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- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
The Vietnam Construction Industry (VCI) has been facing risks that cause delays, budget overrun, and low customer satisfaction that required continuously research efforts to manage them. This research assesses the current conditions of the VCI in terms of performance, common risks, and success factors; and explores the potential of using the Best Value Approach (BVA), an innovative procurement and project management technology, to improve overall VCI performance. VCI risk factors were presented in an analysis of the data collected from a survey that include the 23 common risk factors that cause non-performance in construction projects in developing countries. The factors were consolidated from an extensive literature reviews, and inputs were solicited from 103 construction practitioners in Vietnam. The study reveals the top five risk factors as the bureaucratic administrative system, financial difficulties of owner, slow payment of completed works, poor contractor performance, financial difficulties of contractor. Factor analysis explored the correlations among the risks and yielded four outcomes – Lack of Site and Legal Information, Lack of Capable Managers, Poor Deliverables Quality, and Owner’s Financial Incapability. VCI success factors were revealed from a survey that is adopted from 23 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) related to common construction risks, found through extensive literature reviews, and inputs were solicited from 101 VCI participants. The experts ranked those CSFs with respect to impact to project success. The study reveals the top impactful CSFs such as all project parties clearly understand their responsibilities, more serious consideration during contractor selection stage, test contractors’ experience and competency through successful projects in the past. Factor analysis was conducted to explore the principal success factor groupings and yielded four outcomes – Improving Management Capability, Adequate Pre-Planning, Stakeholders’ Management, and Performance-based Procurement. An analysis from six industry experts determined how current VCI conditions, namely risk and success factors, are related to BVA. Sixteen BVA success principles were identified and ranked based on their perceived impact to project performance by an industry survey with 98 VCI practitioners. The results show high agreement rate with all sixteen BVA principles. The majority of participants agreed that BVA would improve project performance and were interested in learning more about BVA. The results encourage further BVA testing and education in the VCI.
ContributorsLe, Nguyen Tran Khoi (Author) / Chong, Oswald W.K. (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth T. (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Dean T. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The presence of police officers is not an assurance of safety for everyone. Yet,
modern concerns for school safety suggest there is a need for more police officers in
schools. Over the last 70 years of School Resource Officer (SRO) programs, the variations
of SRO program implementation and the expectation of roles and responsibilities has
produced conflicting research on benefits or harms of police in the school environment.
The purpose of police in schools has shuffled from relationship-building ambassadors for
the community, to educators on crime prevention and drug use, to law enforcement
officers for punitive juvenile sanctions, to counselors and role models for legal
socialization, and other roles for emergency management and crisis response. Plans to
place more officers in schools for purposes of “school safety” requires an examination of
the SROs’ roles within the school, their interactions with students, and how these roles
and interactions contribute to safety. This study explores the roles of SROs to
understand the variations of roles within a program and understand factors influencing
the roles of SROs (e.g., school climate, initiation by others). To evaluate these roles and
potential influences, cluster analysis and multinomial regression models were developed
from one year of SRO-student interaction data (n=12, 466) collected daily from the
Richland County (SC) Sheriff’s Department SRO Division located in South Carolina.
These interactions were defined by the framework of counseling, educating, and law
enforcing roles. Results indicate the variations of roles performed are largely influenced
by the school type (e.g., elementary), SRO perceptions (e.g., counselor), and the
engagement of SROs by school officials for specific roles.
modern concerns for school safety suggest there is a need for more police officers in
schools. Over the last 70 years of School Resource Officer (SRO) programs, the variations
of SRO program implementation and the expectation of roles and responsibilities has
produced conflicting research on benefits or harms of police in the school environment.
The purpose of police in schools has shuffled from relationship-building ambassadors for
the community, to educators on crime prevention and drug use, to law enforcement
officers for punitive juvenile sanctions, to counselors and role models for legal
socialization, and other roles for emergency management and crisis response. Plans to
place more officers in schools for purposes of “school safety” requires an examination of
the SROs’ roles within the school, their interactions with students, and how these roles
and interactions contribute to safety. This study explores the roles of SROs to
understand the variations of roles within a program and understand factors influencing
the roles of SROs (e.g., school climate, initiation by others). To evaluate these roles and
potential influences, cluster analysis and multinomial regression models were developed
from one year of SRO-student interaction data (n=12, 466) collected daily from the
Richland County (SC) Sheriff’s Department SRO Division located in South Carolina.
These interactions were defined by the framework of counseling, educating, and law
enforcing roles. Results indicate the variations of roles performed are largely influenced
by the school type (e.g., elementary), SRO perceptions (e.g., counselor), and the
engagement of SROs by school officials for specific roles.
ContributorsHerbert, Jessica L. (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Scott, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Novel means are needed to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) and cancer, given delays in medical diagnosis and rising rates of disease incidence, prevalence, and mortality worldwide. Development of NDDs and cancer has been linked to environmental toxins. Ensuing epigenetic changes may serve as helpful biomarkers to diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as well as various cancers sooner and more accurately. This dissertation tabulates and evaluates a spectrum of diagnostic matrixes (i.e., soil, sewage sludge, blood) and markers of disease to inform disease surveillance. A literature search using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Bradford Hill criteria implicated BMAA, formaldehyde, Mn, Hg, and Zn as environmental factors with strong association to ALS risk. Another PRISMA search identified epigenetic changes (e.g., DNA methylation) in NDD patients associated with environmental toxic exposures to air pollutants, heavy metals, and organic chemicals. Of the 180 environmental toxins hypothesized to be associated with AD, PD, or ALS, four heavy metals (As, Cd, Mn, and Hg) were common to these NDDs. Sources, as well as evidence and proxies of human exposure to these heavy metals and Pb were investigated here, namely the metal industries, and metal concentrations in topsoil, sewage sludge, and blood. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in sewage sludge were found to be significantly correlated with NDD prevalence rates in co-located populations (state-level) with odds ratios of 2.91 and 4.08, respectively. Markers of exposure and disease in urine and feces were also evaluated using PRISMA, finding 73 of 94 epigenetic biomarker panels to be valid for tracking primarily gastric and urinary cancers. In all studies, geospatial analyses indicated a preference in study cohorts located in the U.S., Europe, and the northern hemisphere, leaving underserved many populous regions particularly in the southern hemisphere. This dissertation draws attention to sewage sludge as a currently underutilized proxy matrix for assessing toxic human exposures and further identified a spectrum of particularly attractive, non-invasive biomarkers for future diagnostic use to promote early detection, survivability, and quality of life of individuals at risk of NDDs and cancer.
ContributorsNewell, Melanie Engstrom (Author) / Halden, Rolf U. (Thesis advisor) / Mastroeni, Diego (Committee member) / Lee, Heewook (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023