Modeling 21st century project teams: docking workflow and knowledge network computational models

This paper reports on an attempt to integrate and extend two established computational organizational models\u2014SimVision\uae and Blanche\u2014to examine the co-evolution of workflow and knowledge networks in 21st century project teams. Traditionally, workflow in project teams has been modeled as sets of sequential and/or parallel activities each assigned to a responsible participant, organized in a fixed structure. In the spirit of Jay Galbraith\u2019s (1973) information processing view of organizations, exceptions\u2014situations in which participants lack the required knowledge to complete a task\u2014are referred up the hierarchy for resolution. However, recent developments in digital technologies have created the possibility to design project teams that are more flexible, self-organizing structures, in which exceptions can be resolved much more flexibly through knowledge networks that extend beyond the project or even the company boundaries. In addition to seeking resolution to exceptions up the hierarchy, members of project teams may be motivated to retrieve the necessary expertise from other knowledgeable members in the project team. Further, they may also retrieve information from non-human agents, such as knowledge repositories or databases, available to the project team. Theories, such as Transactive Memory, Public Goods, Social Exchange and Proximity may guide their choice of retrieving information from a specific project team member or database. This paper reports on a \u201cdocked\u201d computational model that can be used to generate and test hypotheses about the co-evolution of workflow and knowledge networks of these 21st century project teams in terms of their knowledge distribution and performance. The two computational models being docked are SimVision (Jin & Levitt, 1999) which has sophisticated processes to model organizations executing project-oriented workflows, and Blanche (Hyatt, Contractor, & Jones, 1997), a multiagent computational network environment, which models multitheoretical mechanisms for the retrieval and allocation of information in knowledge networks involving human and non-human agents. This paper was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for the project \u201cCo-Evolution of Knowledge Networks and 21st Century Organizational Forms (IIS- 9980109)

Study of fetomaternal outcome in pre-eclampsia at tertiary care centres, South Gujarat

Background: Hypertensive disorders are among the most common medical disorder during pregnancy and continue to be a serious challenge in obstetric practice. It affects about 7-15% of all gestations. In India it accounts for the third most important cause of maternal mortality. Aim if this study was to study the prevalence of pre-eclampsia and feto-maternal outcome in cases of pre-eclampsia. Methods: This was a descriptive observational study conducted over a period from February 2019 to July 2021. This study enrolled 106 cases of pre-eclampsia, cases were selected by inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were entered and analysed by using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 106 patients were analysed. It was observed that it was more common in age group of 26 to 30 years 51%, 56% were unbooked patients. Maximum number of patients were primigravida 60%, 96% patients were from lower socioeconomic class, 37% patients had normal vaginal delivery, 63% had caesarean delivery. The most common maternal complication was eclampsia (12%), HELLP Syndrome 12%, abruptio occurred in 8% of patients. Maternal mortality occurred in 4 cases. Out of 106 babies 37 (34.93%) babies had normal outcome while 29% (27.35%) had low birth weight, 16 (15.09%) babies were IUGR, 15 (14.5%) babies were IUFD, 7 (6.6%) babies had RDS and 2 (1.8%) babies were stillbirth 40 (44.94%) babies were admitted in NICU. Conclusions: This study concludes that foetal and maternal outcome were markedly affected by pre-eclampsia and also the grave complications were more common in pre-eclampsia. So proper antenatal care, early diagnosis of pre-eclampsia and timely intervention will decrease maternal perinatal morbidity and mortality

From sparse to dense and from assortative to disassortative in online social networks

Inspired by the analysis of several empirical online social networks, we propose a simple reaction-diffusion-like coevolving model, in which individuals are activated to create links based on their states, influenced by local dynamics and their own intention. It is shown that the model can reproduce the remarkable properties observed in empirical online social networks; in particular, the assortative coefficients are neutral or negative, and the power law exponents are smaller than 2. Moreover, we demonstrate that, under appropriate conditions, the model network naturally makes transition(s) from assortative to disassortative, and from sparse to dense in their characteristics. The model is useful in understanding the formation and evolution of online social networks.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures and 2 table

Lactation and neonatal nutrition: defining and refining the critical questions.

This paper resulted from a conference entitled "Lactation and Milk: Defining and refining the critical questions" held at the University of Colorado School of Medicine from January 18-20, 2012. The mission of the conference was to identify unresolved questions and set future goals for research into human milk composition, mammary development and lactation. We first outline the unanswered questions regarding the composition of human milk (Section I) and the mechanisms by which milk components affect neonatal development, growth and health and recommend models for future research. Emerging questions about how milk components affect cognitive development and behavioral phenotype of the offspring are presented in Section II. In Section III we outline the important unanswered questions about regulation of mammary gland development, the heritability of defects, the effects of maternal nutrition, disease, metabolic status, and therapeutic drugs upon the subsequent lactation. Questions surrounding breastfeeding practice are also highlighted. In Section IV we describe the specific nutritional challenges faced by three different populations, namely preterm infants, infants born to obese mothers who may or may not have gestational diabetes, and infants born to undernourished mothers. The recognition that multidisciplinary training is critical to advancing the field led us to formulate specific training recommendations in Section V. Our recommendations for research emphasis are summarized in Section VI. In sum, we present a roadmap for multidisciplinary research into all aspects of human lactation, milk and its role in infant nutrition for the next decade and beyond

Predicting language diversity with complex network

Evolution and propagation of the world's languages is a complex phenomenon, driven, to a large extent, by social interactions. Multilingual society can be seen as a system of interacting agents, where the interaction leads to a modification of the language spoken by the individuals. Two people can reach the state of full linguistic compatibility due to the positive interactions, like transfer of loanwords. But, on the other hand, if they speak entirely different languages, they will separate from each other. These simple observations make the network science the most suitable framework to describe and analyze dynamics of language change. Although many mechanisms have been explained, we lack a qualitative description of the scaling behavior for different sizes of a population. Here we address the issue of the language diversity in societies of different sizes, and we show that local interactions are crucial to capture characteristics of the empirical data. We propose a model of social interactions, extending the idea from, that explains the growth of the language diversity with the size of a population of country or society. We argue that high clustering and network disintegration are the most important characteristics of models properly describing empirical data. Furthermore, we cancel the contradiction between previous models and the Solomon Islands case. Our results demonstrate the importance of the topology of the network, and the rewiring mechanism in the process of language change

Ki67 expression levels are a better marker of reduced melanoma growth following MEK inhibitor treatment than phospho-ERK levels

The loss of tumour phospho-extracellular responsive kinase (pERK) positivity is the major treatment biomarker for mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular responsive kinase (MEK) inhibitors. Here, we demonstrate that there is a poor correlation between pERK inhibition and the anti-proliferative effects of MEK inhibitors in melanoma cells. We suggest that Ki67 is a better biomarker for future clinical studies

Trends of sex differences in outcomes of cardiac electronic device implantations in the United States

Background The disparity in outcomes of CIED implantations between sexes has been previously demonstrated in device-specific cohorts (e.g. implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD)). However, it is unclear whether sex differences are present with all types of CIED and, if so, what the trends of such differences were in recent years. Methods Using the National Inpatient Sample, all hospitalizations between 2004 and 2014 for de novo implantation of permanent pacemakers (PPM), cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without a defibrillator (CRT-D and CRT-P, respectively) and ICD were analyzed to examine the association between sex and in-hospital acute complications of CIED implantation. Results Out of 2,815,613 hospitalizations for de novo CIED implantation, 41.9% were performed on women. Women were associated with increased adjusted odds of adverse procedural complications (major adverse cardiovascular complications: 1.17 [1.16, 1.19], bleeding: 1.13 [1.12, 1.15], thoracic: 1.42 [1.40, 1.44], cardiac: 1.44 [1.38, 1.50]), while the adjusted odds of in-hospital all-cause mortality compared to men was 0.96 [0.94, 1.00]. The odds of adverse complications in the overall CIED cohort were persistently raised in women throughout the study period, whereas similar odds of all-cause mortality across the sexes were observed throughout the study period. Conclusion In a national cohort of CIED implantations we demonstrate that women are at an overall higher risk of procedure-related adverse events compared to men, but no increased risk of all-cause mortality. Further studies are required to identify procedural techniques that would improve outcomes amongst women undergoing such procedures

Male breast cancer: a report of 127 cases at a Moroccan institution

Background: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease representing less than 1% of all malignancies in men and only 1% of all incident breast cancers. Our study details clinico-pathological features, treatments and prognostic factors in a large Moroccan cohort. Findings: One hundred and twenty-seven patients were collected from 1985 to 2007 at the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. Median age was 62 years and median time for consultation 28 months. The main clinical complaint was a mass beneath the areola in 93, 5% of the cases. Most patients have an advanced disease. Ninety-one percent of tumors were ductal carcinomas. Management consisted especially of radical mastectomy; followed by adjuvant radiotherapy and hormonal therapy with or without chemotherapy. The median of follow-up was 30 months. The evolution has been characterized by local recurrence; in twenty two cases (17% of all patients). Metastasis occurred in 41 cases (32% of all patients). The site of metastasis was the bone in twenty cases; lung in twelve cases; liver in seven case; liver and skin in one case and pleura and skin in one case. Conclusion: Male breast cancer has many similarities to breast cancer in women, but there are distinct features that should be appreciated. Future research for better understanding of this disease at national or international level are needed to improve the management and prognosis of male patients