Improving irrigation performance through the use of management information systems: The case of Mahi Kadana, Gujarat, India

Water management / Water distribution / Cropping systems / Rotation / Performance evaluation / Performance indexes / Data collection / Databases / Canal irrigation / Management Information Systems / India / Gujarat

THE ROLE OF INTERDEPENDENCE IN THE MICRO-FOUNDATIONS OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN: TASK, GOAL, AND KNOWLEDGE INTERDEPENDENCE

Interdependence is a core concept in organization design, yet one that has remained consistently understudied. Current notions of interdependence remain rooted in seminal works, produced at a time when managers’ near-perfect understanding of the task at hand drove the organization design process. In this context, task interdependence was rightly assumed to be exogenously determined by characteristics of the work and the technology. We no longer live in that world, yet our view of interdependence has remained exceedingly task-centric and our treatment of interdependence overly deterministic. As organizations face increasingly unpredictable workstreams and workers co-design the organization alongside managers, our field requires a more comprehensive toolbox that incorporates aspects of agent-based interdependence. In this paper, we synthesize research in organization design, organizational behavior, and other related literatures to examine three types of interdependence that characterize organizations’ workflows: task, goal, and knowledge interdependence. We offer clear definitions for each construct, analyze how each arises endogenously in the design process, explore their interrelations, and pose questions to guide future research

Postoperative Deterioration in Health Related Quality of Life as Predictor for Survival in Patients with Glioblastoma: A Prospective Study

BACKGROUND: Studies indicate that acquired deficits negatively affect patients' self-reported health related quality of life (HRQOL) and survival, but the impact of HRQOL deterioration after surgery on survival has not been explored. OBJECTIVE: Assess if change in HRQOL after surgery is a predictor for survival in patients with glioblastoma. METHODS: Sixty-one patients with glioblastoma were included. The majority of patients (n = 56, 91.8%) were operated using a neuronavigation system which utilizes 3D preoperative MRI and updated intraoperative 3D ultrasound volumes to guide resection. HRQOL was assessed using EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D), a generic instrument. HRQOL data were collected 1-3 days preoperatively and after 6 weeks. The mean change in EQ-5D index was -0.05 (95% CI -0.15-0.05) 6 weeks after surgery (p = 0.285). There were 30 patients (49.2%) reporting deterioration 6 weeks after surgery. In a Cox multivariate survival analysis we evaluated deterioration in HRQOL after surgery together with established risk factors (age, preoperative condition, radiotherapy, temozolomide and extent of resection). RESULTS: There were significant independent associations between survival and use of temozolomide (HR 0.30, p = 0.019), radiotherapy (HR 0.26, p = 0.030), and deterioration in HRQOL after surgery (HR 2.02, p = 0.045). Inclusion of surgically acquired deficits in the model did not alter the conclusion. CONCLUSION: Early deterioration in HRQOL after surgery is independently and markedly associated with impaired survival in patients with glioblastoma. Deterioration in patient reported HRQOL after surgery is a meaningful outcome in surgical neuro-oncology, as the measure reflects both the burden of symptoms and treatment hazards and is linked to overall survival

Water-related environmental factors and malaria transmission in Mahi Kadana, Gujarat, India

Irrigation water / Waterborne diseases / Malaria / GIS / Environment / Rain / Rice / Groundwater management / Case studies / Health / Statistical analysis / India / Gujarat

Association of immunotherapy and immunosuppression with severe COVID-19 disease in patients with cancer

Background: Cytokine storm due to COVID-19 can cause high morbidity and mortality. Patients with cancer treated with immunotherapy (IO) and those with immunosuppression may have higher rates of cytokine storm due to immune dysregulation. We sought to evaluate the association of IO and immunosuppression with COVID-19 outcomes and cytokine storm occurrence among patients with cancer and COVID-19, based on data from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19). Methods: A registry-based retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients reported to the CCC19 registry from March 2020 to September 2021. The primary outcome was defined as an ordinal scale of COVID-19 severity. The secondary outcome was the occurrence of a cytokine storm using CCC19 variables, defined as biological and clinical evidence of severe inflammation, with end-organ dysfunction (Fajgenbaum D.C. et al., N Engl J Med., 2020). The association of IO or immunosuppression with the outcomes of interest were evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression balanced for covariate distributions through inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Results: A total of 10,214 patients were included, among which 482 (4.7%) received IO, 3,715 (36.4%) received non-IO systemic therapies, and 6,017 (58.9%) were untreated in the 3 months prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. No difference in COVID-19 severity or the development of a cytokine storm was found in the IO group compared to the untreated group (aOR: 0.77; 95%CI:0.45-1.32, and aOR: 1.06; 95%CI:0.42-2.67, respectively). On multivariable analysis, baseline immunosuppression was associated with worse outcomes both in relation to COVID-19 severity (aOR: 1.89; 95%CI:1.51-2.35) and the presence of a cytokine storm (aOR: 1.75; 95%CI:1.30-2.35). Conclusions: Administration of IO was not associated with severe outcomes in patients with cancer and COVID-19, whereas pre-existing baseline immunosuppression appears to be independently associated with worse clinical outcomes including cytokine storm

The role of venture capitalists in the regional innovation ecosystem : a comparison of networking patterns between private and publicly backed venture capital funds

This paper empirically examines the development of social networks among venture capitalists and other professionals of the regional innovation ecosystem. Using an online survey of venture capitalists, the article considers their networking behaviour, focusing particularly on the distinction between those employed by private and those employed by publicly backed venture capital funds, and on the composition and spatial search of their networks. It investigates whether the frequency of interaction between venture capitalists and other members of the innovation ecosystem is associated with the nature of the venture capital funds. The paper provides the first detailed investigation of the relationship between different types of venture capitalists and other players of the innovation ecosystem such as universities incubators, research institutes, and business support organisations. The results show that there are distinctive differences within the two seemingly similar professional groups (private and public venture capitalists), and public dependence of the venture capital fund is strongly and significantly associated with higher volumes of interactions. The more publicly dependent a fund is, the more it interacts with other players of the innovation system. This finding has important implications for both academics and practitioners and suggests that publicly backed funds have a wider role to play in mobilising the different players of the regional innovation ecosystem

Comparison between Bipolar Hemiarthroplasty and Total Hip Arthroplasty for Unstable Intertrochanteric Fractures in Elderly Osteoporotic Patients

The present study was conducted to compare bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BA) with total hip arthroplasty (THA) in treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures in elderly osteoporotic patients. The THA group included 14 males and 26 females with a mean age of 73.4 years, and the BA group included 27 males and 45 females with a mean age of 76.5 years. Significant difference existed between the two groups in operation time, blood loss, transfusion volume and cost of hospitalization, while no remarkable difference was identified in hospitalization period, general complications, joint function, pain, rate of revision and mortality. No dislocation was observed in BA group while 3 occurred in THA group. The results indicated that for unstable intertrochanteric fractures in elderly osteoporotic patients, BA seems to be a better or more reasonable choice compared with THA for the reason of less blood loss, shorter operation time, lower cost and no dislocation