Attentive monitoring of multiple video streams driven by a Bayesian foraging strategy

In this paper we shall consider the problem of deploying attention to subsets of the video streams for collating the most relevant data and information of interest related to a given task. We formalize this monitoring problem as a foraging problem. We propose a probabilistic framework to model observer's attentive behavior as the behavior of a forager. The forager, moment to moment, focuses its attention on the most informative stream/camera, detects interesting objects or activities, or switches to a more profitable stream. The approach proposed here is suitable to be exploited for multi-stream video summarization. Meanwhile, it can serve as a preliminary step for more sophisticated video surveillance, e.g. activity and behavior analysis. Experimental results achieved on the UCR Videoweb Activities Dataset, a publicly available dataset, are presented to illustrate the utility of the proposed technique.Comment: Accepted to IEEE Transactions on Image Processin

Status and potential of bacterial genomics for public health practice : a scoping review

Background: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is increasingly being translated into routine public health practice, affecting the surveillance and control of many pathogens. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify and characterize the recent literature concerning the application of bacterial pathogen genomics for public health practice and to assess the added value, challenges, and needs related to its implementation from an epidemiologist’s perspective. Methods: In this scoping review, a systematic PubMed search with forward and backward snowballing was performed to identify manuscripts in English published between January 2015 and September 2018. Included studies had to describe the application of NGS on bacterial isolates within a public health setting. The studied pathogen, year of publication, country, number of isolates, sampling fraction, setting, public health application, study aim, level of implementation, time orientation of the NGS analyses, and key findings were extracted from each study. Due to a large heterogeneity of settings, applications, pathogens, and study measurements, a descriptive narrative synthesis of the eligible studies was performed. Results: Out of the 275 included articles, 164 were outbreak investigations, 70 focused on strategy-oriented surveillance, and 41 on control-oriented surveillance. Main applications included the use of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data for (1) source tracing, (2) early outbreak detection, (3) unraveling transmission dynamics, (4) monitoring drug resistance, (5) detecting cross-border transmission events, (6) identifying the emergence of strains with enhanced virulence or zoonotic potential, and (7) assessing the impact of prevention and control programs. The superior resolution over conventional typing methods to infer transmission routes was reported as an added value, as well as the ability to simultaneously characterize the resistome and virulome of the studied pathogen. However, the full potential of pathogen genomics can only be reached through its integration with high-quality contextual data. Conclusions: For several pathogens, it is time for a shift from proof-of-concept studies to routine use of WGS during outbreak investigations and surveillance activities. However, some implementation challenges from the epidemiologist’s perspective remain, such as data integration, quality of contextual data, sampling strategies, and meaningful interpretations. Interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, and international collaborations are key for an appropriate genomics-informed surveillance

Syndromic surveillance: reports from a national conference, 2003

Overview of Syndromic Surveillance -- What is Syndromic Surveillance? -- Linking Better Surveillance to Better Outcomes -- Review of the 2003 National Syndromic Surveillance Conference - Lessons Learned and Questions To Be Answered -- -- System Descriptions -- New York City Syndromic Surveillance Systems -- Syndrome and Outbreak Detection Using Chief-Complaint Data - Experience of the Real-Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance Project -- Removing a Barrier to Computer-Based Outbreak and Disease Surveillance - The RODS Open Source Project -- National Retail Data Monitor for Public Health Surveillance -- National Bioterrorism Syndromic Surveillance Demonstration Program -- Daily Emergency Department Surveillance System - Bergen County, New Jersey -- Hospital Admissions Syndromic Surveillance - Connecticut, September 2001-November 2003 -- BioSense - A National Initiative for Early Detection and Quantification of Public Health Emergencies -- Syndromic Surveillance at Hospital Emergency Departments - Southeastern Virginia -- -- Research Methods -- Bivariate Method for Spatio-Temporal Syndromic Surveillance -- Role of Data Aggregation in Biosurveillance Detection Strategies with Applications from ESSENCE -- Scan Statistics for Temporal Surveillance for Biologic Terrorism -- Approaches to Syndromic Surveillance When Data Consist of Small Regional Counts -- Algorithm for Statistical Detection of Peaks - Syndromic Surveillance System for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games -- Taming Variability in Free Text: Application to Health Surveillance -- Comparison of Two Major Emergency Department-Based Free-Text Chief-Complaint Coding Systems -- How Many Illnesses Does One Emergency Department Visit Represent? Using a Population-Based Telephone Survey To Estimate the Syndromic Multiplier -- Comparison of Office Visit and Nurse Advice Hotline Data for Syndromic Surveillance - Baltimore-Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area, 2002 -- Progress in Understanding and Using Over-the-Counter Pharmaceuticals for Syndromic Surveillance -- -- Evaluation -- Evaluation Challenges for Syndromic Surveillance - Making Incremental Progress -- Measuring Outbreak-Detection Performance By Using Controlled Feature Set Simulations -- Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Systems - Design of an Epidemic Simulation Model -- Benchmark Data and Power Calculations for Evaluating Disease Outbreak Detection Methods -- Bio-ALIRT Biosurveillance Detection Algorithm Evaluation -- ESSENCE II and the Framework for Evaluating Syndromic Surveillance Systems -- Conducting Population Behavioral Health Surveillance by Using Automated Diagnostic and Pharmacy Data Systems -- Evaluation of an Electronic General-Practitioner-Based Syndromic Surveillance System -- National Symptom Surveillance Using Calls to a Telephone Health Advice Service - United Kingdom, December 2001-February 2003 -- Field Investigations of Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance Signals - New York City -- Should We Be Worried? Investigation of Signals Generated by an Electronic Syndromic Surveillance System - Westchester County, New York -- -- Public Health Practice -- Public Health Information Network - Improving Early Detection by Using a Standards-Based Approach to Connecting Public Health and Clinical Medicine -- Information System Architectures for Syndromic Surveillance -- Perspective of an Emergency Physician Group as a Data Provider for Syndromic Surveillance -- SARS Surveillance Project - Internet-Enabled Multiregion Surveillance for Rapidly Emerging Disease -- Health Information Privacy and Syndromic Surveillance SystemsPapers from the second annual National Syndromic Surveillance Conference convened by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the CDC in New York City during Oct. 23-24, 2003. Published as the September 24, 2004 supplement to vol. 53 of MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.1571461