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Platform evolution in large inter-organizational collaborative research programs
Get PDFWe examine the role of platform sponsors and program managers in evolving a platform to stimulate inter-organizational collaboration in large research programs. Through a 5-year longitudinal case study, we analyzed a large inter-organizational collaborative research program in England, underpinned by the CLAHRC platform, sponsored by the NIHR. The research program attracted clinical academics in universities and clinical practitioners in a range of healthcare providers to collaborate in an ensemble of projects to drive evidence-based care for patients with long-term health conditions. Program managers struggled to facilitate collaboration through the platform, despite a highly decentralized governance approach. Our study identifies three mechanisms through which the platform sponsor and program managers revised the platform's governance strategies to enhance collaboration: (i) they instituted “interruptive events,” which routinely stopped projects, and analyzed if and why organizations struggle to collaborate; (ii) they expanded, rather than restricted, access rules for collaboration through “platform renting”; (iii) they re-distributed, rather than re-centralized, governance, to reduce unnecessary interdependences across collaborators attracted by the platform
Bayesian tensor factorisations for time series of counts
Get PDFWe propose a flexible nonparametric Bayesian modelling framework for multivariate time series of count data based on tensor factorisations. Our models can be viewed as infinite state space Markov chains of known maximal order with non-linear serial dependence through the introduction of appropriate latent variables. Alternatively, our models can be viewed as Bayesian hierarchical models with conditionally independent Poisson distributed observations. Inference about the important lags and their complex interactions is achieved via MCMC. When the observed counts are large, we deal with the resulting computational complexity of Bayesian inference via a two-step inferential strategy based on an initial analysis of a training set of the data. Our methodology is illustrated using simulation experiments and analysis of real-world data
Toward a configurational understanding of global supply chain complexity
No full textIn this editorial for our special topic forum (STF) on Global Supply Chain Research, we present a novel approach that empowers firms to evaluate their supply chain complexity's current state and potentially reveal hidden patterns of complexity. Our focus lies in developing a configurational understanding of global supply chain complexity, leveraging the diverse perspectives and insights provided by the existing literature on this subject. Furthermore, we shed light on exciting opportunities for future research and introduce the accepted research papers featured in this STF
The association between conditioned pain modulation and psychological factors in people with chronic spinal pain. A systematic review
Get PDFChronic spinal pain has negative effects on physical and mental well-being. Psychological factors can influence pain tolerance. However, whether these factors influence descending modulatory control mechanisms measured by conditioned pain modulation (CPM) in people with chronic spinal pain is unclear. This systematic review investigated the association between CPM response and psychological factors in people with chronic spinal pain. Published and unpublished literature databases were searched from inception to 23rd October 2023 included MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PubMed. Studies assessing the association between CPM response and psychological factors in people with chronic spinal pain were eligible. Data were pooled through meta-analysis. Methodological quality was assessed using the AXIS tool and the certainty of evidence measured through GRADE. From 2172 records, seven studies (n = 598) were eligible. Quality of included studies was moderate. There was very low certainty of evidence that depression (r = 0.01 [95% CI −0.10 to 0.12], I2 = 0%), and anxiety (r = −0.20 [95% CI −0.56 to 0.16], I2 = 84%), fear avoidance (r = −0.10 [95% CI −0.30 to 0.10], I2 = 70%) had no statistical associations with CPM responder status. Higher pain catastrophising was associated with CPM non-responder status (r = −0.19; 95% CI: −0.37 to −0.02; n = 545; I2: 76%) based on a very low certainty of evidence measured by GRADE. There is currently limited available evidence demonstrating an association between CPM response and psychological factors for people with chronic pain. Managing an individual’s chronic pain symptoms irrespective of comorbid psychological distress, should continue until evidence offer insights that more targeted interventions are needed
Temporal changes in the positivity rate of common enteric viruses among paediatric admissions in coastal Kenya, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019–2022
Get PDFBackground: The non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to curb the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, substantially disrupted the activity of other respiratory viruses. However, there is limited data from low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) to determine whether these NPIs also impacted the transmission of common enteric viruses. Here, we investigated the changes in the positivity rate of five enteric viruses among hospitalised children who presented with diarrhoea to a referral hospital in coastal Kenya, during COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: A total of 870 stool samples from children under 13 years of age admitted to Kilifi County Hospital between January 2019, and December 2022 were screened for rotavirus group A (RVA), norovirus genogroup II (GII), astrovirus, sapovirus, and adenovirus type F40/41 using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The proportions positive across the four years were compared using the chi-squared test statistic. Results: One or more of the five virus targets were detected in 282 (32.4%) cases. A reduction in the positivity rate of RVA cases was observed from 2019 (12.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.7–16.2%) to 2020 (1.7%, 95% CI 0.2–6.0%; p < 0.001). However, in the 2022, RVA positivity rate rebounded to 23.5% (95% CI 18.2%–29.4%). For norovirus GII, the positivity rate fluctuated over the four years with its highest positivity rate observed in 2020 (16.2%; 95% C.I, 10.0–24.1%). No astrovirus cases were detected in 2020 and 2021, but the positivity rate in 2022 was similar to that in 2019 (3.1% (95% CI 1.5%–5.7%) vs. 3.3% (95% CI 1.4–6.5%)). A higher case fatality rate was observed in 2021 (9.0%) compared to the 2019 (3.2%), 2020 (6.8%) and 2022 (2.1%) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study finds that in 2020 the transmission of common enteric viruses, especially RVA and astrovirus, in Kilifi Kenya may have been disrupted due to the COVID-19 NPIs. After 2020, local enteric virus transmission patterns appeared to return to pre-pandemic levels coinciding with the removal of most of the government COVID-19 NPIs
Now you see me, now you don’t : children learn grammatical choices during online socially contingent video and audio interactions
No full textPrevious research has established that children’s experiences of language during in-person interactions (e.g., individual and cumulative experiences of structural choices) implicitly shape language learning. We investigated whether children also implicitly learn structural choices during online interactions, and whether this is affected by the visual co-presence of a partner. During an online conference call, three- and five-year-olds alternated describing pictures with an experimenter who produced active (‘a cat chased the dog’) and passive (‘the dog was chased by a cat’) prime descriptions; half the participants had video+audio calls, and half had audio-only. Children in both age groups produced more passives after passive than active primes, both immediately and with accumulating input across trials; neither effect was influenced by call format (video+audio vs audio-only). These results demonstrate that implicit grammar learning mechanisms, as evidenced by syntactic priming effects, operate during socially contingent online interactions. They also highlight the potential of online methodologies for developmental language production research
Fear avoidant beliefs and behaviours after upper limb fracture in older people : a systematic review and meta-ethnography
No full textPurpose:
This systematic review aimed to understand older people’s perspectives of associated fear-avoidant beliefs following upper limb fracture.
Methods:
Published and unpublished literature databases were systematically searched from inception to 1st April 2023. Qualitative studies reporting the perspectives of fear-avoidant beliefs or behaviours in people who had sustained an upper limb fracture were eligible. Data extracted included characteristics of people interviewed, experiences and perceptions of fear, fear of falling, and fear-avoidant beliefs and behaviours. Data were synthesised using a meta-ethnography approach and the GRADE-CERQUAL tool.
Results:
Eight studies were eligible (n = 150 participants; 109 distal radial/41 humeral fracture). Three overarching themes were identified: (1) type of fear-avoidant experiences, (2) drivers of fear-avoidant beliefs and behaviours, and (3) consequences of fear-avoidant beliefs and behaviours. The themes generated were based on moderate confidence evidence. In summary, whilst some patients initially consider upper limb fractures to be relatively minor injuries, over time, the realisation occurs that they have wide-ranging consequences with longer-term perspectives on recovery. This often occurs following an initial period of reduced fear. Providing education and support immediately post-fracture to prevent or challenge initial health beliefs around fear of falls and fear of movement is imperative to recovery.
Conclusions:
Fear-avoidant beliefs can impact heavily on certain older people’s recovery, as well as their longer-term health and wellbeing. Consideration of fear avoidance and taking steps to mitigate against this in the acute upper limb trauma setting will better serve these patients in their ongoing recovery from injury
