Towards Efficient Data Valuation Based on the Shapley Value

"How much is my data worth?" is an increasingly common question posed by organizations and individuals alike. An answer to this question could allow, for instance, fairly distributing profits among multiple data contributors and determining prospective compensation when data breaches happen. In this paper, we study the problem of data valuation by utilizing the Shapley value, a popular notion of value which originated in coopoerative game theory. The Shapley value defines a unique payoff scheme that satisfies many desiderata for the notion of data value. However, the Shapley value often requires exponential time to compute. To meet this challenge, we propose a repertoire of efficient algorithms for approximating the Shapley value. We also demonstrate the value of each training instance for various benchmark datasets

Caring for older people as a social determinant of health: findings from a scoping review of observational studies

Background: Unpaid care is a critical source of support for people with health and social care needs. Unpaid carers are a group facing increasing demands and are at risk of adverse outcomes. Objectives: To assess the breadth of evidence on older carers/carers of older people in UK cohort studies. Methods: Using scoping review methods, we developed a targeted search strategy in three bibliographic databases (Medline, PsycInfo and CINAHL) for studies reporting carer characteristics and outcomes. Data were mapped using Evidence for Policy and Practice Information (EPPI) Reviewer, a web-based programme for managing and analysing data in reviews. The impacts of caring were explored and synthesised. Findings: Eighty-five studies were included. Where studies examined the impact of caring, outcomes were typically health-related; findings were inconsistent. Fewer studies reported the socioeconomic, disability-related, quality of life, or social impacts of caring. Fewer than half of studies reported subgroup analyses or care recipient information, and only five studies stratified carers’ outcomes by a measure of socioeconomic status. Limitations: Relying on data from observational studies means that key outcomes or caring pathways may be overlooked due to data collection methods. We therefore cannot infer causation/reverse causation regarding caring and carer outcomes. Implications: Our work highlights specific gaps in evidence regarding the social, economic, health and quality of life outcomes for carers. We also suggest methodological considerations to improve our understanding of care recipients, carers’ trajectories, and those at greatest risk of adverse outcomes. This information is vital to the development of research design, policies and interventions to support carers’ wellbeing

Practicing community psychology through mixed methods participatory research designs

Community psychologists address social inequalities and problems by employing ecological principles, multiple methodologies, and participatory approaches to empower individuals, organizations, and communities to organize action and systems change. This article aims to contribute to mixed methods literature by presenting three models of mixed methods participatory research across a variety of geographic and sociocultural contexts. The models outline participatory processes and points of qualitative and quantitative data integration. Challenges related to the interplay between participatory approaches and mixed methods studies as well as implications on social science research are discussed

Aboriginal Practitioners Speak Out: Contextualising Child Protection Interventions

One month before the June 2007 Federal Government Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory some 55 West Australian Aboriginal child protection workers attended a 3-day summit in Fremantle. Their purpose as front-line practitioners from across the State was to identify how more nurturing and healing communities could be developed and supported in a climate of despair. This paper reports on how the summit was designed and on some of the ideas and concerns that emerged within this dialogical space of cooperative inquiry. The project was a partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal representatives of university, government, and community-service bodies. Aboriginal practitioners identified the complexity of what was happening in their experience and where changes were needed. Integral to this participation and coproduction of knowledge by Aboriginal child protection workers was the provision of a safe space for the articulation of reflected experience. Implications for policy, practice, and curriculum of both process and outcome dimensions to considering Aboriginal views on this contentious issue are discussed

Interleukin 12p40 is required for dendritic cell migration and T cell priming after Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

Migration of dendritic cells (DCs) to the draining lymph node (DLN) is required for the activation of naive T cells. We show here that migration of DCs from the lung to the DLN after Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) exposure is defective in mice lacking interleukin (IL)-12p40. This defect compromises the ability of IL-12p40–deficient DCs to activate naive T cells in vivo; however, DCs that express IL-12p40 alone can activate naive T cells. Treatment of IL-12p40–deficient DCs with IL-12p40 homodimer (IL-12(p40)2) restores Mtb-induced DC migration and the ability of IL-12p40–deficient DCs to activate naive T cells. These data define a novel and fundamental role for IL-12p40 in the pathogen-induced activation of pulmonary DCs

Gaps in care and support for patients with advanced breast cancer: a report from the Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance

PURPOSE Although new therapeutic options continue to improve disease-related outcomes in advanced breast cancer (ABC), enhanced focus is needed to improve quality of life for patients currently living with ABC. METHODS In November 2019, a multidisciplinary workshop to explore patient perceptions of their information and support needs was held at the ABC Global Alliance Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. Ninety-two attendees from 27 countries participated in the workshop. RESULTS Several key unmet needs were identified and discussed in the workshop, including the following: (1) Significant patient knowledge gaps exist related to the diagnosis and management of ABC, and the availability of patient-focused information to support these gaps in knowledge remains limited. (2) The development of meaningful relationships between patients and health care professionals, and the role of patients in decision making, is often overlooked for patients with ABC. (3) Multidisciplinary care approaches are crucial for patients with ABC; however, these often lack effective coordination. (4) Access to clinical trials for ABC also remains limited. (5) Caregivers, friends, and family members do not receive sufficient guidance to support patients with ABC and manage their own well-being. CONCLUSION The variety of unmet needs explored in the workshop demonstrates that patients with ABC still face considerable challenges related to quality of care and support, which will not be resolved until tangible action is taken. Issues highlighted in the workshop should be prioritized by working groups to shape the development of community-based solutions. There is a need for the global community to act proactively to maximize awareness of these ongoing unmet needs and existing resources, while socializing and building new initiatives and resources that will help to close these gaps for patients

Discordant attitudes and beliefs about cancer clinical trial participation between physicians, research staff, and cancer patients

Background/aims: Essential to bringing innovative cancer treatments to patients is voluntary participation in clinical trials but approximately 8% of American cancer patients are enrolled onto a trial. We used a domain-oriented framework to assess barriers to cancer clinical trial enrollment. Methods: Physicians (MD, DO, fellows, residents) and research staff (physician assistants, nurse practitioners, staff and research nurses, clinical assistants, and program coordinators) involved in clinical research at a comprehensive cancer center completed an online survey in 2017; adult cancer patients not currently enrolled in a trial were interviewed in 2018. To inform the construct of our physician/staff and patient surveys and to assess barriers to clinical trial enrollment, we first conducted in-depth interviews among 14 key informants representing medical, hematologic, gynecologic, neurologic, radiation oncology, as well as members of the clinical research team (one clinical research coordinator, one research nurse practitioner). Perceived structural, provider- and patient-level barriers to clinical trial enrollment were assessed. Differences in perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs toward clinical trial enrollment between (1) physicians and staff, (2) patients by ethnicity, and (3) physicians/staff and patients were examined. Results: In total, 120 physicians/staff involved in clinical research (39.2% physicians, 60.8% staff; 48.0% overall response rate) and 150 cancer patients completed surveys. Nearly three-quarters of physician/staff respondents reported difficulty in keeping track of the eligibility criteria for open studies but was more often cited by physicians than staff (84.4% vs 64.3%, p = 0.02). Physicians more often reported lack of time to present clinical trial information than did staff(p < 0.001); 44.0% of staff versus 18.2% of physicians reported patient family interaction as a clinical trial enrollment barrier (p = 0.007). Hispanic patients more often stated they would join a trial, even if standard therapy was an option compared to non-Hispanic patients (47.7% vs 20.8%, p = 0.002). Comparing the beliefs and perceptions of physicians/staff to those of patients, patients more often reported negative beliefs about clinical trial enrollment (e.g. being in a trial does not help patients personally, 32.9% vs 1.8%, p < 0.001) but less often felt they had no other options when agreeing to join (38.1% vs 85.6%, p < 0.001), and less often refused clinical trial enrollment due to lack of understanding (9.1% vs 63.3%, p = 0.001) than reported by physicians/staff. Conclusion: Our findings indicate a wide gap between physician/staff and patient attitudes and beliefs about clinical trial enrollment and highlight the importance of focusing future initiatives to raise awareness of this incongruency. Reconciling these differences will require tailored education to reduce implicit biases and dispel misperceptions. Strategies to improve the quality of patient-provider communication and address infrastructure and resource issues are also needed to improve patient enrollment onto cancer clinical trials

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Evidence for plunging river plume deposits in the Pahrump Hills member of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars

Recent robotic missions to Mars have offered new insights into the extent, diversity and habitability of the Martian sedimentary rock record. Since the Curiosity rover landed in Gale crater in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory Science Team has explored the origins and habitability of ancient fluvial, deltaic, lacustrine and aeolian deposits preserved within the crater. This study describes the sedimentology of a ca 13 m thick succession named the Pahrump Hills member of the Murray formation, the first thick fine‐grained deposit discovered in situ on Mars. This work evaluates the depositional processes responsible for its formation and reconstructs its palaeoenvironmental setting. The Pahrump Hills succession can be sub‐divided into four distinct sedimentary facies: (i) thinly laminated mudstone; (ii) low‐angle cross‐stratified mudstone; (iii) cross‐stratified sandstone; and (iv) thickly laminated mudstone–sandstone. The very fine grain size of the mudstone facies and abundant millimetre‐scale and sub‐millimetre‐scale laminations exhibiting quasi‐uniform thickness throughout the Pahrump Hills succession are most consistent with lacustrine deposition. Low‐angle geometric discordances in the mudstone facies are interpreted as ‘scour and drape’ structures and suggest the action of currents, such as those associated with hyperpycnal river‐generated plumes plunging into a lake. Observation of an overall upward coarsening in grain size and thickening of laminae throughout the Pahrump Hills succession is consistent with deposition from basinward progradation of a fluvial‐deltaic system derived from the northern crater rim into the Gale crater lake. Palaeohydraulic modelling constrains the salinity of the ancient lake in Gale crater: assuming river sediment concentrations typical of floods on Earth, plunging river plumes and sedimentary structures like those observed at Pahrump Hills would have required lake densities near freshwater to form. The depositional model for the Pahrump Hills member presented here implies the presence of an ancient sustained, habitable freshwater lake in Gale crater for at least ca 10^3 to 10^7 Earth years