Comparison Of Standards Research Articles

Stability Property of the Boundary Equilibria of an Ecological Model of Mutualism Between Two Species with a Mortal Predator

This article investigates the stability property of the boundary equilibria of an ecological model of mutualism between two species with a mortal predator. The model was proposed by Srinivasarao Tote (On an ecological model of mutualism between two species with a mortal predator, Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal, 15(2)(2020): 1309-1322). We first give two numeric examples to show that the main results of Tote may not be correct. Then, by applying the standard comparison theorem, we obtain a set of sufficient conditions which ensure the global attractivity of the predator-washed state. We also demonstrate that the second mutual species washed state is unstable. Our results complement and supplement the main results of Srinivasarao Tote.

Effect of Breed and Non-genetic Factors on Body Weight and Average Daily Gains of Goats in Tunisia

The present study was carried out to evaluate growth performance of three goat breeds in Tunisia (Alpine, Boer and Damascus) from birth to 90 days and to investigate the effect of non- genetic factors on birth weight (BW), weight at 10 days (W10), weight at 30 days (W30), weight at 70 days (W70), weight at 90 days (W90) and average daily weight gains from birth to 30 days (ADG0-30), from 10 to 30 days (ADG10-30), from 30 to 70 days (ADG30-70), from 30 to 90 days (ADG30-90), from 70 to 90 days (ADG7090). A total of 3198 goats including Alpine (n=1030), Boer (n=2084) and Damascene (n=84), born during the period 2004-2016 were used. Data analysis showed non-significant effect of breed on growth traits. However Damascus goats had the heaviest overall live weight at birth (3.99±0.05kg) followed by Alpine (3.94±0.02kg) and Boer (3.90±0.02kg) until 90 days (13.25±0.66, 12.13±0.35, 12.07±0.35kg respectively ).Average daily weight gains followed the same trend as weights. Overall, sex-type of birth, season and the combined year of birth-farm-herd influenced growth traits. Higher performances were recorded in males born as singles, during the rainy season (November to March), in 2007 and 2008, belonging to herd”1”of Chenchou experimental station and herd” 5” belonging to a private farm respectively. In conclusion, our study confirms that non-genetic factors affect these three goat breeds. Adjustments for those factors are necessary to provide standard comparisons among breeds under challenging Tunisian conditions.

Principles of regional self-government according to Council of Europe reference framework for regional democracy

The purpose of the article is to determine the general principles of regional self-government in accordance with the Framework recommendations of the Council of Europe on regional democracy. Ingenerak, this paper is intended to the content of Council of Europe Reference Framework for Regional Democracy, which in general form contains European standards of regional self-government, is examined. For a more complete presentation of the Reference Framework, the regulative acts of the Council of Europe relating to regional self-government were studied. The Reference Framework is presented as a means of transcending the scope of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in order to help governments strike the best possible balance in the apportionment of powers and responsibilities among different tiers of government. The Reference Framework is also analyzed on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, the principle of social and territorial cohesion and the need for solidarity. The nature and principles of regional democracy are revealed. The characteristics of local and regional authorities which reflect the key principles of democracy and public participation in the management of living environments are examined. It is concluded that the essence of the principles of democracy constitute the combination of all principles and «rules for living» within a state. A comparison of the European standards of regional self-government with the regulatory practice of self-government functioning at the level of the regions of Ukraine has been carried out. The author’s vision on the introduction of regional self-government in Ukraine is presented.

Comparison of OpenEHR and HL7 FHIR Standards

Comparison of OpenEHR and HL7 FHIR Standards

Fire-Resistance Testing Procedures for Construction Elements—A Review

Fire accidents are a significant risk to human life and civil infrastructure. As a countermeasure, the regulatory bodies of different countries have established standards for evaluating the performance of construction elements during fire exposure. ISO 834 is the globally accepted fire-resistance testing standard. Other standards include ASTM E119, BS 476, IS 3809, JIS A 1304, AS 1503, EN 1363, and GB/T 9978, which are utilized by the US, Britain, India, Japan, Australia, Europe, and China, respectively. This article presents a summary and comparison of the fire-resistance testing standards. In reality, standard tests for isolated structural members may not efficiently portray realistic fire scenarios due to the fire location, its intensity, etc. Thus, researchers have utilized a variety of specialized setups and full-scale non-standard fire tests to fulfill their research objectives. The article includes a summary of selected full-scale, ad hoc, and specialized setups that were reported in the literature. The article highlights the need for timely updates of fire standards to accommodate the testing of newly developed construction materials, structural systems, and possible regional fire scenarios. The article also identifies the research areas that require significant focus in experimental structural fire-resistant testing.

Comparison of NABH and AB-PMJAY Quality Standards for Accreditation in a Tertiary Care Medical hospital

Background: Quality Improvement (QI) is the organised approach to design and apply constant development inperformance. QI in hospitals increase patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction as well as the quality of care providedby an organisation. In India quality of hospitals is assessed by different standards which primarily included thoselaid down by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH), which were introducedin 2006 by Quality Council of India (QCI). In 2018, National Health Authority (NHA), introduced AyushmanBharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB – PMJAY) Quality Certification standards, in collaboration withQuality Council of India (QCI), for enhancing patient satisfaction and improving quality standards across thehospitals.Objectives: The study was carried out with the objective to compare the AB-PMJAY Gold standard with NABH 5thEdition, and to identify challenges faced by hospitals for ensuring compliance to these standards.Methods: The study design was descriptive cross sectional and was carried in a multi-specialty hospital inRajasthan in 2022. The study was carried out with the objective to find out similarities and differences in ABPMJAYand NABH standards. All the 5 chapters (Key Inputs, Clinical Service, Support Services, Patient Care,Health Outcomes) and 53 quality standards of AB-PMJAY were included in the study. Similarly, all the 10 chaptersof NABH 5th Edition, including all 100 standards and objective elements were 651 were included in the study.The study was carried out in quality department of a hospital for preparing the hospital team for NABH and ABPMJAYaccreditation.Results: It is found that AB-PMJAY broadly covers all the quality standards of NABH. Some of the challengesidentified in implementation of NABH standards were that it requires more documentation, skilled staff, trainingneed with skilled trainer/coordinator, and the NABH standards are very elaborative and descriptive. Thechallenges in implementation of AB-PMJAY Gold standards were that to achieve them, hospital have to makeimprovement in their structural, procedural, and clinical outcomes. The similarities of the standards were thatboth AB-PMJAY and NABH are constituent board of Quality Council of India (QCI), and both have common targetof improving patient’s safety and quality of care. The differences include that in more documentation is required in NABH in compared to AB-PMJAY, NABH requires skilled staff, it is more descriptive and elaborative, andhospitals require certified NABH co-ordinator for implement NABH standards. NABH comprises of indicatorsand AB-PMJAY says to do things. There are more financial resources required in implementation of NABH.Conclusion: The hospital’s with NABH’s full accreditation can directly apply for AB-PMJAY Gold qualitycertification.

Using Red List Indices to monitor extinction risk at national scales

AbstractThe Red List Index (RLI) measures change in the aggregate extinction risk of species. It is a key indicator for tracking progress toward nine of the Aichi and many proposed post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Targets. Here, we consider two formulations of the RLI used for reporting biodiversity trends at national scales. Disaggregated global RLIs measure changing national contributions to global extinction risk and are currently based on five taxonomic groups, while national RLIs measure changing national extinction risk and are based on taxonomic groups assessed multiple times in country. For 74% of nations, the disaggregated global RLI is currently based on three or fewer taxonomic groups. Meanwhile, national RLIs from selected pilot countries Finland, South Africa, and Brazil are computed from twelve, eight, and nine taxonomic groups, respectively. The national RLI and the disaggregated global RLI measure different aspects of biodiversity, in that the former detects national trends in populations of species for which each country is responsible while the latter provides standardized comparisons of nations' contributions to the global extinction risk of the same species groups. As governments commit to the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, we encourage them to monitor a standard set of taxonomic groups representing different biomes using both RLI formulations to ensure effective target tracking and accurate feedback on their conservation investments.

The impact of face masks on infants' learning of faces: An eye tracking study.

This preregistered study examined how face masks influenced face memory in a North American sample of 6- to 9-month-old infants (N=58) born during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infants' memory was tested using a standard visual paired comparison (VPC) task. We crossed whether or not the faces were masked during familiarization and test, yielding four trial types (masked-familiarization/masked-test, unmasked-familiarization/masked-test, masked-familiarization/unmasked-test, and unmasked-familiarization/unmasked-test). Infants showed memory for the faces if the faces were unmasked at test, regardless of whether or not the face was masked during familiarization. However, infants did not show robust evidence of memory when test faces were masked, regardless of the familiarization condition. In addition, infants' bias for looking at the upper (eye) region was greater for masked than unmasked faces, although this difference was unrelated to memory performance. In summary, although the presence of face masks does appear to influence infants' processing of and memory for faces, they can form memories of masked faces and recognize those familiar faces even when unmasked.

Comparing Examination Standards without Graded Candidate Scripts

<p style="text-align: justify;">Comparative judgement methods are commonly used to explore standards in examination papers over time. However, studies are limited by a paucity of graded candidate scripts from previous years, as well as the expense and time required to standardise scripts. We present three studies that attempted, without the use of graded candidate scripts, to replicate and extend previous results about standards in mathematics examination papers. We found that re-typesetting examination papers into a consistent format was necessary, but that comparative judgement of examination papers without an archive of graded candidate scripts offered a reliable and efficient method for revealing relative demand over time. Our approach enables standards comparison where previously this was not possible. We found a reasonable correlation between judgments of actual student scripts and judgments of the items only, meaning that conclusions may be drawn about the demand of examination papers even when graded candidate scripts are not available.</p>

TreeMerge: A Visual Comparative Analysis Method for Food Classification Tree in Pesticide Residue Maximum Limit Standards

Food classification is an important part of food safety standards. In this paper, we propose a novel visual comparative analysis method for food classification trees (FCTs) in pesticide maximum residue limit (MRL) standards, called TreeMerge, to lay the foundation for a comprehensive comparison of pesticide MRL standards. First, a union tree is constructed by combining the two FCTs to be compared. Then, sunburst with an embedded chordal graph (SECG) and overlapping circular treemap (OCT), which are two new visualization solutions designed in this paper, are used to show the similarities and differences in a union tree. SECG can express the hierarchical structure and the similarity between corresponding nodes in the union tree at the same time. OCT uses an improved nested Venn diagram (overlapping circle) to express the attribute values in each layer of the union tree and uses a circle-filling layout algorithm based on the testing circle to improve the readability and space utilization of the view. Finally, a visual analysis system for comparing FCT, named FCTvis, is designed and implemented to support the exploration of the structural difference pattern of food classification in the two MRL standards and the quantity or scale of residue limits in various foods. The effectiveness of TreeMerge was verified by case studies on pesticide MRL standards in the Chinese Mainland and Chinese Hong Kong.

Open Innovation in Developing an Early Standardization of Battery Swapping According to the Indonesian National Standard for Electric Motorcycle Applications

This research aims to achieve early standardization for battery swapping in line with domestic capabilities and global standards, and to protect Indonesian battery swap stakeholders. By distributing questionnaires to 190 respondents, the Framework for Analysis, Comparison, and Testing of Standards (FACTS) approach was used to analyze stakeholder needs, compare global standards regarding battery swaps, and validate the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) framework. An open innovation approach was considered to integrate a FACTS approach with open participation, mutual understanding, and consensus to generate parameters. Therefore, characteristics of open participation, mutual understanding, and consensus were identified using FACTS to catalyze market needs as well as stakeholder needs. The relationship between SNI implementation variables, national uniqueness, and stakeholder needs was predicted using structural equation modeling (SEM). We found that the proposed constructs—i.e., electromagnetic compatibility, equipment construction requirements, marking and instruction, and protection against electric shock—positively affect SNI implementation. Meanwhile, the SNI implementation, national uniqueness, and stakeholder protection positively affect SNI acceptance. Therefore, SNI acceptance can be obtained by considering SNI implementation, national uniqueness, and stakeholder protection. The findings of this study can be used to develop an SNI battery swap test that is globally competitive, has national characteristics, and considers domestic capabilities when developing the SNI documentation.

P43 Navigating the Maze of Standard and Novel Population-Adjusted Indirect Comparison (PAIC) Methods

P43 Navigating the Maze of Standard and Novel Population-Adjusted Indirect Comparison (PAIC) Methods

Identifying the Inertial Properties of a Padel Racket: An Experimental Maneuverability Proposal

Although the moment of inertia of padel rackets is one of their fundamental properties and of particular interest to the players, hardly any manufacturer specifies the parameter for its rackets. The present paper offers a solution to determine the moment of inertia around different axes of padel rackets and makes a standardized comparison possible. After a short overview of the physical background of the problem and the existing solutions for inertia testing, the developed concept for a test stand is described in detail. The approach uses the fact that a pendulum swings with its natural frequency, which depends directly on its moment of inertia. The inertia can be calculated by measuring the cycle time of the swing. Two different test stands, a trifilar and a swing pendulum, are designed to enable an oscillation of the rackets with different rotation axes, and an acceleration sensor is used to measure its natural frequency. A user-friendly interface acquires and processes accelerometer data providing inertial moments. A calibration model defines sensor accuracy. Precision is estimated by calculating the influence of the measurement errors and by testing the repeatability. The maneuverability parameter is created, and in the last step, various rackets are evaluated to create a database with the main properties. As a result of the study of the racket population, a maneuverability parameter is proposed to classify the rackets in a comprehensible way for users. The classification method is tested with users to explore the matching between the scientific classification and the player's feelings. The results are shown and explained.

Internal heat loads profiles for buildings’ energy modelling: comparison of different standards

In absence of real data on occupants and electric devices patterns, nominal values and schedules of internal heat loads given by existing related standards can be adopted for buildings energy modelling. Since different results can be obtained depending on the standard, the choice of the proper one, based only on given nominal values and schedules, could be not straightforward. As a novelty, this study reports a comparison among the energy implications of different building internal heat load profiles from current standards. To this aim, typical building floors representing common residential and office rooms composition were defined. Then, different days’ profiles and peaks of the overall internal heat loads densities due to occupancy, equipment, and artificial lighting, obtained from selected standards, are analyzed and compared together with the resulting different annual internal heat load density components and their effect on building annual thermal energy needs. Hence, insights to choose the most suitable standard, depending on the study context, are provided. Moreover, the calculated values of internal heat loads densities can be directly adopted as an early-stage approach in energy simulation models, neglecting detailing the building rooms’ composition.

Farmer-science-based soil degradation metrics guide prioritization of catchment-tailored control measures

Locally valid and up-to-date soil degradation surveys that account for the spatial variability and the dynamic nature of degradation processes within environmentally diverse catchments are scant. Failure to understand local priorities and involve land users in the assessment of soil degradation and restoration initiatives however might compromise the adoption of effective soil and water conservation (SWC) measures. This paper presents farmer-science-based metrics (FSBM) of soil degradation status for locally perceived degradation processes, thereby using socio-economically relevant criteria and permitting a standardized comparison of their status across various decision-making entities. The approach was tested in the low-, mid-and highland agro-ecological zones (AEZs) in two catchments of the Lake Abaya-Chamo Basin, Ethiopia. After defining land users' relevant classes of land degradation degree, extent and impact, the soil degradation status perceived by 384 household heads was collected during face-to-face interviews. The respondents' evaluation of soil degradation status was translated into numerical scores (FSBM) and shown on radar diagrams, stratified by AEZ and catchment. Our findings demonstrate that the adopted FSBM offered spatially explicit information on the three dimensions of degradation status by soil degradation type. Disentangling degree, extent and impact revealed the diversified occurrence of the soil degradation processes between and within similar AEZs of the catchments. Natural and human factors were pinpointed as causes, while assessment of consequences revealed spill-over effects of soil erosion taking place in midland AEZs into the lowlands. Biophysical aspects, socio-economic characteristics and proximity to training centers played significant roles in the respondents’ perceptions. Despite the subjectivity associated with FSBM, our findings demonstrate that involving land users in the assessment of soil degradation provided a comprehensive overview of soil degradation status and current bottlenecks in its combat.

The Postsurgical Clavien-Dindo Classification in Minor Surgery Can Improve Perception and Communication (Investigation on Blepharoplasty).

The postsurgical Clavien-Dindo classification in minor surgery can improve perception and communication (Investigation on Blepharoplasty). Background: Minor surgery lacks a standardized postoperative complication classification. This leads to the presentation of inaccurate postsurgical complication rates and makes comparisons challenging, especially for patients seeking information. This study aims to evaluate a standardized five-step complication grading system (Clavien-Dindo Classification, CDC) on the example of blepharoplasty, which is the most performed minor aesthetic surgery worldwide. Methods: A retrospective observational exploratory study of patients (N = 344) who received a bilateral upper eyelid blepharoplasty under local anesthesia from the same surgical staff was performed. Data were retrieved from the electronic patient record: the CDC grading and the surgeon-reported complications (N = 128) at the first follow-up on day 7. In addition, a telephone survey with patients (N = 261) after 6 months was performed, which consisted of 7 complication-related yes/no questions. Results: Based on the CDC, 41.6% of patients were classified as having no complications, and 58.4% had one. Furthermore, 1 patient (0.3%) received a revision under general anesthesia (CDC IIIb), 18 patients (5.2%) were re-operated under local anesthesia (CDC IIIa), 23 patients (6.7%) required pharmacological intervention (CDC II), and 159 patients (46.2%) had a complication from the normal postoperative course and received supportive treatment (CDC I). Moreover, 90.5% of the mentioned complications accounted for Grade I and II; 94% of the patients subjectively experienced no complications; 51% of patients were pleased with the surgery even though a complication occurred according to the CDC; 34% of complications escaped the awareness of the surgeon. Conclusions: Grade I and II complications occurred frequently. Complications escaped the perception of the patients and surgeons. The classification identifies a wide variety of postsurgical complications and allows a standardized comparison in minor surgery objectively. Potential: The CDC in minor procedures can improve the (institutional) preoperative communication with patients regarding potential postoperative expectations. Furthermore, the classification can be a useful tool to detect complication-related costs, identify insurance-related requests, and support evidence in medicolegal disputes. The example of blepharoplasty can be translated to various other and even less invasive procedures.

Comparative Study of Mortality Rate Prediction Using Data-Driven Recurrent Neural Networks and the Lee–Carter Model

The Lee–Carter model could be considered as one of the most important mortality prediction models among stochastic models in the field of mortality. With the recent developments of machine learning and deep learning, many studies have applied deep learning approaches to time series mortality rate predictions, but most of them only focus on a comparison between the Long Short-Term Memory and the traditional models. In this study, three different recurrent neural networks, Long Short-Term Memory, Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory, and Gated Recurrent Unit, are proposed for the task of mortality rate prediction. Different from the standard country level mortality rate comparison, this study compares the three deep learning models and the classic Lee–Carter model on nine divisions’ yearly mortality data by gender from 1966 to 2015 in the United States. With the out-of-sample testing, we found that the Gated Recurrent Unit model showed better average MAE and RMSE values than the Lee–Carter model on 72.2% (13/18) and 67.7% (12/18) of the database, respectively, while the same measure for the Long Short-Term Memory model and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory model are 50%/38.9% (MAE/RMSE) and 61.1%/61.1% (MAE/RMSE), respectively. If we consider forecasting accuracy, computing expense, and interpretability, the Lee–Carter model with ARIMA exhibits the best overall performance, but the recurrent neural networks could also be good candidates for mortality forecasting for divisions in the United States.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Vocal Performance Questionnaire into Kannada

Vocal Performance Questionnaire (VPQ) is a short and convenient tool withone-dimensional consistency to evaluate the vocal performance. Developing the Kannada version of VPQ can be a useful self-assessment clinical tool for evaluating dysphonia symptoms in Kannada-speaking patients. Hence, the objective of the study was to translate the VPQ into Kannada and to evaluate the psychometric properties and the cutoff scores for the Kannada version of the VPQ (VPQ-K). This investigation deployed a non-randomised, prospective standard group comparison. VPQ was translated to Kannada and administered to 71 participants (37 males and 34 females) diagnosed with voice disorder with a mean age of 43.94 ± 15.31 years and 71 age and gender-matched participants with a clinically normal voice. The test-retest reliability of the VPQ-K was measured through Intra class correlation, and the results indicated excellent test-retest reliability. The Internal consistency of VPQ-K was determined using the Split half reliability by calculating the Spearmen-Brown coefficient, and the results revealed that VPQ-K had very strong internal consistency. Results also indicated that the participants in the control group had significantly lower VPQ-K scores compared to the participants in the study groups, indicating that VPQ-K had good construct validity. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed a cutoff point of 18.50 for VPQ-K. As VPQ-K is a quick, easy to fill and low-burden self-assessment tool, VPQ-K can be proposed as a sensitive clinical tool to assess the vocal performance in Kannada-speaking patients with voice disorders and to evaluate the treatment outcome.

Serum Levels of Selected IL-1 Family Cytokines in Patients with Morphea.

Morphea/localized scleroderma (LoS) represents an inflammatory-sclerotic skin disease, the pathogenesis of which is not fully understood. Given the important role of IL-1 family cytokines in the development and therapy of inflammatory diseases, including systemic sclerosis, we analyzed the clinical significance of serum levels of selected IL-1 family cytokines (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-18, IL-33, IL-37 and IL-38) in LoS patients (n = 30) using the standardized disease assessment tools and comparison to healthy controls (n = 28). We also compared the pre- and post-treatment concentrations, i.e., before and after systemic (glucocorticosteroids and/or methotrexate) and/or topical (topical glucocorticosteroids and/or calcineurin inhibitors). Our findings did not reveal significant differences in baseline IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-18, IL-33, IL-37 and IL-38 levels between LoS group and HCs; however, after treatment, there were marked changes in concentrations of IL-1α and IL-33 within LoS group as well as in comparison to HCs. We also found significant negative correlations between PGA-A and IL-1α concentration as well as between mLoSSI and IL-1α after treatment. Furthermore, we showed an inverse correlation of baseline IL-1β levels with mLoSSI scores of borderline significance. We believe that IL-1α and IL-33, as well as Il-1β, may be potential mediators and targets of interest in LoS.

HBcompare: Classifying Ligand Binding Preferences with Hydrogen Bond Topology.

This paper presents HBcompare, a method that classifies protein structures according to ligand binding preference categories by analyzing hydrogen bond topology. HBcompare excludes other characteristics of protein structure so that, in the event of accurate classification, it can implicate the involvement of hydrogen bonds in selective binding. This approach contrasts from methods that represent many aspects of protein structure because holistic representations cannot associate classification with just one characteristic. To our knowledge, HBcompare is the first technique with this capability. On five datasets of proteins that catalyze similar reactions with different preferred ligands, HBcompare correctly categorized proteins with similar ligand binding preferences 89.5% of the time. Using only hydrogen bond topology, classification accuracy with HBcompare surpassed standard structure-based comparison algorithms that use atomic coordinates. As a tool for implicating the role of hydrogen bonds in protein function categories, HBcompare represents a first step towards the automatic explanation of biochemical mechanisms.