Make Hay While the Sun Shines or be More Loyal Than the King? The Impact of External Labor Markets on the Technological Search Process within Firms.

Past research on technological search has extensively studied the consequences of searching in different loci and in different manners. Less attention in given to the antecedents of the search process: why do researchers search in the way that they do? This dissertation attends to the career concerns of the researchers and investigates how the state of external labor market influences the way in which researchers conduct their technological search, i.e. where they look for technological ideas for innovations: inside the firm or outside; in familiar or new technological domains. I argue that when external job opportunities for researchers decline, they pay greater attention to knowledge flows inside their firms and build on ideas from inside the firm. Further, they expand their search into new technological domains to broaden their skills. On the other hand, when external opportunities increase, contributing to firms' existing research trajectories becomes less important and returns to specialization increase. I also examine the moderating influence of two individual specific factors - the specialization and the relative position of researchers, and two firm specific factors - the division of labor in the firm and the technological prominence of the firm. Using a comprehensive dataset of patents filed by the public electronic firms from 1992 to 2002, I construct an individual inventor specific measure of external job opportunities based on the R&D investments of all external firms in the technological domains that the inventor has worked on during the previous three years and relate it to her technological search. The tests show that greater growth in job opportunities is associated with reduced technological breadth of search. This effect is reduced by a researcher's relative position in the firm and increased when the firm's researchers are more specialized. Contrary to expectation this effect is increased with a firm's technological prominence. The tests provide mixed support for the prediction that greater growth in opportunities is associated with increased organizational breadth of search. I find strong support for the predictions that this effect is increased when the firm's researchers are more specialized and with the technological prominence of the firm.Ph.D.Business AdministrationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86274/1/vtandon_1.pd

Clinical Correlation between Muscle Damage and Oswestry Disability Index Score after Open Lumbar Surgery: Does Open Surgery Reduces Functional Ability?

Study Design Single-surgeon, single-center prospective study with prospective data collection. Purpose To clinically evaluate muscle damage after open lumbar surgery and its relationship to functional activity and to validatethe improvement in function as indicated by improved Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score despite muscle damage. Overview of Literature Few studies have analyzed the functional loss and recovery pattern of muscles after open lumbar surgery. Methods The study included 30 patients who underwent open lumbar spine fusion surgery at our institution between August 2013 and May 2015. Preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively, the patients were subjected to functional, biochemical, electrophysiological, and radiological assessments as outpatients, and the results were compared. Results Mean preoperative and 6-month postoperative values were as follows: creatine phosphokinase levels, 133.07±17.57 and 139±17.7 U/L (p <0.001); Visual Analog Scale scores for backache, 6.73±0.88 and 3.27±0.96 (p <0.001); and ODI scores, 41.6±5.51 and 22.4±4.48 (p <0.001), respectively. Preoperatively, electrophysiological studies showed that 20% of the patients had a polyphasic configuration whereas at 6 months postoperatively, all patients had polyphasic configuration (p <0.001). The mean cross-sectional area of the multifidus observed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) decreased from 742.67±76.62 mm2 preoperatively to 598.27±66.38 mm2 6 months postoperatively (p <0.001), with all the patients exhibiting grade 2 atrophy. Conclusions Open lumbar fusion surgery resulted in significant damage to the lumbar paraspinal muscles, as indicated by a reduction in the cross-sectional area of the multifidus by MRI and denervation of the multifidus demonstrated using electromyography. Nevertheless, the patients reported reduced back pain and improved quality of life, which may have been due to increased stability of the previously unstable lumbar spinal segment after the surgery

ECMO: a lifesaving modality in ARDS during puerperium

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an uncommon condition encountered in pregnancy. The incidence of ARDS in pregnancy has been reported to be 1 in 6229 deliveries with mortality rates to range from 24% to 39% in pregnant patients. An essential component in management of ARDS involves good communication between the obstetrics team and critical care specialist and a fundamental understanding of mechanical ventilatory support. In critically ill patients where both cardiorespiratory support is required, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) can be used to help maintain the vital functions. ECMO is a temporary cardio respiratory or respiratory support in critically ill patients who are unresponsive to conventional management.  In present case a young female with post-partum ARDS was successfully managed with extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

Association of cataract and sun exposure in geographically diverse populations of India: The CASE study. First Report of the ICMR-EYE SEE Study Group.

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of cataract and its association with sun exposure and other environmental risk factors in three different geographically diverse populations of India. DESIGN: Population based cross sectional study during 2010-2016. PARTICIPANTS: People aged ≥ 40 years residing in randomly sampled villages were enumerated (12021) and 9735 (81%) underwent ophthalmic evaluation from plains, hilly and coastal regions (3595, 3231, 2909 respectively). METHODS: A detailed questionnaire-based interview about outdoor activity in present, past and remote past, usage of sun protective measures, exposure to smoke, and detailed ophthalmic examination including assessment of uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity, measurement of intraocular pressure, slit lamp examination, lens opacities categorization using LOCS III and posterior segment evaluation was done. Lifetime effective sun exposure was calculated using Melbourne formula and expressed as quintiles. These were supplemented with physical environmental measurements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lifetime sun exposure hours, smoking, indoor kitchen smoke exposure and their association with cataract and subtypes. Prevalence of cataract calculated based on lens opacities or evidence of cataract surgery. RESULTS: Cataract was identified in 3231 (33.3%) participants. Prevalence of cataract in males (32.3%) and females (34.1%) was similar. Nuclear cataract was the commonest sub-type identified in 94.7% of affected eyes. Sun exposure had a significant association with cataract with odds ratio (OR) increasing from 1.6 (95% Confidence Intervals [CI]: 1.4, 1.9) in 3rd quintile, to 2.6 (CI: 2.2, 3.1) in 4th quintile and 9.4 (CI: 7.9, 11.2) in 5th quintile (p<0.0001). Cataract also showed a significant association with smoking (OR: 1.4, CI: 1.2, 1.6) and indoor kitchen smoke exposure (OR: 1.2, CI: 1.0-1.4). Nuclear cataract showed a positive association with increasing sun exposure in 3rd (β coefficient 0.5, CI:0.2-0.7), 4th (β: 0.9, CI: 0.7-1.1) and 5th (β: 2.1, CI:1.8-2.4) quintiles of sun exposure, smoking (β: 0.4, CI: 0.2-0.6) and indoor kitchen smoke exposure (β: 0.3, CI: 01-0.5) while cortical cataract showed a positive association with sun exposure only in 5th quintile (β: 2.6, CI:1.0-4.2). Posterior subcapsular cataract was not associated with any of the risk factors. CONCLUSION: Cataract is associated with increasing level of sun exposure, smoking and exposure to indoor kitchen smoke

Association of dry eye disease and sun exposure in geographically diverse adult (≥40 years) populations of India: The SEED (sun exposure, environment and dry eye disease) study - Second report of the ICMR-EYE SEE study group.

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence and determine risk factors for dry eye disease (DED) in geographically diverse regions of India. METHOD: A population based cross-sectional study was conducted on people aged ≥40 years in plain, hilly and coastal areas. Dry eye assessment by objective [tear film break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer I, corneal staining] and subjective [Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI)] parameters was performed with questionnaire-based assessment of exposure to sunlight, cigarette smoke, indoor smoke. The prevalence of DED with age, sex, occupation, location, smoking, exposure to sunlight, indoor smoke, diabetes, hypertension, was subjected to logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 9,735 people (age 54.5 ± 0.1 years; range 40-99, males 45.5%) were included. The prevalence of DED was 26.2%, was higher in plains (41.3%) compared to hilly (24.0%) and coastal area (9.9%) (p < 0.001) and increased with age (p < 0.001), female gender (p < 0.001), smoking (p < 0.001), indoor smoke (p < 0.001), diabetes (p-0.02), hypertension (0.001), occupations with predominant outdoor activity (p-0.013) and increasing exposure to sunlight (trend). Multi-logistic regression showed a positive association with female sex (OR-1.2, CI-1.01, 1.4), exposure to indoor smoke (OR-1.3, CI-1.1, 1.5), smoking (OR-1.2; CI-1.03, 1.3), prolonged exposure to sunlight (OR-1.8, CI-1.5, 2.2), hypertension (OR 1.3, CI-1.2, 1.4), diabetes (OR-1.2, CI-1, 1.5) and negative association with region - hilly (OR-0.5, CI-0.4, 0.6) and coastal (OR-0.2; CI-0.1, 0.2), and BMI (OR-0.8, CI-0.7, 0.9). CONCLUSION: DED is common in population ≥40 years of age. Its prevalence is affected by extrinsic (geographic location, exposure to sunlight, smoking, indoor smoke) and intrinsic (age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, BMI) factors

Understanding Climate Change Impact on Highway Hydraulic Design Procedures

DTRT13-G-UTC36The significant change in climate is evident from the records of increased temperature, changed precipitation pattern, increased frequency of extreme weather events like storms, floods, and so forth. Like other infrastructure highway infrastructures also suffer the consequences of these climate change. Since the hydraulic design of these infrastructures is performed using historical climate data, the designs may not be able to provide services because designs are not considering climate change influence especially in terms of precipitation intensity. This study aims at identifying the most accurate source of climate database that predicts future climate change with less uncertainty and links them into the evaluation of vulnerability and risk of the bridges so that the impact of future climate can be incorporated into the design of new infrastructures. In this study, the NARCCAP database has been used to extract the future climate data for different cities of SPTC representing states. Climate models have predicted as high as 10.2% increase in precipitation for Houston, Texas, which leads to an increase in the intensity of streamflow in that region. A hydraulic model has been established using HEC-RAS for streamflow modeling. Overtopping depth and scour depth have been estimated as the primary vulnerability stressors of the bridge. This study has estimated the range of the return periods of the floods for which bridge may fail under the predicted future climate scenarios. The annual economic loss has been calculated for the bridges, and possible adaptation strategies have been suggested using HYRISK software

The Uli Dataset: An Exercise in Experience Led Annotation of oGBV

Online gender based violence has grown concomitantly with adoption of the internet and social media. Its effects are worse in the Global majority where many users use social media in languages other than English. The scale and volume of conversations on the internet has necessitated the need for automated detection of hate speech, and more specifically gendered abuse. There is, however, a lack of language specific and contextual data to build such automated tools. In this paper we present a dataset on gendered abuse in three languages- Hindi, Tamil and Indian English. The dataset comprises of tweets annotated along three questions pertaining to the experience of gender abuse, by experts who identify as women or a member of the LGBTQIA community in South Asia. Through this dataset we demonstrate a participatory approach to creating datasets that drive AI systems

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe