Meta-analysis of Collaboration and Performance: Moderating Tests of Sectoral Differences in Collaborative Performance

Over the past few decades, collaboration has flourished in the public administration and policy fields as a rational means to solve complex issues and improve public service performance. Through a meta-analysis of 26 studies with 251 effect sizes, this investigation provides novel perspectives for understanding the effects of different collaborative partnerships on performance. To test these mechanisms, we applied various social science theories, such as institutional theory, resource dependence theory, a resource-based view, and transaction cost theories. Our findings indicate that the overall effect of collaborative performance is positive and significant. Moreover, meta-regression results show that public–public collaboration results in better performance than public–nonprofit or public–business collaboration, while involving all three entity types in collaborative efforts yields similar outcomes to public–public collaboration. Several implications of these findings are outlined for researchers and practitioners.

FL-QSAR: a federated learning-based QSAR prototype for collaborative drug discovery

Motivation Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis is commonly used in drug discovery. Collaborations among pharmaceutical institutions can lead to a better performance in QSAR prediction, however, intellectual property and related financial interests remain substantially hindering inter-institutional collaborations in QSAR modeling for drug discovery. Results For the first time, we verified the feasibility of applying the horizontal federated learning (HFL), which is a recently developed collaborative and privacy-preserving learning framework to perform QSAR analysis. A prototype platform of federated-learning-based QSAR modeling for collaborative drug discovery, i.e. FL-QSAR, is presented accordingly. We first compared the HFL framework with a classic privacy-preserving computation framework, i.e. secure multiparty computation to indicate its difference from various perspective. Then we compared FL-QSAR with the public collaboration in terms of QSAR modeling. Our extensive experiments demonstrated that (i) collaboration by FL-QSAR outperforms a single client using only its private data, and (ii) collaboration by FL-QSAR achieves almost the same performance as that of collaboration via cleartext learning algorithms using all shared information. Taking together, our results indicate that FL-QSAR under the HFL framework provides an efficient solution to break the barriers between pharmaceutical institutions in QSAR modeling, therefore promote the development of collaborative and privacy-preserving drug discovery with extendable ability to other privacy-related biomedical areas. Availability and implementation The source codes of FL-QSAR are available on the GitHub: https://github.com/bm2-lab/FL-QSAR. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Accelerating R&D for emerging infectious diseases: lessons learnt from Ebola

Background Both China and the U.S. developed high-quality vaccines for the Ebola outbreak. This study compared the R&D activities of Ebola products in two countries, as a way to present the influential factors of R&D for emerging infectious disease (EID) and to provide suggestions for timely and efficient response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods R&D activities were analyzed in terms of research funding, scientific research outputs, R&D timeline, and governmental mechanisms. Quantitative analysis was performed using data retrieved from national websites, clinical trial registries and databases. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore perspectives of key informants involved in Ebola product development. Results The funding gap between China and the U.S. was significant before 2014 and narrowed after the Ebola outbreak. Both research teams started basic studies prior to the outbreak; however, the U.S. got FDA approval for clinical trials 5 months earlier than China. The underlying gap reveals the lack of participation and support by private sectors, stagnant transformation platform, and inadequate government incentives in China. Conclusions R&D pre-planning and resource deployment mechanisms are crucial for EID preparedness and response. Building private and public collaboration, and strengthening government support for clinical trials may accelerate the translation of basic research.

Ante los retos de las grandes transformaciones, ¿qué esperamos las personas directivas públicas de las decisoras?

Laburpena: Sektore publikoaren zeregina gakoa izan da gizarteek aurrera egiteko, eta izaten segituko du hurrengo hamarkadatan ere. Erabakitzaileak –gobernu-taldeetako kideak– eta zuzendaritza-kide publikoak –zuzenean edo zeharka, lehenengoen menpekoak, maila batean edo batzuetan– dira politika publikoen katalizatzaile potentzialak. Gizarte modura aurrean ditugun erronkei aurre egiteko –esaterako, eraldaketa digitalari–, pertsonarik onenak behar dira, erronka horiei administrazio publikoetako lidergo bikoitzetik aurre egiteko. Batzuetatik –erabakitzaileetatik– eta besteetatik –zuzendaritza-kideetatik– herritar guztiok espero ditugu antzeko gaitasun eta jarrerak: eredugarriak izan daitezela beren jokaera publiko eta pribatuan, izan dezatela ikuskera estrategikoa, maila askotako sentsibilitatea eta berrikuntzarako eta gardentasunerako orientazioa eta kontuak emateko orientazioa, eta taldeak sortzeko gaitasuna, batez ere onenak kontuan hartuta. Artikuluak nazioarteko egungo egoeraren sarrera egiten du, garapen jasangarriaren helburuetatik; bederatzi konpetentzia zehazten ditu, zuzendaritza-kide publikoek erabakitzaileengadik espero ditzakegunak, eta, amaitzeko, konpetentzia bat aipatzen du, zerikusia duena taldeak sortzearekin, meritokraziatik eta zuzendaritza publiko profesionalaren ekologiatik abiatuta –zuzendaritza-konpetentziak, publizitatea, ...– herrialderik aurreratuenetan bezala. Resumen: El papel del sector público ha sido clave para el progreso de las sociedades y lo seguirá siendo en las próximas décadas. Las personas decisoras – miembros de los equipos de gobierno - y las personas directivas públicas – quienes dependen de las primeras, directa o indirectamente, en uno o varios escalones - son catalizadoras del potencial de las políticas públicas. Los retos que tenemos por delante como sociedad – el de la transformación digital, por ejemplo - requieren contar con las mejores personas para afrontarlos, desde el liderazgo dual de las Administraciones Públicas. De las unas – decisoras - y de las otras – directivas - esperamos, toda la ciudadanía, capacidades y actitudes similares: que sean ejemplares en su comportamiento público y privado, que tengan visión estratégica, sensibilidad multinivel y hacia la colaboración público privada, orientación a la innovación y la transparencia, y a la rendición de cuentas, y capacidad de crear equipos contando con las mejores personas, fundamentalmente. El artículo hace una introducción a la situación internacional, detalla las competencias que las personas directivas públicas esperamos de las decisoras, y concluye con la competencia que tiene que ver con la capacidad de crear equipos construidos desde la meritocracia y la ecología de la dirección pública profesional – competencias directivas, publicidad…- emulando a los países más avanzados. Abstract: The role of the public sector has been key to the progress of societies and will continue to be in the coming decades. Decision makers - members of government teams - and public managers - who depend on the former, directly or indirectly, on one or several steps - are catalysts for the potential of public policies. The challenges that lie ahead as a society - that of digital transformation, for example - require having the best people to face them, from the dual leadership of Public Administrations. Of the some - decision makers - and the other - directives - we expect, all citizens, similar capacities and attitudes: that they be exemplary in their public and private behavior, that they have strategic vision, multilevel sensitivity and towards private public collaboration, innovation orientation and transparency, and accountability, and ability to create teams with the best, fundamentally. The article introduces the international situation, details the competencies that public managers can expect from decision makers, and concludes with the competence that has to do with the ability to create teams built from meritocracy. and the ecology of professional public management - management skills, advertising, ... - emulating the most advanced countries.

FL-QSAR: a federated learning based QSAR prototype for collaborative drug discovery

MotivationQuantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis is commonly used in drug discovery. Collaborations among pharmaceutical institutions can lead to a better performance in QSAR prediction, however, intellectual property and related financial interests remain substantially hindering inter-institutional collaborations in QSAR modeling for drug discovery.ResultsFor the first time, we verified the feasibility of applying the horizontal federated learning (HFL), which is a recently developed collaborative and privacy-preserving learning framework to perform QSAR analysis. A prototype platform of federated-learning-based QSAR modeling for collaborative drug discovery, i.e, FL-QSAR, is presented accordingly. We first compared the HFL framework with a classic privacy-preserving computation framework, i.e., secure multiparty computation (MPC) to indicate its difference from various perspective. Then we compared FL-QSAR with the public collaboration in terms of QSAR modeling. Our extensive experiments demonstrated that (1) collaboration by FL-QSAR outperforms a single client using only its private data, and (2) collaboration by FL-QSAR achieves almost the same performance as that of collaboration via cleartext learning algorithms using all shared information. Taking together, our results indicate that FL-QSAR under the HFL framework provides an efficient solution to break the barriers between pharmaceutical institutions in QSAR modeling, therefore promote the development of collaborative and privacy-preserving drug discovery with extendable ability to other privacy-related biomedical areas.Availability and implementationThe source codes of the federated learning simulation and FL-QSAR are available on the GitHub: https://github.com/bm2-lab/FL-QSAR

Incidence of Relapsed/Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) Including CNS Relapse in a Population-Based Cohort of 4205 Patients in Sweden

Background Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive but often curable disease. However a proportion of the patients are primary refractory or relapse (R/R DLBCL) following standard immuno-chemotherapy, which is associated with a much worse prognosis especially if the CNS is involved. Current knowledge around the incidence of R/R DLBCL is mostly derived from randomized controlled trials or specialized center cohorts presenting selected patient materials. With new available treatment options for these patients it is of great importance to accurately estimate the incidence in absolute terms. Here we investigated the incidence of R/R DLBCL overall and in the CNS in a nationwide population-based cohort accounting for the presence of competing risks. Methods Patients with a primary diagnosis of DLBCL in 2007-2014 were identified using the Swedish Lymphoma Register and followed until October 31st 2017. Primary CNS lymphomas, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphomas and transformed lymphomas were excluded. The register contains information about clinical characteristics, primary treatment, treatment response and relapse. Information regarding treatment response and progression/relapse as well as site of relapse was validated through medical chart review in all patients. Primary treatment with curative intent was defined as having started treatment with anthracycline-based chemotherapy (mostly R-CHOP). Overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method in the full cohort. Cumulative incidence of R/R DLBCL was estimated in the subset of patients who were treated with curative intent accounting for the competing risk of death. The net probability of CNS progression/relapse by CNS IPI was estimated in curatively treated patients who did not have CNS involvement at diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of CNS relapse was estimated non-parametrically with death and non-CNS progression/relapse as competing risks among all curatively treated patients and restricted to patients with high CNS IPI (4-6) separately. Results In the study population of 4205 patients, median age at diagnosis was 71 years (range 18 to 105). Sixteen percent of patients (n=677, median age 83 years) were not able to start treatment with curative intent, with the median OS in this group of only 2.7 months. Two-year OS for patients treated with curative intent was 88% (95% CI: 87-89) and 2-year progression free survival (PFS) was 70% (95% CI: 69-72) (fig 1a). The 5-year cumulative incidence of relapsed/refractory disease in patients treated with curative intent was 23% (95% CI: 22-24, total N=713) (fig 1b) and the majority relapsed within two years (n=646, 77%). Five percent of the patients starting primary treatment with curative intent, only received 1 or 2 treatment cycles and were not evaluated for response. The 2-year cumulative incidence of CNS relapse in curatively treated patients was 2.8% (95% CI: 2.7-3.4, total N=126) (fig 1b). For patients with high CNS IPI (4-6) the 2-year rate of CNS relapse was 12% (95% CI: 8-16) when estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method (fig 1c), but only 8% (95% CI: 6-11) in the cumulative incidence model (fig 1d) accounting for other relapses and death as competing events. Conclusion The 5-year cumulative incidence of relapsed/refractory disease in patients with DLBCL treated with curative intent is 23% in this population-based study, which is lower than in previously published reports. Overall, 16% of patients were not able to start primary curative intent treatment, representing an older group of patients with a dismal OS. An additional 5% of patients were not able to tolerate more than 1-2 cycles, defining another group of patients with unmet medical needs. The 2-year cumulative incidence of CNS relapse is <10% even in high-risk patients when estimating absolute risk in the real world where patients also face risks of non-CNS relapse and death. Figure 1 A): Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) among 4205 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) diagnosed in Sweden 2007-2014 treated with curative (n=3528 ) or palliative intent (n=677). B): Cumulative incidence of CNS relapse in the presence of competing risks of death and non-CNS relapse. C): Net probability of CNS relapse by CNS IPI (N=3499). D): Cumulative incidence of CNS relapse restricted to 414 patients with high CNS IPI (4-6). Disclosures Harrysson: Janssen pharmaceuticals: Other: This project was partly funded through a private-public collaboration between KI and Janssen pharmaceuticals.; Swedish Cancer Society: Other: This project was partly funded by the Swedish Cancer Society.. Eloranta:Karolinska Institutet: Other: coordinator for a public-private real world evidence; Janssen Pharmaceuticals.: Other: project coordinator for a public-private real world evidence. Ekberg:Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Other: This project was partly funded through a private-public collaboration between KI and Janssen pharmaceuticals.; Swedish Cancer Society: Other: This project was partly funded by the Swedish Cancer Society. Enblad:Kite/Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Jerkeman:Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Research Funding; Acerta: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding. Wahlin:Roche and Gilead: Consultancy. Andersson:Gilead, Janssen and Roche: Consultancy; Gilead: Research Funding; Abbvie and Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Smedby:Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Other: This project was partly funded through a private-public collaboration between KI and Janssen pharmaceuticals.; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria.

Educational Policies of Writing and Reading (A commentary on D.G. Ryndin’s article “Merab Mamardashvili: event of thought and pedagogic practice”)

The paper contains an “asymmetric commentary” on a philosophical text by means of its subsequent placing in the educational contexts. The first of them is related to an explication of the cultural mission of a pedagogical project suggested by the article. The second one is aimed at the analysis of the pedagogical action of the text determined by the writing/reading samples placed in it. The third one performs the function of a counter-text problematizing a pedagogical program of the article being commented. The exhaustion of orientation to symbolic identification with invariant symbols of culture is substantiated. Educational transformation is connected with overcoming the methodological individualism. Education is transformed into a subject of public collaboration. The emphasis in collective work has to be placed not on establishment of the coordinated definition situation, but on the conflict of its interpretations, collision of practical positions and detection of qualitatively various educational prospects. The commentary by means of the trial-and-error method also researches a possibility of building a demonstrative description able to cause dereification effects in the writing/reading processes. It is supposed that deconstructive writing can become a major element of students’ academic competence in the process of university training.

Review of the Content and Quality of Mobile Applications About Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

This study reviewed the content of mobile applications (apps) providing Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD) information and assessed quality of the apps. Characteristics, content, and technical aspects of 36 apps in the U.S. Google Play Store and App Store were coded, and quality of the apps was evaluated using the Mobile Application Rating Scale. Caregiving (62.1%) and disease management (55.6%) content was frequently provided. Few apps had an app community (8.3%) or a reminder function (8.3%). Overall, quality of the apps was acceptable; apps by health care–related developers had higher quality scores than those by non-health care–related developers. This analysis showed that ADRD-related apps provide a range of content and have potential to benefit caregivers, individuals with ADRD, health care providers, and the general public. Collaboration of ADRD experts and technology experts is needed to provide evidence-based information using effective technical functions that make apps to meet users’ needs.