964 research outputs found
Capturing collabportunities: A method to evaluate collaboration opportunities in information search using pseudocollaboration
No full textIn explicit collaborative search, two or more individuals coordinate their efforts toward a shared goal. Every day, Internet users with similar information needs have the potential to collaborate. However, online search is typically performed in solitude. Existing search systems do not promote explicit collaborations, and collaboration opportunities (collabportunities) are missed. In this article, we describe a method to evaluate the feasibility of transforming these collabportunities into recommendations for explicit collaboration. We developed a technique called pseudocollaboration to evaluate the benefits and costs of collabportunities through simulations. We evaluate the performance of our method using three data sets: (a) data from single users’ search sessions, (b) data with collaborative search sessions between pairs of searchers, and (c) logs from a largescale search engine with search sessions of thousands of searchers. Our results establish when and how collabportunities would significantly help or hinder the search process versus searches conducted individually. The method that we describe has implications for the design and implementation of recommendation systems for explicit collaboration. It also connects system-mediated and user-mediated collaborative search, whereby the system evaluates the likely benefits of collaborating for a search task and helps searchers make more informed decisions on initiating and executing such a collaboration.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: González-Ibáñez, R., Shah, C. and White, R. W. (2015), Capturing Collabportunities: A method to evaluate collaboration opportunities in information search using pseudocollaboration. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66: 1897–1912, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1002/asi.23288. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Peer reviewe
Fiscal decentralization in developing and transition economies: progress, problems, and the promise
No full textThe author discusses the revolution in public sector thinking that is transforming the public sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the right balance between central government control and decentralized governance. Political decentralization has advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in developing countries as a percentage of total public expenditures have also increased over the past two decades. However, the process is far from complete. In many countries, the central government is still involved in the delivery of local services, local governments have few sources of own-revenues, local governments have limited access to borrowing for capital projects, and the design of intergovernmental transfers does neither address regional fiscal equity nor convey appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline, improved service delivery performance, and accountability to citizens. Decentralized public governance can help realign public sector incentives through greater accountability to citizens, and attenuate the"democracy deficit"caused by globalization and the role of supranational institutions and regimes. However, this requires careful examination of the entire fiscal system. Elements of a comprehensive package of fiscal system reforms would include: (a) Clarifying roles of various levels of government in public service delivery; (b) Reassigning taxing responsibilities to ensure local revenue autonomy, accountability, and efficiency without endangering an internal common market; (c) Designing fiscal transfers to ensure regional fiscal equity and to create an enabling environment for innovative and competitive service delivery; (d) Facilitating responsible credit market access to subnational governments; (e) Designing institutional arrangements for intergovernmental fiscal relations to better coordinate policies; and (f) Aligning operational capacity with the authorizing environment through the"accountability for results"framework of public management.National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies
A fiscal needs approach to equalization transfers in a decentralized federation
No full textThe author reviews the conceptual basis for fiscal equalization transfers, analyzes the theoretical implications for optimal design of equalization transfers, and suggests quantitative approaches for assessing the fiscal needs of subnational governments and determining their entitlement to transfers. The author illustrates proposed methods using data for local and provincial Canadian governments. The proposed methods could be useful tools, he says, for undertaking systematic objective reviews of aggregate and sectoral public spending in developing countries. The author argues that in a decentralized federation, fiscal inefficiencies and inequities arise because of subnational governments'differing levels of ability to provide comparable public services at comparable tax rates. Fiscal equalization transfers that reduce or eliminate differentials in net fiscal benefits create a rare instance in economics when considerations of equity and efficiency coincide. These transfers must allow for differences in the spending needs and revenues-raising abilities of the various subnational governments. The author argues for a two-tiered approach to equalization. The first tier would be a federal responsibility to equalize the burden of federal taxes. The second tier would be an interprovincial equalization fund to be administered by the Council of Provincial Finance Ministers. It would entail a comprehensive equalization system that takes into account provincial spending needs. The standard of equalization would be negotiated.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies
Co-citation Analysis: An Overview
No full textThis article gives an overview of co-citation analysis and its applications in tracking the linkages among the intellectual works and mapping the evolutionary structure of scientific disciplines. It also focuses on the features, interface, terminology used, merits and demerits of co-citation based online database applications
MicroRNAs modulators of dietary restriction and aging in Caenorhabditis elegans
No full textAging is a universal phenomenon that is experienced by diverse organism. Aging can be
defined broadly as progressive decline in cellular functions in an organism with
increasing age, decreasing the ability to survive challenges. Understanding and
deciphering the mechanisms involved in this process has been a key focus of current
science. An important goal of aging research is not only to identify different approaches
to maximize human lifespan, but to also improve the quality of life with increasing age.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to regulate a range of biological processes including
cell differentiation, cell death, development, oncogenesis, and metabolism, but little is
known about how they impact the biology of aging. Our research mainly focuses on
identifying how miRNAs, small molecules that target partially homologous transcripts to
block their translational expression, influence healthspan and lifespan in C. elegans. We
have identified many mir deletion mutants that impact different aspects of aging like
longevity, metabolic and muscle aging. There are four measures that reflect how well or
how poorly the animals are aging: age pigment levels, swimming body bend frequency
assays, pharyngeal pumping rates, and lifespan studies. Applying these tests, we have studied miRNAs mir-1, mir-256 and mir-238 in a focused manner. Importantly, we have also found that the mir-80(Δ) mutant modulates dietary restriction- a metabolic condition
in which reduced caloric intake significantly increases lifespan in a wide range of species.
mir-80(Δ) mutant exhibits multiple parameters of healthy aging, reduced reproductive
phase and expression of molecular reporters associated with dietary restriction. Using
RNAi knockdown, we have identified multiple transcription factors (SKN-1, DAF-16 and
HSF-1) and a transcriptional co-factor CBP-1 that seems to play an important role in
making mir-80(Δ) long-lived through dietary restriction. In short, we have discovered the
first ever microRNA (miR-80) that modulates dietary restriction and longevity in C.
elegans. In sum, we have shown that microRNAs can modulate various aspects of C.
elegans healthspan, and determined the role of some microRNAs in aging, muscle
physiology and dietary restriction. Becaue miRNA signaling can be conserved, our
studies will provide clues to similar processes in vertebrates, including humans.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Mitalie B Sha
The Role of Author Identities in Peer Review
No full textThere is widespread debate on whether to anonymize author identities in peer
review. The key argument for anonymization is to mitigate bias, whereas
arguments against anonymization posit various uses of author identities in the
review process. The Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) 2023
conference adopted a middle ground by initially anonymizing the author
identities from reviewers, revealing them after the reviewer had submitted
their initial reviews, and allowing the reviewer to change their review
subsequently. We present an analysis of the reviews pertaining to the
identification and use of author identities. Our key findings are: (I) A
majority of reviewers self-report not knowing and being unable to guess the
authors' identities for the papers they were reviewing. (II) After the initial
submission of reviews, 7.1% of reviews changed their overall merit score and
3.8% changed their self-reported reviewer expertise. (III) There is a very weak
and statistically insignificant correlation of the rank of authors'
affiliations with the change in overall merit; there is a weak but
statistically significant correlation with respect to change in reviewer
expertise. We also conducted an anonymous survey to obtain opinions from
reviewers and authors. The main findings from the 200 survey responses are: (i)
A vast majority of participants favor anonymizing author identities in some
form. (ii) The "middle-ground" initiative of ITCS 2023 was appreciated. (iii)
Detecting conflicts of interest is a challenge that needs to be addressed if
author identities are anonymized. Overall, these findings support anonymization
of author identities in some form (e.g., as was done in ITCS 2023), as long as
there is a robust and efficient way to check conflicts of interest
The role of author identities in peer review
No full textThere is widespread debate on whether to anonymize author identities in peer review. The key argument for anonymization is to mitigate bias, whereas arguments against anonymization posit various uses of author identities in the review process. The Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) 2023 conference adopted a middle ground by initially anonymizing the author identities from reviewers, revealing them after the reviewer had submitted their initial reviews, and allowing the reviewer to change their review subsequently. We present an analysis of the reviews pertaining to the identification and use of author identities. Our key findings are: (I) A majority of reviewers self-report not knowing and being unable to guess the authors’ identities for the papers they were reviewing. (II) After the initial submission of reviews, 7.1% of reviews changed their overall merit score and 3.8% changed their self-reported reviewer expertise. (III) There is a very weak and statistically insignificant correlation of the rank of authors’ affiliations with the change in overall merit; there is a weak but statistically significant correlation with respect to change in reviewer expertise. We also conducted an anonymous survey to obtain opinions from reviewers and authors. The main findings from the 200 survey responses are: (i) A vast majority of participants favor anonymizing author identities in some form. (ii) The “middle-ground” initiative of ITCS 2023 was appreciated. (iii) Detecting conflicts of interest is a challenge that needs to be addressed if author identities are anonymized. Overall, these findings support anonymization of author identities in some form (e.g., as was done in ITCS 2023), as long as there is a robust and efficient way to check conflicts of interest
Preoperative endogenous ouabain predicts acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery patients
No full textOBJECTIVES: Acute kidney injury is a frequent complication of cardiac surgery and increases morbidity and mortality. As preoperative biomarkers predicting the development of acute kidney injury are not available, we have tested the hypothesis that preoperative plasma levels of endogenous ouabain may function as this type of biomarker. RATIONALE AND DESIGN: Endogenous ouabain is an adrenal stress hormone associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Its involvement in acute kidney injury is unknown. With studies in patients and animal settings, including isolated podocytes, we tested the above mentioned hypothesis. PATIENTS: Preoperative endogenous ouabain was measured in 407 patients admitted for elective cardiac surgery and in a validation population of 219 other patients. We also studied the effect of prolonged elevations of circulating exogenous ouabain on renal parameters in rats and the influence of ouabain on podocyte proteins both "in vivo" and "in vitro." MAIN RESULTS: In the first group of patients, acute kidney injury (2.8%, 8.3%, 20.3%, p < 0.001) and ICU stay (1.4±0.38, 1.7±0.41, 2.4±0.59 days, p = 0.014) increased with each incremental preoperative endogenous ouabain tertile. In a linear regression analysis, the circulating endogenous ouabain value before surgery was the strongest predictor of acute kidney injury. In the validation cohort, acute kidney injury (0%, 5.9%, 8.2%, p < 0.0001) and ICU stay (1.2±0.09, 1.4±0.23, 2.2±0.77 days, p = 0.003) increased with the preoperative endogenous ouabain tertile. Values for preoperative endogenous ouabain significantly improved (area under curve: 0.85) risk prediction over the clinical score alone as measured by integrate discrimination improvement and net reclassification improvement. Finally, in the rat model, elevated circulating ouabain reduced creatinine clearance (-18%, p < 0.05), increased urinary protein excretion (+ 54%, p < 0.05), and reduced expression of podocyte nephrin (-29%, p < 0.01). This last finding was replicated ex vivo by incubating podocyte primary cell cultures with low-dose ouabain. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative plasma endogenous ouabain levels are powerful biomarkers of acute kidney injury and postoperative complications and may be a direct cause of podocyte damage. Copyright © 2013 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Distribution of reviewers’ self reports about their knowledge of author identities.
No full textDistribution of reviewers’ self reports about their knowledge of author identities.</p
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