Fundamental Challenges and Management Opportunities in Post Disaster Reconstruction Project

The study examines the root causes of delays that the project manager is unable to resolve or how the decision-maker can identify the best opportunities to get over these obstacles by considering the project constraints defined as the project triangle (cost, time, and quality) in post-disaster reconstruction projects to review the real challenges to overcome these obstacles. The methodology relied on the exploratory description and qualitative data examined. 43 valid questionnaires were distributed to qualified experienced engineers. A list of 49 factors causes was collected from previous international and local studies. A Relative Important Index (RII) is adapted to determine the level of importance of each sub-criterion in the four main criteria (scope, time, cost, and quality) to represent the causing changes in projects. The concluded 13 important factors represent the challenges faced by managers. This process requires active participation in the management role to overcome potential delays that face a great challenge and cause huge waves of displacement that affect the Iraqi economy and lead to social and environmental modifications. Reconstruction projects create jobs, improve the quality of life, and encourage people to return to their homes and rebuild their cities. So, unlocking local potential is the key to sustainable rebuilding in Iraq. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-09-05 Full Text: PD

On joint energy and information transfer in relay networks with an imperfect power amplifier

This paper investigates the outage probability and the throughput of relay networks with joint information and energy transfer where the relay harvests energy from transmitted radio-frequency (RF) signal of the source. Considering different power consumption models, we derive the outage probability of the systems for both adaptive and non-adaptive power allocations at the relay. With a total energy consumption constraint at the source, we provide closed-form expressions for the optimal time sharing and power allocation between the source energy and information transfer signals. The analytical and simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of joint energy and information transfer systems in different condition

Carrier-mediated blends of Chitosan with polyvinyl chloride for different applications

AbstractThe current work aims at blending of PVC with Chitosan through simultaneous casting of their separate solutions in different proportions of PVC and Chitosan in suitable solvents. After dissolution, both solutions were added to each other while stirring at room temperature. The obtained mixture was left at room temperature to form the blend after evaporation of the solvent. Similar blends have been prepared similarly in presence of the organic ligand, dithizone, as a carrier-mediating material for different metal ions. PVC/Chitosan blends were characterized by thermal (TGA) and FT-IR Spectroscopic analyses as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained blends were found to have reasonable extent of compatibility between their components. Such compatibility depends mainly on the way with which the components have been blended with each other. The polymer-supported dithizone was investigated toward its ability to be used for removal of some metal ions from their aqueous solutions. Concentration of metal ions was determined by ICP-AES analysis

Implementation and evaluation of the VA DPP clinical demonstration: protocol for a multi-site non-randomized hybrid effectiveness-implementation type III trial.

BackgroundThe Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) study showed that lifestyle intervention resulted in a 58% reduction in incidence of type 2 diabetes among individuals with prediabetes. Additional large randomized controlled trials have confirmed these results, and long-term follow-up has shown sustained benefit 10-20 years after the interventions ended. Diabetes is a common and costly disease, especially among Veterans, and despite strong evidence supporting the feasibility of type 2 diabetes prevention, the DPP has not been widely implemented. The first aim of this study will evaluate implementation of the Veterans Affairs (VA) DPP in three VA medical centers. The second aim will assess weight and hemoglobin A1c (A1c) outcomes, and the third aim will determine the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of implementation of the VA DPP from a health system perspective.Methods/designThis partnered multi-site non-randomized systematic assignment study will use a highly pragmatic hybrid effectiveness-implementation type III mixed methods study design. The implementation and administration of the VA DPP will be funded by clinical operations while the evaluation of the VA DPP will be funded by research grants. Seven hundred twenty eligible Veterans will be systematically assigned to the VA DPP clinical demonstration or the usual care VA MOVE!® weight management program. A multi-phase formative evaluation of the VA DPP implementation will be conducted. A theoretical program change model will be used to guide the implementation process and assess applicability and feasibility of the DPP for VA. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) will be used to guide qualitative data collection, analysis, and interpretation of barriers and facilitators to implementation. The RE-AIM framework will be used to assess Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of the VA DPP. Twelve-month weight and A1c change will be evaluated for the VA DPP compared to the VA MOVE!ProgramMediation analyses will be conducted to identify whether program design differences impact outcomes.DiscussionFindings from this pragmatic evaluation will be highly applicable to practitioners who are tasked with implementing the DPP in clinical settings. In addition, findings will determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the VA DPP in the Veteran population

A Comparative Study of Perceived Stress among Female Medical and Non-Medical University Students in Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate any differences between female undergraduate medical and non-medical students for: 1) prevalence and causes of perceived academic stress, and 2) changes in physical, mental, psychological and emotional health as well as life-style since starting college studies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dammam University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in January 2008. All 319 pre-clinical female medical students were included in the study and 297 non-medical students from the College of Applied Studies and Community Services (CASCS) were selected by stratified random sampling. The study instrument was a questionnaire on the “Influence of Studying on Students’ Health”. Results: More medical students (48.6%) reported being frequently stressed due to studies than CASCS students (38.7%, P <0.01). Unsuitable teaching methods, an unsatisfactory study environment, and fear of failure in examinations were more frequently mentioned by medical than non-medical students (P <0.05). While underlying social problems were significantly more common in medical students, economic problems were more prevalent among CASCS students (P <0.05, P <0.05). More medical than non-medical students reported a worse status of physical and mental health, anxiety and depression and negative life-style changes since initiation of the college programme. Conclusion: Medical students were at higher risk of physical and mental health problems than non-medical students due to academic stress. Since a substantial proportion of CASCS students also experienced academic stress, we recommend that a student support committee be established for both colleges to provide counselling and guidance in healthy ways to cope with stress

An Attitude Navigation System Based on the GPS

In this paper, the use of multi-GPS receiver to estimate the parameters ofattitude (orientation) of a platform is developed. The GPS receiver has twomeasurements; pseudorange and carrier phase. The latter is highly accurate (subcentimeter-level).Therefore, it is used to give precise attitude parameters. But thecarrier phase has one problem; an initial integer ambiguity must be resolved first.Without resolution of this integer, the carrier phase is meaningless. Therefore, theattitude determination technique based on the carrier phase observable of the GPSinvolves two steps; integer ambiguity resolution and attitude estimation. Here, twomethods are used for attitude estimation; first, Single-point method that is based onthe least square approach is developed using the quaternion representation. Second,Eigenproblem algorithm that is used to minimize a quartic quaternion-based costfunction. In order to resolve the integer ambiguity, an attitude-independentalgorithm is developed. This algorithm first incorporates an instantaneous integersearch to significantly reduce the search space using a geometric inequality. Then,a batch-type loss function is used to check the remaining integers in order todetermine the optimal integer. The results show that the Single-point method ismore accurate (with RMS 0.137, 0.079 and 0.197 degree in yaw, pitch and rollrespectively), and it convergences exponentially to the correct solution. TheEigenproblem may diverge when the initial quaternion is far

The prevalence of staphylococcus aureus contamination in the ambulances and on-call emergency medical service personnel of kashan city in iran

Objective: Emergency medical services systems are at the first line of dealing with patients who suffer from various infections. Conducting investigations on the bacterial contamination of emergency ambulances play a crucial role to improve the occupational health of staff as well as the quality of patient care. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of Staphylococcus aureus and other life treating bacteria in the urban and rural ambulances and their on-call emergency medical service personnel. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 12 front line pre-hospital emergency urban and rural ambulances in Kashan, Iran, in 2015. A total of 18 sites were sampled in each ambulance and from the nose of personnel. Grown colonies were confirmed based on colony morphology on mannitol salt agar plates, gram stain reaction and biochemical characteristics reactions. Results: The S. aureus contamination was only isolated from the nose of on-call emergency medical service providers of 12 urban and road ambulances, while no sign of contamination was found in 18 sampling sites of these front-line ambulances. Also, further evaluation of these sampling sites revealed the contamination with coagulase-negative staphylococci in all of them and oxygen tank was introduced as the most contaminated site inside the ambulances. Moreover, the prevalence of equipment contamination was significantly higher in urban ambulances. Conclusion: Identifying the rate of pathogens in clinical settings like the pre-hospital ambulance setting is an important issue which should be carefully considered. © 2020 The Author(s)

Supramolecular Engineering of Alkylated, Fluorinated, and Mixed Amphiphiles

The rational design of perfluorinated amphiphiles to control the supramolecular aggregation in an aqueous medium is still a key challenge for the engineering of supramolecular architectures. Here, the synthesis and physical properties of six novel non-ionic amphiphiles are presented. The effect of mixed alkylated and perfluorinated segments in a single amphiphile is also studied and compared with only alkylated and perfluorinated units. To explore their morphological behavior in an aqueous medium, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy/electron microscopy (cryo-TEM/EM) measurements are used. The assembly mechanisms with theoretical investigations are further confirmed, using the Martini model to perform large-scale coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. These novel synthesized amphiphiles offer a greater and more systematic understanding of how perfluorinated systems assemble in an aqueous medium and suggest new directions for rational designing of new amphiphilic systems and interpreting their assembly process