Data Pipeline Management in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities

Data pipelines involve a complex chain of interconnected activities that starts with a data source and ends in a data sink. Data pipelines are important for data-driven organizations since a data pipeline can process data in multiple formats from distributed data sources with minimal human intervention, accelerate data life cycle activities, and enhance productivity in data-driven enterprises. However, there are challenges and opportunities in implementing data pipelines but practical industry experiences are seldom reported. The findings of this study are derived by conducting a qualitative multiple-case study and interviews with the representatives of three companies. The challenges include data quality issues, infrastructure maintenance problems, and organizational barriers. On the other hand, data pipelines are implemented to enable traceability, fault-tolerance, and reduce human errors through maximizing automation thereby producing high-quality data. Based on multiple-case study research with five use cases from three case companies, this paper identifies the key challenges and benefits associated with the implementation and use of data pipelines

A Participatory Health Promotion Mobile App Addressing Alcohol Use Problems (The Daybreak Program): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: At-risk patterns of alcohol use are prevalent in many countries with significant costs to individuals, families, and society. Screening and brief interventions, including with Web delivery, are effective but with limited translation into practice to date. Previous observational studies of the Hello Sunday Morning approach have found that their unique Web-based participatory health communication method has resulted in a reduction of at-risk alcohol use between baseline and 3 months. The Hello Sunday Morning blog program asks participants to publicly set a personal goal to stop drinking or reduce their consumption for a set period of time, and to record their reflections and progress on blogs and social networks. Daybreak is Hello Sunday Morning's evidence-based behavior change program, which is designed to support people looking to change their relationship with alcohol. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to systematically evaluate different versions of Hello Sunday Morning's Daybreak program (with and without coaching support) in reducing at-risk alcohol use. METHODS: We will use a between groups randomized control design. New participants enrolling in the Daybreak program will be eligible to be randomized to receive either (1) the Daybreak program, including peer support plus behavioral experiments (these encourage and guide participants in developing new skills in the areas of mindfulness, connectedness, resilience, situational strategies, and health), or (2) the Daybreak program, including the same peer support plus behavioral experiments, but with online coaching support. We will recruit 467 people per group to detect an effect size of f=0.10. To be eligible, participants must be resident in Australia, aged =18 years, score =8 on the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT), and not report prior treatment for cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: The primary outcome measure will be reduction in the AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C) scores. Secondary outcomes include mental health (Kessler's K-10), days out of role (Kessler), alcohol consumed (measured with a 7-day drinking diary in standard 10 g drinks), and alcohol-related harms (CORE alcohol and drug survey). We will collect data at baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months and analyze them with random effects models, given the correlated data structure. CONCLUSIONS: A randomized trial is required to provide robust evidence of the impact of the online coaching component of the Daybreak program, including over an extended period

How does study quality affect the results of a diagnostic meta-analysis?

Background: The use of systematic literature review to inform evidence based practice in diagnostics is rapidly expanding. Although the primary diagnostic literature is extensive, studies are often of low methodological quality or poorly reported. There has been no rigorously evaluated, evidence based tool to assess the methodological quality of diagnostic studies. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to which variations in the quality of primary studies impact the results of a diagnostic meta-analysis and whether this differs with diagnostic test type. A secondary objective was to contribute to the evaluation of QUADAS, an evidence-based tool for the assessment of quality in diagnostic accuracy studies. Methods: This study was conducted as part of large systematic review of tests used in the diagnosis and further investigation of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children. All studies included in this review were assessed using QUADAS, an evidence-based tool for the assessment of quality in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy studies. The impact of individual components of QUADAS on a summary measure of diagnostic accuracy was investigated using regression analysis. The review divided the diagnosis and further investigation of UTI into the following three clinical stages: diagnosis of UTI, localisation of infection, and further investigation of the UTI. Each stage used different types of diagnostic test, which were considered to involve different quality concerns. Results: Many of the studies included in our review were poorly reported. The proportion of QUADAS items fulfilled was similar for studies in different sections of the review. However, as might be expected, the individual items fulfilled differed between the three clinical stages. Regression analysis found that different items showed a strong association with test performance for the different tests evaluated. These differences were observed both within and between the three clinical stages assessed by the review. The results of regression analyses were also affected by whether or not a weighting (by sample size) was applied. Our analysis was severely limited by the completeness of reporting and the differences between the index tests evaluated and the reference standards used to confirm diagnoses in the primary studies. Few tests were evaluated by sufficient studies to allow meaningful use of meta-analytic pooling and investigation of heterogeneity. This meant that further analysis to investigate heterogeneity could only be undertaken using a subset of studies, and that the findings are open to various interpretations. Conclusion: Further work is needed to investigate the influence of methodological quality on the results of diagnostic meta-analyses. Large data sets of well-reported primary studies are needed to address this question. Without significant improvements in the completeness of reporting of primary studies, progress in this area will be limited

Epistasis between COMT and MTHFR in Maternal-Fetal Dyads Increases Risk for Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. This disorder is thought to be multifactorial in origin, with multiple genes, environmental and social factors, contributing to disease. One proposed mechanism is placental hypoxia-driven imbalances in angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, causing endothelial cell dysfunction. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (Comt)-deficient pregnant mice have a preeclampsia phenotype that is reversed by exogenous 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME), an estrogen metabolite generated by COMT. 2-ME inhibits Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1α, a transcription factor mediating hypoxic responses. COMT has been shown to interact with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which modulates the availability of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a COMT cofactor. Variations in MTHFR have been associated with preeclampsia. By accounting for allelic variation in both genes, the role of COMT has been clarified. COMT allelic variation is linked to enzyme activity and four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs6269, rs4633, rs4680, and rs4818) form haplotypes that characterize COMT activity. We tested for association between COMT haplotypes and the MTHFR 677 C→T polymorphism and preeclampsia risk in 1103 Chilean maternal-fetal dyads. The maternal ACCG COMT haplotype was associated with reduced risk for preeclampsia (P = 0.004), and that risk increased linearly from low to high activity haplotypes (P = 0.003). In fetal samples, we found that the fetal ATCA COMT haplotype and the fetal MTHFR minor “T” allele interact to increase preeclampsia risk (p = 0.022). We found a higher than expected number of patients with preeclampsia with both the fetal risk alleles alone (P = 0.052) and the fetal risk alleles in combination with a maternal balancing allele (P<0.001). This non-random distribution was not observed in controls (P = 0.341 and P = 0.219, respectively). Our findings demonstrate a role for both maternal and fetal COMT in preeclampsia and highlight the importance of including allelic variation in MTHFR

Scalable Architecture for a Room Temperature Solid-State Quantum Information Processor

The realization of a scalable quantum information processor has emerged over the past decade as one of the central challenges at the interface of fundamental science and engineering. Much progress has been made towards this goal. Indeed, quantum operations have been demonstrated on several trapped ion qubits, and other solid-state systems are approaching similar levels of control. Extending these techniques to achieve fault-tolerant operations in larger systems with more qubits remains an extremely challenging goal, in part, due to the substantial technical complexity of current implementations. Here, we propose and analyze an architecture for a scalable, solid-state quantum information processor capable of operating at or near room temperature. The architecture is applicable to realistic conditions, which include disorder and relevant decoherence mechanisms, and includes a hierarchy of control at successive length scales. Our approach is based upon recent experimental advances involving Nitrogen-Vacancy color centers in diamond and will provide fundamental insights into the physics of non-equilibrium many-body quantum systems. Additionally, the proposed architecture may greatly alleviate the stringent constraints, currently limiting the realization of scalable quantum processors.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Evaluation of Oral Mucosal Lesions in 598 Referred Iranian Patients

The mucosal membrane of the oral cavity displays at times classical developmental lesions considered to be variations of normal structures rather than having disease characteristics. Of these lesions leukoedema, Fordyce granules, geographic-, fissured- and hairy tongue, median rhomboid glossitis and lingual varices were studied in 598 patients referred to the School of Dentistry, Tehran, Iran. The prevalence was studied in relation to age, gender, occupation, education, smoking habits, general health, addictions and or drug therapies. Oral developmental lesions were seen in 295 patients (49.3%). Only Fordyce granules (27,9%), fissured tongue (12,9%), leukoedema (12,5%) and hairy tongue (8,9%) had enough cases for statistical analysis. Three of these lesions increased with age but not fissured tongue. All were more common in men. After adjusting for age, the parameters education, occupation and complaints upon referral had little influence on the prevalence of the lesions. Fewer Fordyce granules were seen in oral mucosa of smoking men. Leukoedema and hairy tongue were significantly associated with smoking, leukoedema with diabetes mellitus. We conclude that there was a highly significant association between these oral lesions and age, gender and smoking. Few significant associations were found between oral lesions and general diseases

Hypertension persisting after pre-eclampsia: a prospective cohort study at Mulago Hospital, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia usually resolves after delivery but sometimes hypertension persists and cardiovascular disease develops later. Our objective was to determine the incidence and maternal socio-demographic and obstetric risk factors for persistence of hypertension in women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study conducted from July 2009 to June 2011 at Mulago Hospital labour ward and postnatal clinics. We followed up 188 women admitted with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia until 3 months after delivery. Data was collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires, examination of participants and review of medical records. Stata (version12) software was used for data analysis. Univariable analysis was used to compute the relative risk of persistent hypertension at the 95% confidence level. This was followed by multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine factors independently associated with persistence of hypertension. RESULTS: 64 (34%) out of the 188 women analysed had persistent hypertension three months after delivery. Maternal age, gestational age at delivery and parity were predictors of persistent hypertension. CONCLUSION: The proportion of women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia at risk of persistent hypertension at three months after delivery was high, with nearly one of three mothers remaining hypertensive. Follow up of mothers who develop pre-eclampsia is important so that early diagnosis and management of chronic hypertension can be made to avoid long term morbidity and mortality

Full-length human placental sFlt-1-e15a isoform induces distinct maternal phenotypes of preeclampsia in mice

<div><p>Objective</p><p>Most anti-angiogenic preeclampsia models in rodents utilized the overexpression of a truncated soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) not expressed in any species. Other limitations of mouse preeclampsia models included stressful blood pressure measurements and the lack of postpartum monitoring. We aimed to 1) develop a mouse model of preeclampsia by administering the most abundant human placental sFlt-1 isoform (hsFlt-1-e15a) in preeclampsia; 2) determine blood pressures in non-stressed conditions; and 3) develop a survival surgery that enables the collection of fetuses and placentas and postpartum (PP) monitoring.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Pregnancy status of CD-1 mice was evaluated with high-frequency ultrasound on gestational days (GD) 6 and 7. Telemetry catheters were implanted in the carotid artery on GD7, and their positions were verified by ultrasound on GD13. Mice were injected through tail-vein with adenoviruses expressing hsFlt-1-e15a (n = 11) or green fluorescent protein (GFP; n = 9) on GD8/GD11. Placentas and pups were delivered by cesarean section on GD18 allowing PP monitoring. Urine samples were collected with cystocentesis on GD6/GD7, GD13, GD18, and PPD8, and albumin/creatinine ratios were determined. GFP and hsFlt-1-e15a expression profiles were determined by qRT-PCR. Aortic ring assays were performed to assess the effect of hsFlt-1-e15a on endothelia.</p><p>Results</p><p>Ultrasound predicted pregnancy on GD7 in 97% of cases. Cesarean section survival rate was 100%. Mean arterial blood pressure was higher in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (∆MAP = 13.2 mmHg, p = 0.00107; GD18). Focal glomerular changes were found in hsFlt-1-e15a -treated mice, which had higher urine albumin/creatinine ratios than controls (109.3±51.7μg/mg vs. 19.3±5.6μg/mg, p = 4.4x10^-2; GD18). Aortic ring assays showed a 46% lesser microvessel outgrowth in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (p = 1.2x10^-2). Placental and fetal weights did not differ between the groups. One mouse with liver disease developed early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>A mouse model of late-onset preeclampsia was developed with the overexpression of hsFlt-1-e15a, verifying the <i>in vivo</i> pathologic effects of this primate-specific, predominant placental sFlt-1 isoform. HsFlt-1-e15a induced early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms associated with IUGR in a mouse with a liver disease. Our findings support that hsFlt-1-e15a is central to the terminal pathway of preeclampsia, and it can induce the full spectrum of symptoms in this obstetrical syndrome.</p></div

The JCMT Plane Survey: early results from the l = 30 degree field

We present early results from the JCMT Plane Survey (JPS), which has surveyed the northern inner Galactic plane between longitudes l=7 and l=63 degrees in the 850-{\mu}m continuum with SCUBA-2, as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Legacy Survey programme. Data from the l=30 degree survey region, which contains the massive star-forming regions W43 and G29.96, are analysed after approximately 40% of the observations had been completed. The pixel-to-pixel noise is found to be 19 mJy/beam, after a smooth over the beam area, and the projected equivalent noise levels in the final survey are expected to be around 10 mJy/beam. An initial extraction of compact sources was performed using the FellWalker method resulting in the detection of 1029 sources above a 5-{\sigma} surface-brightness threshold. The completeness limits in these data are estimated to be around 0.2 Jy/beam (peak flux density) and 0.8 Jy (integrated flux density) and are therefore probably already dominated by source confusion in this relatively crowded section of the survey. The flux densities of extracted compact sources are consistent with those of matching detections in the shallower ATLASGAL survey. We analyse the virial and evolutionary state of the detected clumps in the W43 star-forming complex and find that they appear younger than the Galactic-plane average

A Signature of Maternal Anti-Fetal Rejection in Spontaneous Preterm Birth: Chronic Chorioamnionitis, Anti-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies, and C4d

Chronic chorioamnionitis is found in more than one-third of spontaneous preterm births. Chronic chorioamnionitis and villitis of unknown etiology represent maternal anti-fetal cellular rejection. Antibody-mediated rejection is another type of transplantation rejection. We investigated whether there was evidence for antibody-mediated rejection against the fetus in spontaneous preterm birth.This cross-sectional study included women with (1) normal pregnancy and term delivery (n = 140) and (2) spontaneous preterm delivery (n = 140). We analyzed maternal and fetal sera for panel-reactive anti-HLA class I and class II antibodies, and determined C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium by immunohistochemistry. Maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity in spontaneous preterm births was higher than in normal term births (48.6% vs. 32.1%, p = 0.005). Chronic chorioamnionitis was associated with a higher maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity (p<0.01), significant in preterm and term birth. Villitis of unknown etiology was associated with increased maternal and fetal anti-HLA class I and II seropositivity (p<0.05, for each). Fetal anti-HLA seropositivity was closely related to maternal anti-HLA seropositivity in both groups (p<0.01, for each). C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium was more frequent in preterm labor than term labor (77.1% vs. 11.4%, p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that chronic chorioamnionitis (OR = 6.10, 95% CI 1.29–28.83), maternal anti-HLA class I seropositivity (OR = 5.90, 95% CI 1.60–21.83), and C4d deposition on umbilical vein endothelium (OR = 36.19, 95% CI 11.42–114.66) were associated with preterm labor and delivery.A major subset of spontaneous preterm births has a signature of maternal anti-fetal cellular and antibody-mediated rejections with links to fetal graft-versus-host disease and alloimmune reactions