Review: update on performance assessment and monitoring systems for ophthalmologists

Performance assessment and monitoring systems are the process by which ophthalmologists demonstrate they are fit to continue practicing.Revalidation is the process by which licensed doctors are legally required to demonstrate to medical regulators that they are up to date and fit to practice in order to maintain their medical license,and began in the United Kingdom(UK)in 2012 following well-publicized events.Recertification is a different process which began in North America and demonstrates doctors have maintained competence,without involvement of external stakeholders.Arguments for and against the concept of performance assessment are reviewed.Stakeholders in performance assessment,whether part of the process or not,are doctors themselves,peers and other health care providers,patients,hospitals and health systems,medical regulators,and health policy makers.Early models of performance assessment included portfolios,credit accumulation,and closed-book examinations.Models are in evolution with the value of formative rather than summative assessments,and the need for methods of assessing procedural competency increasingly recognized.Emerging methods of performance assessment of practicing ophthalmologists include use of performance indicators,simulation,and workplace-based assessments.Alternate methods of assuring the public by improved detection of outliers are discussed.Despite weak evidence supporting performance assessments in demonstrating continuing competency to practice,the process is gradually being accepted worldwide.Further research into optimum methods of performance assessment and monitoring processes is required,along with cost-benefit analysis.

Environmental performance assessments of different methods of coal preparation for use in small-capacity boilers: experiment and theory

The purpose of this article is to receive environmental assessments of combustion of different types of coal fuel depending on the preparation(unscreened,size-graded,briquetted and heat-treated)in automated boilers and boilers with manual load-ing.The assessments were made on the basis of data obtained from experimental methods of coal preparation and calculated methods of determining the amount of pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions,as well as the mass of ash and slag waste.The main pollutants from coal combustion are calculated:particulate matter,benz(a)pyrene,nitrogen oxides,sulfur dioxide,carbon monoxide.Of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide is calculated.As a result of conducted research it is shown that the simplest preliminary preparation(size-graded)of coal significantly improves combustion efficiency and environmental performance:emissions are reduced by 13%for hard coal and up to 20%for brown coal.The introduction of automated boil-ers with heat-treated coal in small boiler facilities allows to reduce emissions and ash and slag waste by 2-3 times.The best environmental indicators correspond to heat-treated lignite,which is characterized by the absence of sulfur dioxide emissions.

Effects of thinning on the understory light environment of different stands and the photosynthetic performance and growth of the reforestation species Phoebe bournei

Light levels determine regeneration in stands and a key concern is how to regulate the light environment of different stand types to the requirements of the understory.In this study,we selected three stands typical in south China(a Cryptomeria japonica plantation,a Quercus acutissima plantation,and a mixed stand of both)and three thinning intensities to determine the best understory light environ-ment for 3-year-old Phoebe bournei seedlings.The canopy structure,understory light environment,and photosynthe-sis and growth indicators were assessed following thin-ning.Thinning improved canopy structure and understory light availability of each stand;species composition was the reason for differences in the understory light environ-ment.Under the same thinning intensity,the mixed stand had the greatest light radiation and most balanced spectral composition.P.bournei photosynthesis and growth were closely related to the light environment;all three stands required heavy thinning to create an effective and sustained understory light environment.In a suitable understory light environment,the efficiency of light interception,absorption,and use by seedlings was enhanced,resulting in a higher carbon assimilation the main limiting factor was stomatal conductance.As a shade-avoidance signal,red/far-red radia-tion is a critical factor driving changes in photosynthesis and growth of P.bournei seedlings,and a reduction increased light absorption and use capacity and height:diameter ratios.The growth advantage transformed from diameter to height,enabling seedlings to access more light.Our findings suggest that the regeneration of shade-tolerant species such as P.bournei could be enhanced if a targeted approach to thinning based on stand type was adopted.

Design strategy and comprehensive performance assessment towards Zn anode for alkaline rechargeable batteries

Alkaline Zn-based primary batteries have been commercialized in the past decades.However,their success has not been extended to secondary batteries due to the poor cycle reversibility of Zn anodes.Although some research has been conducted on alkaline Zn anodes,their performance is still far from commercial requirements.A variety of degradation mechanisms,including passivation,dendrites,morphological changes,and hydrogen precipitation,are claimed responsible for the failure of alkaline Zn metal anodes.What’s worse,these constraints always interact with each other,which leads to a single strategy being unable to suppress all the issues.Therefore,a comprehensive evaluation of the positive and negative effects of various strategies on performance is important to promote the commercialization of alkaline Zn batteries.Herein,the recent progress and performance of improvement strategies for Zn anode in alkaline conditions are reviewed systematically.First,the principles and challenges of alkaline Zn anodes are briefly analyzed.Then,various design strategies for alkaline Zn anodes from the perspectives of ion and electron regulation are highlighted.Last,through a comprehensive summary of various performance parameters,the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies are compared and evaluated.On the basis of this assessment,we aim to provide more insights into the anode design of high-performance alkaline rechargeable Zn batteries.

Environmental Impact Assessment of Onshore Wind Farms in the Region of Central Greece Using a Modified RIAM Method

Wind energy is one of the most basic forms of renewable energy,which shows an increasing rate of development worldwide and also at the European level.However,this rapid deployment of wind farms makes the need for an impact assessment of this type of projects on the natural and man-made environment imperative.The present paper aims to identify and assess the environmental impacts of wind farm projects in the Region of Central Greece.A modified Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix(RIAM)method is used for this purpose.The methodology includes the identification of the existing onshore wind farm projects in the study area,the appropriate modifications of the RIAM method to respond to the characteristics of the projects and the study area,the qualitative assessment of their potential impacts during construction and operational phases and the computation of the Environmental Performance Grade(EPG)of projects based on the pro-posed modified RIAM method.The results reveal that although there are some slight negative impacts on the natural environment of the study area,the examined wind farms contribute positively both to the atmosphere and to the socio-economic environment of the study.This study extends the potential for using RIAM as a tool in environmental impact assessment studies of renewable energy projects.

Target acquisition performance in the presence of JPEG image compression

This paper presents an investigation on the effect of JPEG compression on the similarity between the target image and the background,where the similarity is further used to determine the degree of clutter in the image.Four new clutter metrics based on image quality assessment are introduced,among which the Haar wavelet-based perceptual similarity index,known as HaarPSI,provides the best target acquisition prediction results.It is shown that the similarity between the target and the background at the boundary between visually lossless and visually lossy compression does not change significantly compared to the case when an uncompressed image is used.In future work,through subjective tests,it is necessary to check whether this presence of compression at the threshold of just noticeable differences will affect the human target acquisition performance.Similarity values are compared with the results of subjective tests of the well-known target Search_2 database,where the degree of agreement between objective and subjective scores,measured through linear correlation,reached a value of 90%.

A climatic environmental performance assessment method for ecological city construction:Application to Beijing Yanqi Lake

In contrast to the input perspective for evaluating planning metrics, this research takes the climatic environmental output effects as the starting point for assessing ecological city construction. Based on approaches such as observation data analysis, meteorological model simulation, and remote sensing, a set of climatic environmental performance assessment methods is developed and established. These methods mainly focus on surface ventilation assessment and urban thermal environment assessment. With the Yanqi Lake ecological development demonstration area located in Huairou district, Beijing as an example, the assessment of the local climatic environment before and after the construction are conducted, and relevant policy suggestions for urban planning and construction are presented. The results show that after development, the ventilation capacity will decrease overall and the ventilation potential index will decrease from 0.53 to 0.44. While this is not a large reduction, and is still at a favorable level, the ventilation potential in some local areas will markedly decrease. Furthermore, the thermal environment will become poorer to some extent; the urban heat island(UHI) area and intensity will increase compared with the current situation;continuous heat islands may occur in local areas; the UHI potential index of the core area will rise from 0.0878 to 0.1217(still a favorable level).Therefore, urban surfaces should be carefully developed and arranged during planning. It is suggested that the negative impacts of large areas of urban construction on the local climatic environment in the Yanqi Lake could be mitigated by 1) strengthening the airflow by introducing fresh,cold, northwesterly air via constructed ventilation corridors, 2) increasing the number of ecological cold sources, particularly for water bodies and green belts to prevent the UHI in the southern region of Yanqi Lake from becoming linked with each other, and 3) considering a pre-program before sub-domain and building planning to obtain optimum building locations. Different construction standards should be developed for different ventilation potential and UHI intensity levels. For strong heat island areas, land areas should be reserved to serve as cold sources.

Environmental Assessment and Dielectric Performances of the Secondary Electrical Insulation in Low Voltage Motors Impregnated by Different Techniques

A recent technique, using to potentially replace the conventional impregnating one in low voltage electric motors, has been studied in this communication. The conventional technique that uses?both primary and secondary insulations;?i.e.: enamel and varnish, has been compared to this recent technique which only uses one component,?i.e.: self-bonding wires. Self-bonding wires polymerization is very quick compared to that of the conventional technique. Environmental impact and both dielectric and mechanical properties of these two techniques have been estimated and compared. The goal is to estimate if this recent technique has not only a better environmental footprint but also good technical properties. The dielectric properties that have been measured are the dielectric strength and?the lifetime under pulse?voltage while mechanical consists in measuring the bonding strength that is crucial for impregnation.?For that purpose, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that can simultaneously evaluatenumerous impacts on ground, water and air,?has been performed. The results show clearly that the recent technique significantly reduces the environmental footprint. Both mechanical and dielectric properties are then compared and analyzed.

Enhancing Learners’Performance in Grade 7 Mathematics Through 50-30-20 Exercise

Assessment exercises constitute a crucial component of the teaching and learning process,serving the purpose of gauging the degree to which learning objectives have been accomplished.This study aims to assess the mathematics performance of Grade 7 learners using the 50-30-20 exercise.Specifically,this study seeks to determine the learners’pre-test and post-test mean scores,identify significant differences between the pre-test and post-test results,evaluate learners’exercises,and propose enhanced exercises.The research employs a quasi-experimental design,with 40 Grade 7 learners in the school year 2023-2024 as participants,selected through purposive non-random sampling.Statistical data analysis involves the use of mean,standard deviation,paired t-test,and Cohen’s D effect size.Ethical considerations were paramount,as evidenced by a letter of authorization from the school head outlining the strict adherence to voluntary participation,informed parental consent,anonymity,confidentiality,risk mitigation,results-sharing protocols,and the commitment to keeping research data confidential.The data yielded a remarkable outcome:the experimental group exhibited improvement in both the pre-test and post-test.This result substantiates the initial objective of the study,showcasing a noteworthy and favorable performance among the participants.Consequently,it suggests that a majority of the participants strongly agree that the 50-30-20 exercises contribute to enhancing their understanding and problem-solving skills,as well as their ability to grasp mathematical concepts and improve their overall performance in mathematics.Therefore,the 50-30-20 exercises not only facilitated students in understanding mathematics lessons but were also aligned with the Department of Education’s development plan.

A Simulation Model for Road and Maritime Environmental Performance Assessment

The White Paper published in 2011, Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area [1], urges on a 30% modal shift of road freight over 300 km to other modes (rail, maritime and inland waterways) by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050. However the environmentally friendly performance of maritime transport regarding air pollutant emissions in comparison with road transport is in doubt. This paper presents a three dimension simulation model, in which performed transport work, arisen emissions and produced impact are estimated and inter-related for the assessment of the environmental performance of both road and maritime transport. The simulation model will be a valuable decision making tool for policymakers as it enables the precise assessment of considered transport alternatives in the EU27 until 2020, and hence supports the design of future intervening actions.

Assessment of bearing performance degradation via extension and EEMD combined approach

As a key component in rotating machinery, the operating reliability of bearing influences the performance and service life of the equipment directly. In order to describe bearing performance degradation(BPD) process effectively, an assessment approach combining extension and ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD) was proposed. First, the extension was utilized to construct the matter-element of bearing operating state, and the energy moment of intrinsic mode functions(IMFs) was used as characteristic parameter of the matter-element. Then, to determine classical domains of characteristic parameters, the mathematical statistics method was adopted. Finally, the BPD was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively according to the comprehensive correlation degree of bearing current operating state related to its healthy state. The analytic results of bearing test-rig show that the proposed method indicates the incipient fault approximately occurring in the 81 st hour, and the method also quantitatively presents the degree of BPD. By contrast, the BPD assessment based on time-domain features extraction method could not achieve the above two results effectively.

Leveraging core capabilities and environmental dynamism for food traceability and firm performance in a food supply chain: A moderated mediation model

This paper develops a moderated mediation model in which the interactive effects of food traceability and environmental dynamism on firm performance are mediated by the core capabilities(operating capabilities and marketing capabilities)in food supply chain context, by invoking the indirect view of organizational learning theory. Our hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping methods with a sample of 216 food manufacturing firms in China, and a survey-based, two-informant design was used to collect data. The results revealed that operating and marketing capabilities fully mediate the food traceability-performance link. In addition, environmental dynamism positively moderates the food traceability-core capabilities link. Moreover, it is found that operating and marketing capabilities transform the interactive impacts of environmental dynamism and food traceability into firm performance. Our study offers a fine-grained picture of the essential food traceability-performance link by revealing for the first time that there is an interactive impacts of food traceability and environmental dynamism on firm performance via core capabilities.

High resolution radar target adaptive detector and performance assessment

The high resolution radar target detection is addressed in the non-Gaussian clutter. An adaptive detector is derived for range-spread target based on a novel covariance matrix estimator. It is proved that the new detector is constant false alarm rate （CFAR） to both of the clutter covariance matrix structure and power level theoretically for match cases. The simulation results show that the new detector is almost CFAR for mismatch cases, and it outperforms the existing adaptive detector based on the sample covariance matrix. It also shows that the detection performance improves, as the number of pulses, the number of secondary data or the clutter spike increases. In addition, the derived detector is robust to different subsets, estimated clutter group sizes and correlations of clutter. Importantly, the number of iterations for practical application is just one.

Eco-city Planning and Practices from the Perspective of Environmental Performance Evaluation

By reviewing researches on environmental performance evaluation of current eco-city construction, this paper analyzed characteristics and deficiencies of the evaluation methods and index systems, and took Haizhu Eco-city for example to assess the environmental performance of eco-city construction from the perspectives of land, water environment, regional weather, and biodiversity. On this basis, a scientific, objective and feasible evaluation method and index system was basically formed so as to demonstrate the efficiency of eco-city construction, and to provide scientific support for the dynamic adjustment and optimization of eco-city construction.

Research on Comprehensive Performance Assessment for WSN Based on ANP with Equilibrium Variable Weight and Cloud Gravity Center

The index system of comprehensive performance assessment for WSN is established firstly according to the requirement of Smart Grid application, and ANP is adopted to determine the constant weight of index. Then the equilibrium variable weight is used to adjust the constant weight under extreme case. Moreover, the section division of comment grade for qualitative index is treated by the numerical characteristics of cloud model. Finally the cloud gravity center is used to calculate the weight deviation degree presenting the final evaluation result. The method proposed fully considers the interaction among indices and guarantees randomness and fuzziness in evaluation process. The reliability and efficiency of the method is demonstrated by the assessment of actual WSN examples.

Performance Assessment of a PID Controller

Performance assessment of a proportional-integral-derivative （PID） controller is condueted using the PIDachievable minimum variance as a benchmark. When the process model is unknown, we can estimate the PID-achievable minimum variance and the corresponding parameters by routine closed-loop operation data. Simulation results show that the process output variance is reduced by retuning controller parameters.

Application of a Novel Method for Machine Performance Degradation Assessment Based on Gaussian Mixture Model and Logistic Regression

The currently prevalent machine performance degradation assessment techniques involve estimating a machine＇s current condition based upon the recognition of indications of failure features,which entail complete data collected in different conditions.However,failure data are always hard to acquire,thus making those techniques hard to be applied.In this paper,a novel method which does not need failure history data is introduced.Wavelet packet decomposition（WPD） is used to extract features from raw signals,principal component analysis（PCA） is utilized to reduce feature dimensions,and Gaussian mixture model（GMM） is then applied to approximate the feature space distributions.Single-channel confidence value（SCV） is calculated by the overlap between GMM of the monitoring condition and that of the normal condition,which can indicate the performance of single-channel.Furthermore,multi-channel confidence value（MCV）,which can be deemed as the overall performance index of multi-channel,is calculated via logistic regression（LR） and that the task of decision-level sensor fusion is also completed.Both SCV and MCV can serve as the basis on which proactive maintenance measures can be taken,thus preventing machine breakdown.The method has been adopted to assess the performance of the turbine of a centrifugal compressor in a factory of Petro-China,and the result shows that it can effectively complete this task.The proposed method has engineering significance for machine performance degradation assessment.

Multivariable Control Performance Assessment Based on Generalized Minimum Variance Benchmark

This paper is concerned with the control performance assessment based on the multivariable generalized minimum variance benchmark.An explicit expression for the feedback controller-invariant(the generalized minimum variance)term of the multivariable control system is obtained,which is used as a standard benchmark for the assessment of the control performance for multi input multi output(MIMO)process.The proposed approach is based on the multivariable minimum variance benchmark.In comparison with the minimum variance benchmark, the developed method is more reasonable and practical for the control performance assessment of multivariable systems.The approach is illustrated by a simulation example and an industrial application.

Simplified seismic performance assessment and implications for seismic design

The last decade or so has seen the development of refined performance-based earthquake engineering(PBEE) approaches that now provide a framework for estimation of a range of important decision variables,such as repair costs,repair time and number of casualties. This paper reviews current tools for PBEE,including the PACT software,and examines the possibility of extending the innovative displacement-based assessment approach as a simplified structural analysis option for performance assessment. Details of the displacement-based s+eismic assessment method are reviewed and a simple means of quickly assessing multiple hazard levels is proposed. Furthermore,proposals for a simple definition of collapse fragility and relations between equivalent single-degree-of-freedom characteristics and multi-degree-of-freedom story drift and floor acceleration demands are discussed,highlighting needs for future research. To illustrate the potential of the methodology,performance measures obtained from the simplified method are compared with those computed using the results of incremental dynamic analyses within the PEER performance-based earthquake engineering framework,applied to a benchmark building. The comparison illustrates that the simplified method could be a very effective conceptual seismic design tool. The advantages and disadvantages of the simplified approach are discussed and potential implications of advanced seismic performance assessments for conceptual seismic design are highlighted through examination of different case study scenarios including different structural configurations.