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This study seeks to understand the perspectives of children who work with teacher candidates in classrooms that partner with clinically based teacher preparation programs. Researchers interviewed 32 third- and fourth-grade students who work with teacher candidates. The study presents the little-heard voices of children, who spend considerable time with teacher candidates during clinical field experiences and whose perspectives contribute meaningfully to what is known about implementation of clinically based teacher preparation. The findings reveal that children perceive that teacher candidates have a positive impact on student learning outcomes and school culture by providing needed emotional and behavior support, contributing to lowered student-teacher ratios, and increasing perceptions of a safe school environment. The findings fill a void in the research literature and inform implementation of effective clinically based teacher preparation programming.

This research study examines how instructional time is allocated while early childhood teacher candidates are present in mentor teachers' classrooms as part of clinically-based teacher preparation. Researchers conducted 44 observations in 16 mentor teachers' classrooms in three public school districts. The observations were quantified and analyzed to shed light on the nature of co-teaching, instructional decision-making, and student-teacher ratios during clinically-based field experiences. The findings reveal that overwhelmingly mentor teachers and teacher candidates use their time together to engage in co-teaching, which creates lower student-teacher ratios and allows for more flexible groupings of students. The study contributes meaningfully to what is known about effective implementation of clinically-based field experiences and suggests implications for positively impacting student learning outcomes.

Risk monitoring and control is often poorly implemented in construction projects because of a failure to monitor and manage identified risks. Construction companies experience significant losses due to project managers' lack of project risk monitoring and control in construction projects. Most studies have concentrated on risk identification, risk assessment, and risk analysis processes while neglecting crucial risk management processes of risk control, risk monitoring, and risk response. The lack of research on these three crucial processes highlights a gap in the literature concerning how these processes can increase the delivery of successful projects. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the utilization of project risk monitoring and control practices was related to project success in construction projects in the United States. An electronic survey instrument was used to collect data from a sample of 50 construction project managers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the state of Texas, in the United States. Spearman rho correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between project risk monitoring and control practices and project success. The results of this study indicated that all project risk monitoring and control practices, including risk reassessment, risk audits, contingency reserves analysis, and risk status meetings, were significantly and positively related to project success in construction projects. One of the recommendations presented in this study was that future research should conduct the same study in developing countries to see if the study’s findings remain the same and generalizable. The study concluded that construction organizations should regularly consider the importance and usage of project risk monitoring and control practices and apply them to improve the success rate of a project.

A new generation cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) system with new hardware design and advanced image reconstruction algorithms is available for radiation treatment simulation or adaptive radiotherapy (HyperSight CBCT imaging solution, Varian Medical Systems‐a Siemens Healthineers company). This study assesses the CBCT image quality metrics using the criteria routinely used for diagnostic CT scanner accreditation as a first step towards the future use of HyperSight CBCT images for treatment planning and target/organ delineations. Image performance was evaluated using American College of Radiology (ACR) Program accreditation phantom tests for diagnostic computed tomography systems (CTs) and compared HyperSight images with a standard treatment planning diagnostic CT scanner (Siemens SOMATOM Edge) and with existing CBCT systems (Varian TrueBeam version 2.7 and Varian Halcyon version 2.0). Image quality performance for all Varian HyperSight CBCT vendor‐provided imaging protocols were assessed using ACR head and body ring CT phantoms, then compared to existing imaging modalities. Image quality analysis metrics included contrast‐to‐noise (CNR), spatial resolution, Hounsfield number (HU) accuracy, image scaling, and uniformity. All image quality assessments were made following the recommendations and passing criteria provided by the ACR. The Varian HyperSight CBCT imaging system demonstrated excellent image quality, with the majority of vendor‐provided imaging protocols capable of passing all ACR CT accreditation standards. Nearly all (8/11) vendor‐provided protocols passed ACR criteria using the ACR head phantom, with the Abdomen Large, Pelvis Large, and H&N vendor‐provided protocols produced HU uniformity values slightly exceeding passing criteria but remained within the allowable minor deviation levels (5–7 HU maximum differences). Compared to other existing CT and CBCT imaging modalities, both HyperSight Head and Pelvis imaging protocols matched the performance of the SOMATOM CT scanner, and both the HyperSight and SOMATOM CT substantially surpassed the performance of the Halcyon 2.0 and TrueBeam version 2.7 systems. Varian HyperSight CBCT imaging system could pass almost all tests for all vendor‐provided protocols using ACR accreditation criteria, with image quality similar to those produced by diagnostic CT scanners and significantly better than existing linac‐based CBCT imaging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk audit is often poorly implemented in construction projects because of the absence of constant auditing of risks by construction project managers. Construction companies are experiencing large financial deficits because of managers failing to audit and monitor project risks. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the utilization of risk audit correlates with project success in construction projects. An electronic survey instrument was used to collect data from a sample of 50 construction project managers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas in the United States. Spearman's rho correlational analysis and simple logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between risk audit and project success. The results of this study indicated that there is a positive and significant association between risk audit and project success in terms of schedule performance, cost performance, customer satisfaction, and business success. One of the recommendations presented in this study was to expand the study to developing countries to see whether the findings from the study remain the same. The study concluded that construction organizations should regularly consider the importance and usage of risk audit techniques to improve the success rate of a project.

Several Canadian and international scholars offer commentaries on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and public service institutions, and fruitful directions for public administration research and practice. This second suite of commentaries considers the challenges confronting governments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the decades to come with an increasingly broad lens: the need to understand and rethink the architecture of the state given recent and future challenges awaiting governments; the need to rethink government-civil society relations and policies to deliver services for increasingly diverse citizens and communities; the need for new repertoires and sensibilities on the part of governments for recognizing, anticipating, and engaging on governance risks despite imperfect expert knowledge and public skepticism; how the COVID19 crisis has caused us to reconceive international and sub-national borders where new 'borders' are being drawn; and the need to anticipate a steady stream of crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic arising from climate change and related challenges, and develop new national and international governance strategies for fostering population and community resilience. Plusieurs universitaires canadiens et internationaux ont offert des suggestions sur les implications de la pandemie du COVID-19 pour les gouvernements et les institutions de la fonction publique, ainsi que des orientations futures pour la recherche et la pratique en administration publique. Cette deuxieme serie de commentaires examine les defis que devront affronter les gouvernements en raison de la pandemie de COVID-19 et dans les decennies a venir, dans une optique large. Cette serie souligne le besoin de comprendre et de repenser l'architecture de l'Etat, de revoir les relations entre le gouvernement et la societe civile pour fournir des services a des citoyens et des communautes de plus en plus divers, d'elaborer de nouvelles facons d'identifier et d'anticiper les risques, et de s'engager malgre l'imperfection des connaissances d'experts et le scepticisme du public, de repenser les frontieres, tout ceci en tenant compte des crises et defis a venir, de facon a promouvoir la resilience de la population et des communautes., Reinventing public administration for a dangerous century Alasdair Roberts In retrospect, the last few years of the twentieth century were a moment of calm before a violent storm. We have [...]

Understanding the drivers of energy and material flows of cities is important for addressing global environmental challenges. Accessing, sharing, and managing energy and material resources is particularly critical for megacities, which face enormous social stresses because of their sheer size and complexity. Here we quantify the energy and material flows through the world's 27 megacities with populations greater than 10 million people as of 2010. Collectively the resource flows through megacities are largely consistent with scaling laws established in the emerging science of cities. Correlations are established for electricity consumption, heating and industrial fuel use, ground transportation energy use, water consumption, waste generation, and steel production in terms of heating-degree-days, urban form, economic activity, and population growth. The results help identify megacities exhibiting high and low levels of consumption and those making efficient use of resources. The correlation between per capita electricity use and urbanized area per capita is shown to be a consequence of gross building floor area per capita, which is found to increase for lower-density cities. Many of the megacities are growing rapidly in population but are growing even faster in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and energy use. In the decade from 2001-2011, electricity use and ground transportation fuel use in megacities grew at approximately half the rate of GDP growth.