The Roles of the Project Management Office In The Execution of the Organizations Strategic Plan

Many organizations in both public and private sectors are striving to discover new tools and strategies to streamline their project implementation. Among these was the project management office (PMO), which has been developed from the womb of the advanced project management methodology. This work is both exploratory and causal study,which concentrates on investigating the effectiveness of seven proposed PMO roles (as independent variables) in carrying out the strategic plan (as the dependent variable) of the public sector organizations in the UAE. The study aims also to derive some insights into coordinating pattern established between PMO entity and other departments involved in the project implementation within the context of the organization’s strategic plan. A Likert-based questionnaire has been structured to cover all aspects of the research questions and hypotheses. The survey hyperlink emailed to 19 project-based public organizations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Emirates(as business centers) prior to broadcasting among their 450 staff members who involved actively in the various project business. 366 participants viewed the survey link, whereas 268 of them responded with perfect and usable questionnaires. The received data analyzed quantitatively by using multiple regression. The analysis outputs, as expected, have indicated that 95% of the targeted organizations established own PMO. The high visibility of PMO allowed robust investigation on the connections between various PMO roles in executing the strategic plan of the hosted organizations to reveal a number of statistically significant linkages between various variables. The top-five PMO roles involved in strategic plan execution were found to be i) Strategic Management, ii) development of project management competencies and methodology,iii) monitoring and controlling project performance, iv) organizational learning, andv) organization structure and communication improvement. Whereas 12 top metric criteria were identified to measure the effectiveness of the PMO unit. These findings utilized in developing a conceptual PMO model to be flexible and applicable with similar project management methodology in various business domains, and paving the way for more investigations. This study gives some implications for those involved in the PMO applications, and recommendations to further research studies

Evaluation The Role of CD33+ CD11b+ myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells in Patients With AML

Acute myeloid leukemia is a genetically heterogeneous clonal disease defined by the accumulation of immature cells in bone marrow and blood. The aim of this study is to evaluate the CD33, CD11b, and HLA-DR expression in Iraqi AML patients and its role in evasion of malignant cells from the immune system. This study was conducted on 60 patients with AML and 20 healthy individuals as a control group to evaluate the expression of CD33 and CD11b using flow-cytometry in peripheral blood, and evaluate Interferons-γ (IFN-γ) and Transforming Growth Factor-β1 (TGF-β1) levels. A statistically non-significant difference (P < 0.005) between the AML patients and control group with regard to the expression of CD33, CD11b, and HLA-DR was observed. Analysis of CD33 expression in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) showed a significant decrease in the proportion of CD33 positive MDSC cells in isolated peripheral blood samples (88.078 ± 1.284). Also, the expression of CD11b in MDSC cells was high (98.841±1.935) in MDSC cells. The mean level of IFN-γ (pg/ml) increased in AML in compared to control group (9.202 ± 0.244), (7.906±1.22), respectively. While TGF- β1 (pg/ml) concentration was found to be elevated in AML patients (69.04 ± 9.92) compared to control group (33.884 ± 2.888). In conclusion, circulating MDSCs were significantly elevated in peripheral blood of patients with AML and characterized by the CD33+CD11b + phenotype; TGF-β1 and IFN-γ can be released in the presence of native human AML cells and affect AML cell proliferation and evasion from immune system

Rehabilitation of torture survivors in five countries: common themes and challenges

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Torture continues to be a global problem and there is a need for prevention and rehabilitation efforts. There is little available data on torture survivors from studies designed and conducted by health professionals in low income countries. This study is a collaboration between five centres from Gaza, Egypt, Mexico, Honduras and South Africa who provide health, social and legal services to torture survivors, advocate for the prevention of torture and are part of the network of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Socio-demographic, clinical and torture exposure data was collected on the torture survivors attending the five centres at presentation and then at three and six month follow-up periods. This sample of torture survivors is presented using a range of descriptive statistics. Change over time is demonstrated with repeated measures analysis of variance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 306 torture survivors, 23% were asylum seekers or refugees, 24% were socially isolated, 11% in prison. A high level of traumatic events was experienced. 64% had suffered head injury whilst tortured and 24% had ongoing torture injury problems. There was high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress as well as medically unexplained somatic symptoms. The analysis demonstrates a modest drop in symptoms over the six months of the study.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Data showed that the torture survivors seen in these five centres had high levels of exposure to torture events and high rates of clinical symptoms. In order to provide effective services to torture survivors, health professionals at torture rehabilitation centres in low income countries need to be supported to collect relevant data to document the needs of torture survivors and to evaluate the centres' interventions.</p

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Factors affecting urinary calculi treatment by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is still the treatment of choice for most renal and upper ureteric stones; however the outcome depends on multiple factors. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of stone density, as measured by Hounsfield Units (H.U) by non-contrast Computerized Tomography (CT), stone size and stone location on ESWL treatment outcome of urinary calculi in Jordanian patients. 65 patients underwent clinical, biochemical and radiological assessments followed by ESWL treatment. Statistical analyses including chi-square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation, regression were performed for statistical significance between ESWL treatment, stone fragmentation and stone density, size and location in the renal pelvis. ESWL success rate was high (94&#x0025;) for low density stones (&lt; 500 Hounsfield units). In general CT densities of 750 Hounsfield units or less were almost always successfully treated by ESWL. An inverse association between ESWL treatment outcome and stone size was also documented. CT stone density and stone size combined account for nearly 73&#x0025; of the variation in the number of shock waves required to attain fragmentation. Stones located in lower calyceal area had less success rates. In conclusion, stones with higher density, large size and lower location may better be managed by percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Durability and mechanical properties of seashell partially-replaced cement

This research investigates the possibility of grinding and burning bivalve clam seashells to produce seashell ash powder. This ash is used to partially replace cement by 5, 10, 15 and 20% by weight. These mixes are tested and compared with a SC0 that has 0% seashell ash powder (SC0). The fresh and hardened properties of all mixes are studied through a variety of tests, including: slump, unit weight, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength. The durability of seashell concrete cubic specimens is studied by immersion in 5% NaOH(aq) and MgSO4(aq) solutions. The addition of thermally treated seashells increased the calcium hydroxide content. The results also show that the compressive strength of the 5% replacement is slightly higher than the SC0 at 28 and 90 days of age, while the tensile strength is higher than the standard for the 5% and 10% of replacement at 7 and 28 days. Furthermore, the slump test value generally increases with increasing the percentage of replacement. The highest durability against sulfate and alkaline attacks is obtained with 5% replacement of cement with seashells which reported the lowest decrease in weight and the highest compressive strength after immersion in 5% NaOH(aq) and MgSO4(aq) solutions. The 5% replacement mix is the optimum percentage of replacement. Therefore, this study recommends replacing cement with 5% seashell cement.This research investigates the possibility of grinding and burning bivalve clam seashells to produce seashell ash powder. This ash is used to partially replace cement by 5, 10, 15 and 20% by weight. These mixes are tested and compared with a SC0 that has 0% seashell ash powder (SC0). The fresh and hardened properties of all mixes are studied through a variety of tests, including: slump, unit weight, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength. The durability of seashell concrete cubic specimens is studied by immersion in 5% NaOH(aq) and MgSO4(aq) solutions. The addition of thermally treated seashells increased the calcium hydroxide content. The results also show that the compressive strength of the 5% replacement is slightly higher than the SC0 at 28 and 90 days of age, while the tensile strength is higher than the standard for the 5% and 10% of replacement at 7 and 28 days. Furthermore, the slump test value generally increases with increasing the percentage of replacement. The highest durability against sulfate and alkaline attacks is obtained with 5% replacement of cement with seashells which reported the lowest decrease in weight and the highest compressive strength after immersion in 5% NaOH(aq) and MgSO4(aq) solutions. The 5% replacement mix is the optimum percentage of replacement. Therefore, this study recommends replacing cement with 5% seashell cement