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Unraveling spatiotemporal transient dynamics at the nanoscale via wavelet transform-based kelvin probe force microscopy

- Biglarbeigi, Pardis, Morelli, Alessio, Pauly, Serene, Yu, Zidong, Jiang, Wenjun, Sharma, Surbhi, Finlay, Dewar, Kumar, Amit, Soin, Navneet, Payam, Amir

  • Authors: Biglarbeigi, Pardis , Morelli, Alessio , Pauly, Serene , Yu, Zidong , Jiang, Wenjun , Sharma, Surbhi , Finlay, Dewar , Kumar, Amit , Soin, Navneet , Payam, Amir
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: ACS Nano Vol. 17, no. 21 (2023), p. 21506-21517
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  • Description: Mechanistic probing of surface potential changes arising from dynamic charge transport is the key to understanding and engineering increasingly complex nanoscale materials and devices. Spatiotemporal averaging in conventional heterodyne detection-based Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) inherently limits its time resolution, causing an irretrievable loss of transient response and higher-order harmonics. Addressing this, we report a wavelet transform (WT)-based methodology capable of quantifying the sub-ms charge dynamics and probing the elusive transient response. The feedback-free, open-loop wavelet transform KPFM (OL-WT-KPFM) technique harnesses the WT’s ability to simultaneously extract spatial and temporal information from the photodetector signal to provide a dynamic mapping of surface potential, capacitance gradient, and dielectric constant at a temporal resolution 3 orders of magnitude higher than the lock-in time constant. We further demonstrate the method’s applicability to explore the surface-photovoltage-induced sub-ms hole-diffusion transient in bismuth oxyiodide semiconductor. The OL-WT-KPFM concept is readily applicable to commercial systems and can provide the underlying basis for the real-time analysis of transient electronic and electrochemical properties. © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

Using dye and bromide tracers to identify preferential water flow in agricultural hillslope soil under controlled conditions

- Defterdarović, Jasmina, Krevh, Vedran, Filipović, Lana, Kovač, Zoran, Phogat, Vinod, He, Hailong, Baumgartl, Thomas, Filipović, Vilim

  • Authors: Defterdarović, Jasmina , Krevh, Vedran , Filipović, Lana , Kovač, Zoran , Phogat, Vinod , He, Hailong , Baumgartl, Thomas , Filipović, Vilim
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Water (Switzerland) Vol. 15, no. 12 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Processes in hillslope soils present a particular challenge for agricultural production and soil management due to their hydropedological specifics and high soil erosion risk. Soil heterogeneities can cause preferential and/or lateral flow on the entire hillslope resulting in the off-site movement of water, fertilizers and chemicals used in crop production. A study was conducted under controlled conditions in a laboratory with undisturbed soil cores (250 cm3), which were used to estimate the soil hydraulic properties (SHP) using HYPROP and WP4C devices, while undisturbed soil columns (diameter = 16 cm, length = 25 cm) were used for the evaluation of preferential flow pathways using potassium bromide and Brilliant Blue. Samples were excavated in triplicate from the hilltop, backslope and footslope regions within the inter-rows of a vineyard from a critical zone observatory, SUPREHILL, in Croatia in Dystric Luvic Stagnosol. The aim of this study was to determine if the erosion-affected hillslope position affected the physical, chemical and hydraulic properties of soil and to identify water flow and possible preferential flow using dye and bromide tracers. The results of the sensor measurements and estimated SHPs were in agreement, showing a faster leaching of the irrigated rainwater in the footslope column. The tracer experiments showed variability even in the columns taken from the same position on the hillslope, which can be linked to plant roots and soil fauna activity. Altogether, the results showed a deeper loose layer at the footslope as a consequence of the soil erosion, which then resulted in higher hydraulic conductivity and the leached mass of the bromide due to better soil structure and pore connectivity. Thus, due to significant differences in the leached mass of bromide, this research should be later expanded in field experiments to reveal the impact of surface runoff, subsurface preferential and lateral flow on a larger scale. © 2023 by the authors.

Valuing ecosystem services provided by land commons in India: implications for research and policy

- Sandhu, Harpinder, Zhang, Wei, Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, ElDidi, Hagar, Perveen, Saiqa, Sharma, Janvi, Kaur, Japneet, Priyadarshini, Pratiti

  • Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder , Zhang, Wei , Meinzen-Dick, Ruth , ElDidi, Hagar , Perveen, Saiqa , Sharma, Janvi , Kaur, Japneet , Priyadarshini, Pratiti
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Environmental Research Letters Vol. 18, no. 1 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Commons provide many ecosystem services that support the livelihoods of billions around the world. However, their contribution to people and the economy are rarely estimated in economic terms. Here, we estimate the economic contribution of the land-based commons in India, which cover 66.5 million hectares. We conducted a systematic literature review of publications between 1990 and 2020 and selected 161 peer-reviewed studies to develop an ecosystem services valuation database for India. We identified 34 ecosystem services from this database. We estimate that forest commons provide ecosystem services worth $2108 ha

A literature review of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on sustainable HRM

- Liang, Xiaoyan, Zhang, Xiwei, Paulet, Renee, Zheng, Leven

  • Authors: Liang, Xiaoyan , Zhang, Xiwei , Paulet, Renee , Zheng, Leven
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Sustainability (Switzerland) Vol. 14, no. 5 (2022), p.
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  • Description: The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to emerge across all facets of the world of work, including the field of human resource management (HRM). Sustainable HRM, drawing on the triple bottom line elements of the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability, provides an ideal basis from which to understand the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and HRM. In this systematic literature review, we analyze peer reviewed articles published in the nexus of the pandemic and sustainable HRM, identifying the dimensions and extent of research in this topical area of study. Our CEDEL model—complicator–exposer–disruptor–enabler– legitimizer—conceptualizes our understanding of the role of COVID-19 in sustainable HRM. This paper provides a framework from which future studies can benefit when investigating the impacts of COVID-19, and a comprehensive identification of future research avenues. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

A review of sediment carbon sampling methods in mangroves and their broader impacts on stock estimates for blue carbon ecosystems

- Fest, Benedikt, Swearer, Stephen, Arndt, Stefan

  • Authors: Fest, Benedikt , Swearer, Stephen , Arndt, Stefan
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Science of the Total Environment Vol. 816, no. (2022), p.
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  • Description: Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), such as mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses, are attracting interest for their potential to mitigate climate change arising from their high rates of carbon accumulation and the significant carbon stocks in their sediments. However, current sediment carbon sampling methods present a mixture of approaches adopted from paleoenvironmental methods focused on historical reconstruction of carbon accumulation, and from soil science methods developed to provide highly accurate and spatially representative carbon stock measurements. Currently, no international standard method for sediment carbon stock analysis exists. Consequently, current estimates of sediment carbon stock values for BCEs may have large uncertainties due to variable methodology. We reviewed and analysed the methods used 217 studies included in two recent global syntheses of carbon stocks in mangrove forest ecosystems to illustrate a lack of consistency in sediment sampling. We then outline how the choice of study design and field sampling methods can introduce inaccuracies and uncertainties in sediment carbon stock analysis. We conclude with examples of how each of these challenges can be resolved and how greater carbon stock quantification accuracy and higher spatial integration can be achieved for blue carbon ecosystems in the future. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

A scoping review of community-based adult suicide prevention initiatives in rural and regional australia

- Dabkowski, Elissa, Porter, Joanne, Barbagallo, Michael, Prokopiv, Valerie, Jackson, Megan

  • Authors: Dabkowski, Elissa , Porter, Joanne , Barbagallo, Michael , Prokopiv, Valerie , Jackson, Megan
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 19, no. 12 (2022), p.
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  • Description: The need for continued research into suicide prevention strategies is undeniable, with high global statistics demonstrating the urgency of this public health issue. In Australia, approximately 3000 people end their lives each year, with those living in rural and regional areas identified as having a higher risk of dying by suicide. Due to decreased access and support services in these areas, community-based suicide prevention initiatives provide opportunities to educate and support local communities. A scoping review was conducted to explore the literature pertaining to such programs in rural and/or regional communities in Australia. This review follows the five-stage Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Nine databases were searched, from which studies were considered eligible if suicide prevention programs were community-based and catered for adults (aged

A study on environmental issues of blasting using advanced support vector machine algorithms

- Chen, Lihua, Armaghani, Danial, Fakharian, Pouyan, Bhatawdekar, Ramesh, Samui, P., Khandelwal, Manoj, Khedher, Khaled

  • Authors: Chen, Lihua , Armaghani, Danial , Fakharian, Pouyan , Bhatawdekar, Ramesh , Samui, P. , Khandelwal, Manoj , Khedher, Khaled
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Vol. 19, no. 7 (2022), p. 6221-6240
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  • Description: Air overpressure is a critical negative effect of blasting in construction or production sites and projects. So far, many attempts have been made to prevent or reduce this negative effect on the nearby construction, equipment, or people. While various experiential equations have been proposed to forecast the air overpressure value for determining the blasting area, these models are typically inaccurate and impractical. Due to the recent efforts to predict the air overpressure by employing artificial intelligence techniques, this study developed five support vector machine-based models optimized by some praised optimization techniques, including the moth flame optimization, particle swarm optimization, grey wolf optimization, cuckoo optimization algorithm, and whale optimization algorithm. These algorithms optimize the most important parameters of the support vector machine, including “C” and “gamma”, and improve the performance of this model for air overpressure prediction. The findings showed that the moth flame optimization algorithm is the best optimizer for support vector machine and is suitable for air overpressure prediction. The support vector machine–moth flame optimization model achieved the best R2 (train: 0.9939; test: 0.9941) and comprehensive score (34). On the other hand, the worst model was the support vector machine–particle swarm optimization, which achieved the lowest comprehensive score (13). In addition, all optimization techniques improved the performance of the single support vector machine model. The findings of this study imply that all optimization techniques successfully enhanced the performance of the support vector machine model; however, the moth flame optimization optimizer was the most effective one. The support vector machine–moth flame optimization technique can be employed to solve other mining-related issues. © 2022, Islamic Azad University (IAU). Correction to: A study on environmental issues of blasting using advanced support vector machine algorithms (International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, (2022), 19, 7, (6221-6240), 10.1007/s13762-022-03999-y): The original version of this article unfortunately contains two mistakes. The spelling of the third author's name was incorrect. The correct name is Pouyan Fakharian (P. Fakharian). Another error was in the acknowledgment section. The correct Grant No. is KJQN202103415. © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Iranian Society of Environmentalists (IRSEN) and Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University 2022

African women’s experience of domestic violence and help-seeking behaviour in Melbourne, Australia

- Kuyini, Ahmed, Kor, Deng, Diu, Joyce, David, Ruffina, Yoa, Tut

  • Authors: Kuyini, Ahmed , Kor, Deng , Diu, Joyce , David, Ruffina , Yoa, Tut
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australasian Review of African Studies Vol. 43, no. 2 (2022), p. 59-86
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  • Description: This study explored African refugee background women’s experience of domestic violence and help-seeking behaviour. The women were part of a domestic violence prevention and intervention project run by a local community organisation. Underpinned by help-seeking frameworks such as Theory of Planned Behaviour, data were gathered via two focus group interviews with seventeen women in Melbourne, Australia. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that participants experienced different forms of violence. Many did not seek help early, and help-seeking was constrained by cultural considerations and children in the relationship. Implications are discussed in relation to formal and informal support or interventions. © 2022, Australasian Review of African Studies. All Rights Reserved.

Air pollution perception in ten countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

- Lou, Baowen, Barbieri, Diego, Passavanti, Marco, Hui, Cang, Gupta, Akshay, Hoff, Inge, Lessa, Daniela, Sikka, Gaurav, Chang, Kevin, Fang, Kevin, Lam, Louisa, Maharaj, Brij, Ghasemi, Navid, Qiao, Yaning, Adomako, Solomon, Foroutan Mirhosseini, Ali, Naik, Bhaven, Banerjee, Arunabha, Wang, Fusong, Tucker, Andrew, Liu, Zhuangzhuanga, Wijayaratna, Kasunt, Naseri, Sahra, Yu, Lei, Chen, Hao, Shu, Benan, Goswami, Shubham, Peprah, Prince, Hessami, Amir, Abbas, Montasir, Agarwal, Nithin

An evaluation of temporal and club angle parameters during golf swings using low cost video analyses packages

- Hunter, Henry, Ugbolue, Ukadike, Sorbie, Graeme, Lam, Wing-Kai, Grace, Fergal, Dello Iacono, Antonio, Liang, Minjun, Dutheil, Frederic, Gu, Yaodong, Baker, Julien

  • Authors: Hunter, Henry , Ugbolue, Ukadike , Sorbie, Graeme , Lam, Wing-Kai , Grace, Fergal , Dello Iacono, Antonio , Liang, Minjun , Dutheil, Frederic , Gu, Yaodong , Baker, Julien
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Scientific Reports Vol. 12, no. 1 (2022), p.
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  • Description: The purpose of this study was to compare swing time and golf club angle parameters during golf swings using three, two dimensional (2D) low cost, Augmented-Video-based-Portable-Systems (AVPS) (Kinovea, SiliconCoach Pro, SiliconCoach Live). Twelve right-handed golfers performed three golf swings whilst being recorded by a high-speed 2D video camera. Footage was then analysed using AVPS-software and the results compared using both descriptive and inferential statistics. There were no significant differences for swing time and the golf phase measurements between the 2D and 3D software comparisons. In general, the results showed a high Intra class Correlation Coefficient (ICC > 0.929) and Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha (CCA > 0.924) reliability for both the kinematic and temporal parameters. The inter-rater reliability test for the swing time and kinematic golf phase measurements on average were strong. Irrespective of the AVPS software investigated, the cost effective AVPS can produce reliable output measures that benefit golf analyses. © 2022, Crown.

An observation of the changing trends of a river channel pattern in Bangladesh using satellite images

- Wahiduzzaman, Md, Yeasmin, Alea

  • Authors: Wahiduzzaman, Md , Yeasmin, Alea
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Applied Sciences (Switzerland) Vol. 12, no. 22 (2022), p.
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  • Description: The shifting pattern of the Ganges-Padma River in Bangladesh is examined using satellite images. The meandering Ganges-Padma River has recently transformed into a braided river. Satellite imageries from 1973–2016 are used to compute the sinuosity ratio and braiding index (two measures that allow for the trend analysis). It turns out that both the sinuosity ratio and the braiding index went up with time, surpassing the cut-off for meandering. Overall, the braiding index variation exceeds the sinuosity variation. © 2022 by the authors.

CHIEF : clustering With higher-order motifs in big networks

- Xia, Feng, Yu, Shuo, Liu, Chengfei, Li, Jianxin, Lee, Ivan

  • Authors: Xia, Feng , Yu, Shuo , Liu, Chengfei , Li, Jianxin , Lee, Ivan
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering Vol. 9, no. 3 (2022), p. 990-1005
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  • Description: Clustering network vertices is an enabler of various applications such as social computing and Internet of Things. However, challenges arise for clustering when networks increase in scale. This paper proposes CHIEF (Clustering with HIgher-ordEr motiFs), a solution which consists of two motif clustering techniques: standard acceleration CHIEF-ST and approximate acceleration CHIEF-AP. Both algorithms firstly find the maximal $k$-edge-connected subgraphs within the target networks to lower the network scale by optimizing the network structure with maximal $k$-edge-connected subgraphs, and then use heterogeneous four-node motifs clustering in higher-order dense networks. For CHIEF-ST, we illustrate that all target motifs will be kept after this procedure when the minimum node degree of the target motif is equal or greater than $k$. For CHIEF-AP, we prove that the eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix and the Laplacian matrix are relatively stable after this step. CHIEF offers an improved efficiency of motif clustering for big networks, and it verifies higher-order motif significance. Experiments on real and synthetic networks demonstrate that the proposed solutions outperform baseline approaches in large network analysis, and higher-order motifs outperform traditional triangle motifs in clustering. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling of the factor structure of the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE)

- Gomez, Rapson, Brown, Taylor, Watson, Shaun, Stavropoulos, Vasileios

  • Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Brown, Taylor , Watson, Shaun , Stavropoulos, Vasileios
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 17, no. 2 February (2022), p.
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  • Description: The Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) is a multiple dimensional measure of cognitive empathy [comprising primary factors for perspective taking (PT), online simulation (OS)], and affective empathy [comprising primary factors for emotion contagion (EC), proximal responsivity (PRO), and peripheral responsivity (PER)]. This study used independent clusters confirmatory factor analysis (ICM-CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to examine the scale’s factor structure. A general community sample of 203 (men = 43, women = 160) between 17 and 63 years completed the QCAE. Although both the five-factor oblique and second order factor models showed good model fit, and clarity in the pattern of factor loadings, in the second-order factor model, none of the primary factors loaded significantly on their respective secondary factors, thereby favoring the five-factor oblique model. The factors in this model were supported in terms of external validity. Despite this, the factor for PRO in this model showed low reliability for meaning interpretation. A revised four-factor oblique model without the PRO factor showed good fit, clarity in the pattern of factor loadings, and reliability and validity for the factors in this model, thereby suggesting this to be the best model to represent ratings on the QCAE. Copyright: © 2022 Gomez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Declining tropical cyclone frequency under global warming

- Chand, Savin, Walsh, Kevin, Camargo, Suzana, Kossin, James, Tory, Kevin, Wehner, Michael, Chan, Johnny, Klotzbach, Philip, Dowdy, Andrew, Bell, Samuel, Ramsay, Hamish, Murakami, Hiroyuki

  • Authors: Chand, Savin , Walsh, Kevin , Camargo, Suzana , Kossin, James , Tory, Kevin , Wehner, Michael , Chan, Johnny , Klotzbach, Philip , Dowdy, Andrew , Bell, Samuel , Ramsay, Hamish , Murakami, Hiroyuki
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Nature Climate Change Vol. 12, no. 7 (2022), p. 655-661
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  • Description: Assessing the role of anthropogenic warming from temporally inhomogeneous historical data in the presence of large natural variability is difficult and has caused conflicting conclusions on detection and attribution of tropical cyclone (TC) trends. Here, using a reconstructed long-term proxy of annual TC numbers together with high-resolution climate model experiments, we show robust declining trends in the annual number of TCs at global and regional scales during the twentieth century. The Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) dataset is used for reconstruction because, compared with other reanalyses, it assimilates only sea-level pressure fields rather than utilize all available observations in the troposphere, making it less sensitive to temporal inhomogeneities in the observations. It can also capture TC signatures from the pre-satellite era reasonably well. The declining trends found are consistent with the twentieth century weakening of the Hadley and Walker circulations, which make conditions for TC formation less favourable. © 2022, The Author(s).

Electronic cigarettes or vaping : are there any differences in the profiles, use and perceptions between a developed and a developing country?

- Rahman, Muhammad Aziz, Joseph, Bindu, Nimmi, Naima

  • Authors: Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Joseph, Bindu , Nimmi, Naima
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 19, no. 3 (2022), p.
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  • Description: The use of electronic cigarettes or vaping is currently increasing in popularity globally. Debate continues regarding their potential role for smoking cessation. We aimed to compare the profiles, use and perceptions of using e-cigarettes amongst online forum users in a developed and a developing country. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among members of different popular online forums in Australia and Bangladesh who were current or ex-users of e-cigarettes. There were 422 study participants, 261 (62%) from Australia and 161 (38%) from Bangladesh. The mean age was 36.3 (±12) years and 83% were men. Australians were more likely to be exclusive users of e-cigarettes (70% vs. 30%, AOR 3.05 [95% CI 1.63–5.71]), but less likely to be dual users of smoking and e-cigarettes (43% vs. 57%, 0.36 [0.19–0.69]); they were also more likely to mention that the perceived reasons for using were their low cost, good taste/flavour, safety and assistance in reducing or quitting smoking (66% vs. 34%, 5.10 [2.04–12.8]), but less likely to mention a social/cool image as a reason for use (23% vs. 77%, 0.11 [0.01–0.87]) compared with Bangladeshi participants. About two-thirds of the participants in both countries perceived the use of e-cigarettes as less addictive than cigarettes and more than three-quarters perceived them as less harmful. E-cigarette users in Australia were more likely to use them to reduce or quit cigarettes compared with those in Bangladesh, and dual use was common in Bangladesh. These findings warrant the consideration of precautions for promoting e-cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for smoking cessation in developing countries, such as Bangladesh. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Evaluating a peer-led wellbeing programme for doctors-in-training during the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Australia, using the most significant change technique

- Crinall, Karen, Ward, Madeleine, McDonald, Rebecca, Crinall, William, Aridas, James, Rolnik, Daniel

  • Authors: Crinall, Karen , Ward, Madeleine , McDonald, Rebecca , Crinall, William , Aridas, James , Rolnik, Daniel
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Evaluation Journal of Australasia Vol. 22, no. 2 (2022), p. 90-107
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  • Description: This article discusses the use of the Most Significant Change (MSC) technique in a mixed-methods evaluation of a pilot wellbeing programme for obstetrics and gynaecology doctors-in-training introduced at a large public hospital during Melbourne, Australia’s second coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, which occurred from 7 July to 26 October 2020. The evaluation was conducted remotely using videoconferencing technology, to conform with pandemic restrictions. MSC complemented the program’s participatory principles and was chosen because it seeks to learn about participants’ perceptions of programme impacts by evaluating their stories of significant change. Stakeholders select one story exemplifying the most significant change resulting from the evaluated program. Inductive thematic analysis of all stories is combined with reasons for making the selection, to inform learnings (Dart & Davies, 2003; Tonkin et al., 2021). Nine stories of change were included in the selection. The most significant change was a more supportive workplace culture brought about by enabling basic needs to be met and breaking down hierarchical barriers. This was linked to five interconnected themes – connection, caring, communication, confidence and cooperation. The evaluation learnings are explored and reflections on remotely conducting MSC evaluation are shared. © The Author(s) 2022.

Familiarity-based collaborative team recognition in academic social networks

- Yu, Shuo, Xia, Feng, Zhang, Chen, Wei, Haoran, Keogh, Kathleen, Chen, Honglong

  • Authors: Yu, Shuo , Xia, Feng , Zhang, Chen , Wei, Haoran , Keogh, Kathleen , Chen, Honglong
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems Vol. 9, no. 5 (2022), p. 1432-1445
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  • Description: Collaborative teamwork is key to major scientific discoveries. However, the prevalence of collaboration among researchers makes team recognition increasingly challenging. Previous studies have demonstrated that people are more likely to collaborate with individuals they are familiar with. In this work, we employ the definition of familiarity and then propose faMiliarity-based cOllaborative Team recOgnition (MOTO) algorithm to recognize collaborative teams. MOTO calculates the shortest distance matrix within the global collaboration network and the local density of each node. Central team members are initially recognized based on local density. Then, MOTO recognizes the remaining team members by using the familiarity metric and shortest distance matrix. Extensive experiments have been conducted upon a large-scale dataset. The experimental results show that compared with baseline methods, MOTO can recognize the largest number of teams. The teams recognized by the MOTO possess more cohesive team structures and lower team communication costs compared with other methods. MOTO utilizes familiarity in team recognition to identify cohesive academic teams. The recognized teams are in line with real-world collaborative teamwork patterns. Based on team recognition using MOTO, the research team structure and performance are further analyzed for given time periods. The number of teams that consist of members from different institutions increases gradually. Such teams are found to perform better in comparison with those whose members are from the same institution. © 2014 IEEE.

Harnessing the potential of women entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific [Aprovechando el potencial de las mujeres emprendedoras en Asia y el Pacífico]

- Braun, Patrice

Impact of smoking status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on pulmonary complications post lung cancer surgery

- Jeganathan, Vishnu, Knight, Simon, Bricknell, Matthew, Ridgers, Anna, Wong, Raymond, Brazzale, Danny, Ruehland, Warren, Rahman, Muhammad Aziz, Leong, Tracy, McDonald, Christine

  • Authors: Jeganathan, Vishnu , Knight, Simon , Bricknell, Matthew , Ridgers, Anna , Wong, Raymond , Brazzale, Danny , Ruehland, Warren , Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Leong, Tracy , McDonald, Christine
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 17, no. 3 March (2022), p.
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  • Description: Introduction Smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with an increased risk of post-operative pulmonary complications (PPCs) following lung cancer resection. It remains unclear whether smoking cessation reduces this risk. Methods Retrospective review of a large, prospectively collected database of over 1000 consecutive resections for lung cancer in a quaternary lung cancer centre over a 23-year period. Results One thousand and thirteen patients underwent curative-intent lobectomy or pneumonectomy between 1995 and 2018. Three hundred and sixty-two patients (36%) were ex-smokers, 314 (31%) were current smokers and 111 (11%) were never smokers. A pre-operative diagnosis of COPD was present in 57% of current smokers, 57% of ex-smokers and 20% of never smokers. Just over 25% of patients experienced a PPC. PPCs were more frequent in current smokers compared to never smokers (27% vs 17%, p = 0.036), however, no difference was seen between current and ex-smokers (p = 0.412) or between never and ex-smokers (p = 0.113). Those with a diagnosis of COPD, independent of smoking status, had a higher frequency of both PPCs (65% vs 35%, p<0.01) and overall complications (60% vs 40%, p<0.01) as well as a longer length of hospital stay (10 vs 9 days, p<0.01). Conclusion Smoking and COPD are both associated with a higher rate of PPCs post lung cancer resection. COPD, independent of smoking status, is also associated with an increased overall post-operative complication rate and length of hospital stay. An emphasis on COPD treatment optimisation, rather than smoking cessation in isolation, may help improve postoperative outcomes. © 2022 Jeganathan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Incidence, mortality, and factors associated with primary postpartum haemorrhage following in-hospital births in northwest Ethiopia

- Tiruneh, Bewket, Fooladi, Ensieh, McLelland, Gayle, Plummer, Virginia

  • Authors: Tiruneh, Bewket , Fooladi, Ensieh , McLelland, Gayle , Plummer, Virginia
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 17, no. 4 (2022), p.
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  • Description: Background Of the 1010 reported maternal deaths in 2018, just over 65% occurred in hospitals in Ethiopia. However, there is a lack of standardised data about the contributing factors. This study aimed to investigate the incidence, mortality, and factors associated with primary postpartum haemorrhage following in-hospital births in northwest Ethiopia. Methods A retrospective cohort design was used; an audit of 1060 maternity care logbooks of adult women post-partum at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital and University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. The data were abstracted between December 2018 and May 2019 using a systematic random sampling technique. We used the Facility Based Maternal Death Abstraction Form containing sociodemographic characteristics, women’s medical history, and partographs. Primary postpartum haemorrhage was defined as the estimated blood loss recorded by the staff greater or equal to 500 ml for vaginal births and 1000 ml for caesarean section births, or the medical doctor diagnosis and recording of the woman as having primary postpartum haemorrhage. The data analysis was undertaken using Stata version 15. Variables with P 0.10 for significance were selected to run multivariable logistic analyses. Variables that had associations with primary postpartum haemorrhage were identified based on the odds ratio, with 95% confidence interval (CI) and P-value less than 0.05. Results The incidence of primary postpartum haemorrhage in the hospitals was 8.8% (95% CI: 7.2, 10.6). Of these, there were 7.4% (95% CI: 2.1, 13.3) maternal deaths. Eight predictor variables were found to be independently associated with primary postpartum haemorrhage, including age 35 years (AOR: 2.20; 95% CI: 1.08, 4.46; P = 0.03), longer than 24 hours duration of labour (AOR: 7.18; 95% CI: 2.73, 18.90; P = 0.01), vaginal or cervical lacerations (AOR: 4.95; 95% CI: 2.49, 9.86; P = 0.01), instrumental (forceps or vacuum)-assisted birth (AOR: 2.92; 95% CI: 1.25, 6.81; P = 0.01), retained placenta (AOR: 21.83; 95% CI: 6.33, 75.20; P = 0.01), antepartum haemorrhage in recent pregnancy (AOR: 6.90; 95% CI: 3.43, 13. 84; p = 0.01), women in labour referred from primary health centres (AOR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.39, 4.42; P = 0.02), and births managed by medical interns (AOR: 2.90; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.37; P = 0.01). Conclusion We found that while the incidence of primary postpartum haemorrhage appeared to be lower than in other studies in Africa the associated maternal mortality was higher. Although most factors associated with primary postpartum haemorrhage were consistent with those identified in the literature, two additional specific factors, were found to be prevalent among women in Ethiopia; the factors were referred women in labour from primary health facilities and births managed by medical interns. Maternal healthcare providers in these hospitals require training on the management of a birthing emergency. © 2022 Tiruneh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.