Data-Driven Analysis Of Progressive Design Build In Water And Wastewater Infrastructure Projects

The United States has invested heavily in water and wastewater infrastructure projects to address growing demand and aging systems. To ensure the effective delivery of these projects, agencies are shifting toward alternative delivery methods such as progressive design build (PDB), which has demonstrated accelerated schedule and enhanced cost performance across the literature as well as multiple projects compared to traditional DB. This has raised a need for evaluating PDB\u27s state of adoption and performance in the water and wastewater sector. To this end, the authors: (1) conducted descriptive and statistical analyses of the 21 PDB water and wastewater projects available on the Design-Build Institute of America database evaluating their characteristics and performance metrics; (2) investigated the frequency of materialized risks impacting schedule and cost in these projects; and finally (3) identified the key adoption drivers and challenges for PDB in the water and wastewater sector by triangulating findings from the studied narratives with a literature and practice review. Results revealed that 71% and 57% of the investigated projects were completed on or before the contracted schedules and costs, respectively. From the studied project narratives, owner-led changes and COVID-19 impacts were the most frequently encountered risks. Also, it was shown that project planning and risk management drivers were the most influential causes for PDB adoption, whereas legal and contractual restrictions as well as the owner\u27s mindset and culture-related concerns were the most pressing challenges. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by delivering managerial insights through an aggregated snapshot of PDB implementation in the water and wastewater sector. Ultimately, the provided managerial insights can assist stakeholders in making better-informed decisions by weighing the advantages and challenges of PDB identified in this research against more traditional delivery approaches

Defining criteria for disease activity states in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis based on the systemic Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score

Objective To develop and validate cutoff values in the systemic Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score 10 (sJADAS10) that distinguish the states of inactive disease (ID), minimal disease activity (MiDA), moderate disease activity (MoDA), and high disease activity (HDA) in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), based on subjective disease state assessment by the treating pediatric rheumatologist. Methods The cutoffs definition cohort was composed of 400 patients enrolled at 30 pediatric rheumatology centers in 11 countries. Using the subjective physician rating as an external criterion, 6 methods were applied to identify the cutoffs: mapping, calculation of percentiles of cumulative score distribution, Youden index, 90% specificity, maximum agreement, and ROC curve analysis. Sixty percent of the patients were assigned to the definition cohort and 40% to the validation cohort. Cutoff validation was conducted by assessing discriminative ability. Results The sJADAS10 cutoffs that separated ID from MiDA, MiDA from MoDA, and MoDA from HDA were ≤ 2.9, ≤ 10, and > 20.6. The cutoffs discriminated strongly among different levels of pain, between patients with or without morning stiffness, and between patients whose parents judged their disease status as remission or persistent activity/flare or were satisfied or not satisfied with current illness outcome. Conclusion The sJADAS cutoffs revealed good metrologic properties in both definition and validation cohorts, and are therefore suitable for use in clinical trials and routine practice

Detection of hefA gene in multidrug resistant Helicobacter pylori at Tanta University Hospital

Background: The evident multidrug resistance (MDR) associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a serious public health problem. Multidrug resistance was defined as resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent in three or even more antimicrobial classes. The hefA gene encodes an active efflux process against antimicrobials, and its expression in H. pylori may contribute to the upsurge of resistant strains.  Aim of the study: Detection of MDR H. pylori among endoscopic isolates and examining the role of hefA gene expression in the occurrence of MDR H. pylori. Methods: Our research involved 40 H. pylori endoscopic isolates using conventional microbiological methods. We identified MDR in H. pylori isolates using E testing procedures for metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin as well as clarithromycin. We detected the hefA gene expression among the isolated H. pylori by real-time PCR.  Results: out of 40 isolates of H. pylori, 13 (32.5%) were MDR and 27 (67.5%) were not MDR. We found hefA gene in MDR H. pylori isolates with total (mean ± SD) equal to 7.055385±2.591111, but in non-MDR H. pylori isolates were with total (mean ± SD) equal to 2.591111±0.720189. There was a statistically significant difference in hefA expression levels among both MDR H. pylori isolated strains and non-MDR ones; the p value was 0.001. Conclusion: The hefA gene expression in H. pylori plays an important role in the emergence of MDR H. pylori strains as one of the genes encoding for efflux pump mechanisms

Graduate Recruitment Offers: Ethical and Professional Considerations for Engineering Graduate Students and Faculty Members

This paper investigates the ethical and professional responsibilities of engineering Graduate Students (GSs) and Faculty Members (FMs) in relation to Graduate Recruitment Offers (GROs). The authors developed an academic survey for data collection and subsequently evaluated the collected data based on common ethical theories and principles, as well as relevant professional codes of conduct. Based on the survey responses, this study identified the most common driving and preventive reasons for FMs and GSs not to honor a signed GRO. Further, the perception of GSs and FMs in relation to GROs was investigated using statistical methods. Finally, the authors provided an educational framework in the form of a checklist aimed at promoting ethical and professional decision-making as related to GROs. Ultimately, the outcomes of this research can be incorporated into senior seminar courses to enhance engineering undergraduate students\u27 ethical education and promote their ethical thinking as they grow into professional roles

Journal of Construction Management and Economics 40th Anniversary: Investigating Knowledge Structure and Evolution of Research Trends

Celebrating the Journal of Construction Management and Economics (CME) 40th anniversary, the goal of this paper is to investigate the knowledge structure and evolution of research trends in CME since its inception. The associated objectives include: (1) analyzing CME\u27s scholarly characteristics; (2) studying CME\u27s publication output over time; (3) examining interconnectivities between CME\u27s research trends; and (4) exploring the potential citation impact of recently published CME\u27s papers. In doing so, this paper implemented a multistep methodology that consists of descriptive assessment, social network analysis (SNA), and predictive machine learning (ML). Results of descriptive assessment showed that CME has witnessed over the years a noticeable growth in the number of publications, citation trends, and collaborative research as depicted increased co-authorship, and that highest percentage of publications were related to Strategy, Decision Making, Risk, and Finance , Project planning and Design and Contemporary Issues . Output of SNA highlights that research areas with the highest interconnectivity included Strategy, Decision Making, Risk and Finance and Project Planning and Design , and Labor and Personnel Issues . Furthermore, predictive ML revealed that CME papers have a high probability of becoming high impact publications. In addition to that, the predictive ML results re-emphasized the outcomes of the performed descriptive assessment by reflecting the importance of Contemporary Issues , Organizational Issues , Strategy, Decision Making, Risk, and Finance , and Labor and Personnel Issues as emerging research topics with increased potential impact in the future. Ultimately, this paper benefits all CME stakeholders by quantitatively studying current research patterns, their interconnectivities, and future potential

Impacts of Dietary Selenium Nanoparticles from <i>Spirulina platensis</i> on Growth Performance, Physio-Biochemical Components and Alleviating Effect against Cadmium Toxicity in Pacific White Shrimp <i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i>

Shrimp culture is quite important and popular across the world. This study aimed to evaluate the growth-promoting potential of synthesized selenium nanoparticles from Spirulina platensis extract (SP-SeNPs) as a food source for Pacific whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). However, pollution is considered a significant element affecting shrimp health and development. The effectiveness of SP-SeNPs in alleviating the negative effects of cadmium toxicity was also evaluated. Firstly, the shrimps (about 120 individuals with 6.0 ± 0.12 g of initial weight) were divided randomly into four groups in triplicates (30 shrimps/ treatment). The control group (SP-SeNPs—0 mg/kg diet) and three treatments were fed dietary SP-SeNPs (0.250, 0.50, and 1.0 mg/kg diet) for 56 days. Growth performance, digestive enzymes activities (protease, amylase, and lipase), and other biochemical components (total protein, lipid, amino acids, and carbohydrate) were evaluated. After 56 days of growth, another 150 adult shrimps were used under laboratory conditions to determine median lethal concentration of cadmium (96 h LC50), and 30 individuals were treated with cadmium (1/2 of LC50, 0.2 mg L−1) for 10 days only. Tissue samples were collected for measuring catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, cadmium bioaccumulation, and histopathological investigation. The results illustrated that the application of SP-SeNPs as feed additives at varying levels significantly improved growth performance (high weight gain, specific growth rate, and low feed conversion rates) relative to the control group. Furthermore, dietary SP-SeNPs enhanced digestive enzyme activities and the concentrations of biochemical components more than the control group. Upon concurrent exposure to cadmium, the antioxidative status was significantly enhanced, and histopathological alterations were mitigated. In conclusion, this study recommended supplementation of SP-SeNPs at 0.50 mg/kg diet to enhance optimal growth rate, digestive enzyme activities, levels of antioxidants in Litopenaeus vannamei, and mitigate the pathological alternations induced with Cd toxicity

Consensus evidence-based recommendations for transition of care for adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: meeting patients’, parents’, and rheumatologists’ perspectives

Abstract Background Transition of care means the process of educating and empowering adolescents and young adults to take an active role in their own healthcare, develop decision-making skills, and eventually transition from paediatric to adult healthcare providers. Most people do not switch doctors until they are young adults, but it can be beneficial to start preparing children earlier. We aimed to develop a specific toolkit tailored to paediatric and adult rheumatologists to assist them in transitioning of care of young people with juvenile onset rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases from the paediatric to adult rheumatology care. Results The expert panel was confined to an online survey (n = 18), all the experts completed the two rounds. At the conclusion of round 2, a total of 10 points were gathered. The range of respondents (ranks 7–9) who agreed with the recommendations was 88.9 to 100%. All 10 clinical standards identified by the scientific committee were written in the same way. Based on the answers to the structured key questions and the literature review, a structured template was developed presenting transition of care integrated pathway. Conclusion The developed rheumatology-specific guideline offers adolescents and young adults a focussed, multidisciplinary transition of care approach with equity of access, quality of care and flexibility and set up standards for transitional care for young adults with juvenile rheumatological diseases