Satisfactory Criterion Research Articles

Detecting the singularities in engineering signals

The research revealed that the singular value of the signal is a sensitive criterion for detecting the singularity occurring in amplitude, and the construction entropy proposed in the paper is a satisfactory criterion for detecting the singularity occurring in signal construction. Based on the idea of information fusion, a composite singularity detection criterion has been designed. Experiments proved that the composite criterion can successfully identify the singularities from signals, whatever they are characterized by the sudden changes in amplitude, construction or frequency.

Comparison of pronuclear zygote morphology and early cleavage status of zygotes as additional criteria in the selection of day 3 embryos: a randomized study

Both pronuclear morphology and early zygote cleavage have been used in combination with day 3 criteria to predict implantation and pregnancy. However, in routine practice, it is impractical to use both these criteria to select embryos on day 3. The objective of the present study was to find which of the two criteria is more predictive in terms of implantation and pregnancy. Randomized study. Hospital-based fertility center. A total of 330 IVF/ICSI patient cycles. Patients were randomized to two groups. The embryos of one group were classified into subgroups A, B, and C based on pronuclear morphology (group 1) and the embryos of the second group were classified into subgroups A, B, and C based on early cleavage status (group 2). Comparisons were made of implantation and pregnancy rates between groups 1 and 2, between subgroups within each group, and between the corresponding subgroups of groups 1 and 2. Progression of zygotes from day 1 to day 3 in group 1 was recorded, and retrospective analysis of pronuclear morphology of zygotes in group 2 was performed. The overall implantation and pregnancy rates tended to be slightly higher for group 1 compared to group 2 patients, but not statistically significant. Further, there was no significant difference between the corresponding subgroups. Implantation and pregnancy rates of subgroup A zygotes from each group were significantly higher (P<.01) than the rates of subgroup C. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of implantation and pregnancy. However, pronuclear morphology is a more satisfactory criterion than early cleavage to assist embryo selection on day 3. This is because zygotes with early cleavage ability can be identified from their pronuclear morphology. Thus, observation for early cleavage on day 1 and assessment of progression of embryos on day 2 in addition to pronuclear morphology scoring is not necessary in the selection of embryos for transfer on day 3.

The Norwegian Doloplus-2, a tool for behavioural pain assessment: translation and pilot-validation in nursing home patients with cognitive impairment

Pain assessment is challenging in cognitively impaired (CI) patients due to inadequate self-report skills and observational ratings are an alternative. The Doloplus-2 is developed for pain assessment in the CI and rates somatic, psychomotor and psychosocial behaviours as indicators of pain. To translate the Doloplus-2 into Norwegian, to test the Doloplus-2 with regard to criterion validity and to obtain the administrators' evaluation of the clinical performance of the Doloplus-2. Nurses at three nursing homes, in collaboration with two research assistants, administered the Doloplus-2 to 59 patients with dementia. The results were compared against experienced clinicians' pain ratings. Regression analyses were performed to explore each different item's contribution to the total pain score. The administrators also completed a debriefing questionnaire. The instrument was translated according to international guidelines. Regression analyses demonstrate that the Doloplus-2 score accounts for 62% (R2) of the expert score and that the four most informative items could explain 68% of the expert score. Analyses of the different Doloplus-2 items indicate that facial expressions explain most and social life least of the expert's pain ratings. The administrators reported that Doloplus-2 was helpful and easy to administer, but questioned the validity of the psychosocial domain. The Norwegian Doloplus-2 demonstrates satisfactory criterion validity and clinical value in this pilot study. However, the content of the instrument needs a general re-evaluation, especially with regard to the psychosocial items.

Screening Chinese Wheat Germplasm for Phosphorus Efficiency in Calcareous Soils

Twenty commonly used winter wheat genotypes collected throughout China were used in field screening for phosphorus (P)-efficient germplasm in a calcareous soil with and without fertilizer P application; the same genotypes were also evaluated for high and low P inputs in a greenhouse experiment. The overall criterion for P efficiency was the capacity to produce a relatively high yield with low P availability. Significant differences in grain yield production occurred between efficient and inefficient genotypes. Four parameters were calculated to determine which was the most useful for describing P efficiency: (1) percentage of relative yield with no applied P; (2) total P uptake; (3) P-harvest index (PHI: grain P/total P uptake); and (4) P-utilization efficiency (PUE: grain yield produced per unit of P taken up). A simple but satisfactory criterion in screening P-efficient wheat genotypes, 85% of relative grain yield at low P/high P, was recommended and proved to be more effective than the other three parameters. With this criterion, 12 out of 20 genotypes were classified as P-efficient (≤ 15% yield reduction with no P applied) from both field and pot experiments. Phosphorus efficiency may have resulted from either P uptake or P-utilization efficiency. Three parameters, namely relative yield without applied P, PHI and PUE, were found to be useful, together with P uptake, in determining overall P efficiency. Successful selection for P efficiency was found to be possible at the shooting stage (but not at tillering) by comparing P uptake and P-utilization efficiency of plants at this growth stage with those of plants at maturity.

What Probability should a Jury Address?

Abstract Probability of guilt is not the criterion on which a verdict in a criminal trial should be based, says Tony Gardner-Medwin. The courts, quite sensibly, do not even allow access to some of the background evidence on which a proper assessment of this probability should be made. He argues that a more satisfactory criterion is the probability, or degree of belief, that the evidence could have arisen without guilt.

Measurement of psychosocial factors in work environment: application of two models of occupational stress

To test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (ERI) based on the Job Demand-Control Model and Effort-Reward Imbalance Model respectively. 928 health care workers in hospitals were investigated in this study. The self-administered questionnaires were used to assess the psychosocial work environment, including job demand, control, social support, extrinsic effort, reward, and overcommitment. Mean while, the internal consistency reliability, construct validity and criterion validity were evaluated. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for 6 scales were acceptable (0.56 approximately 0.82); factor analysis showed the close fitness with the theoretical constructs, though the "job demand" and "overcommitment" scales were still questioned; moreover, both demand-control and effort-reward imbalance were independently related to depressive symptom (OR: 1.63 approximately 2.64, P < 0.01), indicating the satisfactory criterion validity. Both Job Demand-Control Model and Effort-Reward Imbalance Model, with their relevant questionnaires were reliable and valid methods for measuring the psychosocial work environment and assessing the occupational stress among Chinese working population and further revision is necessary.

THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COST OF CAPITAL IN SOUTH AFRICA

AN INVESTMENT PROJECT USUALLY LASTS FOR MANY YEARS. To determine if the project should be implemented, the net present value of the project is considered the most satisfactory criterion for use in its economic appraisal. This criterion requires the use of a discount rate in order to be able to compare the benefits and costs that arise in different time periods over the life of the investment. The economic opportunity cost of capital (EOCK) is the appropriate discount rate to use when estimating the economic net present value of a project. This hurdle rate applies not only to investments financed solely with public funds but also to investments in the form of joint public-private ventures and the provision of fiscal incentives to private investment. If the economic net present value of the project is greater than zero, the project is potentially worth implementing. This implies that the project would generate more net economic benefits than if the resources had been used elsewhere in the economy. On the other hand, if the net present value is less than zero, the project should be rejected on the ground that the resources invested could be put to better use if they were left to be allocated by the capital market. This paper describes an analytical framework that will enable us to estimate the economic cost of capital in South Africa.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Evaluation of a Short Scale to Assess Female Sexual Functioning

This article provides information on the external and concurrent validity, test-retest reliability, and sensitivity to change of a short form of the Personal Experiences Questionnaire, which was adapted from the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire. We drew participants from convenience samples of women attending three different clinic settings: family planning clinics, psychiatrists, and sex therapists. We chose the psychiatry and sex therapy clinics as samples likely to show poor sexual functioning in order to assist with external validity assessment and to establish a cut-off score indicating sexual dysfunction. Satisfactory external criterion validity, concurrent validity, reliability on re-test, and validation of the composite score were demonstrated. A cut-off score of 7 or below distinguishes with 79% specificity and sensitivity those with sexual dysfunction.

Inner contrast and perceptual quality in tasks with video display units

The purpose of this paper is to find the physical luminance contrast of an image that best relates to perceptual quality in VDU achromatic tasks. The studies were carried out by measurement of visual performance, comfort judgements and contrast adjustment, taking into account different resolutions, polarities, background luminances and illuminance values. The results add a new piece of evidence about inner contrast as an appropriate criterion to describe perceptual contrast. Inner contrast also provides a satisfactory criterion for the optimum relation of luminances in inner details of characters. This paper shows that when the relation between suprathreshold perceptual response and stimulus magnitude - inner contrast - is plotted, the power function relationship is a curve that is concave downward; there is a compression of the perceptual response. Illuminance on the horizontal plane, within the experimental range (480 and 930 lux) is not a significant parameter. Background luminance is significant for comfort judgements and contrast adjustment trials, but not for visual performance results. Grey background and characters brighter than background seem to be preferred by the observers. Mean luminance contrasts higher than 5 are sufficient to reach a visual performance of 90% and good visual comfort. The corresponding inner contrast is 1.4.

A three-year follow-up of the performance of a class of state police academy graduates using the MMPI-2

Research has demonstrated the utility of the MMPI-2 in identifying good and poor performance, dissatisfaction, termination, low performance ratings, unsatisfactory and satisfactory criterion groups, problematic behavior, corruption, and aggression. There is much research to suggest that certain patterns of responding to this measure by officer applicants predict job performance behaviors that supervisors and police executives view unfavorably. This study illustrates the fact that variables which are likely to predict police performance are less obvious and more subtle. Discussion centers on repression and underlying hostility.

Vascular surgical society of great britain and ireland: Re-evaluation of criteria for reoperation in carotid endarterectomy using intraoperative duplex imaging

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare data obtained during surgery with data collected at 6 weeks after operation to evaluate appropriate criteria for reoperation. METHODS: One hundred and twenty consecutive patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy had duplex scans at operation and 6 weeks later. Neurological evaluation was also documented. RESULTS: Of 96 patients who had a normal intraoperative duplex scan by standard criteria, 91 had normal scans at 6 weeks. One occluded an internal carotid artery (ICA) at 6 weeks with no symptoms. Four had kinks or high-grade contralateral lesions leading to velocity enhancement but no filling defect. All were asymptomatic. Twenty-four patients had abnormal intraoperative scans. Thirteen patients had visible kinking of the ICA or reperfusion hyperaemia; 12 of these patients had normal 6-week scans and one had a mild residual kink but no symptoms. Eleven patients had visible colour-filling defects and significant velocity enhancement. Nine of these were reopened and refashioned. Subsequent duplex imaging was satisfactory in all cases and 6-week scans were normal. One patient had an occluded ICA at operation and developed a dense stroke after operation. Another had residual raised velocities distally which remained at 6 weeks. This patient had no symptoms. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative velocity measurements alone cannot be relied upon as an indication for reoperation. Significant velocity enhancement combined with a visible filling defect appears to represent a satisfactory criterion for reoperation. There were no complications as a result of reoperation. There was no early restenosis in the whole group and there were no neurological sequelae in any patient with a satisfactory scan using the above criteria.

Bioavailability of phosphorus in purified municipal wastewaters

The phosphorus (P) load from municipalities to surface waters can be markedly reduced using current wastewater treatment technology. However, the choice of optimal treatment method and assessment of the eutrophication caused by wastewaters are confounded by the unknown bioavailability of various P forms in the effluents. We estimated the potential bioavailability of total phosphorus (TP) and of three P fractions in 20 purified wastewater samples from five municipal treatment plants in Finland. All the plants had an activated sludge process and simultaneous P precipitation. In addition, two plants had a post precipitation unit and the others nitrified wastewater. On average 36% (0–67%) of TP in effluents was utilized by the green alga Selenastrum capricornutum Printz in bioassays lasting 2–4 weeks. If P became available according to first-order kinetics, the amount of P converted into an available form during an extended time frame was usually negligible. Dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) appeared to be entirely bioavailable, whereas only an average of 22% (0–74%) of dissolved unreactive phosphorus (DUP) and 25% (0–54%) of particulate phosphorus (PP) was utilized by algae. Higher relative and absolute amounts of P were generally available in the effluents from the nitrifying plants than from the post precipitation plants. In addition, when the capacity of a plant was exceeded, the concentration of bioavailable P in effluents appeared to increase. Our results suggest that TP alone is not a satisfactory criterion for use in eutrophication control measures of municipal P loading.

Applying Rawlsian Principles of Justice to Decide how to Rank Disaggregated General Measures of Social Welfare and Poverty

There is a standard set of information problems associated with comparing levels of social welfare and levels of poverty—even when it is assumed that households derive their well-being from only a limited range of relevant variables. A number of comparatively general results set out, or are alluded to, in the relevant literature indicate how these information problems may be circumvented with varying degree success. To motivate the present discussion extended forms of some, but by no means all, of these results are derived. These derivations raise two central issues. First, some strong assumptions need to be applied in the process of manipulating household information. This matter is considered comparatively briefly. The more important issue, however, is that of determining which of these results employs the most socially acceptable system of interpersonal comparisons. In investigating this issue it is argued that (an interpretation of) the central components of the Rawlsian theory of distributive justice—in particular Rawls’s first principle of justice in distribution and the priority rule—should be applied in order to decide this matter. Relevant empirical evidence is employed in support of this line of argument. It turns out that only one of the previously-derived results provides a satisfactory criterion for the social ranking of levels of poverty. (It also turns out that, given reasonable assumptions, the rank order of levels of social welfare must be the same as that for the ranking of levels of poverty.) The discussion is then extended to allow for practical considerations associated with assessing poverty-alleviation policies. This discussion draws on Rawls’s second principle of justice and the requirement that individuals are treated as being anonymous.

Smoke filling and extraction in atria: Time constant

Whether a smoke extraction system has to be installed for an atrium building in Hong Kong is currendy determined by its volume. This is not a satisfactory criterion, since the smoke filling times in atria of the same volume but different shapes are very different. A time constant is proposed as an appropriate parameter to replace the atrium volume. This paper reports an evaluation of this quantity using the zone model FIRST developed at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, NIST, USA. Simulation by this model of smoke extraction effects in different types of atria is studied, and the results are compared with experimental results on smoke filling from the literature. In addition, a crude analysis without thermal effects was carried out. Closed-form expressions on the time required to fill 80% of the atrium height with smoke were derived. Lastly, a'design fire' is proposed to calculate the time constant of the atrium.

Ultimate Tensile Stress over a Zone: A New Failure Criterion for Adhesive Joints

Abstract The objective of this work was to develop a criterion for predicting the static strength of adhesively-bonded joints. Although there is a large body of literature on this subject, no satisfactory criterion has been proposed in any publication to date. To obtain a criterion, finite element models of widely differing joint geometries were developed, in which the stresses in the adhesive bonds were calculated in great detail. These were then compared with test measurements. After examining two toughened epoxy adhe-sives, the authors have developed a failure criterion that predicts failure loads to within approximately 15% of measured values. This is: that the maximum principal stress must exceed the ultimate tensile stress of the adhesive material over a finite zone normal to the direction of maximum principal stress. The size of this zone is a property of the adhesive that can be determined from a combination of analysis and test.

Miticide bioassays with spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae): effect of test method, exposure period and mortality criterion on the precision of response estimates

Six different bioassay methods were evaluated using propargite (Omite 30% wettable powder (WP) and fenbutatin oxide (Torque 50% (WP) and 55% suspension concentrate (SC)) with twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus uriticae Koch (TSM) and European red mite, Panonychus ulmi Koch (ERM) to document their utility and precision for estimating median lethal concentrations (LC). For each method, two post-treatment exposure periods and mortality criteria were used. Post-treatment exposure period and mortality criterion had a significant influence on the precision of LC50 estimates for all tested miticides with all bioassays methods. Twenty four hour (h) post-treatment exposure was found to be the most suitable for the slide dip and Petri dish methods while 48h was the most appropriate for leaf disc methods. Scoring moribund mites as dead was the most satisfactory criterion for ensuring that biossays were as simple and precise as possible. The Petri dish residue-Potter tower method (PDR-PT) estimated the responses of TSM and ERM to propargite with high precision. The same method was not as precise for fenbutatin oxide formulations. Because significant mite run-off occurred with the leaf disc methods, their precision was not fully established. The slide dip method gave less precise estimates of LC50 values for propargite (WP) and fenbutatin oxide (WP), while the same method gave more precise LC50 estimates for fenbutatin oxide (SC) than the PDR-PT method. The toxicity of candidate miticides was found to be method-and species-dependent.

Snow cover model for global climate simulations

Because of the high sensitivity of the climate system to anomalies of the snow cover, appropriate models of the latter are required. In this paper a one‐dimensional multilayer model of a snow cover is presented combining relatively accurate model physics with minimal computer time. The model is based on the balance of mass and energy, including the important internal processes such as the diffusion of temperature and water vapor, melting and freezing, the extinction of short wave radiation, and the retention of liquid water. In order to keep the possibility of using the model on a global scale, no local parameterizations are employed. An efficient numerical scheme makes the model suitable for long‐term climate studies. Integrations for Potsdam (52°N, 13°E) with standard synoptic measurements over a period of six winters demonstrate good correspondence between the model results and the observed values. The most serious problem remaining is the choice of a satisfactory criterion to distinguish between snowfall and rain which strongly affects the simulation of snow depth and water equivalent.

On the improvement of geometric basis sets

Starting from (16s10p) atom optimized gaussian geometric basis sets, s, p and d type functions were added to diatomic molecules containing N and S (N 2, NS +, NS − and S 2 ( 3Σ − g)), employing two different criteria. The first analyzed the error in the wavefunction associated with the Hellmann- Feynman forces and included the derivatives of the primitives when these Hellmann-Feynman terms were greater than 0.005 a.u. The second corrected the meshes through observation of the weight functions associated with the numerical integration of the Griffin-Hill-Wheeler-Hartree-Fock equations. Using these two criteria the enlarged basis sets achieved accurate total energies and simultaneously improved the Hellmann-Feynman forces. Although the inclusion of the derivatives of the basis functions is a sufficient criterion to improve the Hellmann-Feynman forces, it can be complemented profitably by analysis of the weight functions in the valence region to provide more-accurate energies. The results also show that minimization of the Hellmann-Feynman error is a satisfactory criterion to cut off the weight functions in the core region.

Evaluation of Hankel functions with complex argument and complex order

The use of F.W.J. Olver's (1974) uniform asymptotic expansions to compute Hankel functions (of interest in EM scattering) of complex argument z and complex order v is examined. Emphasis is placed on how to choose the proper branches in evaluation of the complex functions in the asymptotic representations. Comparison is made with the nonuniform formulas of Debye and Watson. The Debye formulas are valid when z and v are far apart, and the Watson formulas are valid when z and v are close together. The fact that the Olver formulas are uniform is important from a numerical viewpoint, because a satisfactory criterion for deciding when to switch between the Debye and Watson (1958) formulas is not available. Validation by comparison with two nonasymptotic methods verifies that the Olver formulas are considerably more accurate than the Debye or Watson formulas. >

Binocular probability summation in a choice reaction-time task in pigeons

We present evidence for binocular summation in pigeons in a choice reaction time paradigm. Considering binocular vision as the result of a race between the equivalent eyes, pigeons can adopt both a 'subject by subject' and a 'trial by trial' race model, and binocular advantage can be attributed merely to a probability summation. Pigeons were tested on a visual discrimination task in which the time for detection was gradually reduced and a quick response was required. The time presentation of a small black spot could vary from 2000 ms to the shortest value (157-226 ms) allowing maintenance of a satisfactory performance criterion.