Directory of open educational resources (DOER) : a discovery service framework to provide structured access to OERs

This paper discusses in detail the discoverability problem of OERs which is considered to be one of the major hurdles of user uptake. The paper also discusses the challenges in creating OER discovery services in an environment where non-interoperable OER repositories proliferate. It highlights some of the OER discovery initiatives at the community, national and international levels, and the case of Directory of Open Educational Resources (DOER), a structured discovery platform set up by Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is discussed in detail. DOER has brought most of the OERs available in repositories that are distributed across Commonwealth region into a structured metadata framework and it exposes the curated metadata to other service providers to enhance visibility. In perspective, DOER has demonstrated a frugal approach to creating open infrastructure for OER discovery by exploiting existing open standards and technologies. To solve the problems in OER discovery, authors suggest that OER advocacy should focus on strengthening discoverability features of institutional OER repositories by persuading them to follow open interoperability standards

Use made of open access journals by Indian researchers to publish their findings

Most of the papers published in the more than 360 Indian open access journals are by Indian researchers. But how many papers do they publish in high impact international open access journals? We have looked at India’s contribution to all seven Public Library of Science (PLoS) journals, 10 BioMed Central (BMC) journals and Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports. Indian crystallographers have published more than 2,000 structure reports in Acta Crystallographica, second only to China in number of papers, but have a much better citations per paper average than USA, Britain, Germany and France, China and South Korea. India’s contribution to BMC and PLoS journals, on the other hand, is modest at best. We suggest that the better option for India is institutional self-archiving

One nation one subscription’ is an elusive goal

Muthu Madhan is a long-time crusader for open access (OA) to scholarly literature in India. He has been promoting OA through interoperable institutional repositories – the green route for OA. He has spoken about the importance of OA in different forums, and written articles in popular journals. At present, he is working as Librarian of Azim Premji University. In this interview with Santosh C. Hulagabali, for Open Interview, Madhan shares his observation on OA developments in India and elsewhere. Also, he talks on different issues related to OA. From this conversation, one might trace the important events that gave impetus to OA discussions in India and elsewhere, and the people who inspired Madhan

Chemistry research in India in a global perspective : a scientometrics profile

We measure India’s contribution to chemistry research in a global perspective. In the five years 2011-2015 Indian researchers have published 62,448 papers in 557 journals. In terms of % share, India (with 6.9% of the world’s publications) is behind only China (25%) and USA (17%). But only 0.86% of papers from India are among the top 1% of the most highly cited papers of the world, compared to 4.86% of papers from Singapore, 2.65% of papers from USA, 2.09% of papers from China, 1.87% of papers from the UK, 1.71% of papers from South Korea and 1.6% of papers from Germany. Papers from India are cited 14.68 times on average compared to cites per paper of 45.34 for Singapore, 30.47 for USA, 23.12 for China, 26.51 for the UK, 21.77 for South Korea and 24.77 for Germany. Less than 39% of papers from India are found in quartile 1 (high impact factor) journals, compared to 53.6% for China and 53.8% for South Korea. Percent share of papers in quartile 1 journals from India is lower than that for the world for all of chemistry and for each one of the eight categories, viz. analytical, applied, inorganic & nuclear, medicinal, multidisciplinary, organic, physical and electrochemistry whether one considers data for the entire five-year period or for 2015 alone. About 20% of Indian chemistry papers are in collaboration with international coauthors. Researchers from only 160 Indian institutions have published at least 100 papers (compared to 362 in USA and 399 in China) and these include 67 state, 14 central and 11 private universities, 27 institutions under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, 20 CSIR laboratories, seven Department of Atomic Energy institutions, and seven Department of Science & Technology institutions. About 40% of all Indian chemistry papers have come from public universities. Only three Indian institutions, viz Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, have published more than 2,000 papers. None of the Indian universities has performed as well as leading Asian universities. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a small institution with less than 200 papers, has performed reasonably well

Why coverage matters: Invisibility of agricultural research from the Global South may be an obstacle to development

Document publicat com a post en el blog _Leiden Madtrics_ (https://www.leidenmadtrics.nl/) del CWTS de la Leiden University. URL: https://www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/why-coverage-matters-invisibility-of-agricultural-research-from-the-global-south-may-be-an-obstacle-to-developmentTo support development and sustainability in the Global South, contextual and locally appropriate knowledge on agriculture needs to be visible and accessible. Improving journal coverage in global open scholarly infrastructures can play a crucial role in increasing visibility. We have conducted a small study using the MIAR portal of the ‘Information Matrix for the Analysis of Journals’ of the University of Barcelona in order to make a rough estimate of the journal coverage of various bibliographic databases

Factors Influencing the yield of progenitor cells in bone marrow aspiration concentrate—A retrospective analysis of 58 patients

This study aims to identify the role of subjective factors (age, sex, and comorbidities) and procedure-specific factors (aspiration volume) in influencing the yield of progenitor cells in bone marrow aspiration concentrate (BMAC) harvested from the iliac crest. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 58 patients (male:female = 31:27; mean age: 52.56 ± 18.14 years) who underwent BMAC therapy between January 2020 and June 2021. The factors analyzed include individual factors such as age, sex, and comorbid conditions, and procedural factors such as aspirate volume. The mononuclear cell (MNC) count and colony-forming unit (CFU) assay were used to assess the yield of progenitors in the aspirate. Pearson's correlation test was performed for the age, aspirate volume, and outcome parameters, such as MNC and CFU. We used the chi-square test to analyze the role of sex and comorbidities on cellular yield. The mean volume of aspirate used for BMAC therapy was 66.65 (±17.82) mL. The mean MNC count of the BMAC was 19.94 (±16.34) × 106 cells, which formed 11 (±12) CFUs. Evidence of statistically significant positive associations was noted between the CFUs developed from the BMAC and the MNC count within them (r = 0.95, p < 0.001). The sex of the individual did not play any significant role in MNC count (p = 0.092) or CFUs formed (p = 0.448). The age of the individual showed evidence of a statistically significant negative association with the MNC count (r = -0.681, p < 0.001) and CFUs (r = -0.693, p < 0.001), as did the aspiration volume with the MNC count (r = -0.740, p < 0.001) and CFUs (r = -0.629, p < 0.001). We also noted a significant reduction in the MNC count (p = 0.002) and CFUs formed (p = 0.004) when the patients presented comorbidities. Individual factors such as age, comorbid conditions, and procedure factors such as aspirate volume significantly affected the yield of progenitor cells in the BMAC. The sex of the individual did not influence the yield of progenitor cells in BMAC

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions

Institutional Repository Enhances Visibility and Prestige of the Institute- the case of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

Experiences of the Institutional Repository project of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela is presented. Strategies employed to populate the repository are discussed. How the repository contributes to increase the visibility and prestige of the institute is explained