Interrelations among leadership competencies of BIM leaders: A fuzzy DEMATEL-ANP approach

© 2020 by the authors. The use of new, digitally enabled innovations, such as building information modeling (BIM), raises issues such as the delineation of a competent leader. Even though BIM-based competency assessment models have become essential tools for maximizing the potential values of BIM implementation, the current competency models provide limited focus on leadership aspects that facilitate and enhance the BIM implementation efforts. This paper seeks to identify the specific competencies required for BIM implementation and examines the relationships between these competencies. Thirty-two experts from around the globe investigated a total of 15 leadership competencies under three categories pertaining to intellectual, managerial, and emotional leadership. Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was implemented to examine the cause-and-effect relationships among the BIM leadership competencies and fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) was performed to weigh those competencies. Findings show that the intellectual competencies act as the cause group, while managerial and emotional competencies are the effect groups. Moreover, the involving leadership is found to be the more suitable leadership style for BIM professionals, given the current capability and maturity levels of BIM implementation, in order to deal with the required changes throughout the BIM implementation process. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the BIM domain to examine the associated leadership competencies by using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique. The results of this research show the relative importance of criteria and sub-criteria, which contributes to further improvement of BIM leadership

A spatio-temporal geodatabase of mortalities due to respiratory tract diseases in Tehran, Iran between 2008 and 2018: a data note

Objectives Respiratory tract diseases (RTDs) are among the top five leading causes of death worldwide. Mortality rates due to respiratory tract diseases (MRRTDs) follow a spatial pattern and this may suggest a potential link between environmental risk factors and MRRTDs. Spatial analysis of RTDs mortality data in an urban setting can provide new knowledge on spatial variation of potential risk factors for RTDs. This will enable health professionals and urban planners to design tailored interventions. We aim to release the datasets of MRRTDs in the city of Tehran, Iran, between 2008 and 2018. Data description The Research data include four datasets; (a) mortality dataset which includes records of deaths and their attributes (age, gender, date of death and district name where death occurred), (b) population data for 22 districts (age groups with 5 years interval and gender by each district). Furthermore, two spatial datasets about the city are introduced; (c) the digital boundaries of districts and (d) urban suburbs of Tehran

An Overview on the Applications of Spatial Analyses in the Management and Allocation of Hemodialysis Services

Introduction: The prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) reached about 13.4% in 2016. Among available treatment methods, hemodialysis is the most common way used for the treatment of patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), the last stage of CKD. On average, these patients refer to hemodialysis centers three times a week. The high patients referral rate indicates the importance of proper management and planning as well as the optimal and efficient allocation of hemodialysis resources. Method: This overview study was conducted to investigate the applications of spatial analyses in the management and allocation of hemodialysis resources. By designing a search strategy, related articles indexed in the MEDLINE database, were reviewed. Results: Studies related to spatial analysis in the field of hemodialysis can be categorized into three groups including: 1) measurement of access to hemodialysis centers, 2) relationship between access to these centers and mortality as well as patients' quality of life, and 3) allocation of hemodialysis resources in a geographical area. Conclusion: Spatial analysis as a geographical information system-based methodology, can be used for analyzing data associated with hemodialysis centers to optimize resources management and help policymakers to make better informed decisions in this area. Most of the studies investigated the access to hemodialysis centers and the relationship between access to these centers and mortality as well as the patient's quality of life. However, few studies have been conducted on the optimal allocation of hemodialysis resources in a geographical area

Effect of Orem's Self-Care Model on Perceived Stress in Adolescents with Asthma Referring the Asthma and Allergy Clinic, Isfahan, 2014.

BACKGROUND Incidence of asthma in adolescents leads to variations in family status, roles and interaction with peers for them, which could be a source of stress and psychological tensions in them. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Orem's self-care model on perceived stress in adolescents with asthma. METHODS In this semi-experimental study conducted from April 2013 to February 2014, 64 asthmatic adolescents referring Shariati Hospital, Isfahan were enrolled by simple random sampling and the patients were assigned to two groups of control and intervention. Then, Orem's self-care model-based training was implemented throughout eight sessions of two hours each and the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale was administered to both groups prior to and two months after the completion of the training. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics consisting of paired t-test, independent t-test, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney using SPSS Version 20. RESULTS Mean age of the participants was 14.15±3.12 years in the intervention group and 15.21±3.09 years in the control groups. 68.8% and 59.4% of the participants were male in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Independent t-test indicated a significant difference in the mean scores of perceived stress in the intervention (25.46±5.31) and control groups (28.90±5.27) after the training. Also, the result of paired t-test indicated a significant difference in the mean score of perceived stress between before (29.18±5.27) and after (25.46±5.31) training. CONCLUSION As the training based on Orem's model had a positive effect on declining perceived stress in asthmatic adolescents, continuation of using these training interventions could contribute to ultimately achieving positive outcomes in health functions of these patients

A geodatabase of blood pressure level and the associated factors including lifestyle, nutritional, air pollution, and urban greenspace

OBJECTIVES: Hypertension is a prevalent chronic disease globally. A multifaceted combination of risk factors is associated with hypertension. Scientific literature has shown the association among individual and environmental factors with hypertension, however, a comprehensive database including demographic, environmental, individual attributes and nutritional status has been rarely studied. Moreover, an integrated spatial-epidemiological approach has been scarcely researched. Therefore, this study aims to provide and describe a geodatabase including individual-based and socio-environmental data related to people living in the city of Mashhad, Iran in 2018. DATA DESCRIPTION: The database has been extracted from the PERSIAN Organizational Cohort study in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The data note includes three shapefiles and a help file. The shapefile format is a digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information. The first shapefile includes the data of population, air pollutants and amount of available green space for each census block of the city. The second shapefile consists of aggregated blood pressure data to the census blocks of the city. The third shapefile comprises the individual characteristics data (i.e., demographic, clinical, and lifestyle). Finally, the fourth file is a guide to the previous data files for users

Different configurations of the two-step floating catchment area method for measuring the spatial accessibility to hospitals for people living with disability: a cross-sectional study

Background: Poor spatial accessibility to hospital services is associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates among people living with disability. Improved methods to evaluate spatial accessibility are needed. This study measured the potential spatial accessibility of people living with disability by applying four configurations of the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to recommend the best model for use in health services research. Methods: 2SFCA and an enhanced version (E2SFCA) were used to measure hospital accessibility for people living with disability. We also developed and embedded a non-spatial severity index into the two 2SFCA models. We used 16,186 records of people living with disability experience to evaluate the methodological performance across 68 neighbourhoods of the city of Ahvaz, located in south-western Iran. The models’ performance were measured through correlation of the four accessibility scores with the distance to closest hospital for each neighbourhood centroid. Results: Among the four models used to measure spatial accessibility, the E2SFCA integrated with the severity index displayed the best performance. Most people with disabilities lived in neighbourhoods located in the South-western and central areas of the city. Interestingly, south-western neighbourhoods had poor hospital accessibility score and were identified as unmet need areas for access to health services. Conclusions: Inclusion of the severity factor in the E2SFCA improved access measurements. Identifying areas with poor levels of hospital accessibility can help policymakers design tailored interventions and improve accessibility to hospital-based care in urban settings for people living with disability

Towards developing an integrated index of access to dialysis facilities: A systematic review

Background: The equitable Access to Healthcare Services (AHS) constitutes one of the main priorities of the healthcare providers. Access to Dialysis Facilities (ADF) has an important impact on the renal dialysis patients. There are many spatial and non-spatial factors that potentially can affect ADF. Objectives: We aimed to review available literature on factors affecting ADF. We have also tried to identify knowledge gaps in current studies in order to use those elicited factors to cover these gaps in developing an integrated index of ADF. Methods: In May 2016, the literature was systematically searched using the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of science, Scopus, Science Direct, and IEEE Xplore. A 3-step method to identify studies related to ADF was used. Study selection processes were performed by two independent reviewers. The quality of studies was assessed using a mixed approach scoring system. Results: Initially, 975 literature were identified searching the selected databases. After removing duplicates, study screening, and applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 34 studies were identified for final review. Given the content of selected studies, three groups of studies were identified and 42 factors with the potential effect on ADF were determined. Conclusion: Our systematic research revealed that most of the factors with the potential effect on ADF are non-spatial. Such factors were underseen in many studies focusing mainly on the spatial dimensions of ADF. We recommended that all possible spatial and non-spatial factors together should be taken into account as part of an integrated index of ADF

Paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran 2015-2019: a data note

Objectives:The leading factors of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries (PPRTIs) are associated with the char-acteristics of immediate environment. Spatial analysis of data related to PPRTIs could provide useful knowledge for public health specialists to prevent and decrease the number of accidents. Therefore, we aim to release the datasets which have been used to conduct a multiple-scale spatial analysis of PPRTIs in the city of Mashhad, Iran, between 2015-2019.Data description:The data include four datasets. The base PPRTIs dataset includes motor vehicle accidents and their attributes in the city of Mashhad between March 2015 and March 2019. The attribute data includes the month, day of the week, hour of the day, place (longitude and latitude) of each accident, age range of the child and gender. Further-more, three spatial datasets about the city of Mashhad are introduced; (1) the digital boundaries of Neighbourhood, (2) road network dataset (street lines) and (3) urban suburbs of Mashhad.Keywords:Paediatric Accident, Pedestrian Accident, Road Traffic Injuries, Iran, Mashhad, Spatial data, Non-spatial data, Geographic Information SystemsThis study was financially supported by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Fund Number: 970733)

Haemodialysis services in the northeastern region of Iran

Chronic kidney disease is growing and the current estimated global prevalence exceeds 13%. As the use of haemodialysis machines for patients with end stage renal disease increases survival considerably, it is critical to plan correctly for the allocation of these machines. This study aimed to develop a geographical information systems (GIS)-based approach to predict the need for this service in the northeastern region of Iran taking into account where patients live and where haemodialysis is the most needed and identifying areas with poor access to haemodialysis centres. Patients were interviewed to obtain self-reported actual travel time and the inverse distance-weighting algorithm was used to determine access in each area. The prediction is based on the domestic growth rate for haemodialysis services and the estimated active hours of machine use for the next five years. We estimate that six new haemodialysis machines are required in northeastern Iran at the present time with 50 machines required over the next five years. Ashkhane City was identified to have the least access to haemodialysis centres in the study area. Our GIS-based model can be used to investigate not only the need for new haemodialysis machines but also to examine geographic disparities in the allocation of haemodialysis centres and to identify areas most in need of this service. It is important that policymakers consider both spatial and non-spatial dimensions of access to enable better allocation of haemodialysis services ensuring they are targeted to reach those in nee