Experts opinion about system of the performance evaluation criteria weighted per positons in the water polo game

The goal of the research was to define experts opinion about adequate criteria for water polo players' actual quality evaluation and to determine experts opinion about weight coefficients (ponders) of the here defined criteria across the playing positions in the game of water polo. Based upon the expertise performed by ten water polo professionals, the relative importance coefficients with regard to playing positions in the game were determined for twenty seven performance evaluation criteria. High degree of interobserves' agreement was obtained regarding all positions (from 0.93 to 0.96). In concordance with the obtained results the particular playing positions were explicitly described, as well as the similarities and the differences between them were determined from the aspect of the single criteria importance. The research results could be usefully applied by the water polo practitioners for the selection and follow-up of players during training programme implementation, and for programming, control and evaluation of transformational effects.     

Pragmatic validity of the combined model of expert system for assessment and analysis of the actual quality overall structure of basketball players

The authors presumed that it was possible to replace certain criteria of the expert system aimed at evaluating actual quality of basketball players, proposed by Trnini? et al., with the corresponding indicators of situation-related efficiency (official statistics of the game). Hence, the aim of this study is to verify the potential of establishing such a combined model of expert system that would consist of both the evaluation criteria and certain number of objectively measurable aspects of actual quality (player's partial performance or playing efficiency) and to determine its pragmatic validity. To achieve the aim the sample comprised of 60 basketball players that were competing in the Croatian First Division League in the 1998/99 season was tested. The sample and their quality of play was described by the two different types of data: 1) the 13 situation-related efficiency data (FIBA statistics of the game) utilized to objectively assess performance or playing effectiveness of players, collected at 132 games played by 12 teams, and 2) the evaluation data, subjectively assessing actual quality of players, i.e. their perceived overall performance, collected at the end of the season from the 10 basketball trainers. On the basis of relatively high correlations within the 7 pairs of mutually equivalent variables (from 0.63 to 0.84) and the extremely high correlation (0.97) obtained between the perceived overall performance (actual quality), subjectively assessed with respect to the 19 criteria of the original expert evaluation system, and the overall performance (actual quality) assessed by the combined model (where the 8 evaluation criteria had been replaced by the 7 corresponding indicators ofplaying efficiency), it is feasible to consider the combined model of expert system as an acceptable tool for more objective and economical assessment of actual quality of basketball players.     

Set of criteria for the actual quality evaluation of the elite basketball players

The paper comprises a proposition of nineteen criteria for the actual quality (situation-related efficiency/performance) evaluation in the elite basketball players (seven criteria for the efficiency on defence and twelve for the efficiency on offence) regarding all the playing positions. Coaches and other practitioners connected to the domain of basketball could utilize this set of criteria for the individual and team aspects of the performance follow-up and assessment in players throughout their sports career, from the cadettes' to the senior selections. Proposed set of criteria is the pressumption for the exact scientific and expert approach to the basketball performance (situation-related efficiency) evaluation and prediction--criterion variable. Weighting factors (coefficients of significance) for each criterion in relation to the playing positions should be determined on the next stage of developing a system of the performance evaluation criteria.     

System of the performance evaluation criteria weighted per positions in the basketball game

Based upon the expertise performed by ten basketball professional relative importance coefficients with regard to positions in the game were determined for nineteen performance evaluation criteria. High degree of interobservers agreement was obtained concerning all positions (from 0.91 to 0.98). In concordance with the obtained results the particular play positions were explicitly described, as well as similarities and differences between them were determined from the aspect of the single criteria importance. The following criteria had an above average importance for the: Position 1--levels of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, the ball control, passing skills, dribble penetration, outside shots, and transition offence efficiency; Position 2--level of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offence without the ball, and transition offence efficiency; Position 3--transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offense without the ball, free throws, and transition offence efficiency; Position 4--defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, and free throws; Position 5--defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, drawing fouls and three-point plays, and free throws. The research results could be usefully applied by the basketball practitioners to selecting and following-up players, the teching-learning process directing and improving, the training process programming and the transformational effects controlling.     

Investigating the Role of Auditory and Tactile Modalities in Violin Quality Evaluation

The role of auditory and tactile modalities involved in violin playing and evaluation was investigated in an experiment employing a blind violin evaluation task under different conditions: i) normal playing conditions, ii) playing with auditory masking, and iii) playing with vibrotactile masking. Under each condition, 20 violinists evaluated five violins according to criteria related to violin playing and sound characteristics and rated their overall quality and relative preference. Results show that both auditory and vibrotactile feedback are important in the violinists’ evaluations but that their relative importance depends on the violinist, the violin and the type of evaluation (different criteria ratings or preference). In this way, the overall quality ratings were found to be accurately predicted by the rating criteria, which also proved to be perceptually relevant to violinists, but were poorly correlated with the preference ratings; this suggests that the two types of ratings (overall quality vs preference) may stem from different decision-making strategies. Furthermore, the experimental design confirmed that violinists agree more on the importance of criteria in their overall evaluation than on their actual ratings for different violins. In particular, greater agreement was found on the importance of criteria related to the sound of the violin. Nevertheless, this study reveals that there are fundamental differences in the way players interpret and evaluate each criterion, which may explain why correlating physical properties with perceptual properties has been challenging so far in the field of musical acoustics.     

The latent structure of soccer in the phases of attack and defense

With the aim of establishing the latent structure of tactical elements in the attack and defense phases of soccer 117 tactical elements of soccer were defined and their importance assessed by means of 30 variables that determine the basic segments of the game of soccer. 93 attack and 24 defense tactical elements were chosen as the entity sample and described by the 15 variables of the attack phase and 15 variables of the defense phase. Ten competent soccer experts determined the characteristics of the aforementioned entities by means of 30 variables. The experts graded from 0 to 5 the impact of every entity (tactical technique) on the individual variables that describe soccer in its phases of either attack and defense. A high level of inter-expert agreement was reached in regard to the properties of attack and defense techniques, as demonstrated by the objectivity coefficients. According to principal component factor analysis and the Kaiser and Guttman rule a total of five significant latent dimensions were obtained: finishing efficiency, ball possession performance, counter-attack efficiency, combined defense performance, and obstruction and redirection of the opposing team's attack build-up. The research partly resolved the issue of the hypothetical structure of tactical techniques in soccer by dividing the game into phases and sub-phases, attack and defense players'positions, and types (styles) of play in the attack and defense. If it is clear which movement structures have the most significant influence on the efficiency on a particular playing position and performance in the sub-phases and styles of play, it would be possible to create such training operators that will facilitate the formation of the most important motor skills in soccer.     

Relationship of anthropometrical, physiological and motor attributes to sport-specific skills

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the importance of the athlete's motor capabilities in success in sport. More precisely, the association of anthropometrical and physiological attributes, as well as motor abilities of elite basketball players with play elements of basketball. The subjects were seven elite basketball players. At the end of the competitive season, the anthropometrical and physiological features were measured to establish the physical fitness of the subjects. Both general and sport-specific motor tests were done. The coach estimated the performance of each player during the games of the competitive season. The coach's data sheet incorporated 14 parameters of the game. Regression analyses indicated significant correlation between certain variables of the laboratory tests and the data of the coach's estimation statistics. Knowing these relationships provides us with valuable predictive information about player's capabilities in sport.     

森林资源质量状况评价方法及其在川西米亚罗林区的应用

为明确每一森林小班内森林资源的质量状况,以便为林场采取合理的森林经营措施提供科学依据。以森林小班调查内容为基础,借鉴前人的研究成果,结合专家咨询,构建了一套森林资源质量状况的评价指标体系,并提出了简便易行、贴近生产实践的森林资源质量状况评价方法。评价指标体系由森林的自然性、森林生产力的维持能力和森林群落的结构完整性与稳定性3个方面构成,包括林分起源、龄组、林分密度等15个评价指标。采用层次分析法、专家咨询法确定各评价指标的权重值,并引入黄金分割理论,结合专家意见、相关标准规范划分了各评价指标的评价级别及其得分。整个林场森林资源质量状况等级根据森林小班评价结果的加权得出。以川西林业局管辖的301林场和303林场为例进行了评价试用,结果表明:301林场的一级质量小班数比例为45.65%,森林资源质量状况评价得分为0.59,评价级别为二级(一般);303林场的一级质量小班数比例为64.80%,森林资源质量状况评价得分为0.63,评价级别为一级(好)。结合有关研究成果和研究区域的实际情况,认为评价结果能较客观地反映森林资源质量的真实状况,评价方法具有较强的实用性。探讨了本方法在森林资源质量状况评价研究中的优缺点。     

Looking for Landmarks: The Role of Expert Review and Bibliometric Analysis in Evaluating Scientific Publication Outputs

Objective

To compare expert assessment with bibliometric indicators as tools to assess the quality and importance of scientific research papers.

Methods and Materials

Shortly after their publication in 2005, the quality and importance of a cohort of nearly 700 Wellcome Trust (WT) associated research papers were assessed by expert reviewers; each paper was reviewed by two WT expert reviewers. After 3 years, we compared this initial assessment with other measures of paper impact.

Results

Shortly after publication, 62 (9%) of the 687 research papers were determined to describe at least a ‘major addition to knowledge’ –6 were thought to be ‘landmark’ papers. At an aggregate level, after 3 years, there was a strong positive association between expert assessment and impact as measured by number of citations and F1000 rating. However, there were some important exceptions indicating that bibliometric measures may not be sufficient in isolation as measures of research quality and importance, and especially not for assessing single papers or small groups of research publications.

Conclusion

When attempting to assess the quality and importance of research papers, we found that sole reliance on bibliometric indicators would have led us to miss papers containing important results as judged by expert review. In particular, some papers that were highly rated by experts were not highly cited during the first three years after publication. Tools that link expert peer reviews of research paper quality and importance to more quantitative indicators, such as citation analysis would be valuable additions to the field of research assessment and evaluation.     

"Points Ain't Everything": Emergent Goals and Average and Percent Understandings in the Play of Basketball among African American Students

This study examines the shifting nature of the cultural practice of basketball as players move from middle school to high school play and related shifts in players' statistical evaluations linked to play. Thirty-four middle and high school African American basketball players were observed and interviewed as they participated in the practice of basketball. Results show that the practice of basketball differs at these two levels of play corresponding to differences in mathematics linked to play.     

Physical demands on young elite European female basketball players with special reference to speed, agility, explosive strength, and take-off power

The aim of the study was to determine and analyze the level of certain motor abilities (acceleration and agility, the explosive strength of arms, and take-off power) of young elite European female basketball players. We also wanted to establish whether there were any differences between 3 groups of female basketball players who differed in terms of their playing performance. The sample of subjects consists of 65 female basketball players aged 14.49 (± 0.61) years who were divided into 3 groups (divisions A, B, and C of the European Championships). We compare the groups by using 8 motor tests. p Values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. The results show that the division C players achieved below-average results in all tests and thus differ from the players from divisions A and B whose test results were relatively homogeneous. The division C players differ from those from divisions A and B mainly in the 6 × 5-m sprint dribble (discriminant ratio coefficients [DRC] = 0.435), medicine ball throw (DRC = 0.375), and 20-m sprint (DRC = 0.203). Discriminatory power in the 6 × 5-m sprint dribble and 20-m sprint tests is preserved even after eliminating the effect of body height. We assume that, besides the deficit in body height and training status, this is also 1 of the key reasons for these players' lower playing efficiency compared to those from divisions A and B. We hope the findings of this study will enable the generation of model values, which can assist basketball coaches for this age category in basketball clubs, high schools, national teams, and basketball camps.     

Fuzzy rule‐based decision support system for evaluation of long‐established forest restoration projects

Although the importance of monitoring and evaluation of restoration actions is increasingly acknowledged, availability of accurate, quantitative monitoring data is very rare for most restoration areas, particularly for long‐established restoration projects. We propose using fuzzy rule‐based expert systems to evaluate the degree of success of restoration actions when available information on project results and impacts largely relies on expert‐based qualitative assessments and rough estimates of quantitative values. These systems use fuzzy logic to manage the uncertainty present in the data and to integrate qualitative and quantitative information. To illustrate and demonstrate the potential of fuzzy rule‐based systems for restoration evaluation, we applied this approach to seven forest restoration projects implemented in Spain between 1897 and 1952, using information compiled in the REACTION database on Mediterranean forest restoration projects. The information available includes both quantitative and expert‐based qualitative data, and covers a wide variety of indicators grouped into technical, structural, functional, and socioeconomic criteria. The fuzzy rule‐based system translates expert knowledge of restoration specialists and forest managers into a set of simple logic rules that integrate information on individual indicators into more general evaluation criteria. The rule‐based approach proposed here can be readily applicable to any kind of restoration project, provided that some information, even if vague and uncertain, is available for a variety of assessment indicators. The evaluation of long‐established forest restoration projects implemented in Spain revealed important asymmetries in the degree of restoration success between technical, structural, functional, and socioeconomic criteria.     

Categorical discriminant analysis of 3'-splice site signals of mRNA precursors in higher eukaryote genes

With regard to the signals that direct excision of introns from mRNA precursors in higher eukaryote genes, a consensus sequence, (sequence; see text); has been proposed for the 3'-splice site, but actual 3'-splice site sequences differ from it to a greater or lesser degree. In the present paper, nucleotide sequences were transformed into categorical data, and quantification analysis (class II), as proposed by Hayashi, was applied to the system. Categorical weights given to variables related to position and the species of nucleotide were estimated so that the two classes of 3'-splice site sequences and sequences other than 3'-splice site might be discriminated most distinctly. The 3'-splice site signals were then characterized in terms of these categorical weight values. We also calculated partial correlation coefficient values, which explain the relative importance of each position in the 3'-splice site signal sequence.     

Training load,recovery and game performance in semiprofessional male basketball: influence of individual characteristics and contextual factors

This study examined the effects of individual characteristics and contextual factors on training load, pre-game recovery and game performance in adult male semi-professional basketball. Fourteen players were monitored, across a whole competitive season, with the session-RPE method to calculate weekly training load, and the Total Quality Recovery Scale to obtain pre-game recovery scores. Additionally, game-related statistics were gathered during official games to calculate the Performance Index Rating (PIR). Individual characteristics and contextual factors were grouped using k-means cluster analyses. Separate mixed linear models for repeated measures were performed to evaluate the single and combined (interaction) effects of individual characteristics (playing experience; playing position; playing time) and contextual factors (season phase; recovery cycle; previous game outcome; previous and upcoming opponent level) on weekly training load, pre-game recovery and PIR. Weekly load was higher in guards and medium minute-per-game (MPG) players, and lower for medium-experienced players, before facing high-level opponents, during later season phases and short recovery cycles (all p < 0.05). Pre-game recovery was lower in centers and high-experience players (p < 0.05). Game performance was better in high-MPG players (p < 0.05) and when facing low and medium-level opponents (p < 0.001). Interestingly, players performed better in games when the previous week’s training load was low (p = 0.042). This study suggests that several individual characteristics and contextual factors need to be considered when monitoring training load (playing experience, playing position, playing time, recovery cycle, upcoming opponent level), recovery (playing experience, playing position) and game performance (opponent level, weekly training load, pre-game recovery) in basketball players during the competitive season.     

Semantic retrieval in DNA-based memories with Gibbs energy models

At least three types of associative memories based on DNA-affinity have been proposed. Previously, we have quantified the quality of retrieval of genomic and abiotic information in simulation by comparison to state-of-the-art symbolic methods available, such as LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis). Their performance is poor when the evaluation criterion for DNA-affinity is a simple approximation of the Gibbs energy that governs duplex formation for retrievals. Here, we use a more realistic approximation of the Gibbs energy to improve semantic retrievals in DNA memories. Their performance is much closer to that of LSA, according to human expert ratings. With more realistic approximations of DNA affinity, performance is expected to improve for other, more adaptive associative memories with compaction in silico, and even more so with actual DNA molecules in vitro.     

Meta-performance evaluation of sustainability indicators

There are many different kinds of frameworks for evaluating environmental and sustainability performance at the organizational level (profit or not-for-profit, private or public), sectoral level (e.g. industry, transport, agriculture and tourism), and local, regional or country levels. Despite the diversity of methods and tools to measure sustainable development, indicators are one of the approaches most used. However, these tools do not usually include evaluation of the performance measurement instrument itself. The main objective of this research is to develop a conceptual framework to design and assess the effectiveness of the sustainability indicators themselves. To put the proposed tool into practice, a set of key good-practice factors and meta-performance evaluation indicators is proposed for adoption in a national case study—the national sustainable development indicators system, SIDS Portugal, and the usefulness of this methodology is demonstrated. This approach aims to evaluate how appropriate a set of sustainability indicators is and allow an evaluation of overall performance-monitoring activities and results. Stakeholder involvement is an essential component of the proposed framework. The tool developed could support continuous improvement in the performance of ongoing sustainability indicator initiatives, allowing greater guidance, objectivity and transparency in sustainability assessment processes.     

神经功能损伤评分在大鼠脑缺血实验中的应用

脑梗塞发病率逐年增高,它严重影响了患者的生活质量。临床上,神经功能损伤评分是诊断和疗效评价的重要指标。在临床前研究中,神经功能损伤评分也越来越受到重视,是判断药效的最重要指标之一。本文介绍了评价神经功能损伤的几种常见试验和评分标准,并认为在中医药治疗脑梗塞临床前研究中,应更加重视神经功能评分,充分体现中医药的优势。     

Quality of core collections for effective utilisation of genetic resources review, discussion and interpretation

Definition of clear criteria for evaluation of the quality of core collections is a prerequisite for selecting high-quality cores. However, a critical examination of the different methods used in literature, for evaluating the quality of core collections, shows that there are no clear guidelines on the choices of quality evaluation criteria and as a result, inappropriate analyses are sometimes made leading to false conclusions being drawn regarding the quality of core collections and the methods to select such core collections. The choice of criteria for evaluating core collections appears to be based mainly on the fact that those criteria have been used in earlier publications rather than on the actual objectives of the core collection. In this study, we provide insight into different criteria used for evaluating core collections. We also discussed different types of core collections and related each type of core collection to their respective evaluation criteria. Two new criteria based on genetic distance are introduced. The consequences of the different evaluation criteria are illustrated using simulated and experimental data. We strongly recommend the use of the distance-based criteria since they not only allow the simultaneous evaluation of all variables describing the accessions, but they also provide intuitive and interpretable criteria, as compared with the univariate criteria generally used for the evaluation of core collections. Our findings will provide genebank curators and researchers with possibilities to make informed choices when creating, comparing and using core collections.     

Time-motion and physiological assessments of ice hockey performance.

Ice hockey performance was studied during 10 contests to assess time-motion characteristics and associated physiological changes that occur for each position. Depending on the position played, the actual playing time per game for forwards and defensemen ranged between 20.7 and 28.0 min. The number of shifts ranged from 14 to 21 with an average playing time of 85.4 s/shift. Further analysis of each shift indicated that there was an average of 2.3 play stoppages which averaged 27.1 s, producing a continuous playing time of 39.7 s. Telemetered recordings of heart rate during each shift revealed sustained rates of between 170 and 174 beats/min over the three periods of the game. For both the forwards and defensemen, values for blood lactates were highest during the first and second periods (x = 78.0 and 66.1 mg/100 ml), then declined considerably during the third period (x = 44.5 mg/100 ml). Blood glucose showed a similar tendency (x = 139.3, 133.7, 114.1 mg/100 ml), while hematocrit and total protein showed little tendency to change.