7 research outputs found
Peacebuilding through Dialogue: A Case Study of Pak-Afghan Track III Dialogues
No full textPeacebuilding is as sensitive an issue as it is important. Societies that have suffered localized or national conflicts are prone to lingering underlying tensions. Conflict transformation theory highlights that these tensions can be transformed through strategic interventions, one of which is dialogue. Dialogues enable conflicting parties to address preconceived notions and work toward mutual understanding, making them a valuable tool for policy practitioners in conflict-prone areas. This paper examines grassroots peacebuilding efforts between Pakistani locals and Afghan refugees, focusing on the role of dialogue in changing perceptions. The study uses convenience sampling to survey 70 participants, with a control group of 20, assessing the impact of dialogues on intergroup relations. Findings indicate that dialogues have a positive effect on participants’ perceptions and demonstrate a multiplier effect, influencing non-participants within the broader community. These results underscore the importance of dialogue in fostering sustainable peace between conflicting communities.
JEL Classification Codes: D74, F5
How to lead responsibly toward enhanced knowledge sharing behavior and performance: implications for human resource management
No full textPurpose: This paper investigates the relationships between responsible leadership and employees' knowledge sharing behavior and performance in the healthcare sector. The present study provides deeper insights into those relationships by uncovering the mechanisms through which relational and ethical dimensions of responsible leadership influence knowledge sharing outcomes. Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study examines the mediating role of trust in the leader and leadership support. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 445 healthcare professionals in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. Findings: The study findings revealed that responsible leaders enhance knowledge worker performance and knowledge sharing behavior through enhancing trusting relationships with followers and providing support. Furthermore, the authors investigated the moderating role of goal orientation, and the results showed that the effect of responsible leadership on knowledge worker performance was stronger for highly goal-oriented employees. Practical implications: This research suggests that human resource managers interested in fostering knowledge sharing behaviors, must focus on cultivating responsible leadership behavior within their organizations. Furthermore, this study findings propose that HRM practices should foster employee goal orientation in order to enhance knowledge workers' performance. Originality/value: This study makes a novel contribution to the literature by shifting the research focus from the traditional view of leadership to a leadership style more responsive to the reciprocity nature of the relationships between employees and leaders. By shifting the focus to a relational-ethical based leadership style, the current study was able to fully uncover the underlying mechanisms linking responsible leadership to knowledge sharing outcomes.</p
It’s Your Turn, Are You Ready to Get Vaccinated? Towards an Exploration of Vaccine Hesitancy Using Sentiment Analysis of Instagram Posts
No full textThe deadly threat caused by the rapid spread of COVID-19 has been restricted by virtue of vaccines. However, there is misinformation regarding the certainty and positives outcome of getting vaccinated; hence, many people are reluctant to opt for it. Therefore, in this paper, we identified public sentiments and hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccines based on Instagram posts as part of intelligent surveillance. We first retrieved more than 10k publicly available comments and captions posted under different vaccine hashtags (namely, covaxin, covishield, and sputnik). Next, we translated the extracted comments into a common language (English), followed by the calculation of the polarity score of each comment, which helped identify the vaccine sentiments and opinions in the comments (positive, negative, and neutral) with an accuracy of more than 80%. Moreover, upon analysing the sentiments, we found that covaxin received 71.4% positive, 18.5% neutral, and 10.1% negative comments; covishield obtained 64.2% positive, 24.5% neutral, and 11.3% negative post; and sputnik received 55.8% positive, 15.5% neutral, and 28.7% negative sentiments. Understanding vaccination perceptions and views through Instagram comments, captions, and posts is helpful for public health officials seeking to enhance vaccine uptake by promoting positive marketing and reducing negative marketing. In addition to this, some interesting future directions are also suggested considering the investigated problem
Assessing the Efficacy and Impact of Using a Simulation-Based Approach for Rapid Critical Care Capacity Development at Scale
No full textIn response to the increased COVID-19 cases and staff limitations, the need to enhance critical care capacity was identified by the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). We designed and delivered a series of in-person simulation-based workshops to rapidly upskill healthcare workers in Pakistan. The primary objective of our workshops was to train healthcare workers across various medical fields to serve as supplemental intensive care unit staff if needed. A total of 19 in-person workshops were organized, targeting physicians, nurses, and allied health workers from across Pakistan. Using high-fidelity medical simulation technology, these workshops provided hands-on exposure and addressed specific learning objectives such as diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients, shock, arrythmias, respiratory failure, oxygen titration and noninvasive ventilation, mechanical ventilation, critical care pharmacy, interpretation of arterial blood gases, code simulation, prone positioning, central line placement, and video laryngoscopy
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study
No full textBackground: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling.
Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty.
Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year.
Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population
Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990-2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.
No full textBACKGROUND: Decades of steady improvements in life expectancy in Europe slowed down from around 2011, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, for reasons which remain disputed. We aimed to assess how changes in risk factors and cause-specific death rates in different European countries related to changes in life expectancy in those countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We used data and methods from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 to compare changes in life expectancy at birth, causes of death, and population exposure to risk factors in 16 European Economic Area countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) and the four UK nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) for three time periods: 1990-2011, 2011-19, and 2019-21. Changes in life expectancy and causes of death were estimated with an established life expectancy cause-specific decomposition method, and compared with summary exposure values of risk factors for the major causes of death influencing life expectancy. FINDINGS: All countries showed mean annual improvements in life expectancy in both 1990-2011 (overall mean 0·23 years [95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·23 to 0·24]) and 2011-19 (overall mean 0·15 years [0·13 to 0·16]). The rate of improvement was lower in 2011-19 than in 1990-2011 in all countries except for Norway, where the mean annual increase in life expectancy rose from 0·21 years (95% UI 0·20 to 0·22) in 1990-2011 to 0·23 years (0·21 to 0·26) in 2011-19 (difference of 0·03 years). In other countries, the difference in mean annual improvement between these periods ranged from -0·01 years in Iceland (0·19 years [95% UI 0·16 to 0·21] vs 0·18 years [0·09 to 0·26]), to -0·18 years in England (0·25 years [0·24 to 0·25] vs 0·07 years [0·06 to 0·08]). In 2019-21, there was an overall decrease in mean annual life expectancy across all countries (overall mean -0·18 years [95% UI -0·22 to -0·13]), with all countries having an absolute fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, which showed marginal improvement in life expectancy, and Belgium, which showed no change in life expectancy. Across countries, the causes of death responsible for the largest improvements in life expectancy from 1990 to 2011 were cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases were the primary driver of reductions in life expectancy improvements during 2011-19, and deaths from respiratory infections and other COVID-19 pandemic-related outcomes were responsible for the decreases in life expectancy during 2019-21. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms in 2019 were attributable to high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, tobacco smoke, high LDL cholesterol, high BMI, occupational risks, high alcohol use, and other risks including low physical activity. Exposure to these major risk factors differed by country, with trends of increasing exposure to high BMI and decreasing exposure to tobacco smoke observed in all countries during 1990-2021. INTERPRETATION: The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies. The continued improvements in life expectancy in five countries during 2019-21 indicate that these countries were better prepared to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, countries with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements after 2011 went on to have some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019-21. These findings suggest that government policies that improve population health also build resilience to future shocks. Such policies include reducing population exposure to major upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, such as harmful diets and low physical activity, tackling the commercial determinants of poor health, and ensuring access to affordable health services. FUNDING: Gates Foundation
A remote-controlled global navigation satellite system based rover for accurate video-assisted cadastral surveys
No full textOne of the main tasks of a cadastral surveyor is to accurately determine property boundaries by measuring control points and calculating their coordinates. This paper proposes the development of a remotely-controlled tracking system to perform cadastral measurements. A Bluetooth-controlled rover was developed, including a Raspberry Pi Zero W module that acquires position data from a VBOX 3iSR global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, equipped with a specific modem to download real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections from the internet. Besides, the Raspberry board measures the rover speed with a hall sensor mounted on a track, adjusting the acquisition rate to collect data at a fixed distance. Position and inertial data are shared with a cloud platform, enabling their remote monitoring and storing. Besides, the power supply section was designed to power the different components included in the acquisition section, ensuring 2 hours of energy autonomy. Finally, a mobile application was developed to drive the rover and real-time monitor the travelled path. The tests indicated a good agreement between rover measurements and those obtained by a Trimble R10 GNSS receiver (+0.25% mean error) and proved the superiority of the presented system over a traditional metric wheel
