1976 Montreal Olympics: Case Study of Project Management Failure

A successful engineering project must include its timely and economic completion. A project management failure can lead to delays and cost overruns. One example of a project that greatly exceeded its projected budget is the construction of the multiple facilities for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. These included the Olympic Stadium, a velodrome for bicycle events, and the Olympic Village to house the athletes. This case study reviews the circumstances of the cost increases and the design decisions and other circumstances that led to them. The difficulties were brought on by an unrealistic schedule to complete the facilities before the fixed start date of the Games, combined with an unusually cavalier attitude toward project costs, exacerbated by political tensions. Although the original cost estimate for the facilities was $120 million, the final cost was$1.5 billion, with $830 million for the main stadium alone. Part of the justification for the expense of the facilities was the hope that the facilities would be useful for future athletic events—the record on this is mixed at best. The lessons learned can be applied to other projects to better control costs

Effect of mid-day meal on nutritional status of adolescents: A cross-sectional study from Gujarat

Objective: To evaluate the effect of mid-day meal (MDM) on the nutritional status of adolescents and compare it with healthy comparison group. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study on apparently healthy adolescents (10-14 years) receiving MDM and not receiving MDM (comparison group) was conducted in two cities (Ahmedabad and Patan) of Gujarat, Western India, from January 2012 to March 2014. Materials and Methods: A total of 401 adolescents (200 boys) were selected randomly, using computerized random number generation, from two private and two municipal/government schools. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Height, weight, and body mass index Z scores were computed using ethnic data. Diet was recorded by 24 h recall and nutrient intakes were computed (C-diet V-2.1) as a percentage of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). Student’s t-test and Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in nutritional status. Results: Percentage of stunting (24% boys and 19% girls) and wasting (17% boys and 18% girls) was significantly higher in adolescents receiving MDM (p<0.001), while the percentage of risk of being overweight, i.e., BMI for age Z (BAZ) >1 or above 85th percentile (18% boys and 12% girls) was predominant in non-MDM receiving adolescents (p<0.001). Compared to non-MDM, MDM receiving adolescents consumed significantly reduced quantity of nutrients (p<0.05). On comparing RDA based on the 24 h dietary recall, it was seen that MDM receiving boys met 60% energy, 78% protein, 50% calcium, and 53% of micronutrient requirements while MDM receiving girls met 59% energy, 67% protein, 44% calcium, and 48% of micronutrient requirements. Non-MDM receiving adolescents had close to RDA or above intake for the most nutrients (p<0.05 for all). Conclusion: Although MDM scheme restricted the percentage of stunting to some extent, the percentage of wasting was critical in terms of public health significance. MDM receiving adolescents were vulnerable to energy, protein, and micronutrient deficiencies.Key words: Adolescents, Nutritional status, Micronutrients, Mid-da

A Review on Power Quality Improvement via Custom Power Devices

Power Quality has been said a set of electrical boundaries of the electrical supply provided under normal operating condition that allow equipment to function in its rated condition without significant loss of performance and life expectancy that do not disturb or disrupt the consumers\u27 process. Performance degradation results when the electrical power supplied to equipment is deficient. Thus power quality improvement is the main concern of present era. The problems of power quality are rising exponentially from the last few decades due to the rising demand for power and the need for their improvement is indeed a big question. The main power quality problems such as voltage sags and swells, power interruptions (short and long), voltage spike, harmonic distortion, noise have led to financial losses. To avoid huge losses and to overcome the above mentioned problems, power electronics has evolved with its new types of devices known as Custom Power Devices which are being reviewed in this paper

\u3ci\u3e Quantification of protoporphyrin IX accumulation in glioblastoma cells – A new technique \u3c/i\u3e

Introduction. 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (5-ALA) is a precursor of heme synthesis. A metabolite, protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), selectively accumulates in neoplastic tissue including glioblastoma. Presurgical administration of 5-ALA forms the basis of fluorescence-guided resection (FGR) of glioblastoma (GBM) tumors. However, not all gliomas accumulate sufficient quantities of PpIX to fluoresce, thus limiting the utility of FGR. We therefore developed an assay to determine cellular and pharmacological factors that impact PpIX fluorescence in GBM. This assay takes advantage of a GBM cell line engineered to express yellow fluorescent protein. Methods. The human GBM cell line U87MG was transfected with a YFP expression vector. After treatment with a series of 5-ALA doses, both PpIX and YFP fluorescence were measured. The ratio of PpIX to YFP fluorescence was calculated. Results. YFP fluorescence permitted the quantification of cell numbers and did not interfere with 5-ALA metabolism. The PpIX/YFP fluorescence ratio provided accurate relative PpIX levels, allowing for the assessment of PpIX accumulation in tissue. Conclusion. Constitutive YFP expression strongly correlates with cell number and permits PpIX quantification. Absolute PpIX fluorescence alone does not provide information regarding PpIX accumulation within the cells. Our research indicates that our PpIX/YFP ratio assay may be a promising model for in vitro 5-ALA testing and its interactions with other compounds during FGR surgery

Utility of first trimester ultrasound before 12 weeks of gestation at tertiary care centre in western India

Background: The first trimester begins on the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP) and lasts until the end of 12 weeks of gestation. Transvaginal ultrasound is modality of choice for establishing the presence of an intrauterine pregnancy in the first trimester. The focus of our study is routine early pregnancy ultrasound. The purpose of this study was to diagnose various conditions of pregnancy at an early stage by using ultrasound.Methods: We conducted retrospective data analysis of random 250 pregnant patients who had undergone first-trimester ultrasonography USG) (transvaginal/abdominal) in their first antenatal visit at S.V.P. Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India from March 2021 to February 2022. The patient was selected by a simple randomized method. Maternal age, parity, gestational age, and special features regarding maternal gestational history were compared with USG findings. Patients were divided into 13 groups on the basis of ultrasonographic diagnosis.Results: We noted 76.8% of patients had single, viable, intrauterine pregnancies, while 23.2% had complicated pregnancies with uterine anomalies, ovarian cysts, leiomyoma, caesarean scar pregnancy or subchorionic hematomas.Conclusions: Ultrasound measurement of fetus in first trimester is most accurate method to confirm gestational age. It is less expensive and easily available modality. First-trimester ultrasound is useful to define embryonic landmarks in developmental stages with reference to gestational age, early diagnosis of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, multifetal pregnancy, major fetal malformation. And also, to diagnose pregnancy with leiomyoma, caesarean scar pregnancy, uterine anomaly and pre-eclampsia with the help of uterine artery PI

Amphiphilic beads as depots for sustained drug release integrated into fibrillar scaffolds

Native extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex fibrous structure loaded with bioactive cues that affects the surrounding cells. A promising strategy to mimicking native tissue architecture for tissue engineering applications is to engineer fibrous scaffolds using electrospinning. By loading appropriate bioactive cues within these fibrous scaffolds, various cellular functions such as cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation can be regulated. Here, we report on the encapsulation and sustained release of a model hydrophobic drug (dexamethasone (Dex)) within beaded fibrillar scaffold of poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)-poly(butylene terephthalate) (PEOT/PBT), a polyether-ester multiblock copolymer to direct differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The amphiphilic beads act as depots for sustained drug release that is integrated into the fibrillar scaffolds. The entrapment of Dex within the beaded structure results in sustained release of the drug over the period of 28days. This is mainly attributed to the diffusion driven release of Dex from the amphiphilic electrospun scaffolds. In vitro results indicate that hMSCs cultured on Dex containing beaded fibrillar scaffolds exhibit an increase in osteogenic differentiation potential, as evidenced by increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, compared to the direct infusion of Dex in the culture medium. The formation of a mineralized matrix is also significantly enhanced due to the controlled Dex release from the fibrous scaffolds. This approach can be used to engineer scaffolds with appropriate chemical cues to direct tissue regenerationAKG, SMM, LM and AK conceived the idea and designed the experiments. AKG and SMM fabricated electrospun scaffolds and performed the structural (SEM, FTIR), mechanical, and in vitro studies. AAK and AKGperformedDex release study. AKGand AP performed thermal analysis. AKG analyzed experimental data. AKG, SMM, LMand AK wrote the manuscript. ADL and CvB provided the polymers and corrected the manuscript. AKK, AP, MG and RLR revised the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. Authors would like to thank Shilpaa Mukundan, Poornima Kulkarni and Dr. Arghya Paul for help with image analysis, drug release modeling and technical discussion respectively. AKG would like to thank Prof. Robert Langer for access to equipment and acknowledge financial support from MIT Portugal Program (MPP-09Call-Langer-47). SMMthanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the personal grant SFRH/BD/42968/2008 (MIT-Portugal Program). This research was funded by the office of Naval Research Young National Investigator Award (AK), the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) (AK), the NIH (EB009196; DE019024; EB007249; HL099073; AR057837), the National Science Foundation CAREER award (DMR 0847287; AK), and the Dutch Technology Foundation (STW # 11135; LM, CvB, and AD)

Compositional and Temporal Changes in the Gut Microbiome of Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Patients Are Linked to Disease Course

Evaluating progression risk and determining optimal therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) is challenging as many patients exhibit incomplete responses to treatment. As part of the PROTECT (Predicting Response to Standardized Colitis Therapy) Study, we evaluated the role of the gut microbiome in disease course for 405 pediatric, new-onset, treatment-naive UC patients. Patients were monitored for 1 year upon treatment initiation, and microbial taxonomic composition was analyzed from fecal samples and rectal biopsies. Depletion of core gut microbes and expansion of bacteria typical of the oral cavity were associated with baseline disease severity. Remission and refractory disease were linked to species-specific temporal changes that may be implicative of therapy efficacy, and a pronounced increase in microbiome variability was observed prior to colectomy. Finally, microbial associations with disease-associated serological markers suggest host-microbial interactions in UC. These insights will help improve existing treatments and develop therapeutic approaches guiding optimal medical car