Q&A

In this interview, Sujay Jadhav, global vice president, study start-up, Oracle Health Sciences, touches on how COVID has affected study start-up and what new perspectives it has forced the industry to have on its own challenges. [...]assessing site ability to leverage telehealth will be a factor in site selection. Andy Studna is an Assistant Editor for Applied Clinical Trials Sujay Jadhav Global Vice President, Study Start-Up, Oracle Health Sciences Problems with startup, more than any other phase of a clinical trial, have the greatest potential to increase timelines and budgets.

Spatial Analysis of Haikou Third-level First-class Hospitals Based on Geographic Information System

Nowadays, spatial geographic data analysis and GIS related software are more and more applied to the planning of urban public facilities. Under the COVID-19, people pay more attention to the protection of medical facilities for people's health, and a reasonable distribution of hospital facilities is conducive to people's health. Taking Haikou City as an example, this research will optimize the location of hospital space layout according to the existing third-level first-class general hospitals in Haikou City by using GIS software, road analysis, spatial analysis, and other methods. The results show that the existing hospitals in Haikou are too concentrated in the central urban area, the overall distribution of medical facilities is lack of balance, and there is a serious lack of medical facilities in new urban development areas and suburbs. According to the comparison between population density analysis and traffic analysis and the service scope of existing hospitals, the author finds out the scope of hospitals that need to be supplemented, and then calculates the scope of service area after taking several random points within the scope, and finally finds the one with the largest service scope is the optimal location. The results obtained by optimizing the site selection can provide a scientific reference for the rational layout of medical facilities in Haikou City in the future. © 2023 SPIE.

The Evolution of Site Selection

Whether it was recognition, for a very long time pre-pandemic, that industry needed new ways to recruit and retain patients, or the success realized last year during the global SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials, when pharma said we have no choice but to adopt in situ-or both reasons-the clinical trial industry is doing a 180, site-selection speaking. Syneos has the clinical trial networks;Elligo has access to Cerner and other EHR systems, said Maria Fotiu, executive vice president, decentralized solutions, Syneos Health. Healthcare, said Keith Fern, vice president, corporate development, Elligo, has become a heterogenous business. According to the Curebase website, its technology propelled the start of a COVID trial in two weeks.

Research on urban country parks based on emergency medical facilities for public health emergencies-a case study of Guangzhou, China.

As COVID-19 has swept across the world, the escalating number of confirmed and suspected cases overwhelmed the admission capacity of the designated hospitals. Faced with such a grim situation, governments made a quick decision to build emergency medical facilities to address the outbreak. However, the emergency medical facilities faced a huge risk of epidemic spread and improper site could lead to serious secondary transmission. Using the disaster prevention and risk avoidance function of urban green space can solve the problem of selecting the location of emergency medical facilities to a certain extent, with country parks having a high degree of compatibility with the latter. Based on the location requirements of emergency medical facilities, using Analytic Hierarchy Process and Delphi method, through analyzing the type of country parks, effective risk avoidance area, spatial fragmentation, distance from water sources, wind direction, and distance from the city, quantification of 8 impact factors such as hydrogeology and traffic duration was conducted to comprehensively compare 30 country parks in Guangzhou. The results showed that the overall quality of country parks approximated a normal distribution, with Lianma Forest Country Park having the highest comprehensive score and the most balanced distribution of scores for various impact factors. Considering safety, expandability, rehabilitation, convenience, pollution prevention, and fecal isolation, it is a preferred destination for emergency medical facility construction.

TODIM-VIKOR method based on hybrid weighted distance under probabilistic uncertain linguistic information and its application in medical logistics center site selection.

At a time of global epidemic control, the location of the medical logistics distribution center (MLDC) has an important impact on the operation of the entire logistics system to reduce the operating costs of the company, enhance the service quality and effectively control the COVID-19 on the premise of increasing the company's profits. Thus, the research on the location of MLDC has important theoretical and practical application significance separately. Recently, the TODIM and VIKOR method has been used to solve multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) issues. The probabilistic uncertain linguistic term sets (PULTSs) are used as a tool for characterizing uncertain information. In this paper, we design the TODIM-VIKOR model to solve the MAGDM in PULT condition. Firstly, some basic concept of PULTSs is reviewed, and TODIM and VIKOR method are introduced. The extended TODIM-VIKOR model is proposed to tackle MAGDM problems under the PULTSs. At last, a numerical case study for medical logistics center site selection (MLCSS) is given to validate the proposed method.

An integrated interval type-2 fuzzy rough technique for emergency decision making

This paper aims to develop a hybrid emergency decision-making (EDM) method by combining best–worst method (BWM), multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) and prospect theory (PT) in trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy rough (TrIT2FR) environment. In this hybrid method, the decision information is represented by trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy rough numbers (TrIT2FRNs). Firstly, this paper defines the TrIT2FRN and analyzes its desirable properties. Then, the TrIT2FR-BWM is developed to determine criteria weights. To develop the TrIT2FR-BWM, this paper completes the following three core issues: (i) propose an effective theorem to normalize the TrIT2FR weights;(ii) build a crisp programming model to transform the minmax objective of weight-determining model for the TrIT2FR-BWM;(iii) design a consistency ratio for the TrIT2FR-BWM to check the reliability of the determined criteria weights. Afterwards, this paper extends the classical MABAC into TrIT2FR environment to calculate the border approximation area (BAA). Subsequently, the PT is used to rank the alternatives, in which the calculated BAA is selected as the reference point. Lastly, the validity of the proposed method is certificated with a real site selection case of makeshift hospitals on COVID-19. Sensitivity analysis and comparative analyses are conducted to illustrate the robustness and superiorities of the proposed method. Some valuable results are summarized as follows: (i) the best alternative determined by the proposed method conforms with the actual selection result, (ii) the proposed models in the TrIT2FR-BWM have strong robustness, (iii) PT is helpful to improve the decision quality of EDM. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Application of fuzzy multicriteria decision-making model in selecting pandemic hospital site

One of the most important challenges for decision-makers and investors is location selection, which may be assessed using multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methodologies. Problems with picking a location include deciding between alternative locations, analyzing alternatives, and identifying the best location for a hospital. Because they analyze options with multiple perspectives in terms of numerous competing criteria, MCDM approaches are useful instruments for solving decision-making challenges. The fuzzy set theory (FST), which represents uncertainty in human beliefs, may be effectively used with MCDM approaches to produce more sensitive, tangible, and accurate findings in this context. A hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision model (FMCDM) is proposed to find the optimal location based on a combination of factors. In the first stage, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used to estimate the relative criteria classification through the evaluation process. In the second stage, the fuzzy technique of order preference using similarities to the perfect solution (FTOPSIS) is applied to rank the possible alternative sites. The findings from this study indicate that integrate FAHP and FTOPSIS is the most often used FMCDM approach in Aleppo for selecting the best location for a new hospital.

Geophilosophical realness of risk: a case study in national housing authority resettlement sites in Albay, Philippines.

The geophilosophical realness of risk, as introduced in this study, is composed of the risk hotspot or cold spot information which are stored and sorted in hexagonal bins representing the host environment within the 25-km radius from the crater of the Mayon Volcano. The z scores measured from these hexagonal bins mimic the risk realness or risk reality phenomenon happening in Albay Province, Philippines. The objective of the study is to assess risk reality phenomena that generate risk knowledge originated from applying the seven metatheorems based on the Schoen Golden Triangle and the Fibonacci Golden Ratio. Risk assessment in this study uses the stability site selection criteria and hexagonal binning technique to store, sort, and process risk hotspot and coldspot information. This approach led to the disclosure of risk phenomenon on the 14 out of 25 resettlement sites (host environment) that remained at risk and continuously increasing the risk trend. When people are continuously allowed to occupy risk hotspots areas it hints at ineffective risk governance to neutralize the passively exposed population. This study concluded that the risk reality phenomena assessment opens new avenues for scientifically informed land use, nil exposure, and 0-risk policy in addition to the existing 0-casualty goal to get prepared with the right direction, decision and action to sensitively utilize the stable host environments aligned to improve risk governance.

Country Parks as Sites of Emergency Medical Facility: A Case of COVID-19 in Hangzhou, China.

City parks are suitable sites for the construction of emergency medical facilities. A comparison of various types of city parks revealed that country parks fit closely with site selection conditions for emergency medical facilities. Based on the latter site selection requirements, eight impact factors such as park type, effective avoidance area, spatial fragmentation degree, water source protection area, wind direction, distance from city center, impermeability, and transport duration were quantified, and then 29 country parks in the Hangzhou Urban Area were compared using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The calculation results showed that Linglong Country Park has the highest score, taking into account the characteristics of safety, scalability, rehabilitation, convenience, pollution prevention, and isolation. Linglong can be given priority selection as a target location for emergency medical facilities. In addition, Silver Lake Country Park, Dongqiao Country Park, Taihuyuan Country Park, and Tuankou Country Park have higher scores and can be used as alternative targets for emergency plans. The scoring results prove that the evaluation method has a high degree of rigor, a significant degree of discrimination, and a high degree of consistency between the validity and weight assignment of each impact factor. In view of the different geographical conditions in each region, the weight assignment of each impact factor can be adjusted according to local conditions and can help make effective use of existing conditions and avoid disadvantages.

The role of open space and green areas in the design of an inclusive nursing home environment during Covid-19 period

The paper highlights the importance of high-quality outdoor spaces in improving physical and social well-being in the residential environment of the elderly. The historical Swedish practice of green areas design was analysed as a role model to gain knowledge and understanding of the importance of open space and green areas in residential environments. During the Covid-19 pandemic, nursing homes were among the most critical living environments, as evidenced by a disproportionate number of infections and deaths among nursing home residents worldwide. The main objective of this study is to confirm the importance of architectural design quality with special attention to outdoor space, especially in situations comparable to Covid-19 pandemics. The methods used for the research were a literature review, selection of three case studies based on two dependent and one independent variable, on-site work analysis and use of the previously developed "Safe & Connected” assessment tool. The main findings show the positive influence of open space and green areas existence on reducing the risk of infections of SARS-CoV-2 in nursing homes at three different levels. In this context, it appears that the appropriate design of outdoor space can help contain the spread of viral infections while allowing nursing home residents to live with dignity and maximum social integration. © 2022 The Author(s)

Fuzzy AHP approach to evaluate incentive factors of high-tech talent agglomeration

To compete with the speedy revolution of high technological innovation and restarted economy for the post-COVID-19 period in China, governments and organizations should be active in attracting high-tech talent to enhance independent and indigenous R&D capability. Talent agglomeration effectiveness is the strongest endogenous force pushing competitiveness for regional economy and industrial development. Due to the complexity of high-tech talent agglomeration, there are still considerable gaps to evaluate the incentive factors. This study evaluates the influential indicator system by using a hybrid fuzzy set theory extended Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach for proximity to reality from individual, organizational and environmental dimensions. The statistical analysis is adopted to verify the results of fuzzy AHP analysis. This research explores the founding that individual incentives are more important than environmental factors, and environmental incentives are more influential than organizational incentives. Job satisfaction, welfare system, and geographical location are the highest ranking factors. High-tech start-ups should give priority to combine geographical location with political support to reserve site selection or firm relocation for a great effectiveness of high-tech talent agglomeration. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

A mass vaccination site selection problem: An application of GIS and entropy-based MAUT approach.

- Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was recognized in December 2019 and spread very severely throughout the world. In 2022 May, the total death numbers reached 6.28 million people worldwide. During the pandemic, some alternative vaccines were discovered in the middle of 2020. Today, many countries are struggling to supply vaccines and vaccinate their citizens. Besides the difficulties of vaccine supply, mass vaccination is a challenging but mandatory task for the countries. Within this context, determining the mass vaccination site is very important for recovering, thus a five-step approach is generated in this paper to solve this real-life problem. Firstly the mass vaccination site selection criteria are determined, and secondly, the spatial data are collected and mapped by using Geographical Information System (GIS) software. Then, the entropy weighting method (EWM) is used for determining the relative importance levels of criteria and fourthly, the multiple attribute utility theory (MAUT) approach is used for ranking the potential mass vaccination sites. Lastly, ranked alternative sites are analyzed using network analyst tool of GIS in terms of covered population. A case study is conducted in Gaziantep city which is the ninth most population and having above-average COVID-19 patients in Turkey. As a result, the fourth alternative (around the Sehitkamil Monument) is chosen as the best mass vaccination site for the city. It is believed that the outcomes of the paper could be used by city planners and decision-makers.

Site Selection of Isolation Hospital for Coronavirus Patients in Nile Delta, Egypt, Using GIS Technology

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a viral infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that first surfaced in December 2019. According to the World Health Organization, most persons infected with this virus suffer from mild to severe respiratory infections and recover without specific treatment or hospitalization. Some people, however, may acquire serious illnesses that need medical attention and isolation facilities. This paper investigates the use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) based on GIS technology to determine the optimal site selection for isolation hospitals for coronavirus patients in Nile Delta region in Egypt using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) and the weighted overlay tool analysis method (WOA). The research of isolation hospital site selection in Nile Delta governorates in Egypt is one of the areas that have received insufficient attention due to the current global coronavirus epidemic. Several criteria are applied to identify and select the isolation hospital location, including World Health Organization regulations, Egyptian Ministry of Health conditions, previous research studies, and field visits. Geodatabase is created using ArcGIS Pro software, and manual digitization is done. As a conclusion of the study, numerous additional optimal sites for isolated hospitals have been found and chosen. There are around 29 proposed ideal sites for isolated hospitals utilizing F-AHP and approximately 24 sites using WOA approach in Nile Delta region. These planned hospital locations might be permanent as a central hospital or temporary, to be relocated after the epidemic is over. The paper emphasizes the need to use the study criteria while selecting and defining the location of coronavirus isolation hospitals.

Covid-19 Monitoring Using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: The Promise and Peril of Seeking Useable Data in a Pandemic

We evaluated sampling design in wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor SARS-CoV-2 RNA signal, with a focus on sampling site selection. Sampling in wastewater collection systems ranged from locations that were highly granular (i.e., individual buildings) to large wastewater treatment plants with city-scale catchments. Potential data uses and major considerations for each sampling method are discussed. Our study demonstrates sampling at varying degrees of granularity to be viable tools for pandemic response, with both sampling location and data applicability varying significantly based on location type sampled. Wastewater treatment plant data allows for population level trending that provides an early warning sign of increased disease burden community wide. Sampling at individual buildings can facilitate a direct public health response through follow-up patient testing and/or providing early warning to allow an employer to respond to an outbreak at a warehouse or work camp. Sampling within the wastewater collection system presents a novel epidemiologic tool that could allow for early warning of neighbourhood outbreaks to inform local pandemic response(s) and enable case-finding. © 2023, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.

A meta heuristic approach for reliable capacitated facility joint inventory-location problem with round-trip transportation under imperfect information of disruption in a Fuzzy environment

In today’s systems and networks, disruption is inevitable. Designing a reliable system to overcome probable facility disruptions plays a crucial role in planning and management. This article proposes a reliable capacitated facility joint inventory-location problem where location-independent disruption may occur in facilities. The system tries to satisfy customer’s demands and considers penalty costs for unmet customer demand. The article aims to minimize total costs such as establishing inventory, uncovered demand’s penalty, and transportation costs. While many articles in this area only use exact methods to solve the problem, this article uses a metaheuristic algorithm, the red deer algorithm, and the exact methods. Various numerical examples have shown the outstanding performance of the red deer algorithm compared to exact methods. Sensitivity analyses show the impacts of various parameters on the objective function and the optimal facility layouts. Lastly, managerial insights will be proposed based on sensitivity analysis.

A GIS-based AHP approach for emergency warehouse site selection: A case close to Turkey-Syria border

Although the term “disaster” includes natural events like earthquake, flood, and drought, it also covers the wars, intense migration waves, industrial accidents, and even epidemic diseases. In recent years, the number and severity of both natural and man-made disasters has been increasing. In this context Gaziantep–the border city of Turkey to Syria-is facing many logistical problems because of the crisis in the region that has a broad repercussion in press. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic increased the supply traffic in the region. The region is in need for many emergency warehouses to store the emergency supplies and send to the needy. Thus, a three-step hybrid solution method is developed to solve this real life problem. The first stage is the determination of selection criteria;secondly the spatial database is created by using a Geographical Information System (GIS). Then, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique is applied to assign the importance levels to the selection criteria to generate the suitability map to choose the most appropriate emergency warehouse site selection in Gaziantep. Additionally, scenario analyses are conducted to understand the effects of importance levels on the problem results. As a result, 1.3% of the study area is determined as “quite suitable” for establishing an emergency warehouse. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Engineering Research (2307-1877) is the property of Kuwait University, Academic Publication Council and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Supply Chain Disruption

is Senior Vice President at Cushman & Wakefield Iowa Commercial Advisors. Basic economics, as we've learned, is the creation of equilibrium between supply and demand to create economic harmony. Since humans first started trading, those with goods and services in demand adjusted their business to produce more to support growing demand. According to recent research, 88% of contractors report moderate to high levels of difficulty finding workers and 35% have turned down work due to labor shortages.

Neighbourhood-scale wastewater-based epidemiology for COVID-19: opportunities and challenges

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city and is the main international entry point to New Zealand, with most of the nation's Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities. Consequently, it is the place most likely for a COVID-19 outbreak to occur and, accordingly, has been the focus of efforts to monitor SARS-CoV-2 via wastewater-based epidemiology. Historically, wastewater-based epidemiology has mainly been applied at the catchment or sewershed scale, with samples collected at wastewater treatment plants. COVID-19 has necessitated a re-evaluation of this broad-scale approach to wastewaterbased epidemiology in New Zealand, where there is a need for more detailed information to better target the public health response. Using Auckland as a case study, this paper assesses the spatial and temporal extent of the city's wastewater network to inform the selection of strategic neighbourhoodscale sampling sites for wastewater-based epidemiology. Sample site selection criteria included topology and connectivity of the sewer network, the capacity to record sewer flow, limited rain infiltration, resident population, and accessibility. Six sites were identified that provide an immediate opportunity for neighbourhood-scale monitoring. Reflecting on the analysis required for selecting appropriate monitoring locations, the paper moves to critically discuss the key unknowns and research needs associated with conducting neighbourhoodscale wastewater-based epidemiology. Population mobility poses challenges for estimating population size and for capturing a positive SARS-CoV-2 signal in wastewater at this scale. There is a need to determine the full spectrum of residence times within the sewer network to design representative sampling and the implications of disregarding residence times in the current sampling regimes are poorly understood. Hydraulic models require refinement to accurately account for variable residence times and topological features in the network (e.g., holding tanks and pumping stations). Addressing these challenges is urgent and ongoing to realise the benefits of neighbourhood-scale wastewater-based epidemiology in response to COVID-19 and beyond.

Urban Particulate Matter Hazard Mapping and Monitoring Site Selection in Nablus, Palestine

Few air pollution studies have been applied in the State of Palestine and all showed an increase in particulate matter concentrations above WHO guidelines. However, there is no clear methodology for selecting monitoring locations. In this study, a methodology based on GIS and locally calibrated low-cost sensors was tested. A GIS-based weighted overlay summation process for the potential sources of air pollution (factories, quarries, and traffic), taking into account the influence of altitude and climate, was used to obtain an air pollution hazard map for Nablus, Palestine. To test the methodology, eight locally calibrated PM sensors (AirUs) were deployed to measure PM2.5 concentrations for 55 days from 7 January to 2 March 2022. The results of the hazard map showed that 82% of Nablus is exposed to a high and medium risk of PM pollution. Sensors’ readings showed a good match between the hazard intensity and PM concentrations. It also shows an elevated PM2.5 concentrations above WHO guidelines in all areas. In summary, the overall average for PM2.5 in the Nablus was 48 µg/m3. This may indicate the effectiveness of mapping methodology and the use of low-cost, locally calibrated sensors in characterizing air quality status to identify the potential remediation options.

RESAT: A Utility-Aware Incentive Mechanism Based Distributed Spatial Cloaking

Distributed Spatial Cloaking () enables users to enjoy precise Location-Based Service (LBS) with location privacy-preserving. An incentive mechanism is necessary to encourage users to cooperate. However, due to the inappropriate design of incentive mechanisms, the existing works cause low user benefits and fail to encourage users, ruining the expected incentive effect. Moreover, introducing a third party to manage users’information also causes the existing works to disclose users’privacy and be unpractical. To address these issues, we propose a utility-awaRe incEntive mechanism based diStributed spATial cloaking (RESAT). By the idea of utility theory and optimization theory, RESAT devises basic and extended incentive mechanisms. The two mechanisms for assuming that all users are honest and that malicious users provide unreasonable locations. RESAT proposes an incentive mechanism-based cloaking cooperation without a third party, incorporating the developed mechanisms based on the blind signature. Theoretical analysis indicates that RESAT achieves incentive compatibility and is secure. Extensive experiments on the real dataset show that compared with the existing works, RESAT enables 1 time more users to cooperate at best while eliminating the malicious behaviors that provide unreasonable locations. The required construction time delay is limited. IEEE