Neonatal survival in complex humanitarian emergencies: setting an evidence-based research agenda.

BACKGROUND: Over 40% of all deaths among children under 5 are neonatal deaths (0-28 days), and this proportion is increasing. In 2012, 2.9 million newborns died, with 99% occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Many of the countries with the highest neonatal mortality rates globally are currently or have recently been affected by complex humanitarian emergencies. Despite the global burden of neonatal morbidity and mortality and risks inherent in complex emergency situations, research investments are not commensurate to burden and little is known about the epidemiology or best practices for neonatal survival in these settings. METHODS: We used the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology to prioritize research questions on neonatal health in complex humanitarian emergencies. Experts evaluated 35 questions using four criteria (answerability, feasibility, relevance, equity) with three subcomponents per criterion. Using SAS 9.2, a research prioritization score (RPS) and average expert agreement score (AEA) were calculated for each question. RESULTS: Twenty-eight experts evaluated all 35 questions. RPS ranged from 0.846 to 0.679 and the AEA ranged from 0.667 to 0.411. The top ten research priorities covered a range of issues but generally fell into two categories- epidemiologic and programmatic components of neonatal health. The highest ranked question in this survey was "What strategies are effective in increasing demand for, and use of skilled attendance?" CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a diverse group of experts used the CHRNI methodology to systematically identify and determine research priorities for neonatal health and survival in complex humanitarian emergencies. The priorities included the need to better understand the magnitude of the disease burden and interventions to improve neonatal health in complex humanitarian emergencies. The findings from this study will provide guidance to researchers and program implementers in neonatal and complex humanitarian fields to engage on the research priorities needed to save lives most at risk

Porównanie metod pomiaru konsensusu w testach koniunktury

In this article, we aim to compare various methods of evaluating consensus in qualitative business surveys in which respondents express expectations on the ordered scale. A reliable method of measuring degree of consensus would provide researchers with valuable information, offering a leading indicator of respondent sentiment. However, there is no single generally accepted mathematical measure applicable to evaluating agreement among respondents. Several approaches are mentioned in previous studies, including indicators based on statistical dispersion, Shannon entropy, and multi-dimensional simplex. We present measures of consensus defined in literature and discuss their advantages and limitations. We then employ these indicators to expectations expressed in Polish business tendency survey in manufacturing, and compare results across various economic variables. In several cases, we find patterns in the behavior of measures of consensus: expected prices are characterized by the highest degree of consensus among respondents, and expected production and orders – by the lowest degree of consensus. We also find linkages between the degree of consensus and degree of optimism among respondents as measured by the balance statistic for prices, employment, and general business conditions

Rozproszony system człowiek-artefakt jako autonomiczny sprawca. Racje i wątpliwości

Zwolennicy poznania rozproszonego deklarują odchodzenie od indywidualizmu metodologicznego i poznawczego w stronę ujęcia systemowego, na gruncie którego poznanie traktowane jest jako własność całego szerokiego systemu, a nie pojedynczego człowieka. W artykule skupiam się na problemie sprawczości systemu człowiek-artefakt i wykazuję, że przyjęcie perspektywy indywidualistycznej jest przy jego rozpatrywaniu niezbędne, a ujmowanie go jako systemu rozproszonego nie stanowi przewagi wyjaśniającej. Analizy reprezentacji zewnętrznych, afordancji i dizajnu, przeprowadzone przez Witolda Wachowskiego w książce Poznanie rozproszone. Od heurystyk do mechanizmów (2022), nie odchodzą od podejścia skoncentrowanego na indywidualnym podmiocie, a zastosowana heurystyka „od kultury do mózgu” jest zgodna z podejściem podmiotowo-centrycznym. W artykule argumentuję, że wątpliwości wiązane z odrzuceniem indywidualizmu na rzecz ujęcia systemowego, przy analizie działalności poznawczej systemu człowiek-artefakt, przeważają nad racjami uzasadniającymi takie rozwiązanie. ----------------------------------------- Zgłoszono: 22/03/2023. Zrecenzowano: 10/01/2024. Zaakceptowano do publikacji: 24/04/2024

Rozproszony system człowiek-artefakt jako autonomiczny sprawca. Racje i wątpliwości

Supporters of distributed cognition declare a departure from methodological and cognitive individualism toward a dynamic systems approach, on the basis of which cognition is treated as a property of the entire wide system, and not of a single person. In this article, I focus on the problem of the agency of the human-artifact system and show that the distributed approach does not provide an explanatory advantage over the individualistic perspective on this issue. The analysis of external representations, affordances and design carried out by Witold Wachowski in his book Distributed Cognition. From Heuritics to Mechanisms [Poznanie rozproszone. Od heurystyk do mechanizmów] (2022) does not stray far from an individual-centered approach, despite his use of the “from culture to brain” heuristic. This heuristic does not contradict the subject-centric approach. In this article, I argue that the reassons for rejecting individualism outweigh the reasons that justify a distributed approach. ----------------------------------------- Received: 22/03/2023. Reviewed: 10/01/2024. Accepted: 24/04/2024.  Zwolennicy poznania rozproszonego deklarują odchodzenie od indywidualizmu metodologicznego i poznawczego w stronę ujęcia systemowego, na gruncie którego poznanie traktowane jest jako własność całego szerokiego systemu, a nie pojedynczego człowieka. W artykule skupiam się na problemie sprawczości systemu człowiek-artefakt i wykazuję, że przyjęcie perspektywy indywidualistycznej jest przy jego rozpatrywaniu niezbędne, a ujmowanie go jako systemu rozproszonego nie stanowi przewagi wyjaśniającej. Analizy reprezentacji zewnętrznych, afordancji i dizajnu, przeprowadzone przez Witolda Wachowskiego w książce Poznanie rozproszone. Od heurystyk do mechanizmów (2022), nie odchodzą od podejścia skoncentrowanego na indywidualnym podmiocie, a zastosowana heurystyka „od kultury do mózgu” jest zgodna z podejściem podmiotowo-centrycznym. W artykule argumentuję, że wątpliwości wiązane z odrzuceniem indywidualizmu na rzecz ujęcia systemowego, przy analizie działalności poznawczej systemu człowiek-artefakt, przeważają nad racjami uzasadniającymi takie rozwiązanie. ----------------------------------------- Zgłoszono: 22/03/2023. Zrecenzowano: 10/01/2024. Zaakceptowano do publikacji: 24/04/2024. &nbsp

On dynamics and stability of thin periodic cylindrical shells

The object of considerations is a thin linear-elastic cylindrical shell having a periodic structure along one direction tangent to the shell midsurface. The aim of this paper is to propose a new averaged nonasymptotic model of such shells, which makes it possible to investigate free and forced vibrations, parametric vibrations, and dynamical stability of the shells under consideration. As a tool of modeling we will apply the tolerance averaging technique. The resulting equations have constant coefficients in the periodicity direction. Moreover, in contrast with models obtained by the known asymptotic homogenization technique, the proposed one makes it possible to describe the effect of the period length on the overall shell behavior, called a length-scale effect

Praktyczne wykorzystanie koncepcji zarządzania wartością klienta. Studium przypadku IBM

Koncepcja zarządzania wartością klienta jest coraz częściej wykorzystywana w praktyce gospodarczej. Wyniki prowadzonych badań potwierdziły ścisłe powiązanie wartości klienta z wartością przedsiębiorstwa. Działania marketingowe prowadzone na podstawie segmentacji klientów prowadzą do pozytywnych rezultatów.In this work the analysis of practical usage of customer's value management conception has been presented. Its efficacy has been shown by the strategy of allocation of resources used for communications actions and the influence of the conception on enterprises value.Przemysław Tomczy

IDENTIFICATION OF THE MASS INERTIA MOMENT IN AN ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM BASED ON WAVELET–NEURAL METHOD

This paper presents the results of testing of a complex electromechanical system model. These results have been obtained for accepted in simu-lations the method of identifying an inertia moment of reduced masses on shaft of induction motor drive during the changes of a backlash zone width. The effectiveness of correct diagnostic conclusions enables coefficients anal-ysis of testing signals wavelet expansion as well as weights of a supervised learning neural network. The earlier fault detection of five important state variables, which describe physical quantities of chosen complex electro-mechanical system has been verified for its correctness during the backlash zone width monitoring in the early stage of its gradual rise. The proposed here algorithm with mass inertia moment changes has proved to be an effective diagnostic method in the area of system changeable dynamic conditions and this has been shown in the resulting changes of backlash zone width

IDENTIFICATION OF A BACKLASH ZONE IN AN ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM CONTAINING CHANGES OF A MASS INERTIA MOMENT BASED ON A WAVELET–NEURAL METHOD

In this article a new method of identification of a backlash zone width in a structure of an electromechanical system has been presented. The results of many simulations in a tested model of a complex electromechanical system have been taken while changing a value of a reduced masses inertia moment on a shaft of an induction motor drive. A wavelet analysis of tested signals and analysis of weights that have been obtained during a neural network supervised learning - have been applied in a diagnostic algorithm. The proposed algorithm of detection of backlash zone width, represents effective diagnostic method of a system at changing dynamic conditions, occurring also as a result of mass inertia moment changes

Response to a DNA vaccine against the H5N1 virus depending on the chicken line and number of doses

Background Avian influenza virus infections cause significant economic losses on poultry farms and pose the threat of a possible pandemic outbreak. Routine vaccination of poultry against avian influenza is not recommended in Europe, however it has been ordered in some other countries, and more countries are considering use of the avian influenza vaccine as a component of their control strategy. Although a variety of such vaccines have been tested, most research has concentrated on specific antibodies and challenge experiments. Methods We monitored the transcriptomic response to a DNA vaccine encoding hemagglutinin from the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in the spleens of broiler and layer chickens. Moreover, in layer chickens the response to one and two doses of the vaccine was compared. Results All groups of birds immunized with two doses of the vaccine responded at the humoral level by producing specific anti-hemagglutinin antibodies. A response to the vaccine was also detected in the spleen transcriptomes. Differential expression of many genes encoding noncoding RNA and proteins functionally connected to the neuroendocrine-immune system was observed in different immunized groups