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The on-time performance of a ship is one of the major aspects of a ship’s operational reliability. The establishment of proper benchmarking for it would help the ship’s stakeholders to a considerable extent with respect to enhancement of the performance. This paper investigates and suggests a methodology for selection of a ship as a point of reference, so that improvement in the on-time performance of other ships could be achieved. The issue is addressed through comparative studies of ships, exclusively from an on-time performance viewpoint. The paper proposes a structure that would guide the development of a support system for improvement in the operational reliability of a ship. The on-time performance of a ship is expressed in terms of 12 primary attributes signifying the diverse aspects of its operational reliability. Four ships of like characteristics voyaging between Singapore and Japan are considered for the study and an assessor’s objective and subjective responses to the attributes are collected for these ships. The fuzzy analytical hierarchy process is used to allot priority weights to all the attributes, and then an evidential reasoning procedure is applied to obtain the utility values of the ships. Based on the utility values, comparison is carried out and the best of the four ships is selected as the reference ship for the marine sector under investigation. The proposed framework would be useful for enhancement of the ship’s operational efficiency, reliability and performance. It would also help the ship’s stakeholders in terms of better scheduling and proper management of the ship’s arrival at the destination harbour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Use next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to improve our diagnostic yield in patients with suspected genetic disorders in the Asian setting., Design: A diagnostic study conducted between 2014 and 2019 (and ongoing) under the Singapore Undiagnosed Disease Program. Date of last analysis was 1 July 2019., Setting: Inpatient and outpatient genetics service at two large academic centres in Singapore., Patients: Inclusion criteria: patients suspected of genetic disorders, based on abnormal antenatal ultrasound, multiple congenital anomalies and developmental delay., Exclusion Criteria: patients with known genetic disorders, either after clinical assessment or investigations (such as karyotype or chromosomal microarray)., Interventions: Use of NGS technology-whole exome sequencing (WES) or whole genome sequencing (WGS)., Main Outcome Measures: (1) Diagnostic yield by sequencing type, (2) diagnostic yield by phenotypical categories, (3) reduction in time to diagnosis and (4) change in clinical outcomes and management., Results: We demonstrate a 37.8% diagnostic yield for WES (n=172) and a 33.3% yield for WGS (n=24). The yield was higher when sequencing was conducted on trios (40.2%), as well as for certain phenotypes (neuromuscular, 54%, and skeletal dysplasia, 50%). In addition to aiding genetic counselling in 100% of the families, a positive result led to a change in treatment in 27% of patients., Conclusion: Genomic sequencing is an effective method for diagnosing rare disease or previous 'undiagnosed' disease. The clinical utility of WES/WGS is seen in the shortened time to diagnosis and the discovery of novel variants. Additionally, reaching a diagnosis significantly impacts families and leads to alteration in management of these patients., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)