A New Approach to Analyzing Patterns of Collaboration in Co-authorship Networks - Mesoscopic Analysis and Interpretation

This paper focuses on methods to study patterns of collaboration in co-authorship networks at the mesoscopic level. We combine qualitative methods (participant interviews) with quantitative methods (network analysis) and demonstrate the application and value of our approach in a case study comparing three research fields in chemistry. A mesoscopic level of analysis means that in addition to the basic analytic unit of the individual researcher as node in a co-author network, we base our analysis on the observed modular structure of co-author networks. We interpret the clustering of authors into groups as bibliometric footprints of the basic collective units of knowledge production in a research specialty. We find two types of coauthor-linking patterns between author clusters that we interpret as representing two different forms of cooperative behavior, transfer-type connections due to career migrations or one-off services rendered, and stronger, dedicated inter-group collaboration. Hence the generic coauthor network of a research specialty can be understood as the overlay of two distinct types of cooperative networks between groups of authors publishing in a research specialty. We show how our analytic approach exposes field specific differences in the social organization of research.Comment: An earlier version of the paper was presented at ISSI 2009, 14-17 July, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Revised version accepted on 2 April 2010 for publication in Scientometrics. Removed part on node-role connectivity profile analysis after finding error in calculation and deciding to postpone analysis

A clinical study of arrhythmias associated with acute coronary syndrome: a hospital based study of a high risk and previously undocumented population

Background: ACS represents a global epidemic. Arrhythmia in ACS is common. Careful investigation may lead to further improvement of prognosis. Retrospectively analyzed the year- round data of our center. Study was undertaken to analyze the incidence, frequency and type of arrhythmias in ACS. This is to aid timely intervention and to modify the outcome. Identification of the type of arrhythmia is of therapeutic and prognostic importance.Methods: This cross sectional analytical study was conducted in the Department of Cardiology, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka, from January 2019 to January 2020 with ACS patients. Enrolled consecutively and data analyzed.Results: There were 500 patients enrolled considering inclusion and exclusion criteria. Sample was subdivided into 3 groups on the type of ACS. Group-I with UA, Group-II with NSTE - ACS and Group-III with STE - ACS. Different types of arrhythmia noted. Types of arrhythmia were correlated with type of ACS. 500 patients included. Mean age 55.53±12.70, 71.6% male and 28.4% female. 60.4% hypertensive, 46.2% diabetic, 20.2% positive family history of CAD, 32.2% current smoker, 56.4% dyslipidaemic and 9.6% asthmatic. 31.2% UA, 39.2% NSTE-ACS and 29.6% STE-ACS. Type of arrhythmias noted. 22% sinus tachycardia, 20.2% sinus bradycardia, 9% atrial fibrillation, 5.2% ventricular ectopic, 4.8% supra ventricular ectopic, 2.8% bundle branch block, 2.2% atrio-ventricular block, 1% broad complex tachycardia, 0.4% narrow complex tachycardia, 0.2% sinus node dysfunction and 32.2% without any arrhythmia. Significant incidences of arrhythmia detected - respectively 29.8%, 39.2% and 31%, p<0.001.Conclusions: In conclusion, arrhythmias in ACS are common. More attention should be paid to improve their treatment and prognosis

Careers work in higher education in Pakistan: current practice and options for the future

In this article we examine the development of career guidance in Pakistani higher education. The article is primarily based on a review of the existing literature on career guidance in Pakistan, but also includes the consideration of some new data gathered from a review of higher education institutions websites and five case study interviews. It considers both local and global influences as relevant contexts for understanding how the development of career guidance in Pakistani higher education is taking place. Concerns about alignment between skills supply and demand provide key drivers both for the development of career guidance and for wider higher education reform. However the practice of career guidance in Pakistani higher education is shown to be lagging behind the policy aspirations, both due to limited investment and due to more fundamental cultural challenges that have yet to be fully addressed. If career guidance is going to continue to develop within Pakistan it will need to be strengthened by new policy and resources but also through the development of indigenous theories.N/

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Information And Social System Interaction

Ever increasing participation has made the interaction between information and social systems not only interesting to observe but essential to quantify and analyze. This dissertation presents methods for understanding such interaction through combined analysis of metadata, networks, text and log data. ArXiv, an open and highly influential scholarly communication system, served as the testbed for these methods. In the first part of this dissertation we examine in depth interesting phenomena such as self-promotion, procrastination, visibility and geographic differences. We have confirmed the predictive power of early readership through regression and discussed undesirable effects of recommendation and possibilities of new impact metrics. In the second part we demonstrate extraction of subtopical concepts, characterized by phrases, through a statistical method for vocabulary selection and a network based ranking. Validation via search query and click logs is advocated as relevant and scalable. A clustering scheme to summarize temporal patterns of topic clicks is also presented. In the last part of this dissertation we present a name disambiguation algorithm and a novel evaluation method using node role based sampling in the context of network analysis. Finally we provide guidelines on performing large scale graph computation using the Map-Reduce framework

Adaptive Control of Streetlights Using Deep Learning for the Optimization of Energy Consumption during Late Hours

This paper presents an adaptive control scheme for streetlights by optimizing the energy consumed using deep learning during late hours at night. A city’s infrastructure is not complete without a proper lightening system for streets and roads. The streetlight systems often consume up to 50% of the electricity utilized by the city. Due to this reason, it has a huge financial impact on the electricity generation of the city. Furthermore, continuous luminosity of the streetlights contributes to the environmental pollution as well. Economists and ecologists around the globe are working hard to reduce the global impact of continued utilization of streetlights at night. In regard to a developing country which is already struggling to produce enough electrical energy to fulfill its industry requirements, proposing a system to lessen the load of the energy utilization by the streetlights should be beneficial. Therefore, an innovative and novel energy efficient streetlight control system is presented based on embedded video processing. The proposed system uses deep learning for the optimization of energy consumption during the later hours. Conventional street lighting systems consume enormous amounts of electricity, even when there is no need for the light, i.e., during off-peak hours and late at night when there is reduced or no traffic on the roads. The proposed system was designed, and implemented and tested at two different sites in Karachi, Pakistan. The system is capable of detecting vehicles and pedestrians and is able to track their movements. The YOLOv5 deep-learning based algorithm was trained according to the local requirements and implemented on the NVIDIA standalone multimedia processing unit “Jetson Nano”. The output of the YOLOv5 is then used to control the intensity of the streetlights through intensity control unit. This intensity control unit also considers the area, object and time for the switching of streetlights. The experimental results are promising, and the proposed system significantly reduces the energy consumption of streetlights

Technical section Drawing lines by uniform packing

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to line drawing that attempts to maintain a uniform packing density of horizontal segments to diagonal segments throughout the line. While the conventional line drawing algorithms perform linear time computations to find the location of the pixels, our algorithm takes logarithmic time. Also, experimental results show that the quality of line is acceptable and comparable to the well-known Bresenham’s line-drawing algorithm

Estimating the frequency of inpatient adverse events using a two-step retrospective chart review: A study protocol

Introduction: Adverse events are a major cause of patient harm in the hospitalised setting. Low-income and middle-income countries account for a disproportionate share of the global burden of adverse events. However, patient safety research is still centred around high-income countries and high-resource health systems. The methods and data produced from these efforts are ill-suited to low-income and middle-income systems due to the social and technical differences between these settings. We aim to use our pilot-tested, locally developed methodology to estimate the frequency and characteristics of adverse events in hospitalised patients in a lower-middle-income country to inform patient safety policies and initiatives.Methods and analysis: This multi-centre study will employ a two-step chart review methodology to identify adverse events in a representative sample of patients admitted at five hospitals between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019. The first step will include assessing patient files against a list of triggers to detect adverse events and the second step will involve an in-depth review of the events to capture pertinent characteristics. The triggers have been adapted from validated tools used in other studies. The reviewing team will be trained on the use of research tools and operational definitions to ensure that data are collected uniformly. The main outcome of interest is the rate at which adverse events occur in hospitalised patients. Further analysis will look to identify and quantify associations between the main outcome of interest and a variety of variables such as patient age and gender using tests of independence and regression techniques.Ethics and dissemination: This study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Review Committee at Aga Khan University (Reference number: 2023-6324-24566). The findings of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated to the public through national and international conferences, workshops, websites and social media

Determining the most sensitive socioeconomic parameters for quantitative risk assessment

Risk is assessed as a function of exposure, hazard, and vulnerability, defined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), where exposure and vulnerability are described through socioeconomic indicators. Indicators are selected through sensitivity analysis performed by applying a non-linear programming system, which is solved by Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. In this article, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test is applied to select the set of indicators that are the most sensitive for the system to assess risk, and then applied to the case of the Bangladesh coast to determine the most sensitive socioeconomic indicators.UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID