Trends In Metrics Research Articles

Army Reserve Component Dental Health and Readiness.

This article provides an overview of dental readiness in the Army Reserve Components. An historical perspective, cur-rent programs, developing initiatives, and trends in metrics measuring dental readiness are presented. The importance of the civilian/military partnership is stressed.

Evaluating the performance of conservation translocations in large carnivores across the world

Globally, fragmented landscapes and other anthropogenic pressures are causing declines in large carnivore populations. Conservation organizations are working to counteract these trends through the translocations of large carnivores, for example by reintroducing them to their historic ranges or by reinforcing existing populations to promote gene flow and resilience. This study analyses a dataset gathered from 33 translocation projects involving 297 individual animals across 22 countries in five continents, with 18 different large carnivore (>15 kg) species surveyed. An overall success rate (survival > six months) of 66 % for all individuals was shown for large carnivores, indicating an above average success rate when compared to the translocation of other terrestrial vertebrates. While captive-born individuals still fared worse than wild-born individuals, a 32 % increase in success rates was observed for releases of captive-born individuals within the last 14 years compared to a 17 % increase in success for releases of wild-born individuals. Despite the encouraging trends in metrics of success, only 37 % of study individuals were observed engaging in reproductive behavior. While this is likely an under-count, we caution against the conflation of translocation success with population establishment. We also identified key choices in the decision tree facing those implementing translocations, and analyzed associated metrics of success. Critical decisions include whether or not to use soft-releases, choosing younger animals, selecting unfenced release locations, and sourcing wild-born individuals – all of which can lead to a higher likelihood of success. As the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration gets underway, we hope this information can assist decision makers and practitioners in achieving more desirable outcomes for conservation translocation of large carnivores.

Unravelling seasonal trends in coastal marine heatwave metrics across global biogeographical realms

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) can cause dramatic changes to ecologically, culturally, and economically important coastal ecosystems. To date, MHW studies have focused on geographically isolated regions or broad-scale global oceanic analyses, without considering coastal biogeographical regions and seasons. However, to understand impacts from MHWs on diverse coastal communities, a combined biogeographical-seasonal approach is necessary, because (1) bioregions reflect community-wide temperature tolerances and (2) summer or winter heatwaves likely affect communities differently. We therefore carried out season-specific Theil–Sen robust linear regressions and Pettitt change point analyses from 1982 to 2021 on the number of events, number of MHW days, mean intensity, maximum intensity, and cumulative intensity of MHWs, for each of the world’s 12 major coastal biogeographical realms. We found that 70% of 240 trend analyses increased significantly, 5% decreased and 25% were unaffected. There were clear differences between trends in metrics within biogeographical regions, and among seasons. For the significant increases, most change points occurred between 1998 and 2006. Regression slopes were generally positive across MHW metrics, seasons, and biogeographical realms as well as being highest after change point detection. Trends were highest for the Arctic, Northern Pacific, and Northern Atlantic realms in summer, and lowest for the Southern Ocean and several equatorial realms in other seasons. Our analysis highlights that future case studies should incorporate break point changes and seasonality in MHW analysis, to increase our understanding of how future, more frequent, and stronger MHWs will affect coastal ecosystems.

An evaluation of a national mass media campaign to raise public awareness of possible lung cancer symptoms in England in 2016 and 2017

BackgroundA two-phase ‘respiratory symptoms’ mass media campaign was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in England raising awareness of cough and worsening shortness of breath as symptoms warranting a general practitioner (GP) visit.MethodA prospectively planned pre–post evaluation was done using routinely collected data on 15 metrics, including GP attendance, GP referral, emergency presentations, cancers diagnosed (five metrics), cancer stage, investigations (two metrics), outpatient attendances, inpatient admissions, major lung resections and 1-year survival. The primary analysis compared 2015 with 2017. Trends in metrics over the whole period were also considered. The effects of the campaign on awareness of lung cancer symptoms were evaluated using bespoke surveys.ResultsThere were small favourable statistically significant and clinically important changes over 2 years in 11 of the 15 metrics measured, including a 2.11% (95% confidence interval 1.02–3.20, p < 0.001) improvement in the percentage of lung cancers diagnosed at an early stage. However, these changes were not accompanied by increases in GP attendances. Furthermore, the time trends showed a gradual change in the metrics rather than steep changes occurring during or after the campaigns.ConclusionThere were small positive changes in most metrics relating to lung cancer diagnosis after this campaign. However, the pattern over time challenges whether the improvements are wholly attributable to the campaign. Given the importance of education on cancer in its own right, raising awareness of symptoms should remain important. However further research is needed to maximise the effect on health outcomes.

A Systematic Literature Review on Regression Test Case Prioritization

Test case prioritization (TCP) is deemed valid to improve testing efficiency, especially in regression testing, as retest all is costly. The TCP schedule the test case execution order to detect bugs faster. For such benefit, test case prioritization has been intensively studied. This paper reviews the development of TCP for regression testing with 48 papers from 2017 to 2020. In this paper, we present four critical surveys. First is the development of approaches and techniques in regression TCP studies, second is the identification of software under test (SUT) variations used in TCP studies, third is the trend of metrics used to measure the TCP studies effectiveness, and fourth is the state-of-the-art of requirements-based TCP. Furthermore, we discuss development opportunities and potential future directions on regression TCP. Our review provides evidence that TCP has increasing interests. We also discovered that requirement-based utilization would help to prepare test cases earlier to improve TCP effectiveness.

Health Care System-Wide Analysis Identifies High Radiation Use Factors and Behaviors in Surgery.

Usage of radiation among various surgical specialists has not been comprehensively evaluated. A systems-based analysis evaluating intraoperative radiation can help identify high use factors and dose reduction behaviors leading to quality improvement initiatives. A retrospective review of all operative fluoroscopic-guided procedures from 2010 to 2017 from 4 hospitals in a tertiary academic health care system was performed. One thousand two hundred fifty-two cases were analyzed, and notable trends in metrics including type of equipment, procedures, surgical field, surgical specialty, and dose reduction techniques were demonstrated. Higher radiation exposures were correlated with fixed vs. mobile C-arm usage (1229mGy vs. 331mGy, P = .001), abdominal/pelvic procedures (429.2mGy vs. 274.0mGy, P = .002), and embolization (2450.6mGy vs. 328.2mGy, P = .019). Vascular surgery averaged 40 times higher radiation exposure per patient than other specialties (613.3mGy vs. 15.6mGy, P = .001). Notably, vascular surgeons utilized dose reduction techniques less frequently than urology (21.5% vs. 70%, P = .001) but more than neurosurgery and orthopedics (21.5% vs. 1.3% and 0%, P = .001, respectively). A system-wide health care analysis identified vascular surgery procedures, use of a fixed C-arm, abdominal/pelvic procedures, and embolization cases as having the highest radiation exposure. These data can serve as baseline information for future quality improvement initiatives regarding fluoroscopy usage by surgeons.

Analyzing Evolution Patterns of Object-Oriented Metrics

Software evolution is mandatory to keep it useful and functional. However, the quality of the evolving software may degrade due to improper incorporation of changes. Quality can be monitored by analyzing the trends of software metrics extracted from source code as these metrics represent the structural characteristics of a software such as size, coupling, inheritance etc. An analysis of these metric trends will give insight to software practitioners regarding effects of software evolution on its internal structure. Thus, this study analyzes the trends of 14 object-oriented (OO) metrics in a widely used mobile operating system software, Android. The study groups the OO metrics into four dimensions and analyzes the trends of these metrics over five versions of Android software (4.0.2-4.3.1). The results of the study indicate certain interesting patterns for the evaluated dimensions, which can be helpful to software practitioners for outlining specific maintenance decisions to improve software quality.

METHOD OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION BASED ON METRICS IN THE CONTEXT OF IT TRANSFORMATION

The article explores the reasons for the need of applying modern approaches to implementation of new products and services for customers of banking institutions, examines approaches to optimizing and reformatting project portfolios by applying metrics and key performance indicators to the implementation of new products and services. With specific examples, those metrics and performance indicators that in the complex can significantly reduce the cost of implementing new functionality and increase financial returns due to the timeliness and quality of products and services for the client are envisaged. Transformation of work of IT departments is analyzed through optimization of processes in the strategy of obtaining maximum profit in terms of minimum required but sufficient investment in the bank‘s IT development. Close and integrated relationship between the system of metrics reflecting an assessment of current processes for implementing products and services and the established targets for IT department is explained in detail. In addition to the metric system, key indicators (KPIs) with established normative values are considered, interrelations between them are described and degree of their influence is analyzed, and their reciprocal complementation as an integrated system for measuring and improving processes of implementation of products and services is provided. Conclusions are made about trends in metrics and performance indicators for the implementation of IT projects and their impact on the development of banking business and the sphere as a whole. The issues of implementing new technologies and even whole software complexes that are recognized in the world by banking community for accelerating implementation of products and services, while simultaneously targeting significant cost reductions in the part of IT departments, are highlighted.

P30 Use Of A Regional Copd Dashboard To Effect Large Scale Change J Congleton, J Wookey, J Bott Kss Ahsn Respiratory Programme

Large scale change is difficult to bring about. The regional Respiratory Programme began in 2011 with the aim of improving outcomes in COPD and asthma. We designed a COPD dashboard with key metrics aiming to track progress and encourage involvement in service improvement. The Quality Observatory maintain the dashboard and release quarterly updates which we email out to our network members and other key people (n = 396) accompanied by commentary indicating issues for consideration and highlighting trends. The target audience includes clinicians in primary, secondary and community care plus managers and commissioners. This work is supplemented by running oxygen and pulmonary rehabilitation clinical networks which provide support and training to clinicians plus a quarterly educational and information sharing e publication ‘Breathing Matters’. We track trends in metrics. COPD bed days are a key outcome measure and the table below shows the yearly value since the program commenced. Looking at the admission figures on a population basis i.e. admissions per 1,000 COPD population (population weighted for prevalence of COPD using ERPHO modelled estimates and projections) there is a similar trend: County 1 2010/11 17.9 per 1000 vs 13.2 per 1000 in 2013/14 County 2 2010/11: 12.5 per 1000 vs 10.3 per 1000 in 2013/14 County 3 2010/11: 15.8 per 1000 vs 13.8 per 1000 2013/14 There has been a reduction in variation between acute trusts in the number of admissions and length of stay (without an increase in re-admission rate). We believe our COPD Dashboard has helped drive this change.

Recent Trends in Equity PortfolioConstruction Analytics

Portfolio analytics is critical for identifying investment opportunities, keeping portfolios aligned with investment objectives, and monitoring portfolio risk and performance. Analytics-based portfolio management lets investment managers filter information quickly, take advantage of statistical arbitrage opportunities, and deal with inefficiencies, such as transaction costs incurred during trading and tax consequences of investment decisions. This article reviews some widely used approaches to portfolio analytics, discussing new trends in metrics, modeling approaches, and portfolio analytics system design. Topics include stock screening, text analytics, traditional and new uses for factor models, investment methodologies of recent interest (such as smart beta), new visualization and analytics features available from vendors and open source software, and cloud-based solutions for data management and analysis.

Trends in social inequalities for premature coronary heart disease mortality in Great Britain, 1994–2008: a time trend ecological study

ObjectiveTo compare trends in metrics of socioeconomic inequalities in premature coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in Great Britain.DesignTime trend ecological study with area-level deprivation as exposure.SettingGreat Britain, 1994–2008.ParticipantsMen and women...

Do changes in environmental and fishing pressures impact marine communities? An empirical assessment

Summary 1. The development of ecosystem approaches to environmental management implies the need to account for multiple pressures on ecosystems. Trends in multiple metrics that respond differently to changes in major environmental pressures need to be combined to evaluate the impacts of fishing and environmental changes on fish communities. 2. An exploited fish community is viewed as a three‐level food chain in which the two upper levels, or functional groups, are targeted by fishing fleets, while the lowest level is subject to environmental variation. Qualitative modelling is used to predict changes at the two upper levels, that is, top‐down vs. bottom‐up perturbations. Abundance and length metrics are calculated from survey data for 14 Mediterranean and East‐Atlantic groundfish shelf communities at both population and functional group levels. The joint likelihood of time trends in metrics is used to evaluate the evidence for different causes of changes. 3. A wide diversity of impacts is found to have equal evidence at the population level within each community. Consistency between the impacts identified and changes in pressures known from independent information is found at the functional group and community level. The results suggest that there is some compensation between species within functional groups. 4. Synthesis and applications. The method can be used to conduct an integrated assessment of community dynamics subject to multiple pressures. Joint trends in metrics provide evidence of which known pressures are having an impact on the community, and thus, which management actions should be taken to mitigate these changes.

Seasonal and temporal trends in metrics of fish community for otter-trawl discards in a Mediterranean ecosystem

Abstract Tsagarakis, K., Machias, A., Giannoulaki, M., Somarakis, S., and Karakassis, I. 2008. Seasonal and temporal trends in metrics of fish community for otter-trawl discards in a Mediterranean ecosystem. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 539–550. Trends in discard to marketed ratios, size spectra, diversities, and trophic levels of the demersal fish community were examined using data from a seasonally closed commercial trawl fishery in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Ionian Sea), over a period of about 10 years. Trends were also examined for the artificial fractions derived from the discarding process (the marketed, the discarded, and the non-marketed clusters of the catch), as well as for the “big” and “small” fractions (defined by the size at which 50% of all specimens were discarded). The ratio of the discarded/marketed catch fluctuated greatly. Two commercial (Merluccius merluccius, and Mullus barbatus) and two non-marketed species (Lepidotrigla cavillone, and Argentina sphyraena) were the characteristic species of the fractions. A declining trend with time was observed for the examined time-series for species richness (S), Margalef’s d, and average taxonomic distinctness (Δ+), whereas the variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ+) increased. The composition and/or trophic level of discards in relation to the marketed catch seemed to be indicative of the exploitation state of the demersal community: differences between the discarded and marketed fractions were high at the beginning of the fishing season (autumn), but the values of the indices converged at the end of the fishing season (spring). These changes could be attributed to alternative discarding strategies for certain species in response to increased cumulative fishing mortality towards the end of the period.