A new study published in The Open Construction & Building Technology Journal by Dr. Carlos Alejandro Diaz Schery of the Department of Industrial Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — together with co-authors Flávia de Souza Costa Neves Cavazotte and Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado — makes a pointed observation about why so many Building Information Modelling (BIM) projects fall short of expectations: the problem lies less in the software and more about how organizations are led through the change. Despite over 120,000 published studies on BIM deployment, experts estimate that between 60 and 70 percent of BIM efforts fail to deliver the benefits that were expected. Schery et al.’s study argues that the missing piece is a clear understanding of which leadership behaviors are needed at each stage of an organization’s BIM journey — and that this gap is particularly consequential in Latin America, where cultural dynamics, resource constraints, and uneven institutional support make the challenge more complex than in Europe or North America.

About The Study: In this study, receipt of 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccination was associated with additional protection beyond existing immunity in adults against medically attended COVID-19, including emergency department/urgent care encounters and hospitalizations, compared with no receipt of a 2025-2026 vaccine dose. These findings suggest that adults can reduce their likelihood of severe COVID-19–associated outcomes by obtaining a 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccination.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a theoretical framework to clarify the propagation of ultrasonic waves through complex materials such as rocks containing mixtures of oil, water, and gas bubbles. Understanding this process is essential for improving technologies such as enhanced oil recovery, which employs ultrasound to mobilize trapped heavy oil. This study reveals the coexistence of three types of compressional waves in these complex materials and emphasizes the role of heavy-oil viscoelasticity and bubble oscillations in controlling ultrasonic-energy dissipation.

A newly published correspondence in The Lancet Global Health challenges the reliability of a widely cited Gaza Mortality Survey. Based on a reanalysis of the survey's publicly released data, the authors identify interviewer-level anomalies, departures from the stated sampling methodology, and inconsistencies with external demographic data, arguing that these issues raise significant concerns about the survey's representativeness and the validity of its estimates of conflict-related deaths in Gaza.