FRI0524 THE ACR’S RHEUMATOLOGY INFORMATICS SYSTEM FOR EFFECTIVENESS (RISE) REGISTRY SUPPORTS SMALL RHEUMATOLOGY PRACTICES FOR FEDERAL QUALITY REPORTING PROGRAM

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 861-862
Author(s):  
Z. Izadi ◽  
T. Johansson ◽  
J. LI ◽  
G. Schmajuk ◽  
J. Yazdany
Keyword(s):  
Quality Measures ◽  
Quality Reporting ◽  
Practice Characteristics ◽  
Informatics System ◽  
Group Practices ◽  
Status Assessment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Reporting Programs

Background:The Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry was developed by the ACR to help rheumatologists improve quality of care and meet federal reporting requirements. In the current quality program administered by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, rheumatologists are scored on quality measures, and performance is tied to financial incentives or penalties. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific quality measures can only be submitted through RISE to federal programs.Objectives:This study used data from the RISE registry to investigate rheumatologists’ federal reporting patterns on five RA-specific quality measures in 2018 and investigated the effect of practice characteristics on federal reporting of these measures.Methods:We analyzed data on all rheumatologists who continuously participated in RISE between Jan 2017 to Dec 2018 and who had patients eligible for at least one RA-specific measure. Five measures were examined: tuberculosis screening before biologic use, disease activity assessment, functional status assessment, assessment and classification of disease prognosis, and glucocorticoid management. We assessed whether or not rheumatologists reported specific quality measures via RISE. We investigated the effect of practice characteristics (practice structure; number of providers; geographic region) on the likelihood of reporting using adjusted analyses that controlled for measure performance (performance in 2018; change in performance from 2017; and performance relative to national average performance). Analyses accounted for clustering by practice.Results:Data from 799 providers from 207 practices managing 213,757 RA patients was examined. The most common practice structure was a single-specialty group practice (53%), followed by solo (28%) and multi-specialty group practice (12%). Most providers (73%) had patients eligible for all five RA quality measures. Federal reporting of quality measures through RISE varied significantly by provider, ranging from no reporting (60%) to reporting all eligible RA measures (12.2%). Reporting through RISE also varied significantly by quality measure and was highest for functional status assessment (36%) and lowest for assessment and classification of disease prognosis (20%). Small practices (1-4 providers) were more likely to report all eligible RA quality measures compared to larger practices (21%, 6%; p<0.001). In adjusted analyses, solo practices were more likely than single-specialty group practices to report RA measures (42%, 31%; p<0.027) while multispecialty group practices were less likely (18%, 31%; p<0.001). Additionally, higher performance in 2018 and performance ≥ the national average performance was associated with federal reporting of the measures through RISE (p≤0.004).Conclusion:Forty percent of U.S. rheumatologists participating in RISE used the registry for federal quality reporting. Physicians using RISE for reporting were disproportionately in small and solo practices, suggesting that the registry is fulfilling an important role in helping these practices participate in national quality reporting programs. Supporting small practices is especially important given the workforce shortages in rheumatology. We observed that practices reporting through RISE had higher measure performance than other participating practices, which suggests that the registry is facilitating quality improvement. Studies are ongoing to further investigate the impact of federal quality reporting programs and RISE participation on the quality of rheumatologic care in the United States.Disclaimer: This data was supported by the ACR’s RISE Registry. However, the views expressed represent those of the authors, not necessarily those of the ACR.Disclosure of Interests:Zara Izadi: None declared, Tracy Johansson: None declared, Jing Li: None declared, Gabriela Schmajuk Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Jinoos Yazdany Grant/research support from: Pfizer

Geometry and visual realism of ship models for digital ship bridge simulators

2016 ◽  
Vol 231 (1) ◽  
pp. 329-341
Author(s):  
Jose Miguel Varela ◽  
C. Guedes Soares
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ocean Engineering ◽  
Modelling Techniques ◽  
Marine Technology ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Visual Realism ◽  
The University

This article addresses the main requirements and the process of creating the geometry of ship models that fulfil the highly demanding request for realism and performance of the virtual environments currently used in modern ship bridge simulators. It starts with a classification of the ships based on their role in the simulation and on the type of simulator used, and defines the main characteristics of the models. It also discusses the importance of a well-defined workflow and its impact on the modelling time and on the quality of the final product. The article provides contributions in the following areas: identification of the main requirements of polygonal models of ships for ship simulators; effective workflow for ship three-dimensional modelling and identification of most suitable modelling techniques for efficient creation of ship models. The study is supported by real examples of three-dimensional modelling of ships with different sizes and characteristics currently used by the ship manoeuvring simulator in the Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering of the University of Lisbon.

scholarly journals An attribute-based classification by threshold to enhance the data matching process

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Del Pilar Angeles ◽  
Carlos G. Ortiz Monreal
Keyword(s):  
Unsupervised Classification ◽  
Classification Methods ◽  
New Classification ◽  
Data Matching ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Disparate Data ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Business Competitiveness

The problem of detection and classification of extensional inconsistencies during data integration of disparate data sources affects business competitiveness. A number of classification methods have been utilized until now, but there still some work to do in terms of effectiveness and performance. The paper shows the proposal, implementation, and evaluation of a new classification algorithm called Attribute-based Classification by Threshold that overcomes the disadvantages of the Threshold-based Classification. We have carried aout an evaluation of quality of the data matching process by comparing Threshold-based Classification, Farthest First and K-means against the proposed algorithm. The Attribute-based Classification by Threshold has a better performance than the rest of the unsupervised classification methods.

scholarly journals Usability and Performance Analysis of E-Commerce Websites

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Daljit Kaur ◽  
Harpreet Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Research Work ◽  
Quality Measures ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Relative Priority ◽  
Online Tool ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Online Business ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Behavior

Online business or trade has become the buzz word in today’s Internet dominant era. The concept of using e-commerce sites for shopping the daily items and other goods have become also popular in the developing countries like India. The experience of users and study of their behaviour on e-commerce websites helps in determining the usability of these websites, which is acknowledged as a key factor for assessing the quality of any website. These quality measures along with performance measures are collected and compared for 28 e-commerce websites using two different approaches. The relative priority and preferences of the features and ease are investigated through a survey in this paper. Further, using GTmetrix-an online tool, speed tests and other parameters are garnered to analyze their performance. This research work is carried out with the objective to compare and analyze the performance of popular e-commerce websites and also to study its relationship with user preferences and behavior on these websites which can further guide the website developers and entrepreneurs in improving the performance and satisfying the customers.

scholarly journals The National Neurosurgery Quality and Outcomes Database Qualified Clinical Data Registry: 2015 measure specifications and rationale

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. E4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott L. Parker ◽  
Matthew J. McGirt ◽  
Kimon Bekelis ◽  
Christopher M. Holland ◽  
Jason Davies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Data ◽  
Health Care Quality ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
Quality Measures ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
Quality Reporting ◽  
Data Registry ◽  
National Quality ◽  
Quality And Outcomes ◽  
Reporting Programs

Meaningful quality measurement and public reporting have the potential to facilitate targeted outcome improvement, practice-based learning, shared decision making, and effective resource utilization. Recent developments in national quality reporting programs, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) reporting option, have enhanced the ability of specialty groups to develop relevant quality measures of the care they deliver. QCDRs will complete the collection and submission of Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) quality measures data on behalf of individual eligible professionals. The National Neurosurgery Quality and Outcomes Database (N2QOD) offers 21 non-PQRS measures, initially focused on spine procedures, which are the first specialty-specific measures for neurosurgery. Securing QCDR status for N2QOD is a tremendously important accomplishment for our specialty. This program will ensure that data collected through our registries and used for PQRS is meaningful for neurosurgeons, related spine care practitioners, their patients, and other stakeholders. The 2015 N2QOD QCDR is further evidence of neurosurgery’s commitment to substantively advancing the health care quality paradigm. The following manuscript outlines the measures now approved for use in the 2015 N2QOD QCDR. Measure specifications (measure type and descriptions, related measures, if any, as well as relevant National Quality Strategy domain[s]) along with rationale are provided for each measure.

scholarly journals Acompanhamento do Desempenho das Atribuições de Tutores a Distância: Método e Ferramenta

EAD em FOCO ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Henrique Leitão Cavalcante ◽  
Verônica Lima Pimentel De Sousa ◽  
Paulo Benicio Melo De Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Definition Of

Entre os diversos papéis dos atores da Educação a Distância, destaca-se o papel desempenhado pelo tutor a distância, responsável por realizar o acompanhamento acadêmico, por reforçar o conteúdo e tirar dúvidas dos alunos na disciplina. Dessa forma, é de grande importância para a qualidade do ensino a distância o monitoramento, o controle e o acompanhamento de suas atribuições. Esse trabalho de supervisão da tutoria é necessário, pois visa corrigir problemas inerentes ao papel dos tutores, evitando prejuízos ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem nos cursos a distância. O estudo apresentado foi aplicado em 81 tutorias de um curso do programa UAB em uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES). Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa possibilitou a classificação das atribuições de um tutor a distância, a delimitação de quais atribuições seriam monitoradas e um processo de definição de premissas e métricas de desempenho para cada uma dessas atribuições. Esse processo serviu de base para a criação de um mecanismo computacional, denominado MDTMoodle, que proporcionou a visualização do desempenho dos tutores a distância através de semáforos.Palavras-chaves: Educação a distância; Tutoria a distância; Acompanhamento de tutoria.  Monitoring the Efficiency on Distance Tutors Roles: a Method and a Tool Abstract Among the various roles of the actors in Distance Learning, it is worth highlighting the role played by the tutor, who is responsible for performing academic monitoring, enhancing content, and taking questions from students on the subject matter. Therefore, monitoring, control, and accompaniment of tutors are very important for the quality of distance education. These will correct the problems, avoiding losses in the teaching and learning process. This work has been applied on 81 tutored online courses of a Higher Education Institution.   In this context, the research has enabled a classification of the tutor's assignments, the boundaries of which ones would be monitored, and the definition of assumptions and performance metrics for each of the assignments. This process formed the basis for the creation of a computational tool, called MDTMoodle, which provided the visualization of distance tutors' performances, using the concepts of traffic lights.Keywords:  Distance learning; Distance tutoring; Tutor monitoring.

The quality and implementation of local plans: An integrated evaluation

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 880-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie C Rudolf ◽  
Simona R Grădinaru
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Plan Quality ◽  
Plan Implementation ◽  
Municipal Planning ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Flexible Framework ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Different Characteristics

Local plans are key components of municipal planning and scholars have developed methodologies to evaluate them. However, the purpose and use of local plans may vary, making their evaluation challenging, especially in comparative studies. In this context, existing evaluation methodologies that target local plans do not always account for the purpose of plans when evaluating their quality. Moreover, it is still unclear whether high-quality plans are better implemented than plans of lower quality. In this paper, we propose an integrated evaluation approach that links plan quality to implementation. To assess plan quality, we developed a flexible framework that accounts for the fact that local plans may present different characteristics according to their purpose. The framework rests on the analysis of the communication- and action-oriented dimensions of plans, and a system of coordinates that enables the classification of plans into four types (i.e. visions, blueprints, communicative policy acts, and basic plans) according to the score on each dimension. Plan implementation, assessed as conformance and performance, is determined based on the perception of local planners. Our approach and framework are applied to a set of 37 Swiss local plans. The approach is presented in a transparent way and requires basic numeracy skills, making it accessible to scholars and planning practitioners. Findings may be used to guide municipalities towards enhancing the quality of plans and identify best practices.

Dynamics of the processes in metal machining

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 115-122
Author(s):  
Donatas Švitra ◽  
Jolanta Janutėnienė
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Machine Tools ◽  
Metal Cutting ◽  
Cutting Tool ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Metal Cutting Machine ◽  
Cutting Machine ◽  
Metal Machining

In the practice of processing of metals by cutting it is necessary to overcome the vibration of the cutting tool, the processed detail and units of the machine tool. These vibrations in many cases are an obstacle to increase the productivity and quality of treatment of details on metal-cutting machine tools. Vibration at cutting of metals is a very diverse phenomenon due to both it’s nature and the form of oscillatory motion. The most general classification of vibrations at cutting is a division them into forced vibration and autovibrations. The most difficult to remove and poorly investigated are the autovibrations, i.e. vibrations arising at the absence of external periodic forces. The autovibrations, stipulated by the process of cutting on metalcutting machine are of two types: the low-frequency autovibrations and high-frequency autovibrations. When the low-frequency autovibration there appear, the cutting process ought to be terminated and the cause of the vibrations eliminated. Otherwise, there is a danger of a break of both machine and tool. In the case of high-frequency vibration the machine operates apparently quiently, but the processed surface feature small-sized roughness. The frequency of autovibrations can reach 5000 Hz and more.

Paepalanthus fabianeae (Eriocaulaceae): A New Microendemic Species from a Morphologically Coherent Clade

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 794-801
Author(s):  
Caroline Oliveira Andrino ◽  
Marcelo Fragomeni Simon ◽  
Jair Eustáquio Quintino Faria ◽  
André Luiz da Costa Moreira ◽  
Paulo Takeo Sano
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Infrageneric Classification ◽  
Espinhaço Range ◽  
Nuclear Its ◽  
Two Populations

Abstract—We describe and illustrate Paepalanthus fabianeae, a new species of Eriocaulaceae from the central portion of the Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Previous phylogenetic evidence based on analyses of nuclear (ITS and ETS) and plastid (trnL-trnF and psba-trnH) sequences revealed P. fabianeae as belonging to a strongly supported and morphologically coherent clade containing five other species, all of them microendemic, restricted to the Espinhaço range. Due to the infrageneric classification of Paepalanthus being highly artificial, we preferred not assigning P. fabianeae to any infrageneric group. Paepalanthus fabianeae is known from two populations growing in campos rupestres (highland rocky fields) in the meridional Espinhaço Range. The species is characterized by pseudodichotomously branched stems, small, linear, recurved, and reflexed leaves, urceolate capitula, and bifid stigmas. Illustrations, photos, the phylogenetic position, and a detailed description, as well as comments on habitat, morphology, and affinities with similar species are provided. The restricted area of occurrence allied with threats to the quality of the habitat, mainly due to quartzite mining, justifies the preliminary classification of the new species in the Critically Endangered (CR) category using the guidelines and criteria of the IUCN Red List.

LIGHTING AND PERFORMANCE: AN ANALYSIS ON LIGHTING EFFICIENCY OF ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Fazidah Hanim Husain
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Level Measurement ◽  
Acceptable Range ◽  
Creative Learning ◽  
Illuminance Level ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Effect Of Light

Lighting is one of the key elements in any space and building infrastructure. Good design for an area in the building requires sufficient light that contributes to the efficiency of the activities. The correct method allows natural light to transmit, reduce heat and glare in providing a conducive learning environment. Light plays a significant influence to the quality of space and contributes focus of the students in an architecture studio. Previous research has shown that the effect of light also controlled emotions, behavior, and mood of the students. The operations of artificial lighting that have been used most of the time in an architecture studio during day and night may create lavishness and inadequacy at the same time. Therefore, this paper focuses on the identifying the quality of light for the architecture studio in UiTM (Perak), to instill a creative learning environment. Several methodologies adopted in this study such as illuminance level measurement using lux meter (LM-8100), and a questionnaire survey in gauging the lighting comfort level from students’ perspective. The study revealed that the illuminance level in the architecture studio is insufficient and not in the acceptable range stated in the Malaysian: Standards 1525:2007 and  not evenly distributed.  The study also concluded that the current studio environment is not condusive and appears monotonous. 

Strategic threats to energy security as risks of quality of people's life

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 730-744
Author(s):  
V.I. Loktionov
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Economic Well Being ◽  
The Way

Subject. The article reviews the way strategic threats to energy security influence the quality of people's life. Objectives. The study unfolds the theory of analyzing strategic threats to energy security by covering the matter of quality of people's life. Methods. To analyze the way strategic threats to energy security spread across cross-sectoral commodity and production chains and influences quality of people's living, I applied the factor analysis and general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis. Results. I suggest interpreting strategic threats to energy security as risks of people's quality of life due to a reduction in the volume of energy supply. I identified mechanisms reflecting how the fuel and energy complex and its development influence the quality of people's life. The article sets out the method to assess such quality-of-life risks arising from strategic threats to energy security. Conclusions and Relevance. In the current geopolitical situation, strategic threats to energy security cause long-standing adverse consequences for the quality of people's life. If strategic threats to energy security are further construed as risk of quality of people's life, this will facilitate the preparation and performance of a more effective governmental policy on energy, which will subsequently raise the economic well-being of people.

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