Inter-institutional Collaboration Research Articles

Using knowledge management to improve inter-institutional collaboration in crisis events

The aim of the study is to propose policy guidelines that can help to improve the likelihood of success in crisis events, highlighting the need of better knowledge management to improve crisis management. After a brief analysis of three crisis events occurred in the USA, Chile and Peru, the study deepens in the situation that was lived in the Peru's earthquake. Furthermore, an innovative model of inter-institutional collaboration based on the concept of open data as a tool for knowledge management is proposed, obtaining information from the problems encountered in situations of crisis that occurred previously. Three groups of stakeholders (academics, public servants and citizens) validated the proposed policy guidelines and the open data model. Finally, this study can serve as a starting point for the development of an open data platform that helps society to face crisis events through knowledge management, promoting transparency, participation and collaboration among stakeholders.

Using knowledge management to improve inter-institutional collaboration in crisis events

The aim of the study is to propose policy guidelines that can help to improve the likelihood of success in crisis events, highlighting the need of better knowledge management to improve crisis management. After a brief analysis of three crisis events occurred in the USA, Chile and Peru, the study deepens in the situation that was lived in the Peru's earthquake. Furthermore, an innovative model of inter-institutional collaboration based on the concept of open data as a tool for knowledge management is proposed, obtaining information from the problems encountered in situations of crisis that occurred previously. Three groups of stakeholders (academics, public servants and citizens) validated the proposed policy guidelines and the open data model. Finally, this study can serve as a starting point for the development of an open data platform that helps society to face crisis events through knowledge management, promoting transparency, participation and collaboration among stakeholders.

Fundamental Shifts in Research, Ethics and Peer Review in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The era of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to fundamental shifts in research, ethics, and peer review including reframing of the research design, adapting methodologies to the study type, transitioning of research mechanics, changing research methodologies, overcoming data collection and standardization constraints, upholding research standards and ethics, maintaining informativeness and social value, and providing guarded peer review flexibility. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis, despite disrupting research worldwide to an unprecedented degree, has also become a catalyst to develop strategies of adaptation to this disruption. As the COVID-19 pandemic continuous to evolve, new, cost-effective, and highly flexible research models need to be developed. Planning is crucial for ensuring short-term and long-term contingency funds to support research logistics and personnel. A mental shift must accompany changes in methodologies to mentor and support researchers who are vital to the continuity of high-caliber research in the long term. A global research perspective through interinstitutional and interprofessional collaboration will sustain adherence to the highest standards of data collection and research reporting.

The Role of the Auditor-General in the Promotion of Efficient Financial Management in Municipalities: A Case Study of the North West Province

That South African municipalities, in vast majority, are experiencing serious financial problems is well-known to anyone with an interest in local government sector. Given that, the study considers the role of the Auditor-General (AG) in promoting sound financial management in municipalities. The disciplinary perspectives from which the inquiry is considered are law and public administration. The context for this consideration is the North West, a province which is inundated by poorly performing municipalities that are literally on the brink of financial and operational collapse. The study proceeds from the premise that efficient financial management practices are essential to the long-term sustainability of municipalities. The role of the AG is key in this regard in that the latter is a watchdog over state coffers and the pivot of the oversight mechanism over the management of public finances. Furthermore, the AG strives to institutionalise and promote a culture of good governance, accountability and transparency in municipalities. It achieves this through routine auditing and provision of audit recommendations that seek to improve municipalities’ internal controls. However, this purpose gets undermined, and eventually defeated, in the instance where audit recommendations are being ignored. Of concern is that the non-implementation of audit recommendations has become a norm in most municipalities in the North West. The study has considerable breadth in its analysis of this problem by looking closely into three municipalities: Mahikeng, Ditsobotla and Tswaing. It is not immediately clear why this trend is emerging or has emerged. In that note, a resolve to embark on this study was impelled by a sense of commitment to try to understand the real issue behind this trend and to see how best it can be countered. This brings the study to then ask: How can the AG’s recommendations be better and adequately given effect in the North West municipalities? In response, it will be argued that this issue cannot be solved by the AG alone. What is needed, instead, is the development of an action plan, policy and institutional framework that will guide and facilitate the multi-agency approach and inter-institutional collaborations towards addressing the problem. Further argument will be advanced to say that the efforts undertaken to reconstitute and strengthen the legal framework governing the AG through the 2018 amendments to the Public Audit Act do not constitute a magic bullet solution to the dismal downward trajectory across the North West municipalities, as contemporary narratives seek to suggest.

Promoting Research through an Inter-Institutional Collaboration Model in Bahrain

Promoting Research through an Inter-Institutional Collaboration Model in Bahrain

Violazioni amministrative in campo forestale. Confronto fra normative regionali

The present work is proposed as a contribution to discussion about new Italian forest legislation and as a possible starting point for future policies. Some regional regulations have been compared for what concerns the administrative sanctioning rules applied in the sector. To give concreteness to the present argument, a specific case study has been carried out in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont, Italy). The istance has been chosen for its representativeness and high frequency, being its dendrometric parameters common in other regional contexts. Specifically, a pure meso-eutrophic beechwood has been analyzed. This has revealed a certain lack of homogeneity in the attribution of the form of forest management (coppice vs. highforest management systems). In fact there are different legal definitions of their dendrometric parameters. As a result, there are different silvicultural treatments to apply and very different levels of growing stock (in terms of number of trees, canopy cover area or tree volume) to be released. But it is above all the estimations of the allowable cut considered illegal (i.e. in stock volume and in number of trees), and even more the amounts of the administrative penalties that display the greatest differences. These differences would be even more relevant in the case of implementation of the European Union Regulation no. 995/2010, the so-called “Due Diligence”, which contrasts the trade of illegally sourced timber, and enumerates cases of law infringements strictly dependent on the configuration of the administrative offenses defined by regional regulations. The study carried out therefore highlights the opportunity to evaluate, in the appropriate areas of interinstitutional collaboration, the control algorithms for the best possible harmonization of the applicable regulations in Italy; the final goal should be the reduction of possible competitive imbalances between various companies operating in different regional contexts.

Institutional Collaboration and Competition in Artificial Intelligence

The institutional collaboration and competition in academia have benefited the development of science, with inter-institutional scientific work promoting the exchange of ideas and competing fields developing rapidly. However, understanding of how the institutions collaborate and compete in science is sorely lacking, especially in emerging fields. Artificial intelligence is such a booming field currently, changing the way we live and work daily. To illustrate the problem, we try to reveal the evolution of institutional collaboration and competition in artificial intelligence by applying AI 2000 from the perspective of Science of Science. In this paper, we make multiple multidimensional statistical analyses by scrutinizing the collaboration network, research interests, talent flow, etc. We demonstrate the collaboration evolution in this field and find the advantage of inter-institutional collaboration is growing over time for papers that have been published more than 5 years. We discover the common cooperation modes of top institutions and visualize their closer cooperation. We highlight the critical resources competition among institutions in three dimensions and learn the recent trends in the field. In particular, we are concerned about the competition among institutions for cross-industry cooperation and notice the consistency of competitiveness and cross-industry collaboration. The research of this paper may support further research studies on institutional collaboration and competition as well as policy proposals for promoting scientific innovation, research management, and funding.

Promoting Research through an Inter-Institutional Collaboration Model in Bahrain

Promoting Research through an Inter-Institutional Collaboration Model in Bahrain

Fostering Inclusion through an Interinstitutional, Community-Engaged, Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience.

Creation of an inclusive environment requires a culture of equity, justice, value and respect for diverse backgrounds, and opportunities for students to engage with communities while addressing issues in science and society. These tasks are particularly challenging for institutions lacking a diverse population. Here, we demonstrate evidence of a successful model for creating an inclusive environment in an interinstitutional course between a large, public, historically black institution and a small, private, primarily white institution. Because many individuals from underrepresented minority groups tend to value communal goals of working together and helping their communities, we incorporated two high-impact practices of community-engaged learning and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) focused on health disparities research in neighboring communities. Although the research projects varied each semester, they were linked by their impact on and engagement with the community. Students practiced cultural competency skills in both small group projects within the class and engagement activities in the community. We measured the efficacy of CURE components (novel authentic research, scientific process skills, iteration, collaboration, and broader impact) through a combination of direct and indirect assessments, quantitative and qualitative analysis. More than simply scientific skills, students from both institutions developed lasting interest in working with diverse populations as well as respecting and valuing different backgrounds. This inclusive environment, combined with increased interest in research, suggests that this course could potentially serve as a model for interinstitutional collaborations in creating inclusive environments that support the future success of diverse students, eventually changing the STEM research culture.

Increasing Education Research Productivity: A Network Analysis.

IntroductionForming effective networks is important for personal productivity and career development. Although critical for success, these networks are not well understood. The objective of this study was to usze a social network analysis tool to demonstrate the growth of institutional publication networks for education researchers and show how a single institution has expanded its publication network over time.MethodsPublications from a single institution’s medical education research group (MERG) were pulled since its inception in 2010 to 2019 using Web of Science to collect publication information. Using VOSViewer software, we formed and plotted a network sociogram comparing the first five years to the most recent 4.25 years to compare the institutions of authors from peer reviewed manuscripts published by this group.ResultsWe found 104 peer-reviewed research articles, editorials, abstracts, and reviews for the MERG authors between 2010 and 2019 involving 134 unique institutions. During 2010–2014, there were 26 publications involving 56 institutions. From 2015–2019, there were 78 publications involving 116 unique institutions.ConclusionThis brief report correlates successful research productivity in medical education with the presence of increased inter-institutional collaborations as demonstrated by network sociograms. Programs to intentionally expand collaborative networks may prove to be an important element of facilitating successful careers in medical education scholarship.

Sistema de informação de pesquisa

Este artigo analisa as características da ontologia do VIVO-ISF em relação ao seu uso no domínio de instituições universitárias brasileiras, a fim de subsidiar a utilização do ambiente VIVO como sistema de informação de pesquisa no Brasil. O trabalho identificou os objetivos, o escopo e características de modelagem da ontologia, levando em consideração aspectos em ontologias que beneficiam o desenvolvimento de aplicativos da web. Também analisou a ontologia quanto ao seu uso para descrever uma instituição brasileira, representada pela Faculdade de Biblioteconomia e Comunicação (Fabico), parte da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Os recursos, as unidades, as atividades e as posições administrativas da Fabico/UFRGS foram identificadas na forma em que foram definidas por documentos legais, como estatutos e regimentos; e foram descritas de acordo com a ontologia VIVO-ISF. O estudo concluiu que a ontologia VIVO-ISF foi desenvolvida a partir de uma base conceitual bem fundamentada, a partir do reuso da ontologia de alto nível Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), trazendo facilidades para representar o amplo domínio acadêmico e para a realizar de extensões que incorporam características institucionais locais. A ontologia também proporciona interoperabilidade, reutilizando classes genéricas de BFO e selecionando classes de ontologias de domínio populares, como FOAF, Event, BiBO. A ontologia também é capaz de representar uma instituição acadêmica brasileira, fornecendo uma estrutura semântica bem definida para integração de dados da web que agiliza o processo de colaboração interdisciplinar e interinstitucional para a formação de redes de pesquisa, incluindo instituições brasileiras.

ANÁLISIS DEL CAMBIO TECNOLÓGICO DEL SISTEMA DE RIEGO DE SIETE DIRECTORIOS DEL RÍO SAN JUAN-ECUADOR

The present investigation carries out the analysis of the technological innovation of the application of pressurized irrigation in seven user directories of the San Juan - Patoa River of La Matriz Parish of the Pujilí Canton, for which the objectives were: To identify the degree of adoption of the technification of traditional irrigation; Observe the degree of commitment of the irrigators for the adoption of the irrigation system; Establish interinstitutional collaboration in the execution of the project. The methodology applied in the present analysis is based on the theory of innovation. From which it is concluded that: 14% of the seven directories of users of irrigation water, has implemented the system of pressurized irrigation with a reservoir of 80000 m3 for 490 ha; The members of the seven irrigation boards signed the agreements for the technification of the irrigation system; The municipal GAD of Pujilí canton paid for the studies, the Provincial GAD of Cotopaxi executed the work, with the supervision of the National Directorate of Water Resources Keywords: technological innovation, pressurized irrigation

Emerging changes in attitudes to inter-institutional collaboration: the case of organizations providing social services in communities

Emerging changes in attitudes to inter-institutional collaboration: the case of organizations providing social services in communities

AAA 8. Utility and Implications of Three-Dimensional Printed Aortic Models in Teaching, Simulation, and Preoperative Planning for Fenestrated and Branched Endografts

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has become progressively more accessible to scientists, clinicians, and the general public. Nevertheless, clinical applications remain isolated and haphazard, with limited expertise and experience. We describe the development of a medical 3D printing program at a tertiary Australian hospital and our specific experience in the development of aortic models for surgical teaching, simulation, and preoperative planning. The Austin Health-University of Melbourne 3DMedLab was established in 2015 to support clinician-led education and research in medical 3D printing. Multidisciplinary teams and interinstitutional collaboration were used to develop expertise in anatomic modeling, 3D printer operation, validation, and qualitative analysis. A range of representative and anatomically accurate aortic models were designed and produced using industrial and consumer-grade 3D printers. Aortic models were developed for student and clinician education, preoperative planning, intraoperative guidance, and device development and modification for fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic aneurysm repair. Qualitative analysis identified important positive elements for clinical utility, but quantitative demonstration of benefit remains elusive. Technical hurdles in anatomic modeling and 3D printing exist; however, with the advent of consumer-operated 3D printers and automated software packages, this technology is within the grasp of technically oriented clinicians. Their input remains essential to drive clinically relevant results, reimbursement, and regulatory development.

Assessing the Freshwater Quality of a Large-Scale Mining Watershed: The Need for Integrated Approaches

Water quality assessments provide essential information for protecting aquatic habitats and stakeholders downstream of mining sites. Moreover, mining companies must comply with environmental quality standards and include public participation in water quality monitoring (WQM) practices. However, overarching challenges beyond corporate environmental responsibility are the scientific soundness, political relevance and harmonization of WQM practices. In this study, a mountainous watershed supporting large-scale gold mining in the headwaters, besides urban and agricultural landuses at lower altitudes, is assessed in the dry season. Conventional physicochemical and biological (Biological Monitoring Water Party-Colombia index) freshwater quality parameters were evaluated, including hydromorphological and land-use characteristics. According to the indicators used, water quality deterioration by mining was absent, in contrast to the effects of urban economic activities, hydromorphological alterations and (less important) agricultural pollutants. We argue that mining impacts are hardly captured due to the limited ecological knowledge of high-mountain freshwaters, including uncharacterized mining-specific bioindicators, environmental baselines and groundwater processes, as well as ecotoxicological and microbial freshwater quality components. Lessons for overcoming scientific and operational challenges are drawn from joint efforts among governments, academia and green economy competitiveness. Facing a rapid development of extractive industries, interinstitutional and multidisciplinary collaborations are urgently needed to implement more integrated freshwater quality indicators of complex mining impacts.

Governance and Innovations in Local Food System Development: A Bottom-Up Approach in North Carolina

Governance is a collaborative and systemic approach to governing that fosters innovation and inclusiveness of a broad combination of actors, processes, and instruments (Jordan, Wurzel, & Zito, 2005). It draws from the energy, expertise, and resources of the collaborative to employ more sustainable, bottom-up policy solutions. The growth in popularity of local foods and community-based food systems as a pushback to the globalization of our food industry has given rise to a network of coalitions, institutions, and actors in North Carolina that are engaging in local food system development and governance to create a place-based local food economy in the state. The case reviews the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), a trans­disciplinary, interinstitutional collaboration between the state’s two land-grant institutions, (North Carolina State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University), and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, as an active and prominent stakeholder in the process of local food system governance. The Farm to Fork Initiative, now over 10 years in operation, is reviewed to provide both insight into and reflection of a bottom-up approach to creating a local food economy through governance, innovation, and the implementation of community-based food system initiatives.

Current Situation and Perspectives on Hantaviruses in Mexico.

Hantaviruses are transmitted by rodents producing the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the Americas. Today, no human cases of HPS have been reported in Mexico in spite of similar environmental conditions with Central America and the USA where several cases have occurred. To understand the current situation of hantaviruses in Mexico and the public health risk, a systematic review of studies was conducted reporting hantaviruses in rodents to known state seroprevalence and hantavirus genotypes. Simultaneously, this study identified the potential hantaviruses based on the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of hantaviruses reported in the Americas in hosts with the distribution in Mexico. A total 3862 rodents belonging to 82 species have been tested since 1999 to 2017. Overall, 392 individuals representing 43 rodent species were seropositive, and the seroprevalence ranged from 0 to 69.22%. Seven hantaviruses genotypes have been described in Mexico and three are zoonotic. Four host species of rodents are widely distributed in Mexico harboring the highest PD of viruses. According to the hosts distribution, 16 genotypes could be circulating in Mexico and some of these represent a potential risk for public health. This study proposed multidisciplinary and interinstitutional collaborations to implement systematic surveillance in rodents.

Abstract 1815: Transcriptomic profiling of VHL-dependent long noncoding RNAs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common subtype of kidney cancer, carries a poor prognosis, with an estimated median overall survival time of only two years. This is often a clinically silent disease and about one third of patients present with metastases. Although inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) is a well-characterized driver event in ccRCC, the exact molecular underpinnings of this disease remain unclear. To address this gap, we performed a transcriptomic analysis, focusing on VHL-dependent long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs are known to be involved in cancer progression, but their role in ccRCC oncogenesis has not been extensively studied. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to characterize lncRNA transcripts that are differentially associated with VHL inactivation status. We anticipate that characterization of the lncRNA expression landscape in ccRCC will enable the identification of biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for this disease. METHODS: Transcriptome-wide array-based analyses were performed on total RNA derived from the 786-O (VHL-/-) ccRCC cell line, stably reconstituted with either wild-type VHL (786-O-VHL) or mutant VHL (786-O-C162F). Differential lncRNA analysis was conducted using the Arraystar Human LncRNA V4.0 array. Statistical analyses were performed using Agilent GeneSpring GX v12.1 software, with a false discovery rate (FDR) adjusted p-value < 0.05 used as a threshold for significance of differential lncRNA expression. LncRNAs were cross-referenced to data generated from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a publicly available pan-cancer database, to identify those predictive of overall survival. Finally, qRT-PCR was used to validate the most highly differentially dysregulated lncRNAs in another primary ccRCC cell type (RCC4) and in paired kidney tissue. RESULTS: A total of 360 lncRNA transcripts were differentially expressed four-fold or greater in 786-O-C162F cells relative to 786-O-VHL cells. Of these lncRNAs, 269 were upregulated and 91 were downregulated. Cross-referencing to TCGA, 52 of the upregulated lncRNAs and 23 of the downregulated lncRNAs were predictive of overall survival in ccRCC patients, as evidenced by statistically significant Cox regression and Log-rank p-values (p < 0.05). The top five up- and downregulated lncRNAs were validated with qRT-PCR. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is one of the only analyses to systematically assess lncRNA expression in ccRCC, and the first to assess lncRNA expression in a VHL-dependent manner. We anticipate that these molecular and clinical findings will provide a framework for utilizing VHL inactivation status as a biomarker to stratify patients with ccRCC and associated molecular targets for further study. Future inter-institutional collaborations are needed to validate these findings in a large cohort of primary ccRCC samples. Citation Format: Joseph N. Samuel, Philip A. Marsden. Transcriptomic profiling of VHL-dependent long noncoding RNAs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1815.

Campylobacter at the Human-Food Interface: The African Perspective.

The foodborne pathogen Campylobacter is a major cause of human gastroenteritis, accounting for an estimated annual 96 million cases worldwide. Assessment of the true burden of Campylobacter in the African context is handicapped by the under-reporting of diarrhoeal incidents and ineffective monitoring and surveillance programmes of foodborne illnesses, as well as the minimal attention given to Campylobacter as a causative agent of diarrhoea. The present review of the literature highlights the variability in the reported occurrence of Campylobacter in humans and animal food sources across different countries and regions in Africa. Campylobacter infection is particularly prevalent in the paediatric population and has been isolated from farm animals, particularly poultry, and foods of animal origin. The reported prevalence of Campylobacter in children under the age of five years ranges from 2% in Sudan to 21% in South Africa. In poultry, the prevalence ranges from 14.4% in Ghana to 96% in Algeria. This review also highlights the alarming trend of increased Campylobacter resistance to clinically important antimicrobials, such as ciprofloxacin and erythromycin, in humans and food animals in Africa. This review adds to our understanding of the global epidemiology of Campylobacter at the human–food animal interface, with an emphasis from the African perspective. Interinstitutional and intersectoral collaborations, as well as the adoption of the One Health approach, would be useful in bridging the gaps in the epidemiological knowledge of Campylobacter in Africa.

Shortcomings of Higher Education Evaluation Systems

Higher Education Evaluation Systems supply information for diverse stakeholders. A “one size fits all” approach in university rankings is not enough. Looking to the future, evaluation may need to take into account criteria such as links with employers, lifelong education, implications of digitization, and interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration across borders. The extensive possibilities of today’s research data based analyses are analysed, against the background of a whole industry devoted to this. Shortcomings, challenges and unintended consequences of the current approach are discussed. Impact analyses are seen as one of the ways forward, taking into account contributions to societies and their transformations. Diversity, “glocal” mindset and international collaboration are suggested as additional criteria for the competitive rankings of the future.