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Copyright of Meta: Avaliação is the property of Revista Meta: Avaliacao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Technology plays a crucial role in the management of natural resources in agricultural production. Free and open-source software and sensor technology solutions have the potential to promote more sustainable agricultural production. The goal of this rapid review is to find exclusively free and open-source software for precision agriculture, available in different electronic databases, with emphasis on their characteristics and application formats, aiming at promoting sustainable agricultural production. A thorough search of the Google Scholar, GitHub, and GitLab electronic databases was performed for this purpose. Studies reporting and/or repositories containing up-to-date software were considered for this review. The various software packages were evaluated based on their characteristics and application formats. The search identified a total of 21 free and open-source software packages designed specifically for precision agriculture. Most of the identified software was shown to be extensible and customizable, while taking into account factors such as transparency, speed, and security, although some limitations were observed in terms of repository management and source control. This rapid review suggests that free and open-source software and sensor technology solutions play an important role in the management of natural resources in sustainable agricultural production, and highlights the main technological approaches towards this goal. Finally, while this review performs a preliminary assessment of existing free and open source solutions, additional research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness and usability in different scenarios, as well as their relevance in terms of environmental and economic impact on agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Infection clusters of multidrug-resistant bacteria increase mortality and entail expensive infection control measures. Whereas whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is the current gold standard to confirm infection clusters, PCR-based assays targeting cluster-specific signatures, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from WGS data, are more suitable to initially screen for cluster isolates within large sample sizes. Here, we evaluated four software tools (SeqSphere+, RUCS, Gegenees, and Find Differential Primers) regarding their efficiency to find SNPs within WGS data sets that were specific for two bacterial monospecies infection clusters but were absent from a WGS reference data set comprising several hundred diverse genotypes of the same bacterial species. Cluster-specific SNPs were subsequently used to establish a probe-based real-time PCR screening assay for in vitro differentiation between cluster and noncluster isolates. SeqSphere+ and RUCS found 2 and 24 SNPs for clusters 1 and 14 and 24 SNPs for cluster 2, respectively. However, some signatures detected by RUCS were not cluster specific. Interestingly, all SNPs identified by SeqSphere+ were also detected by RUCS. In contrast, analyses with the remaining tools either resulted in no SNPs (with Find Differential Primers) or failed (Gegenees). Design of six cluster-specific real-time PCR assays enabled reliable cluster screening in vitro. Our evaluation revealed that SeqSphere+ and RUCS identified cluster-specific SNPs that could be used for large-scale screening in surveillance samples via real-time PCR, thereby complementing WGS efforts. This faster and simplified approach for the surveillance of bacterial clusters will improve infection control measures and will enhance protection of patients and physicians. IMPORTANCE Infection clusters of multidrug-resistant bacteria threaten medical facilities worldwide and cause immense health care costs. In recent years, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has been increasingly applied to detect and to further control bacterial clusters. However, as WGS is still expensive and time-consuming, its exclusive application for screening and confirmation of bacterial infection clusters contributes to high costs and enhanced turnaround times, which many hospitals cannot afford. Therefore, there is need for alternative methods that can enable further surveillance of bacterial clusters that are initially detected by WGS in a faster and more cost-efficient way. Here, we established a system based on real-time PCR that enables rapid large-scale sample screening for bacterial cluster isolates within 7 days after the initial detection of an infection cluster, thereby complementing WGS efforts. This faster and simplified surveillance of bacterial clusters will improve infection control measures and will enhance protection of patients and physicians.

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Extended Abstract Abstract Performance-based budgeting is an integral part of government organizations, whose goal is to achieve more efficient and effective implementation than management and performance budgeting in line with public duties, higher quality of public services, reduction of government and staff costs. is. It is necessary to reform the budget process towards performance-based budgeting, selecting software based on strategic planning, measuring performance and aligning with the long-term goals of the organization. Performance-based budgeting software is one of the few rare softwares in the country, so the lack of effective criteria in choosing software makes it difficult for government agencies to waste a huge amount of money. Therefore, the need to develop and successfully implement criteria in this system can improve the efficiency of the organization, manage effective budget expenditures and make it a competitive advantage for the organization by providing a basic for better software selection. This article, by studying the subject literature and software evaluation, the effective criteria for the performance-based budgeting software system with a qualitative-quantitative approach in the form of descriptive-applied research and the participation of several experts in the process of determining the criteria, 11 main criteria and 46 indicators were extracted. A conceptual model has been proposed using fuzzy dematel technique and hierarchical analysis to identify, rank, measure the importance and effectiveness of software criteria. The results indicate that the criteria for producing software, budget, security, and budget and performance reporting are of the importance and have the highest impact on other criteria. Therefore, in order to make optimal decisions and help managers and organizations in order to improve performance, special attention should be paid to these criteria. Introduction At present, competition for quality in the software market has become more important. Quality assessment plays an essential role in all aspects of software development. Better programming using budgeting allows managers to improve the financial health of their business (Foster, 2017). Performance in organizations follows a function beyond simple software, because it establishes the theory, model, processes, concepts, and goals of performance-based budgeting in organizations. One of the most important measures for the success of budgeting software is based on the performance measurement of software quality The purpose of this study is to identify effective criteria in implementing performance-based budgeting software in organizations. Since this is the first time this research has been done, it is considered a new topic. Theoretical framework Evaluating and selecting a software system that meets an organization's needs is a complex aspect of the software engineering process (Wolski, Walter, Kupiński, Chojnacki, 2018). There are many software evaluation models. One of the factors influencing the implementation of performance-based budgeting is information technology. This factor alone is affected by the organization's obligation to implement performance-based budgeting (Azar & Amirkhani, 2014). PBB software, in addition to helping managers evaluate performance and control resources and costs in the organization can help measure the achievement of organizational strategies and long-term and short-term goals. PBB software as a set of support capabilities Operational tasks, including budgeting and planning, performance measurement, and appropriate reporting, are considered Methodology The present research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and causal in terms of method. The statistical population of this study includes experts and professors in two groups: policymakers and developers, who were selected by snowball sampling. The number of statistical sample members is 4 of these people who have relevant technical knowledge, doctoral degree and also have more than 5 years of work experience in the field of performance-based budgeting software system. Data collection has been collected through library studies, searching on scientific sites and reviewing existing scientific texts on software evaluation methods and decision-making techniques. Discussion and Results Findings based on Demtel's technique include 11 main criteria of performance-based budgeting software calculated by Excel software: Flexibility, maintenance, efficiency, performance management, budget, budget reporting, reliability, price Finished, usable, secure and software manufacturer The weights obtained in relation to software indicators such as integration and smooth communication between software modules, software upgrade capability, observance of user access levels and software encryption and related documents indicate more importance than other indicators. Conclusion Criteria for reporting budget, budget, usability and security are the most important. Software manufacturers, budget, security, and budget reporting have the most effective indicators and the strongest relationshp with other metrics. The most influential indicators were flexibility, maintenance capability and efficiency. Managers need to identify the current budget, capital budget, and assets to determine their expectations of the software and make the budget as transparent as possible. Software security is the Achilles heel of software systems. To reduce the security risks posed by software, engineers need to take a disciplinary approach based on infrastructure, levels of access to information, accuracy and integrity of information, and confidentiality of information. Security is one of the most important concerns of managers. Manufacturers should prioritize software upgrades according to the organization's needs and ensure smooth integration and communication between modules.

Technology plays a crucial role in the management of natural resources in agricultural production. Free and open-source software and sensor technology solutions have the potential to promote more sustainable agricultural production. The goal of this rapid review is to find exclusively free and open-source software for precision agriculture, available in different electronic databases, with emphasis on their characteristics and application formats, aiming at promoting sustainable agricultural production. A thorough search of the Google Scholar, GitHub, and GitLab electronic databases was performed for this purpose. Studies reporting and/or repositories containing up-to-date software were considered for this review. The various software packages were evaluated based on their characteristics and application formats. The search identified a total of 21 free and open-source software packages designed specifically for precision agriculture. Most of the identified software was shown to be extensible and customizable, while taking into account factors such as transparency, speed, and security, although some limitations were observed in terms of repository management and source control. This rapid review suggests that free and open-source software and sensor technology solutions play an important role in the management of natural resources in sustainable agricultural production, and highlights the main technological approaches towards this goal. Finally, while this review performs a preliminary assessment of existing free and open source solutions, additional research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness and usability in different scenarios, as well as their relevance in terms of environmental and economic impact on agricultural production.

The MESOC Toolkit is a free and open-access online service used to aid the measurement of the societal value and impact of culture, currently under development as part of the MESOC (Measuring the Social Dimension of Culture) project. The goal of establishing transition variables that serve as impact measurement indicators is aided by an online document repository system of thematic publications (i.e., a collection of documents on the societal value and impact of cultural policies). It allows the users to input, manage, and search extensive document data based on the relevant criteria. The paper at hand paper describes the rationale behind the online document repository of the MESOC Toolkit, its implementation, and main functionalities. Furthermore, it offers an empirical evaluation of the benefits that such a system offers over non-automated procedures of document search and analysis. The results of the evaluation give way to the conclusion that there are time-saving and quality benefits for the users of the repository: efficiency in dealing with a large number of documents and quality in searching the documents using multiple criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various CRM software programmes have been introduced by big companies to create reliable solutions to provide the best service for customers and to receive customer feedback which helps to develop the company's products. However, one of the hardest decisions for a company is choosing the best software that fits its needs. In modern customer relationship management, the software candidates for CRM ticketing systems are evaluated based on multiple criteria rather than only considering the cost factor. This article will adopt an integrated MCDM model, a combined AHP "Analytic Hierarchy Process" with the QFD method. Sixteen technical parameters and fifteen customer support department requirements were collected, analyzed, evaluated, and then ranked using this model. This reliable model considers the stakeholders when making decisions, and measures their decision consistency in order to choose the best CRM software. This research analyzes a sample of the CRM software technical parameters used in a case study conducted on a transportation-rental company focused on its IT customer support department requirements.

The paper presents a major part of the research work of a team of scientists under project No. KP-06-Н42/4, funded by the National Institute for Scientific Research, concerning the analysis, evaluation, and improvement of digital accessibility for people with disabilities. The research aims to support accessibility for people with severe or total vision loss, as well as understanding the problems they face, and the ways to overcome them. This includes offering a methodology for assessment, analysis and evaluation of accessibility tested on more than 100 sites and documents. Software programmes were also reviewed for accessibility. The paper also includes examples offering more adequate digital presentations of information to people with disabilities. Examples include a site with accessibility and QR codes, a training site and a system with appropriate digital representation and encoding of information [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to build an evaluation framework for the user-centric testing of the Data Curation Tool. The tool was developed in the scope of the FAIR4Health project to make health data FAIR by transforming them from legacy formats into a Common Data Model based on HL7 FHIR. The end user evaluation framework was built by following a methodology inspired from the Delphi method. We applied a series of questionnaires to a group of experts not only in different roles and skills, but also from various parts of Europe. Overall, 26 questions were formulated for 16 participants. The results showed that the users are satisfied with the capabilities and performance of the tool. The feedbacks were considered as recommendations for technical improvement and fed back into the software development cycle of the Data Curation Tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional facial expressions can inform researchers about an individual's emotional state. Recent technological advances open up new avenues to automatic Facial Expression Recognition (FER). Based on machine learning, such technology can tremendously increase the amount of processed data. FER is now easily accessible and has been validated for the classification of standardized prototypical facial expressions. However, applicability to more naturalistic facial expressions still remains uncertain. Hence, we test and compare performance of three different FER systems (Azure Face API, Microsoft; Face++, Megvii Technology; FaceReader, Noldus Information Technology) with human emotion recognition (A) for standardized posed facial expressions (from prototypical inventories) and (B) for non-standardized acted facial expressions (extracted from emotional movie scenes). For the standardized images, all three systems classify basic emotions accurately (FaceReader is most accurate) and they are mostly on par with human raters. For the non-standardized stimuli, performance drops remarkably for all three systems, but Azure still performs similarly to humans. In addition, all systems and humans alike tend to misclassify some of the non-standardized emotional facial expressions as neutral. In sum, emotion recognition by automated facial expression recognition can be an attractive alternative to human emotion recognition for standardized and non-standardized emotional facial expressions. However, we also found limitations in accuracy for specific facial expressions; clearly there is need for thorough empirical evaluation to guide future developments in computer vision of emotional facial expressions.

Emotional facial expressions can inform researchers about an individual's emotional state. Recent technological advances open up new avenues to automatic Facial Expression Recognition (FER). Based on machine learning, such technology can tremendously increase the amount of processed data. FER is now easily accessible and has been validated for the classification of standardized prototypical facial expressions. However, applicability to more naturalistic facial expressions still remains uncertain. Hence, we test and compare performance of three different FER systems (Azure Face API, Microsoft; Face++, Megvii Technology; FaceReader, Noldus Information Technology) with human emotion recognition (A) for standardized posed facial expressions (from prototypical inventories) and (B) for non-standardized acted facial expressions (extracted from emotional movie scenes). For the standardized images, all three systems classify basic emotions accurately (FaceReader is most accurate) and they are mostly on par with human raters. For the non-standardized stimuli, performance drops remarkably for all three systems, but Azure still performs similarly to humans. In addition, all systems and humans alike tend to misclassify some of the non-standardized emotional facial expressions as neutral. In sum, emotion recognition by automated facial expression recognition can be an attractive alternative to human emotion recognition for standardized and non-standardized emotional facial expressions. However, we also found limitations in accuracy for specific facial expressions; clearly there is need for thorough empirical evaluation to guide future developments in computer vision of emotional facial expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Polytechnic is the property of Journal of Polytechnic and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As a powerful tool for target prediction, reverse docking remains largely unexplored. The objective evaluation of reverse docking software can help us know better about the strength and weakness of these tools, hence guiding us in target predictio n. In the present study, we evaluated the target prediction power of Glide (SP) against general inhibitors and selective inhibitors. The results showed that the scoring tendency could be different for each ligand, and overall scoring sampling was necessary for a better understanding of the docking score for a certain protein-ligand pair. Besides, the input conformation of the binding pocket could affect the docking result. Glide (SP) showed a preferable performance on the target prediction of the general inhibitors. However, the accuracy of the target prediction of the selective inhibitors was relatively low, indicating that Glide (SP) might not be capable for this task. The case study about COVID-19 proved that coagulation factor Xa might be a potential target of chloroquine. Therefore, we recommend the further development of reverse docking tools and rectification of inter-target scoring bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software evaluation is an important task in online banking systems. Developing software with inappropriate design can be costly and have a negative impact on the business process of banks. This study developed a new method to consider 5 main dimensions of Technological, Organizational, Human, Hardware and Software factors as well as 25 criteria for mobile payment software evaluation. The factors are identified by reviewing the software development literature. The method is developed using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and DEMATEL techniques. DEMATEL is used to determine the most important factors among the five categories by 40 experts who worked in Parsian Bank in Iran and have significant experience in mobile payment software development. ANFIS is used to find the importance level of each criteria in five categories. The results showed that software provider and technology factors are the most important factors affecting the development of mobile software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Semantic Web, thesauri regain a relevant role supporting semantic searches and other added-value services. Thesaurus standards define the constructs a thesaurus can have and the integrity rules it must comply with. Thesaurus editors can be helped in their work if thesaurus tools offer them support for integrity, warning when integrity rules are violated and/or helping them to correct these mistakes. The most recent thesaurus standard is ISO 25964, which supersedes ISO 2788, evolving towards concept-based thesauri and better aligned with the Semantic Web approach than the term-based thesauri of ISO 2788. However, the W3C recommendation for Knowledge Organisation System (KOS) representation in the semantic web context is Simple Knowledge Organisation Systems (SKOS), which is in fact prior to ISO 25964. This article focuses on thesaurus integrity and the evolution from ISO 2788 to ISO 25964. Its effect on integrity issues is analysed. A methodological proposal for evaluating integrity support in thesaurus tools, arising from the results of this work, is presented. Its target audience is professionals in charge of thesaurus editing. Besides being adapted to the most recent thesaurus standard, ISO 25964, it also includes the comparison of ISO standards with SKOS. The article concludes with the presentation of the results obtained by applying the framework to three thesaurus tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Accurate biopsy sampling of the suspected lesions is critical for the diagnosis and clinical management of prostate cancer. Transperineal in-bore MRI-guided prostate biopsy (tpMRgBx) is a targeted biopsy technique that was shown to be safe, efficient, and accurate. Our goal was to develop an open source software platform to support evaluation, refinement, and translation of this biopsy approach. Methods: We developed SliceTracker, a 3D Slicer extension to support tpMRgBx. We followed modular design of the implementation to enable customization of the interface and interchange of image segmentation and registration components to assess their effect on the processing time, precision, and accuracy of the biopsy needle placement. The platform and supporting documentation were developed to enable the use of software by an operator with minimal technical training to facilitate translation. Retrospective evaluation studied registration accuracy, effect of the prostate segmentation approach, and re-identification time of biopsy targets. Prospective evaluation focused on the total procedure time and biopsy targeting error (BTE). Results: Evaluation utilized data from 73 retrospective and ten prospective tpMRgBx cases. Mean landmark registration error for retrospective evaluation was 1.88 ± 2.63 mm, and was not sensitive to the approach used for prostate gland segmentation. Prospectively, we observed target re-identification time of 4.60 ± 2.40 min and BTE of 2.40 ± 0.98 mm. Conclusion: SliceTracker is modular and extensible open source platform for supporting image processing aspects of the tpMRgBx procedure. It has been successfully utilized to support clinical research procedures at our site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemics and emerging infectious diseases are becoming an increasing threat to global populations—challenging public health practitioners, decision makers and researchers to plan, prepare, identify and respond to outbreaks in near real-timeframes. The aim of this research is to evaluate the range of public domain and freely available software epidemic modelling tools. Twenty freely utilisable software tools underwent assessment of software usability, utility and key functionalities. Stochastic and agent based tools were found to be highly flexible, adaptable, had high utility and many features, but low usability. Deterministic tools were highly usable with average to good levels of utility.

INTRODUCTION Our library’s digital asset management system (DAMS) was no longer meeting digital asset management requirements or expanding scholarly communication needs. We formed a multiunit task force (TF) to (1) survey and identify existing and emerging institutional needs; (2) research available DAMS (open source and proprietary) and assess their potential fit; and (3) deploy software locally for in-depth testing and evaluation. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM We winnowed a field of 25 potential DAMS down to 5 for deployment and evaluation. The process included selection and identification of test collections and the creation of a multipart task based rubric based on library and campus needs assessments. Time constraints and DAMS deployment limitations prompted a move toward a new evaluation iteration: a shorter criteria-based rubric. LESSONS LEARNED We discovered that no single DAMS was “just right,” nor was any single DAMS a static product. Changing and expanding scholarly communication and digital needs could only be met by the more flexible approach offered by a multicomponent digital asset management ecosystem (DAME), described in this study. We encountered obstacles related to testing complex, rapidly evolving software available in a range of configurations and flavors (including tiers of vendor-hosted functionality) and time and capacity constraints curtailed in-depth testing. While we anticipate long-term benefits from “going further together” by including university-wide representation in the task force, there were trade-offs in distributing responsibilities and diffusing priorities. NEXT STEPS Shifts in scholarly communication at multiple levels—institutional, regional, consortial, national, and international—have already necessitated continual review and adjustment of our digital systems.

In the 1990s, statisticians began thinking in a principled way about how computation could better support the learning and doing of statistics. Since then, the pace of software development has accelerated, advancements in computing and data science have moved the goalposts, and it is time to reassess. Software continues to be developed to help do and learn statistics, but there is little critical evaluation of the resulting tools, and no accepted framework with which to critique them. This article presents a set of attributes necessary for a modern statistical computing tool. The framework was designed to be broadly applicable to both novice and expert users, with a particular focus on making more supportive statistical computing environments. A modern statistical computing tool should be accessible, provide easy entry, privilege data as a first-order object, support exploratory and confirmatory analysis, allow for flexible plot creation, support randomization, be interactive, include inherent documentation, support narrative, publishing, and reproducibility, and be flexible to extensions. Ideally, all these attributes could be incorporated into one tool, supporting users at all levels, but a more reasonable goal is for tools designed for novices and professionals to "reach across the gap," taking inspiration from each others' strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

License plate image database is the most significant factor that supports the development of license plate recognition. We first present a general method for building a license plate image database and establish a Chinese license plate image database. There are 29,015 images included in the database, named SYSU. The main work includes: first, based on a quantitative analysis of the attributes of license plate images that affect license plate recognition, relational license plate image database models are established, which consist of function and performance dataset models; second, based on the function dataset models, we present a semiautomatic method that can extract the values of the attributes in the road monitoring image and establish the function datasets, which include type and provincial abbreviation variation images. To open the function datasets, we also propose a preservative deidentification method to balance privacy protection and attribute preservation. Third, based on the performance dataset models, we establish the performance datasets, which are digital processing images from the function image datasets, including resolution, average luminance, nonuniformity of luminance, horizontal rotation angle, vertical shear angle, horizontal parallel perspective angle, vertical parallel perspective angle, out-of-focus blur, and linear uniform motion blur variation images. The recognition performance of five commercial softwares on the SYSU license plate database indicates that the database is a valuable test-bed for the evaluation and analysis of license plate recognition technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a qualitative inquiry into the efforts made in evaluating the impact that management support systems (MSSs) have had on contemporary management and the related theory employed in conducting such evaluations. The paper pursues this dual objective through an extensive literature review. The paper identifies criteria used to assess the success of MSSs and the impact of such systems based on those criteria. The existing literature provides encouraging accounts of successful implementations of MSS projects. However, the absence of a widely accepted theoretical model for more accurately evaluating this success is somewhat glaring. Consequently, the paper proposes a generic MSS evaluation framework for subsequent testing, refinement and usage. The paper advances through five sections: overview of the MSSs landscape; summary of seminal works in various categories of MSSs; critical analysis of existing literature on MSSs; observations and proposal of a generic MSS Evaluation Framework that may be customized for MSS projects; summary and some concluding remarks.