Quality Performance Evaluation Research Articles

1H NMR-based metabolomic analysis coupled with reversed-phase solid-phase extraction for sample preparation of Saposhnikovia roots and related crude drugs.

1H NMR-based metabolomics has been applied in research on food, herbal medicine, and natural products. Although excellent results were reported, samples were directly extracted with a deuterated solvent (e.g., methanol-d4 or D2O) in most reports. As primary metabolites account for most of the results, data for secondary metabolites are partially reflected. Consequently, secondary metabolites tend to be excluded from factor loading analysis, serving as a significant unfavorable feature of 1H NMR-based metabolomics when investigating biologically active or functional components in natural products and health foods. Reversed-phase solid-phase extraction column (RP-SPEC) was applied for sample preparation in 1H NMR-based metabolomics to overcome this feature. The methanol extract from Saposhnikoviae radix (SR), an important crude drug, was fractionated with RP-SPEC into 5% methanol-eluting fractions, and the remaining fraction was collected. Each fraction was subjected to 1H NMR-based metabolomics and compared to results from conventional 1H NMR-based metabolomics. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the 5% methanol fraction and conventional method reflected the amount of saccharides such as sucrose on the PC1/PLS1 axes, and wild and cultivated samples were discriminated along those axes. The remaining fraction clearly distinguished SR from Peucedanum ledebourielloides root. The compounds responsible for this discrimination were deemed falcarindiol derivatives and other unidentified secondary metabolites from the s-plot on PLS-DA. The secondary metabolites from original plants were, therefore, presumed to be concentrated in the remaining fraction by RP-SPEC treatment and strongly reflected the species differences. The developed series is considered effective to perform quality evaluation of crude drugs and natural products.

Performance evaluations of leadership quality and public sector leaders’ absenteeism

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the effect of performance evaluation of leadership quality on leader sickness absence. While previous research has focused on how evaluation of leadership impacts employee sickness absence, we analyse how superiors’ and subordinates’ evaluations of leadership quality, as well as leaders’ self-evaluations, influence public leaders’ own absence. A longitudinal study of 335 Danish municipal leaders, 94 superiors, and 4,449 subordinates is conducted. Findings indicate that superiors’ evaluation of leadership quality compared to the leaders’ self-evaluation is important for public sector leaders’ absenteeism. Furthermore, findings show that leaders who are over-estimators have a higher absence frequency compared to under-estimators.

Synthesis of CH3NH3PbI3–Cl perovskite by the three-step route consisting of chemical solution deposition followed by gas–solid reaction transformations: Film quality and photodetector performance evaluation

Abstract A low-cost, simple, reproducible, and industry-scalable three-step approach that permits full control over film growth is used to prepare CH3NH3PbI3–xClx perovskite films and the advantages of the process is demonstrated with the evidence presented for each reaction step. The whole route consists in (1) the chemical solution deposition of PbS thin films on a desired substrate; (2) the transformation of the PbS films to PbI2 by means of a gas–solid reaction with iodine vapor; and (3) the synthesis of CH3NH3PbI3–xClx perovskite by exposing the obtained PbI2 films to a CH3NH3I/CH3NH3Cl vapor mix. The materials obtained at each step, them being PbS, PbI2, and CH3NH3PbI3–xClx, were qualitatively evaluated regarding homogeneity and adhesion, and studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (including a detailed analysis of the X-ray photoelectron spectra), X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. These tests and techniques demonstrate the successful obtainment of the desired material at each step of the presented route and the formation of films with strong adhesion to the glass substrate. Particularly, the inexpensive and simple synthesis of PbI2 by an industry-compatible sequence is confirmed. Perovskite obtained by this process as an end-product was crystalline and, as confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy, presented an energy bandgap of 1.61 eV; furthermore, the perovskite film was homogeneous and uniformly coated the substrate surface showing no pinholes. Preliminary results on the application of this perovskite in a photodetector device are also included.

Standardization and alignment of data capture practices to clinical processes in the evaluation of living kidney donor candidates.

The Living Kidney Donation Program at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network sought to develop a comprehensive, secure, accurate, and up-to-date information system for the purposes of quality improvement, research, and performance evaluation. The Comprehensive Living Kidney Donor Database (CLiKeD) houses comprehensive demographic, medical, psychosocial, and evaluation data on living kidney donor candidates abstracted from multiple health information sources. Data are routinely audited to ensure high data quality. Over 3,500 living kidney donor candidates are currently included in CLiKeD. The development of this data system will allow for regular performance assessments of the program, implementation of quality improvement initiatives, and the completion of high-impact, clinically relevant research. In addition, the conception and development of CLiKeD has been instrumental in improving documentation of personal health information at the point of care.

Research on Quality Performance Evaluation of General Aviation Industry Policy Effectiveness Based on Grey Relational Analysis

Based on the operational characteristics of the general aviation industry, this dissertation builds a systematic and perfect index system of general aviation industry policy effectiveness and quality performance evaluation, and evaluates the effectiveness quality of general aviation industry policy by using the multi objective comprehensive evaluation method of grey correlation degree, according to the results of the assessment, the effectiveness of the general aviation industry policy quality analysis. It provides a basis for policy making of general aviation industry.

Technical and economic evaluation of power quality performance using FACTS devices considering renewable generations

Renewable energy is investigated as a solution for environmental pollution and mitigating energy tension. Overall, there are two basic subjects in technical and economic evaluation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) including lack of a general indicator for multi-criteria assessment and difficult to quantify analysis indicators. In this paper, an analytical approach for assessing the technical and economic performance of Power Quality (PQ) changes strategy using Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices is presented. In addition, an optimisation-based power quality change method for delivering differentiated power quality in grids integrated with renewable generations is proposed. The suggested method is based on the evaluation of financial losses due to several critical power quality phenomena, the cost of different mitigation solutions, and the payback owing to the adoption of particular solution. Furthermore, this accounts for different customers’ requirements and provides differentiated levels of power quality across the grid. In order to verify the functionality of the suggested method, effectiveness of proposed model is applied to the IEEE 118-bus test case, and compared with achieved outcomes. The simulation results present both the financial and technical benefits of the optimal mitigation plan. The developed assessment model could provide a reference for investment decision making and subsidy policy optimizing.

Fat Supplementation in Diet of Friesian Sahiwal Crossbred Bulls: A Novel Study on Productive and Reproductive Performance and Bio-chemicals Evaluation of Semen Quality Under Hot Summer Sub-tropical Conditions

Fat Supplementation in Diet of Friesian Sahiwal Crossbred Bulls: A Novel Study on Productive and Reproductive Performance and Bio-chemicals Evaluation of Semen Quality Under Hot Summer Sub-tropical Conditions

Use of software in the ICU.

In the continuum of the complex therapy process of a critically ill patient, the intensive care unit (ICU) period must be followed very meticulously because of the extremely data-intensive circumstances. Intensive care medicine is a lot more reliant on 'numbers' than most of the other medical disciplines, and minor errors in the records may lead to wrong decisions, which may cause major harm to the patient. Manual records are prone to errors, inaccuracies and are time-consuming for both nurses maintaining them and physicians trying to interpret them, especially in patients with complex pathologies and long-term stays. Since the introduction of the first general-purpose computer, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) in 1946, there have been attempts to integrate computers into medicine and in the last decades, we are witnessing the emergence of intensive care information systems (ICIS). ICIS has the potential to increase the quality and accuracy of the medical records, while also decreasing the incidence of medical errors. They present electronic decision support and tools for quality control and performance evaluation. More importantly, they allow a medium where the physician can easily assess the current condition of the patient from different perspectives. So far, the usage of ICIS has been limited due to high costs and some other factors. Although we are in a technologically advanced position today, it is still a challenge to implement an ICIS successfully. If not planned properly, it is a process prone to significant delays in time, additional costs, poor acceptance by the staff and even total failure. In this study, we are going to evaluate the past, present and future of intensive care information systems and share our experiences in implementing them.

In-service Quality Indices and Performance Evaluation Indicator System of Engineered Systems: Literature Review

In-service Quality Indices and Performance Evaluation Indicator System of Engineered Systems: Literature Review

Smart Rubric-based Systematic Model for Evaluating and Prioritizing Academic Practices to Enhance the Education Outcomes

Recently, the impact of free-market economy, globalization, and knowledge economy has become a challenging and focal to higher educational institutions, which resulted in radical change. Therefore, it became mandatory for the academic programs to prepare highly qualified graduates to meet the new challenges, through the implementation of well-defined academic standards. For this reason, the National Center for Academic Accreditation & Evaluation (NCAAA) in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) defined a set of standards to ensure that quality of education in KSA is equivalent to the highest international standards. NCAAA standards contains of good criterions to guide the universities in evaluating their quality performance for improvement and obtain NCAAA accreditation. However, implementing NCAAA standards without supportive systems has been found to be a very complex task due to the existence of a large number of standard criterions, evaluation process occurs according to personal opinions, the lack of quality evaluation expertise, and manual calculation. This, in turn, leads to inaccurate evaluation, develops inaccurate improvement plans, and difficulty in obtaining NCAAA accreditation. Therefore, this paper introduces a systematic model that contain smart-rubrics that has been designed based on NCAAA quality performance evaluation elements supported with algorithms and mathematical models to reduce personal opinions, provide an accurate auto-evaluation, and auto-prioritization action plans for NCAAA standards. The proposed model will support academics and administrative by facilitating their NCAAA quality tasks with ease, an authenticate self-assessment, accurate action plans and simplifying accreditation tasks. Finally, the implementation of the model proved to have very efficient and effective results in supporting KSA education institution in accreditation tasks that will lead to enhance the quality of education and to obtain NCAAA accreditation.

Reheat Furnace Thermodynamic, Kinetic and Combustion Considerations for TMCP Processing

The reheat furnace process step has a profound effect on the TMCP performance, final hot rolled steel quality and mechanical property consistency during the production of hot rolled steels. The uniformity of heating applied across the entire width and length of the slab or billet is critical in the achievement of customer properties regardless of the chemistry. The resultant ferrite grain size in the final hot rolled product is significantly governed by the initial prior austenite grain size. Numerous reheat furnace process metallurgy and combustion parameters in actual operation affect mill productivity, microstructure, austenite grain size, scrap rate and diverts. This reheating step in the steelmaking process often receives low priority in the evaluation of product quality and mechanical property performance, especially the toughness through the plate thickness. Heat transfer conditions of radiation, convection and conduction affect furnace heating efficiency. In laboratory studies, the furnace heating step is typically quite uniform resulting in a homogeneous and fine prior austenite grain size. During production, it is much more difficult to control the uniformity of heating and heat transfer consistency along the entire length and through the thickness of the work piece. The furnace conditions are correlated to product quality via furnace process variables such as the air to gas ratio, furnace burner condition, furnace pressure, energy efficiency, adiabatic flame temperature (AFT) and furnace refractory condition. Operational practice recommendations are presented to minimize inhomogeneous heating which results in inferior product quality, hot rolling model anomalies and toughness variations in the through-thickness-direction.

THE IMPACT OF PREFORMANCE EVALUATION PROCESS ON HEALTHCARE EMPLOYEES AS A FACTOR FOR MOTIVATION AND QUALITY OF THEIR WORK

The performance evaluation process is used to conduct an objective assessment of the performance and the effectiveness of the employees, the compliance with the organizational values and hierarchy and the achevement of the standards of the organization. The employee performance evaluation is an exceptionally important segment in healthcare organizations. The managers (directors) of the healthcare organizations have to recognize the employees that efficiently complete their tasks, detect the need and the type of training necessary to improve their performance and adequately reward the most prominent employees. Taking into account the relevance of the topic, the subject of research in this papers is precisely the analysis of the performance appraisal of the employees, as a process that should help obtaining a clear picture of how successfully the tasks of a given position are performed and how much they contribute to achieving the strategic goals of the organization. Hence arisesthe problem of this research, which is the absence of a quality system for evaluation and assessment of the performance of the healthcare workers. Two research goals have been pursued, both scientific and practical. The scientific goal of the research is to provide quality performance evaluation of the healthcare workers, which leads to faster development of the organization and sustainable efficiency of the market, whereas the practical goal of the research is to utilize the obtained results in the creation of an efficient system for evaluating the performance of the healthcare workers who will integrate the quality work standards, thereby improving the motivation and the quality of work. The relevance of the topic will be explored and proven by defining a hypothesis that reads: If a health care organization adopts a quality system for evaluating the work of its healthcare workers, then the healthcare employees will strengthen their skills which will lead to increased motivation and work quality. To prove the hypothesis, an empirical research was conducted using a standardized instrument, i.e. a questionnaire containing 10 statements and a Likert scale: strongly agree, partly agree and disagree. The questionnaires contained closed-ended questions whereby the respondents could choose one of the answers offered. The survey was conducted in 2 private healthcare organizations in December 2017. The representative sample includes 73 doctors and 27 nurses/orderlies. In the process of analyzing the findings of the research, a deductive method, comparison method and a method of objectivity and relevance were applied. In the conclusion of the papers, on the basis of the obtained results, guidelines will be proposed for improvement and implementation of a quality performance evaluation system in the private and public health care.

An objective and subjective quality assessment study of passive gaming video streaming

SummaryPassive gaming video‐streaming applications have recently gained much attention as evident with the rising popularity of many Over The Top (OTT) providers such as Twitch.tv and YouTube Gaming. For the continued success of such services, it is imperative that the user Quality of Experience (QoE) remains high, which is usually assessed using subjective and objective video quality assessment methods. Recent years have seen tremendous advancement in the field of objective video quality assessment (VQA) metrics, with the development of models that can predict the quality of the videos streamed over the Internet. A study on the performance of objective VQA on gaming videos, which are artificial and synthetic and have different streaming requirements than traditionally streamed videos, is still missing. Towards this end, we present in this paper an objective and subjective quality assessment study on gaming videos considering passive streaming applications. Subjective ratings are obtained for 90 stimuli generated by encoding six different video games in multiple resolution‐bitrate pairs. Objective quality performance evaluation considering eight widely used VQA metrics is performed using the subjective test results and on a data set of 24 reference videos and 576 compressed sequences obtained by encoding them in 24 resolution‐bitrate pairs. Our results indicate that Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) predicts subjective video quality ratings the best, while Naturalness Image Quality Evaluator (NIQE) turns out to be a promising alternative as a no‐reference metric in some scenarios.

Practice and thinking of clinical skill training in focused ultrasound surgery

Focused ultrasound surgery (FUS) technology has been used for clinical treatment more than 20 years. Since 2011, relying on the high intensity focused ultrasound tumor therapy training base, focusing ultrasound surgeons on the treatment of uterine fibroids, based on the basic theories and skills provided by interns who have just access to the qualification of licensed physicians, the training courses are set such as engineering technology principles, biological effects and mechanisms, micro and non-invasive concepts and clinical thinking, image recognition ability, operation training, and postoperative complications management etc.. After strict quality training and performance evaluation, the initial training of focused ultrasound surgeons has been completed. Moreover, the training object can consolidate learning effect through continuing education in order to acquire stable skills and skills. Key words: Uterine fibroids; High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU); Focused ultrasound surgery (FUS); Teaching-training

Thyme oil inclusion levels in a rabbit ration: Evaluation of productive performance, carcass criteria and meat quality under hot environmental conditions.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of thyme essential oil supplementation in rabbit rations on performance, carcass criteria, and meat quality under hot environmental conditions. A total of 75, 4-week-old Californian male rabbits were assigned to 5 dietary treatments until 12 weeks of age. The rabbits were reared in an open house system (38 °C average ambient temperature and 26% to 35% relative humidity). Treatments were as follows: unsupplemented standard ration, negative control (CON); standard ration supplemented with 1.50 g/kg olive oil as carrier, positive control (POS); POS + 50 mg/kg thyme oil (TO1); POS + 100 mg/kg thyme oil (TO2); and POS + 150 mg/kg thyme oil (TO3). Dietary thyme oil up to 150 mg/kg improved (P < 0.001) feed intake and growth performance in comparison to CON. The highest average daily gain and most efficient feed conversion ratio (linear, P < 0.001 and quadratic, P < 0.001) were found for TO1 followed by TO2, TO3 and POS, respectively. The incorporation of thyme oil improved (P < 0.001) carcass criteria and decreased (P < 0.001) perirenal and scapular fat without any side effects on internal organs. Notably, the water holding capacity of rabbit meat was greater (P < 0.001), and the lipid oxidation was lower (P < 0.01) in rabbits fed treated rations compared with CON. Differences were also recorded in oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin contents in rabbit meat among treatments. In conclusion, thyme oil of a specified composition and to be added to a rabbit ration up to 100 mg/kg using 1.50 g/kg olive oil as a carrier can be used as an efficient feed additive for improving productive performance of rabbits under hot environmental conditions.

Evaluation of performance and service quality of Trans Bandung Raya Bus (case study: route of Elang Terminal – Jatinangor Terminal)

Land transportation needs are increasing. One of the problems is the uncontrolled number of private vehicles. Buses as public transportation become the right choice to overcome the problem. Bus rapid transit is a fast, convenient, secure and punctual. The research purpose is to know the performance of Trans Bandung Raya Bus (TBRB) based on the policy of Director General of Land Transportation Decision No.SK.687/AJ.206/DRJD/2002 and to analyze the service quality factors of TBRB. The method of service quality assessment is Importance Performance Analysis. The research showed that the total value of TBRB's performance is 23 and based on the performance standards of the Director General of Land Transportation Decision is the "Good" category. The value of TBRB service quality (2.63) is smaller than the expected value (3.31) which means that TBRB have to keep improving their performance. The service quality variables that need to be improved are Empathy and Assurance.

Using Image Metrics for Ultrasound Quality Control and Performance Evaluation of ultrasound Transducer

Using Image Metrics for Ultrasound Quality Control and Performance Evaluation of ultrasound Transducer

Using Image Metrics for Ultrasound Quality Control and Performance Evaluation of ultrasound Transducer

Using Image Metrics for Ultrasound Quality Control and Performance Evaluation of ultrasound Transducer

Revamp energy efficiency in Homogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks using Optimized Radio Energy Algorithm (OREA) and Power-Aware Distance Source Routing protocol

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are often used to monitor the physical world. By using sensor nodes, various types of environmental conditions can be sensed and also it can communicate with the sensed data via wireless communication. The sensor nodes are provided with a battery, and the reduction of the power consumption may lead to the prolonged anticipation of a lifetime of sensor nodes. Researchers worked on sensor nodes to gain energy efficiency and increase its lifetime. Reliable and effective communication among nodes routing algorithms is often used for WSNs. The important objective of routing algorithms is energy saving. Clustering algorithm improves energy efficiency in Homogeneous WSNs. The clustering technique identifies the shortest path, and it is used for cluster head selection. To dissipate energy efficiently, Optimized Radio Energy Algorithm (OREA) is used. Power-Aware Distance Source Routing (PADSR) clustering algorithm has been proposed for increasing Network lifetime of WSNs. Energy consumption and data quality are balanced by Quality of Service based routing protocols. Power-Aware Distance Source Routing (PADSR) decides performance evaluation of Quality of Service.

Remoteness index-based Pythagorean fuzzy VIKOR methods with a generalized distance measure for multiple criteria decision analysis

The aim of this paper is to develop novel VIKOR-based methods for multiple criteria decision analysis involving Pythagorean fuzzy information. The concept of Pythagorean fuzzy sets possesses definite advantages in handling vagueness and complex uncertainty over well-known nonstandard fuzzy sets, such as intuitionistic fuzzy sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets. Taking the powerfulness of Pythagorean fuzzy sets into account when tackling imprecise and ambiguous information in multiple criteria decision-making problems, this paper proposes remoteness index-based Pythagorean fuzzy VIKOR methods, which are significantly different from the existing VIKOR techniques. The uniqueness of the proposed VIKOR methodology is the consideration of uncertain information represented by Pythagorean fuzzy values and the construction of certain valuable concepts of a generalized distance measure and displaced and fixed remoteness indices. A flexible and multipurpose definition of a distance measure for Pythagorean fuzzy information is presented based on the Minkowski distance model. The generalized Pythagorean fuzzy distance measure presented in this paper is then applied to establish useful concepts of remoteness indices, consisting of displaced positive- and negative-ideal remoteness indices as well as fixed positive- and negative-ideal remoteness indices. Unlike the canonical VIKOR ranking procedure, this paper provides a new way to rank candidate alternatives and determine the compromise solution depending on distinct preference structures for adapting to the particularities within the Pythagorean fuzzy environment. Several useful multiple criteria ranking indices, consisting of remoteness-based group utility, individual regret, and compromise indices, are developed to facilitate compromise ranking among alternatives. Four algorithmic procedures of the presented remoteness index-based Pythagorean fuzzy VIKOR methods are also provided in detail. Furthermore, some real-world applications and comparative analyses concerning a criteria satisfaction problem, two service quality and Internet stock performance evaluation problems, and two Internet stock and R&D project investment problems are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed methods in practice.