weighting of nonfinancial metrics in compensation contracts as a mechanism for generating improvements in nonfinancial dimensions of performance.

What’s the Return? Assessing the Effect of “Pay-for-Performance” Initiatives on the Quality of Care Delivery

This article evaluates the impact of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services/Premier pay-for-performance demonstration project on performance improvement in three clinical areas in a multihospital health care system. The study compares a group of hospitals participating in this project against a control group of similar hospitals that did not participate. Although the incentives are extremely small, the findings show that participation in the pay-for-performance initiative had a significant impact on the rate and magnitude of performance improvement. The project led to marked improvement in the quality of clinical process delivery and accelerated the adoption of evidence-based practices.