American University in Cairo

About: American University in Cairo is a education organization based out in Cairo, Egypt. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 2472 authors who have published 5339 publications receiving 73741 citations.

Women, Water, And Sanitation: Household Behavioral Patterns In Two Egyptian Villages

Abstract: Understanding the behavior patterns of women in rural households regarding water and sanitation may be the key to solving the problem of why improvements in facilities may not be accompanied by a reduction in disease prevalence. An interdisciplinary team surveyed 312 households in two Egyp tian delta villages, examining46 of them in depth, with participant observation. Their patterns of storing water, and its use for drinking, cooking, washing, animal rearing and waste disposal are rooted in the woman's beliefs regarding cleanliness and what enhances the health and well-being of herfamily The local environment of surface and groundwater availability, quality andavailable drainage affect her choices. Otherfactors include local government institutions, available technology, information and educational facilities. time and energy expended on various practices, and social values held by the women and the community The women suggest practical solutions for their water and sanitation problems such as c...

Quantitative Methods for Design-Build Team Selection

Abstract: Use of design-build (DB) contracting by transportation agencies has been steadily increasing as a project delivery system for large complex highway projects However, moving to DB from traditional design-bid-build procurement can be a challenge One significant barrier is gaining acceptance of a best value selection process in which technical aspects of a proposal are considered separately and then combined with price to determine the winning proposal These technical aspects mostly consist of qualitative criteria, thus making room for human errors or biases Any perceived presence of bias or influence in the selection process can lead to public mistrust and protests by bidders It is important that a rigorous quantitative mathematical analysis of the evaluation process be conducted to determine whether bias exists and to eliminate it The paper discusses two potential sources of bias – the evaluators and the weighting model – in the DB selection process and presents mathematical models to detect and remove biases should they exist A score normalization model deals with biases from the evaluators; then a graphical weight space volume model and a Monte Carlo statistical sampling model are developed to remove biases from the weighting model The models are then tested and demonstrated using results from the DB bridge replacement project for the collapsed Mississippi River bridge of Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, Minnesota