Performance-based measurement system

The team identifies the contaminants of concern and proposes potentially suitable measurement methods. The measurement methods may come from the EPA guidance manuals for analytical methods or from other appropriate sources for standard methods of analysis. Depending on the type of data, Performance Based Measurement Systems (PBMS) may also be used for obtaining physical, chemical, or biological measurements. The PBMS are alternative analytical methods that are developed for a specific analyte or a group of analytes and offer an innovative or a more efficient analytical approach being at the same time more cost-effective than the standard methods of analysis. 

The new approach named Performance Based Measurement Systems is based on the definition of what needs to be done rather than on the definition of how to do it. The... 

US Environmental Protection Agency, Performance Based Measurement Systems, Notice of Intent, Federal Register, October 6, [US Government Printing Office, 1997b]. 

In May 1999 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Tier 2 emission standards for vehicles and gasoline sulfur standards for refineries [5-7]. They mandated the ASTM D 2622 X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method for sulfur determination, and in later announcements D 6428 became the mandatory method for sulfur determination in diesel fuels. Over the years through discussions and litigations, these rules have been modified to the point where alternate test methods can be used instead of only the mandated methods. The alternate methods allowed would be (a) those developed by the voluntary consensus based standards writing bodies, such as ASTM, or (b) industry methods for which data will have to be provided to EPA to establish their correctness under Performance Based Measurement System (PBMS). Discussions between the industty and EPA are ongoing to further define the statistical basis forjudging the available methods acceptance and other related issues. 

Moment analysis is one of the simplest types of analysis and is useful for measuring the performance of the chromatography. Moments can be used to measure the same things that are measured in ID chromatographic systems these include the first, second, and third moments, which are more accurate than the related peak maximum, peak width, and peak asymmetry. In 2D, however, these values each have a component in each dimension and this can be easily determined in software-based measurement systems. 

A typical CC-measurement procedure (for a pH-sensitive LAPS structure) is depicted in Fig. 6.3. From the raw data material of the CC-mode measurement of all measurement spots under the pH-sensitive layer, a calibration plot can be derived. For example, for the above example, an average pH sensitivity of 54.2 mV/pH with a standard deviation of 0.5 mV/pH between the different measurement spots can be calculated. This initial calibration measurement allows furthermore the determination of different measurement parameters, e.g., the hysterisis, overall drift, stability, selectivity and the influence of external disturbances such as light and temperature. These parameters are important to evaluate the performance of the complete LAPS-based measurement system. 

Some of the more common performance measurement systems used to assess pharmaceutical outcomes include report cards, balanced scorecards, clinical value compasses, profiling, performance-based evaluation systems, and others. The goals of pharmaceutical performance measurement systems are to 1) compare treatment modalities fairly 2) recognize and promote good care 3) identify and eliminate substandard care and 4) improve the level of care overall.Because performance measures can include data over the course of treatment, the outcomes of alternative therapies and practices may be detected. The end goal of any performance measurement system should not be cost containment only improving patient outcomes must be a primary concern, keeping in mind the cost effectiveness of the therapy and sustainability of the system. 

Few performance-based measures are available and useful for assessing excavation damage prevention programs. Those measures that are maintained are specific to selected States or are maintained by individual companies for a specific underground system. Data concerning underground damage for all types of sys-tans are needed ... 

Measuring System Performance Based on System Damage Response... 

In a performance-based approach to quality assurance, a laboratory is free to use its experience to determine the best way to gather and monitor quality assessment data. The quality assessment methods remain the same (duplicate samples, blanks, standards, and spike recoveries) since they provide the necessary information about precision and bias. What the laboratory can control, however, is the frequency with which quality assessment samples are analyzed, and the conditions indicating when an analytical system is no longer in a state of statistical control. Furthermore, a performance-based approach to quality assessment allows a laboratory to determine if an analytical system is in danger of drifting out of statistical control. Corrective measures are then taken before further problems develop. 

One system for measuring catalyst failure is based on two oxygen sensors, one located in the normal control location, the other downstream of the catalyst (102,103). The second O2 sensor indicates relative catalyst performance by measuring the abiUty to respond to a change in air/fuel mixture. Other techniques using temperatures sensors have also been described (104—107). Whereas the dual O2 sensor method is likely to be used initially, a criticism of the two O2 sensors system has been reported (44) showing that properly functioning catalysts would be detected as a failure by the method. 

In Section IV we considered a categorical performance metric y. Although that represents a common practice, especially when y defines the quality of a product or process operation, there are many instances where system performance is measured by a continuous variable. Even when y is quality-related, it is becoming increasingly clear that explicit continuous quality cost models should be adopted and replace evaluations of performance based on categorical variables. 

As the raw material of rendering plants produces very odoriferous substances, air cleaning systems are usual. Five such air cleaners in normal performance were measured olfactometrically. The olfactometric efficiency of biofilters proved to be better than that of chemical scrubbers. A large difference between the relative odour concentration in the cleaned air and asserted limit values, based on older olfactometric methods confirm the necessity of a standardisation of olfactometric measurement methods. 

The SYSCO measurement system implements the performance-based culture. It is used to determine rewards, and reinforces local autonomy and the entrepreneurial spirit. The culture and the... 

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