Where there’s ‘willingness’ there’s a way: barriers and facilitators to maternal, newborn and child health data sharing by the private health sector in Uttar Pradesh, India

In India and Uttar Pradesh (UP), the private health sector plays an important role in health care services, including institutional deliveries, but there is limited information on the availability of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) data that private facilities maintain and share with the public health information system. Sharing data could help the public sector plan their resources more efficiently. Aim of the study: To explore current practices of MNCH data availability and sharing/reporting by private health facilities and the barriers and facilitators to data sharing

Carrier multiplication yields in PbS and PbSe nanocrystals measured by transient photoluminescence

We report here an assessment of carrier multiplication (CM) yields in PbSe and PbS nanocrystals (NCs) by a quantitative analysis of biexciton and exciton dynamics in transient photoluminescence decays. Interest in CM, the generation of more than one electron and hole in a semiconductor after absorption of one photon, has renewed in recent years because of reports suggesting greatly increased efficiencies in nanocrystalline materials compared to the bulk form, in which CM was otherwise too weak to be of consequence in photovoltaic energy conversion devices. In our PbSe and PbS NC samples, however, we estimate using transient photoluminescence that at most 0.25 additional e-h pairs are generated per photon even at energies hv > 5Eg, instead of the much higher values reported in the literature. We argue by comparing NC CM estimates and reported bulk values on an absolute energy basis, which we justify as appropriate on physical grounds, that the data reported thus far are inconclusive with respect to the importance of nanoscale-specific phenomena in the CM process.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Engaging the public & private sectors in data sharing to improve maternal and newborn health in Uttar Pradesh, India

Background The private for-profit health sector in India delivers around 80% of outpatient treatment and 60% of hospitalisations, and includes more than three quarters of human resources for health. The sector includes solo doctor clinics, small hospitals and big corporate hospital chains, as well as many informal providers. The formal private health sector has grown rapidly without regulatory frameworks and quality assurance. Quality of care is variable and there is lack of adherence to standard treatments, protocols or pricing. Limited information is shared with public health information systems. Aim To develop an engagement strategy with the private for-profit health sector in Uttar Pradesh, India. The broader underlying goal is to develop and pilot a district level Data Informed Platform for Health (DIPH) for improved local health decision-making in maternal and child health including both the public and private health sectors. Methods We reviewed literature, and examined national plans and programme documents to identify lessons from successful public-private engagements for maternal and child health and collate key policies related to the private health sector in India. We sought inputs from 27 national, state and district level stakeholders for developing a strategy to engage with the private sector for a DIPH. Findings In India, public-private partnerships for service delivery and financing represent a key area of engagement with the private sector, especially for maternal and child health. Examples include the Merrygold network, a clinical social franchise, and the Sambhav voucher scheme, in which poor households can exchange vouchers for health services in selected city hospitals in Uttar Pradesh. Engagements related to data recording and reporting from the private health sector have been less successful. There are gaps in reporting even notifiable diseases like Tuberculosis. There is limited data available on the private sector at the national level. Legal provisions can facilitate data exchange and synthesis: a binding legal framework may be available when the Clinical Establishments Act, passed by the Indian Parliament in 2010, is implemented. Proposed engagement strategies Stakeholder consultations suggested that before the Clinical Establishments Act is implemented, the private sector might best be engaged by: 1.Relationship building among key private and public sector stakeholders. 2.Sensitisation of private and public sector groups and individuals with the concept of a DIPH. 3.Inclusion of selected private sector players in the DIPH 4.User-friendly data collection and management. 5.Provision of both financial and non-financial incentives to encourag

A prospective study to analyze the outcome of proximal humerus fracture managed with proximal humerus locking plate

Background: The incidence of proximal humerus fractures has increased in last few years due to changes in life style and increase in road traffic accidents. Hence, the challenge of the modern day treatment was to get accurate reductions anatomically, fast healing and early restoration of function. Proximal humerus locking plate revolutionized the treatment without compromising fracture union. The present study aimed to evaluate the functional and radiological outcome of proximal humerus fracture managed with proximal humerus locking plate.Methods: This prospective study was conducted at Narayana Medical College Hospital for a period of two years from December 2014 to June 2016. 30 cases of proximal humerus fractures in adults after meeting inclusion criteria were participated and treated surgically with proximal humerus locking plate technique. Consent form was taken from all the patients. The final functional outcome was assessed by radiography and DASH scoring system.Results: Proximal humerus fractures were found to have high incidence in the 40 to 45 age group which had 37% of the study population. Males predominated over females in our study. Ratio of males to female was 2:1. Right sided fractures are more in the present study in both the sexes. The most common mechanism of injury was fall on the outstretched hand from a standing height or less with minor trauma seen in 34% of patients. High energy trauma was more frequently involved in younger patients (30%). According to Neer’s classification two part fractures constituted the most common type 16 (54%) in this study. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 23.0. A ‘p’ value less than 0.05 was considered significant.Conclusions: The proximal humerus locking plate method for proximal humerus fracture emerges to be safe, effective, reliable fixation with minimal complications

A Meta-Analysis of Electronic Word-of-Mouth Elasticity

The authors conduct a meta-analysis on the effect of electronic word of mouth on sales by examining 51 studies (involving 339 volume and 271 valence elasticities) and primary data collected on product characteristics (durability, trialability, and usage condition), industry characteristics (industry growth and competition), and platform characteristics (expertise and trustworthiness). Their analysis reveals that electronic word-of-mouth volume (valence) elasticity is .236 (.417). More importantly, the findings show that volume and valence elasticities are higher for privately consumed, low-trialability products that operate in less competitive industries and whose reviews are carried on independent review sites. Furthermore, volume elasticities are higher for durable goods and for reviews on specialized review sites, whereas valence elasticities are greater for community-based sites. Drawing on the results, they discuss several implications for managers and researchers and explain why valence elasticities are often found to be insignificant. Finally, they propose numerous directions for future research in the area on the basis of their findings

AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH OF BILATERAL FILTER IMPLEMENTATION IN SPARTAN-3 FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY

This paper presents the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation of Bilateral Filter, in order to achieve high performance and low power consumption. Bilateral filtering is a technique to smooth images while preserving edges by means of a nonlinear combination of nearby image values. This method is nonlinear, local, and simple. We give an idea that bilateral filtering can be accelerated by bilateral grid scheme that enables fast edge-aware image processing. Nowadays, most of the applications require real time hardware systems with large computing potentiality for which fast and dedicated Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) architecture appears to be the best possible solution. While it ensures high resource utilization, that too in cost effective platforms like FPGA, designing such architecture does offers some flexibilities like speeding up the computation by adapting more pipelined structures and parallel processing possibilities of reduced memory consumptions. Here we have developed an effective approach of bilateral filter implementation in Spartan-3 FPGA

Linkages between public and non-government sectors in healthcare: a case study from Uttar Pradesh, India.

: Effective utilisation of collaborative non-governmental organisation (NGO)-public health system linkages in pluralistic health systems of developing countries can substantially improve equity and quality of services. This study explores level and types of linkages between public health sector and NGOs in Uttar Pradesh (UP), an underprivileged state of India, using a social science model for the first time. It also identifies gaps and challenges for effective linkage. Two NGOs were selected as case studies. Data collection included semi-structured in-depth interviews with senior staff and review of records and reporting formats. Formal linkages of NGOs with the public health system related to registration, participation in district level meetings, workforce linkages and sharing information on government-supported programmes. Challenges included limited data sharing, participation in planning and limited monitoring of regulatory compliances. Linkage between public health system and NGOs in UP was moderate, marked by frequent interaction and some reciprocity in information and resource flows, but weak participation in policy and planning. The type of linkage could be described as 'complementarity', entailing information and resource sharing but not joint action. Stronger linkage is required for sustained and systematic collaboration, with joint planning, implementation and evaluation.<br/