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Rationale Aims and Objectives Method Results Conclusion HIV incidence has decreased in England by over a third since 2019. Despite the early success of HIV Pre‐Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in reducing HIV transmission in the United Kingdom, many people who could benefit from HIV PrEP do not yet know about it, or know how to access it.This paper presents the findings of the first England‐wide national peer‐to‐peer based diffusion model to disseminate information about PrEP. Ask Me About PrEP (AMAP) was a 5‐month pilot programme which commenced in November 2021. Volunteer mobilisers were encouraged to use their existing knowledge of their communities and geographical areas to assist them in discussing PrEP with their peers.12 enrolled mobilisers took part in three project evaluation focus groups between November 2021 and March 2022, and five AMAP project staff took part in one focus group in March 2022. Additionally, descriptive statistical analysis explored volunteer mobiliser recruitment to the AMAP project, demographical data of project staff and volunteer mobilisers, volunteer mobiliser attrition rates, and the project's impact.96 volunteers enrolled, completed training and volunteered as mobilisers. Thoroughout the project, mobilisers engaged their peers in 11,889 conversations about PrEP through individual conversations, online group conversations, online workplace educational events, and social media. The focus groups enabled key stakeholders to reflect on their experiences of the pilot programme. Four key themes were identified during the focus groups: motivations to mobilise and recruitment experiences; training, learning, and materials; mobilisation activity; and support and social networking.Our evaluation demonstrates that peer‐to‐peer diffusion models used to increase awareness of HIV PrEP in key unreached groups, offer an acceptable public health intervention model for volunteers and project staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the efficacy of a freely available arts-based intervention used to tackle Child Criminal Exploitation. A digital, interactive story (Cold Chips & Money) was used in school and youth settings in Hampshire, England with 1,451 young people aged 11–13 in 2021 as part of a project of the same name. Its use has continued since. I was and continue to be the Project Lead and oversaw the development of the story, the supporting resources and the evaluation framework. I worked with a project facilitator and evaluator throughout. Cold Chips & Money was designed to help students understand, recognise and manage external influence and pressure. The story and supporting resources which included a lesson plan and access to the project evaluation lead, enable professionals to have conversations with young people about how they can keep themselves safe, as well as how they can support one another to resist unwanted attention that might lead to exploitation. The resources relate directly to the PSHE Association Key Stage 3 Core Theme Relationships: Social Influence section R42–47. The development and use of the resources was planned to complement multi-agency work on Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines and had input from multiple professionals. Project evaluation evidenced a significant increase in awareness of county lines, and the issues surrounding it. Teachers stated that the interactive storytelling format was effective at and provided the opportunity to facilitate in-depth dialogue around the cause and effect of the decisions we make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroindustrial projects developed by agroindustrial collective actions play a relevant social and economic role. However, cases of failure are frequent. This work proposes a model for the evaluation and selection of projects developed by cooperatives and rural associations, considering their particularities. The method is based on a conceptual framework developed after a literature review, later validated by a panel of experts. The model was applied to six real projects located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The results confirmed the technical feasibility of applying the method, allowing an ex ante and accurate prediction of which projects would have the greatest chance of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of any project depends on the stakeholder participation. There are many methods by which stakeholder participation is ensured in a project. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is an approach that is used by many development projects to incorporate knowledge and opinions of the stakeholders, especially the beneficiaries, in various stages like planning, implementation, and evaluation. This paper documents a PRA exercise done by trained social work students to evaluate a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects implemented in India. Apart from highlighting the process of conducting PRA, this paper sheds light on the possibility of using participatory methods like PRA to assess CSR projects in India, which ensures the inclusion of the perception of beneficiaries. The research adopted a case study approach, and the participants were the beneficiaries of CSR projects in the community. Qualitative feedback was also taken from 20 participants to understand the advantages of using participatory tools in the performance evaluation of CSR. The group discussions, in-depth interviews and PRA techniques were adopted to gather data. The findings underline the relevance of social work professionals in CSR initiatives and also the role of PRA in empowering the beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective project management is crucial for the successful completion of construction projects, including the construction of a dormitory at SMA Muhammadiyah 3 Tulangan. Challenges such as design changes, adverse weather conditions, and limited labor resources impact the project's progress. The Earned Value Method is used to monitor project performance by analyzing indicators like BCWS, BCWP, ACWP, SV, CV, SPI, and CPI. This analysis shows that the project initially experienced delays and exceeded budget costs, but the situation improved significantly over time. Despite weekly variations in costs, the project remained on a financially manageable track. The conclusion from this analysis is that while the project faced time delays, cost performance remained under control. Recommendations for improvement include more thorough planning, better resource management, and quicker responses to changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuzzy, intuitionistic, and neutrosophic sets are the primary focus of the review investigation under the extension concepts. The significance and use of triangular shape for data representation are investigated. For modelling and expressing ambiguous or complex data, the triangle shape is a useful tool due to its simplicity and computational efficiency. Further study involves the tool of the operations research technique i.e., Network Analysis that helps in implementing and developing using the fuzzy extension principle. Critical Path Method (CPM) & Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) plays a major part in the field of network in various decision-making scenarios using the real-life applications. In this comprehensive study, the insights of understanding extended fuzzy using the CPM/PERT under various applications are reviewed and analyzed for the future advancements in making more accurate and optimum results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a group of rapidly growing technology-based entrepreneurial enterprises have emerged in China, playing an increasingly important role in the national economy. However, small and mediumsized technology startups have low profitability and high risk, making it difficult to obtain sufficient funds from traditional financing channels. At present, research on venture capital evaluation mainly focuses on the evaluation of projects before venture capital, and empirical methods are mostly used to study the promoting effect of venture capital on performance after investment, ignoring the issue of continuous evaluation after investment. The performance evaluation of risk investment in small and medium-sized high-technology venture enterprises is MADM. In such study, the generalized weighted geometric Bonferroni mean (GWGBM) technique is illustrated for MADM under single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs). We begin by constructing the single-valued neutrosophic number GWGBM (SVNNGWGBM) operator, followed by the introduction of the MADM based on this technique. Subsequently, we provide an illustrative example that evaluates the performance of risk investment in small and medium-sized high-technology venture enterprises, supplemented by some comparative analyses to demonstrate the SVNNGWGBM technique. The principal contributions of this research are highlighted: (1) The maximizing deviation method is employed to derive the weight; (2)The GSVNNWBM technique is developed, setting the stage for the introduction of MADM methods based on GSVNNWBM technique; (3) Numerical example is presented that focuses on the performance evaluation of risk investment in small and medium-sized high-technology venture enterprises, along with a comparative decision analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel methodology for estimating metallurgical copper recovery, a critical feature in mining project evaluations. The complexity of modeling this nonadditive variable using geostatistical methods due to low sampling density, strong heterotopic relationships with other measurements, and nonlinearity is highlighted. As an alternative, a copula-based conditional quantile regression method is proposed, which does not rely on linearity or additivity assumptions and can fit any statistical distribution. The proposed methodology was evaluated using geochemical log data and metallurgical testing from a simulated block model of a porphyry copper deposit. A highly heterotopic sample was prepared for copper recovery, sampled at 10% with respect to other variables. A copula-based nonparametric dependence model was constructed from the sample data using a kernel smoothing method, followed by the application of a conditional quantile regression for the estimation of copper recovery with chalcocite content as secondary variable, which turned out to be the most related. The accuracy of the method was evaluated using the remaining 90% of the data not included in the model. The new methodology was compared to cokriging placed under the same conditions, using performance metrics RMSE, MAE, MAPE, and R2. The results show that the proposed methodology reproduces the spatial variability of the secondary variable without the need for a variogram model and improves all evaluation metrics compared to the geostatistical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrethroid bednets treated with the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO) offer the possibility of improved vector control in mosquito populations with metabolic resistance. In 2017–2019, we conducted a large-scale, cluster-randomised trial (LLINEUP) to evaluate long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) treated with a pyrethroid insecticide plus PBO (PBO LLINs), as compared to conventional, pyrethroid-only LLINs across 104 health sub-districts (HSDs) in Uganda. In LLINEUP, and similar trials in Tanzania, PBO LLINs were found to provide greater protection against malaria than conventional LLINs, reducing parasitaemia and vector density. In the LLINEUP trial, we conducted cross-sectional household entomological surveys at baseline and then every 6 months for two years, which we use here to investigate longitudinal changes in mosquito infection rate and genetic markers of resistance. Overall, 5395 female Anopheles mosquitoes were collected from 5046 households. The proportion of mosquitoes infected (PCR-positive) with Plasmodium falciparum did not change significantly over time, while infection with non-falciparum malaria decreased in An. gambiae s.s., but not An. funestus. The frequency of genetic markers associated with pyrethroid resistance increased significantly over time, but the rate of change was not different between the two LLIN types. The knock-down resistance (kdr) mutation Vgsc-995S declined over time as Vgsc-995F, the alternative resistance mutation at this codon, increased. Vgsc-995F appears to be spreading into Uganda. Distribution of LLINs in Uganda was previously found to be associated with reductions in parasite prevalence and vector density, but here we show that the proportion of infective mosquitoes remained stable across both PBO and non-PBO LLINs, suggesting that the potential for transmission persisted. The increased frequency of markers of pyrethroid resistance indicates that LLIN distribution favoured the evolution of resistance within local vectors and highlights the potential benefits of resistance management strategies. Trial registration: This study is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN17516395. Registered 14 February 2017, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN17516395. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Well-built housing limits mosquito entry and can reduce malaria transmission. The association between community-level housing and malaria burden in Uganda was assessed using data from randomly selected households near 64 health facilities in 32 districts. Methods: Houses were classified as 'improved' (synthetic walls and roofs, eaves closed or absent) or 'less-improved' (all other construction). Associations between housing and parasitaemia were made using mixed effects logistic regression (individual-level) and multivariable fractional response logistic regression (community-level), and between housing and malaria incidence using multivariable Poisson regression. Results: Between November 2021 and March 2022, 4.893 children aged 2–10 years were enrolled from 3.518 houses; of these, 1.389 (39.5%) were classified as improved. Children living in improved houses had 58% lower odds (adjusted odds ratio = 0.42, 95% CI 0.33–0.53, p < 0.0001) of parasitaemia than children living in less-improved houses. Communities with > 67% of houses improved had a 63% lower parasite prevalence (adjusted prevalence ratio 0.37, 95% CI 0.19–0.70, p < 0.0021) and 60% lower malaria incidence (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.40, 95% CI 0.36–0.44, p < 0.0001) compared to communities with < 39% of houses improved. Conclusions: Improved housing was strongly associated with lower malaria burden across a range of settings in Uganda and should be utilized for malaria control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 360 degree feedback evaluation method is a multidimensional, comprehensive assessment method. Evaluators may hesitate among multiple evaluation values and be simultaneously constrained by the biases and cognitive errors of the evaluators, evaluation results are prone to unfairness and conflicts. To overcome these issues, this paper proposes a consensus-based 360 degree feedback evaluation method with linguistic distribution assessments. Firstly, evaluators provide evaluation information in the form of linguistic distribution. Secondly, utilizing an enhanced ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator, the model aggregates multi-source evaluation information to handle biased evaluation information effectively. Subsequently, a consensus-reaching process is established to coordinate conflicting viewpoints among the evaluators, and a feedback adjustment mechanism is designed to guide evaluators in refining their evaluation information, facilitating the attainment of a unanimous evaluation outcome. Finally, the improved 360 degree feedback evaluation method was applied to the performance evaluation of the project leaders in company J, thereby validating the effectiveness and rationality of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disruptions in malaria control due to COVID-19 mitigation measures were predicted to increase malaria morbidity and mortality in Africa substantially. In Uganda, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are distributed nationwide every 3–4 years, but the 2020–2021 campaign was altered because of COVID-19 restrictions so that the timing of delivery of new nets was different from the original plans made by the National Malaria Control Programme. Methods: A transmission dynamics modelling exercise was conducted to explore how the altered delivery of LLINs in 2020–2021 impacted malaria burden in Uganda. Data were available on the planned LLIN distribution schedule for 2020–2021, and the actual delivery. The transmission model was used to simulate 100 health sub-districts, and parameterized to match understanding of local mosquito bionomics, net use estimates, and seasonal patterns based on data collected in 2017–2019 during a cluster-randomized trial (LLINEUP). Two scenarios were compared; simulated LLIN distributions matching the actual delivery schedule, and a comparable scenario simulating LLIN distributions as originally planned. Model parameters were otherwise matched between simulations. Results: Approximately 70% of the study population received LLINs later than scheduled in 2020–2021, although some areas received LLINs earlier than planned. The model indicates that malaria incidence in 2020 was substantially higher in areas that received LLINs late. In some areas, early distribution of LLINs appeared less effective than the original distribution schedule, possibly due to attrition of LLINs prior to transmission peaks, and waning LLIN efficacy after distribution. On average, the model simulations predicted broadly similar overall mean malaria incidence in 2021 and 2022. After accounting for differences in cluster population size and LLIN distribution dates, no substantial increase in malaria burden was detected. Conclusions: The model results suggest that the disruptions in the 2020–2021 LLIN distribution campaign in Uganda did not substantially increase malaria burden in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the importance of the Research Ethics Committees (CEP) in the context of the Brazilian North Region, formed by the Amazon rainforest, which is occupied by traditional populations and those constituted by migratory currents. This study aims to analyze the bioethical implications arising from the activities of CEPs in the ethical evaluation of research projects and their essential role in protecting vulnerable populations. The authors seek to highlight the importance of ethics committees in the Amazon and their importance face the modern bioethical values that can contribute to the preservation of one of the most valuable and diverse environments on earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Maintaining adherence to CPAP in the long term is a clinical problem, and numerous factors have been identified that impact adherence. Although fully remote diagnostic and CPAP services were frequently utilised during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients with OSA, long-term adherence data have not been published. The aim of this service evaluation project was to describe the long-term adherence to CPAP. We also analysed factors that are associated with it. Methods: two-hundred and eighty patients diagnosed with OSA and set up on CPAP remotely during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as part of routine clinical practice were analysed. Results: One-hundred and seven patients (38%) were fully adherent to CPAP at 24 months, determined by at least 4 h of usage on at least 70% of the days. Of the factors analysed, body mass index, disease severity, driving status and the presence of depression were related to long-term adherence (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: with the likelihood of future pandemics similar to COVID-19, our data provide evidence that fully remote pathways for management of patients with OSA can be designed and be sustainable with good long-term adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding the effectiveness of novel models of care in community-based settings is critical to achieving hepatitis C elimination. We conducted an evaluation of a hepatitis C model of care with financial incentives that aimed to improve engagement across the hepatitis C cascade of care at a sexual health service in Cairns, Australia. Methods: Between March 2020 and May 2021, financial incentives were embedded into an established person-centred hepatitis C model of care at Cairns Sexual Health Service. Clients of the Service who self-reported experiences of injecting drugs were offered an AUD 20 cash incentive for hepatitis C testing, treatment initiation, treatment completion, and test for cure. Descriptive statistics were used to describe retention in hepatitis C care in the incentivised model. They were compared to the standard of care offered in the 11 months prior to intervention. Results: A total of 121 clients received financial incentives for hepatitis C testing (antibody or RNA). Twenty-eight clients were hepatitis C RNA positive, of whom 92% (24/28) commenced treatment, 75% (21/28) completed treatment, and 68% (19/28) achieved a sustained virological response (SVR). There were improvements in the proportion of clients diagnosed with hepatitis C who commenced treatment (86% vs. 75%), completed treatment (75% vs. 40%), and achieved SVR (68% vs. 17%) compared to the pre-intervention comparison period. Conclusions: In this study, financial incentives improved engagement and retention in hepatitis C care for people who inject drugs in a model of care that incorporated a person-centred and flexible approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a customized version of a less-preferred methodology in decision-making processes, i.e., the interval type-2 fuzzy ORESTE (IT2F-ORESTE), is proposed, and its effectiveness for selecting the most viable projects is demonstrated. The findings are evaluated against those of fuzzy TOPSIS, which is among the most preferred methods, to provide evidence that the proposed method achieves comparable and even superior results. To this end, multicriteria decision-making studies conducted between 2016 and 2021 were examined. Subsequently, 30 automotive manufacturing projects were evaluated over seven criteria using the fuzzy TOPSIS and customized IT2F-ORESTE methods. The results revealed that IT2FORESTE assigned the highest ranks to projects with high earning potential, low cost, low number of operations, and high production capacity, whereas fuzzy TOPSIS failed to select the best project. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to utilize this new IT2F-ORESTE method in project evaluation within the automotive industry and demonstrate its superiority over that of conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EPC (Engineering, Procedure, Construction) refers to the implementation of "procurement, construction, and design" for a certain project, which has a very similar meaning to general engineering contracting. The general contracting mode of EPC is that the construction enterprise, as the owner, contracts the construction project to the general contracting enterprise in a direct form. The engineering procurement construction project quality evaluation is looked as the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM). The triangular fuzzy neutrosophic sets (TFNSs) is more suitable for expressing uncertain information during the engineering procurement construction project quality evaluation. Grey relational analysis (GRA) method is a very active branch of grey system theory, whose basic idea is to determine whether the connections between different sequences are close based on the similarity of the geometric shapes of sequence curves. In this paper, the triangular fuzzy neutrosophic number GRA (TFNN-GRA) method is put up under triangular fuzzy neutrosophic sets (TFNSs) with completely unknown weight information. The information entropy is employed to obtain the weight values under TFNSs. Then, commenting GRA method with TFNSs, the TFNN-GRA is designed and the decision steps for MADM are constructed. Finally, a numerical example for engineering procurement construction project quality evaluation was given and some comparative analysis is employed to verify the advantages of TFNN-GRA method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Old urban community renovation is an important task of urban renewal in China. In order to ensure the quality and efficiency of renovation work, the government requires a method to assess the priority for old urban community renovation. This paper proposes an evaluation model from a more comprehensive perspective. It establishes the evaluation index system with CIPP model. The method of Cloud-VIKOR is selected to construct the evaluation model. Finally, selects nine case communities to verify the evaluation model. The results show that the evaluation index system covers the whole process of renovation project and the evaluation indexes proposed in the existing research. The priority decision result of 9 case communities is basically consistent with the actual renovation sequence and does not change greatly due to the fluctuation of decision-making mechanism coefficient or the evaluation index weight. This evaluation model can help decision-makers diagnose and optimize the renovation project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project portfolio selection is a multi-criteria decision-making process that is always accompanied by important decisions with uncertainty. Considering the existence of different data in the field of various projects, the use of data-driven approaches to evaluate and select projects in previous studies has been neglected. To cover this gap, the purpose of this study is to provide a hybrid data-driven framework for selecting investment projects in the telecommunication industry. To do this, first by reviewing the theoretical literature and surveys of experts, project evaluation criteria through sustainability paradigm as well as strategic issues are identified, and then with the best–worst fuzzy approach (FBWM), the weight of each criterion is determined. According to the FBWM findings, the most important criteria identified include initial capital requirements, initial revenue, number of specialists employed, energy consumption reduction, and market share increase. After identifying the important criteria, using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the performance of each project was determined separately for each year. Then, based on project labels specified by DEA, the efficiency of projects is measured and evaluated with a forward-looking view through machine learning algorithms such as random forest and support vector regressors. Results show that both models can predict the project performance appropriately, while the random forest regressor has the highest evaluation metrics in both train and test sets. So, the managers could use these results for more efficient project selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The postoccupancy performance and operation management level of green building largely determines the overall sustainability level of green buildings. It is necessary to evaluate the degree of success of green buildings in the operation stage to ensure the implementation effect of the whole life cycle. However, the current green building evaluation system is incomplete, and the research on the degree of success evaluation of green buildings is very lacking. It is necessary to establish a scientific and effective evaluation index system to evaluate the degree of success of green buildings. This article applies the extension matter‐element theory and entropy method to evaluate the degree of success of green building projects, taking a green building project in Nanchang as an example, and seven experts were invited to score and evaluate the project's degree of success by calculating the relevance degree of each evaluation index. The results show that this green building's degree of success emerged as at level II, that is, the "generally successful" level, and each first‐level indicator, respectively, lay at level III, level II, level II, and level II. The case study proves that the evaluation method of green building determined in this article is scientific and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of care for the chronically ill is to be improved through interprofessional cooperation (IPC). To date, evaluation projects on IPC have mostly focused on the inpatient sector. The aim was to use a multiple case study design to investigate forms of IPC in primary care and to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors. Factors that facilitated the implementation of IPC included having a responsible person employed to provide the service, supportive training, and the introduction of evidence-based interventions. There appeared to be insufficient incentives to implement IPC and the needs of the chronically ill were poorly integrated. More systematic evaluation of IPC initiatives is needed to demonstrate their added value. Greater integration of patient needs is key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to know the economic feasibility of hydroponics technology by estimating the expected demand for green forage for the years 2021-2031 as well as Identify and analyze project data and information in a way that helps the investor make the appropriate investment decision in addition to preparing a detailed technical preliminary study for the cultivar barley project focusing on the commercial and financing aspects and the criteria that take into account the risks and uncertainties . that indicating the economic feasibility of the project to produce green forage using hydroponics technology. Cultured barley as a product falls within the blue ocean strategy. Accordingly, the research recommends the necessity of implementing such projects that save land, water, and fertilizers and provide green forage throughout the year. The government should provide financial support for the supply and establishment of these projects because they require large capital, and livestock owners need support because the demand for forage is a request to implement an indicative program to introduce the advantages of hydroponics and green forage to breeders to increase the demand for it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry faces challenges in evaluating success due to inconsistent methods and a lack of uniformity. Traditional evaluation methods often result in subjective and biased results. Professionals, stakeholders, and researchers disagree on assessment techniques. The paper aims to identify stakeholder-responsive evaluation criteria, establish an evaluation criteria model, develop a quantitative evaluation algorithm, and provide an evaluation process framework. This method and framework fill traditional evaluation gaps, reduce subjectivity and bias, enhance accuracy, simplify evaluation, and are suitable for project evaluation. Data was gathered from experts and project stakeholders through focus group discussions, interviews, archive documents, and site observations. First, identify criteria and subcriteria and develop a criteria-relation model that achieves fitness indices and passes validity and reliability tests. Next, quantitative evaluation weighted coefficients were determined, and an algorithm was developed. A quantitative evaluation of a case study revealed that project seven has very high success; projects three, six, eight, and nine have high success; project two has medium success; projects one, four, and five have low success; and there is no project with a very low success. Projects achieved average success rates of 86.42, 79.6, 66.5, 71.17, 83.63, 81.27, and 89.14% in quality, cost, time, safety, impact, satisfaction, and lesson learning, respectively. This study is novel and original due to its criteria structural equation model, quantitative evaluation algorithm with inclusive criteria index, and unique evaluation processes framework. This enhances evaluation science, providing new insights for stakeholders, professionals, academics, and policymakers, and enhancing stakeholder communication in future project success evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review emphasizes the importance of stakeholder-responsive success criteria and appropriate evaluation techniques for the construction industry. Traditional evaluation methods can lead to subjective and biased results. Disagreements between industry professionals and researchers on criteria and assessment techniques contribute to ineffective project evaluation. The review aims to identify the most important holistic and stakeholder-responsive success criteria and methods from the literature. The review utilized a systematic approach, downloading 102 references from various databases, including published journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and book sections, using search engines and keywords. The review process involved refining and limiting the number of references using eligibility criteria, with 55 references from 2001 to 2024 being used for review. The review flow chart outlines each step. The findings indicate five main evaluation criteria, such as efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, environmental impact, and satisfaction. The five evaluation criteria include quality, cost, time, health and safety, environmental impact, stakeholder satisfaction, and lesson learning and development. Furthermore, the quantitative success evaluation method is the best technique due to its reduced subjectivity. The review provides valuable knowledge among industry stakeholders, professionals, academics, and policymakers on the most suitable project success evaluation criteria and methods to evaluate future construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that the traditional investment project evaluation system can no longer fully adapt to the characteristics of the new power system under the investment environment of the new power system, this study constructed a new power system investment project evaluation and optimization method based on the combination of the cloud model, evidence theory and the TOPSIS method. First, 16 evaluation indexes were considered based on four dimensions, namely green and low‐carbon, safe and reliable, flexible and intelligent, and economical and efficient, and the optimal evaluation index system of new power system investment projects was designed. Second, the normal cloud model was used to obtain the evaluation membership distribution of each index and turn it into evidence. Considering the conflicts between indicators and the combinational contradictions of traditional evidence theories, an improved DS evidence theory based on a game weight coefficient discount to reduce conflicting evidence was used to fuse the membership information of multiple indicators. On the basis of the evaluation results of each scheme, this study used the TOPSIS method to sort the advantages and disadvantages of each scheme. Finally, the project of planning and putting this model into operation in the 14th Five‐Year project database of a power grid enterprise was selected as an example to carry out empirical analysis, and the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usefulness of transportation project evaluation depends on the completeness of its benefit measures. Since transportation networks are intrinsically spatial, transportation improvement projects have spatial access and location characteristics that can lead to a variety of non-user economic benefits. Recent research has enabled us to better understand how spatial context and spatial heterogeneity play further roles in generating efficiency gains for non-users, in the form of productivity, income, and cost savings for both private and public sectors of the economy. This paper draws upon that body of research to expand our understanding of the means by which transportation projects can generate economic efficiency gains, and approaches needed to measure them. It covers topics beyond those captured by current definitions of "wider economic benefits," including additional sources of scale economies associated with freight distribution and connectivity, and further public and private sector economic gains enabled by environmental and social inclusion improvement. It points to ways that non-user economic benefits can be more comprehensively defined and better measured by recognizing their spatial scale, context, and threshold effects. It also identifies ways that current benefit measurement methods introduce unintended bias into transportation investment decision-making through omission and mismeasurement. The result is a case for a refresh of thinking about how we classify and recognize non-user economic benefits in transportation evaluation, and how we apply transportation planning and economic models to support their measurement. • Transport decisions biased when non-user benefits are ignored or mis-measured. • Non-user economic benefits depend on spatial access, proximity, or connectivity. • Spatial scale, context, and heterogeneity affect measurement of non-user benefit. • Benefits from freight density, virtual density, effective density, non-user cost. • Rigid travel modeling standards hold back non-user benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminal justice responses to stalking in England and Wales have come under increased scrutiny following the Joint Criminal Justice Inspectorate report in 2017. In response, police forces throughout England and Wales attempted to improve their handling of stalking. In one UK police force, a project was developed to improve the identification, investigation and victim journey for domestic abuse cyberstalking offences. The project included a specialist investigation team along with a dedicated and co-located Independent Domestic Violence Advisor. This article draws on research conducted during the evaluation of the project and will evidence high levels of victim engagement, positive reports from victims and a 100% success rate in obtaining restraining orders. These findings highlight the valuable role of specialist teams with integrated, independent support for victims and suggest that the victim journey can be improved through collaborative projects between the police and specialist organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the amount of public money invested in science, technology and innovation (STI) projects have been increasing, the debate continues about the best strategies for evaluating the impacts of STI projects in society. Consequently, it is crucial to ascertain what benefits society gains in return for the invested public resources. This paper presents a systematic literature review about the ex-post evaluation of STI projects to identify the relevant methodologies adopted to analyse with accuracy the direct/indirect results and the further deployment of impacts of STI projects, given that such impacts are difficult to foresee in the project objectives. Findings show that the majority of ex-post methodologies are complex to be applied for practitioners. Findings show that those that are meant to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of STI projects are suitable, although only partially, for evaluating single or a few types of impacts, or they are oriented for specific contexts. The paper offers a better comprehension of the systemic relationship between STI projects' objectives, results, and impacts. Furthermore, a novel conceptual framework supporting policymakers, scholars, and practitioners to evaluate the interactions between the objectives, results and impacts in STI projects is drawn from the findings extending the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with raising awareness for sustainable nutrition in elementary schools. The evaluation of an interdisciplinary project shows that targeted didactic approaches can provide the foundation for a sustainable lifestyle already among the youngest children. Research design, intervention project and results as well as an outlook are presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation projects have significant impacts on the transportation system's resilience as well as people's welfare. In addition, governments bear a financial burden associated with developing such projects due to the significant resources needed both during and after the founding period. Hence, the process of evaluating transportation projects is essential. This work presents a complete guideline for decision makers to evaluate transportation projects or choose from alternatives. The evaluation process of transportation projects consists of two parts: travel demand modeling and the assessment phase. The four-step modeling approach is described in this paper as an illustration of travel demand models, which is considered the initial stage in the evaluation process. After that, evaluation criteria affecting the judgment of decision makers are presented. The selection of these criteria forms the framework for the project evaluation process. Next, each evaluation criterion's key performance indicators (KPIs) are discussed. Decision-making techniques such as benefit-cost analysis (BCA) and multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) tools are then carefully explained. The forenamed techniques are used throughout the phase of assessment and prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project evaluation is a process that involves multiple decision criteria for different objectives and involves several specialists, becoming a complex decision-making process. In this sense, to reduce projects evaluation subjectivity in start-ups selection processes, this paper aims at structuring an evaluation model to select projects that present business models focused on strategies for smart cities. To test the proposed model, it was considered a smart cities project selection program in a medium-size city located on southside of Brazil. To do so, it was considered a multicriteria analysis method, in which relevant evaluation criteria for projects focused on intelligent cities were identified. Subsequently, Decision-Making And Trial Evaluation Laboratories (DEMATEL) method was used to weigh these identified evaluation criteria and, finally, TOPSIS method was instantiated to select the best alternative – the evaluated projects – among all alternatives. As a result, the multicriteria proposed model proved to be efficient in evaluating projects aimed at smart cities concepts, showing that the use of MCDA methods can minimise uncertainty and bias in evaluating projects in a quantitative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and evaluation of exercise training subject is an important part of military training， the quality and effectiveness of military training can be effectively improved by scientific training subject design and reasonable subject design and evaluation methods. In view of difficulty to design exercise training subject and the unscientific evaluation of exercise training subject， the paper analyzes the requirements of training subject design, studies the design method of training subject and training mode based on task, and proposed similarity-based the evaluation method for training subject design. The research results have formed a complete set of training project design and evaluation model, it can provide reference for the army to organize exercises and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-project evaluation and analysis of a mining construction project is the final step of a complete mining construction project and is also a crucial process. Conducting a scientific and effective post-project evaluation can examine the level of investment decision-making and management, comprehensively understand the implementation process and operational status of the entire project, and provide references for other projects of the same type based on the lessons learned. This paper introduces the post-project evaluation and methods, and for a specific mining construction project, analyzes the post-evaluation from aspects such as overall project summary and evaluation, effectiveness and economic benefits evaluation, environmental and social benefits evaluation, and goal and sustainability evaluation. The main lessons learned are summarized, and countermeasures and recommendations are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale hydropower plants (SHP) have been losing competitiveness compared to other renewable sources in the global electricity matrix due to technical, environmental, regulatory, and economic issues. In this context, and to contribute to the development and strengthening of SHP's integration into the country's electricity matrix, this study proposes the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a strategic evaluation tool for SHP projects from the prospecting phase to the pre-implementation phase, taking into account financial and non-financial performance indicators. This study aims to structure a strategic map of the SHP source composed of economic, socio-environmental, institutional, and technical perspectives, adapted to the four perspectives of the BSC, with the required performance indicators for the strategic evaluation of SHP. The development of a computer program allowed data visualization from eight case studies focusing on indicators or perspectives that jeopardize the project's strategic viability. The results showed that (i) the adaptation of the BSC methodology for the strategic evaluation of SHP feasibility proved effective and (ii) the developed computer program demonstrated robustness and effectiveness in analyzing SHP, even in different stages of development and with different technical and environmental characteristics. Finally, the strategic evaluation of SHP feasibility is an effective tool in assisting decision makers, indicating the positive aspects and weaknesses of the project under evaluation and providing a better understanding of the asset and the areas of development that deserve greater attention to improve its performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous expansion of international development as a discipline can promulgate gaps in knowledge, training, praxis, and pedagogy. This viewpoint offers a critical reflection of training literature for both research and evaluation projects that international development practitioners undertake. In exploring the intersection of international development's growth and its training resources, one key question emerges: where do practitioners go to obtain up-to-date information on training pedagogy and methods for international development projects? This viewpoint proposes increasing accessibility of literature on methodological practices and training. Concluding thoughts discuss suggestions for achieving a succinct training literature for both practitioners and enumerators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many advanced reactor concept designs rely on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, enriched up to approximately 19.75% 235U by weight. Efforts are underway by the US government to increase HALEU production in the United States to meet anticipated needs. However, very few data exist for validation of computational models that include HALEU, beyond a few fresh fuel benchmark specifications in the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project. Nevertheless, there are other data with potential value available for developing into quality benchmarks for use in data- and software-validation efforts. This paper reviews the available evaluated HALEU fuel benchmarks and some of the potentially relevant benchmarks for fresh highly enriched uranium. It then introduces experimental data for HALEU fuel irradiated at Idaho National Laboratory, from relatively recent irradiation programs at the Advanced Test Reactor. Such data should be evaluated and, if valuable, collected into detailed benchmark specifications to meet the needs of HALEU-based reactor designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating the outcomes and tracking the trajectory of biodiversity offsets is essential to demonstrating their effectiveness as a mechanism to conciliate development and conservation. We reviewed the literature to determine the principles that should underpin biodiversity offset planning and the criteria for offset evaluation at the project level. According to the literature, the core principles of equivalence, additionality, and permanence are used as criteria to evaluate conservation outcomes of offsets. We applied the criteria to evaluate offsets of a large iron ore mining project in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We examined equivalence in terms of the amount of area per biodiversity value affected and fauna and flora similarity, additionality in terms of landscape connectivity, and permanence in terms of guarantees to ensure protection and restoration offsets lasting outcomes. We found an offset ratio (amount of affected area:offset area) of 1:1.8 for forests and 1:2 for grasslands. Ecological equivalence (i.e., similarity between affected and offset areas) was found for forested areas, but not for ferruginous rupestrian grasslands or for fauna. Landscape metrics showed that connectivity improved relative to the preproject situation as a result of locating restoration offsets in the largest and best‐connected forest patch. Permanence of offsets was addressed by establishing covenants and management measures, but financial guarantees to cover maintenance costs after mine closure were lacking. Offsets should be equivalent in type and size, provide conservation outcomes that would not be obtained without them (additionality), and be lasting (permanence). To monitor and evaluate offsets, it is necessary to determine how well these 3 principles are applied in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of offsets. Achieving measurable conservation outcomes from offsets is a long‐term endeavor that requires sustained management support, and is information intensive. Thus, offsets require ongoing monitoring and evaluation as well as adaptive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is challenging to select an appropriate group structure for any given multigroup neutron transport problem. Many group structures were designed long ago, and the reasoning behind the creator's choices may be unknown. In this work, we apply the simulated annealing optimization method to develop improved group structures for a set of test problems. We then use a random forest (a machine learning method) to identify which group structure will be the best for any new problem based on input characteristics, such as geometry and isotopics. Simulated annealing spans a large solution space before narrowing in on an optimal solution, avoiding local minima by jumping around. Our solution space, however, is large and inconsistent, making finding the optimal group structure infeasible. Instead, we find potentially optimal group structures, ones that yield more accurate solutions than our standard group structures, but are probably not the "best" possible. Group structures are obtained for six classes of problems, ranging from a fast 233U system to a thermal 239Pu system. These were chosen to encompass a series of critical assemblies from the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) handbook. These optimized group structures were used in PARTISN for a large range of ICSBEP critical assemblies and compared to the traditional Los Alamos National Laboratory group structures. Our reference solution was from 618-group PARTISN runs. The results were used to train a random forest regressor model with bagging, which was then tested on similar benchmarks. The bagging regressor model chose the best group structure from 52% to 65% of the time, and a subjectively "good" group structure up to 91% of the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of the economy and real-time embedded systems and the progress of science and technology, people's economic income forms have undergone tremendous changes, and the concept of financial management has become clearer in people's property income arrangements. Project investment is one of the most popular financial management methods in the era of big data. Both large enterprise groups and individual petty bourgeoisie groups have begun to pay attention to the risks and benefits brought by the new financial management method of project investment. This paper's goal is to develop a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) model for project investment risk based on computer vision technology and explore the application of computer vision technology in project investment risk evaluation. This article first uses a real-time embedded system to understand the basic process of project investment and select 10 investment experts for risk assessment, risks, and causes of the risks through literature research and case analysis. Then, this paper establishes a model of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of project investment risk through computer vision technology, real-time embedded systems, and neural network models in big data and artificial intelligence technology to realize the analysis and prediction of project investment risk. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) are used in this evaluation model to evaluate and forecast project investment risks. In addition, this paper also trains and tests the risk evaluation model of this research through the support vector machine classification algorithm, the real-time embedded system, and the average random consistency index. The research shows that the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of this study has higher accuracy for project investment risk evaluation than other risk evaluation methods. For example, for the investment risk of chemical fiber projects, this research model evaluated the factors such as organization, management, technology, and economy and found that the risks were all higher than 21.36%, which concluded that the overall investment risk of chemical fiber projects was relatively high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the construction industry, people's requirements for the construction quality continue to improve, and the supervision and management of the construction project quality has been paid more and more attention. The perfect quality supervision and management system is not only an important guarantee for the whole construction project implementation process, but also provides support for the smooth implementation of the construction project. With the increasing number of high-rise buildings in cities and the increasing difficulty of construction, it has posed great challenges to the construction industry, which also means that the quality supervision and management of construction projects are facing new challenges. Therefore, the project quality supervision and management department should review the situation, optimize the quality supervision and management work according to the current situation and needs of the construction project development, effectively improve the system guarantee and content optimization, maximize the role of quality supervision and management, and provide assistance for the high-quality and sustainable development of the construction industry. The quality evaluation of construction project is a classical multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM). In this paper, we extended multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method for MAGDM with Pythagorean 2-tuple linguistic sets (P2TLSs). Firstly, a brief review of the definition of P2TLSs is given. Next, two aggregation operators of P2TLSs are used to fuse overall evaluation information. Moreover, combining traditional MABAC model with P2TLSs, Pythagorean 2-tuple linguistic number MABAC (P2TLN-MABAC) is built with all computing steps depicted in detail. Furthermore, a numerical example related to quality evaluation of construction project is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Finally, some comparisons with P2TLWA and P2TLWG operators are also carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the implementation and efficacy of the Hands Project - a prevention program for teen dating violence among middle and high school students, implemented during the pandemic. The Hands Project is a brief in-class intervention, targeting the attitudes, personal skills, and the role of bystanders in abusive dating situations with youth. A monitoring process was conducted with 11 classes, and a quasi-experimental evaluation was carried out with 61 students (intervention group n = 45; comparison group n = 16), with pre-test and post-test administration of the Attitudes Toward Dating Violence Scales (ATDV). Program responsiveness and implementation quality were high, and positive significant results were found for female physical violence, indicating a decrease in tolerance for the intervention group, when compared to the comparison group. Discussion reflects on the implications of this study for the implementation and evaluation of teen dating violence programs, and future research regarding this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of companies to rapidly conduct a changeover from one product to another as part of a production process is a fundamental step towards a more flexible production system that can deal with an increasingly dynamic and competitive market. Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is the best-known lean tool that aims to reduce time consumption in the changeover process. This paper presents a new lean tool called Set-up Saving Deployment (SSD), which improves set-up efficiency by classifying, analyzing, and removing set-up losses within a changeover process, and which supports decision-making for SMED implementation. SSD uses three matrices, constructed sequentially from the first (L-Matrix) to the last (ECE-Matrix), in order to assess the possible time savings that can be achieved by eliminating losses and, in addition, to forecast possible improvements resulting from implementing a SMED project. SSD also provides a new basket of tailored set-up efficiency indicators that allow the analysis team to correctly assess set-up efficiency and compare the "as is" condition with the subsequent "to be" condition from an operational perspective. The effectiveness of SSD in addressing set-up losses and predicting time savings is illustrated using an industrial case study of a resin-doming machine. Thanks to its structured step-by-step procedure, SSD significantly improves the efficiency of the changeover process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work shows up the development of a procedure of generation and evaluation of the Economic Value Added which supposes that a company will have success, if and when economic value in the same is generated. The procedure is able to generate feasible solutions to entrepreneurial problems helping of the monitoring of the indicators of performance and the diagnosis of the level of integration of the Company Directing System. The investigation was developed with the objective of perfecting it for the sake of its good exploitation in the future and applying it in the Escambray Commercial Company, which lacks an instrument of measurement of the efficiency of the change projects and evaluation of the EVE like product of the management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Strengthening health systems in conflict-affected settings has become increasingly professionalised. However, evaluation remains challenging and often insufficiently documented in the literature. Many, particularly small-scale health system evaluations, are conducted by government bodies or non-governmental organisations (NGO) with limited capacity to publish their experiences. It is essential to identify the existing literature and main findings as a baseline for future efforts to evaluate the capacity and resilience of conflict-affected health systems. We thus aimed to synthesise the scope of methodological approaches and methods used in the peer-reviewed literature on health system evaluation in conflict-affected settings. Methods: We conducted a scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley's method and synthesised findings using the WHO health system 'building blocks' framework. Results: We included 58 eligible sources of 2,355 screened, which included examination of health systems or components in 26 conflict-affected countries, primarily South Sudan and Afghanistan (7 sources each), Democratic Republic of the Congo (6), and Palestine (5). Most sources (86%) were led by foreign academic institutes and international donors and focused on health services delivery (78%), with qualitative designs predominating (53%). Theoretical or conceptual grounding was extremely limited and study designs were not generally complex, as many sources (43%) were NGO project evaluations for international donors and relied on simple and lower-cost methods. Sources were also limited in terms of geography (e.g., limited coverage of the Americas region), by component (e.g., preferences for specific components such as service delivery), gendered (e.g., limited participation of women), and colonised (e.g., limited authorship and research leadership from affected countries). Conclusion: The evaluation literature in conflict-affected settings remains limited in scope and content, favouring simplified study designs and methods, and including those components and projects implemented or funded internationally. Many identified challenges and limitations (e.g., limited innovation/contextualisation, poor engagement with local actors, gender and language biases) could be mitigated with more rigorous and systematic evaluation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monitoring and management of underwater sites in Iceland is severely deficient, due to various factors. Globally, underwater cultural heritage managers are increasingly turning towards community engagement as a way of addressing the many challenges they face, and this article proposes the adoption of a similar strategy in Iceland. It could both improve management, and the awareness of underwater sites. The article outlines the national heritage laws in place, summarizes past underwater archaeological work within the country, and highlights the challenges which maritime archaeologists currently face. The impact of community underwater archaeology projects elsewhere is discussed, and an evaluation of the viability of such a project in Iceland is made. Results presented from a survey distributed to the sports diving community further reinforces this evaluation, by highlighting the skills the community could bring to the field, as well as their interest and willingness to participate in such a study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infrastructure deficit, continued population growth and expanding urbanisation at the fringe of cities has been the subject of criticism, however, it remains important to consider how best to address the social, economic, health and environmental issues. This practice review sets out a method for multi-criteria analysis of infrastructure project proposals in outer suburban growth areas, undertaken by an independent team with knowledge of the issues. As a result, it provides insights into how to provide a cost-effective and systematic input into infrastructure prioritisation processes and investment advocacy, and as a result support local government in addressing infrastructure requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: As Indigenous Land and Sea Management has grown in scope and scale, there has been increasing focus on monitoring and evaluation to foster learning, strengthen accountability and report on outcomes. A resurgence in Indigenous governance has led to recognition that Indigenous knowledge, law and governance systems are essential to successful conservation initiatives on Indigenous lands. Indigenous‐led monitoring and evaluation involves Indigenous Peoples exercising control, direction and informed decisions about monitoring and evaluation practices and signals a greater role for Indigenous methodologies alongside participatory approaches and Western sciences. This Article describes the Intercultural Monitoring and Evaluation Project, led by the Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation in partnership with Bi and Yolŋu Traditional Owners and clans and non‐Indigenous practitioners and researchers. The Intercultural Monitoring and Evaluation Project aimed to co‐produce an Indigenous‐led and Country‐based monitoring and evaluation system for Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation's Healthy Country Plan. The Intercultural Monitoring and Evaluation Project recognised that the Rangers from the Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation are accountable within Bi, Yolŋu and Western governance systems and that monitoring and evaluation at Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation needed to strengthen relationships between all three. The Intercultural Monitoring and Evaluation Project involved: (i) developing understandings of monitoring and evaluation in Bi, Yolŋu and Western knowledge systems, (ii) generating organisational roadmaps, targets and indicators, (iii) developing Bi, Yolŋu and Western monitoring methods, (iv) building a data management system and seasonal monitoring calendar, (v) initiating a monitoring and evaluation committee to inform Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation's strategic decision‐making and (vi) sharing the story of the project with others. This approach embedded monitoring and evaluation in Indigenous law and governance, oral knowledge traditions and the intergenerational kinship relationships that sustain people and Country, while also connecting to Western adaptive management frameworks. Indigenous‐led approaches can integrate monitoring and evaluation with Indigenous practices of caring for Country, contributing directly to the multiple ecological, cultural and socio‐economic goals of Indigenous Land and Sea Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]