Patient level analytics using self-organising maps: a case study on type-1 diabetes self-care survey responses

Survey questionnaires are often heterogeneous because they contain both quantitative (numeric) and qualitative (text) responses, as well as missing values. While traditional, model-based methods are commonly used by clinicians, we deploy Self Organizing Maps (SOM) as a means to visualise the data. In a survey study aiming at understanding the self-care behaviour of 611 patients with Type-1 Diabetes, we show that SOM can be used to (1) identify co-morbidities; (2) to link self-care factors that are dependent on each other; and (3) to visualise individual patient profiles; In evaluation with clinicians and experts in Type-1 Diabetes, the knowledge and insights extracted using SOM correspond well to clinical expectation. Furthermore, the output of SOM in the form of a U-matrix is found to offer an interesting alternative means of visualising patient profiles instead of a usual tabular form

The method of fundamental solutions for problems in static thermo-elasticity with incomplete boundary data

An inverse problem in static thermo-elasticity is investigated. The aim is to reconstruct the unspecified boundary data, as well as the temperature and displacement inside a body from over-specified boundary data measured on an accessible portion of its boundary. The problem is linear but ill-posed. The uniqueness of the solution is established but the continuous dependence on the input data is violated. In order to reconstruct a stable and accurate solution, the method of fundamental solutions is combined with Tikhonov regularization where the regularization parameter is selected based on the L-curve criterion. Numerical results are presented in both two and three dimensions showing the feasibility and ease of implementation of the proposed technique

Hierarchical approach for uncertainty quantification and reliability assessment of guided wave-based structural health monitoring

In this article, a hierarchical approach is proposed for the design and assessment of a guided wave-based structural health monitoring system for the detection and localisation of barely visible impact damage in composite airframe structures. The hierarchical approach provides a systemic and practical way to establish guided wave-based structural health monitoring systems for different structures in the presence of uncertainties and to quantify system performance. The proposed approach is carried out in four steps: (1) determine optimal sensor placement for the target structure and its plausible impact scenarios, (2) set detection threshold for global damage index based on the noise level present in the required environmental and operations conditions, (3) detect damage in critical locations and quantify detection performance by calculating the probability of detection, probability of false alarm and detection accuracy and (4) locate the detected damage while also quantifying the accuracy of location estimation and the probability of correctly indicating if the damage is in an area critical to the integrity of the structure. The proposed approach is demonstrated in aircraft carbon fibre-reinforced polymer structures from coupon level (simple flat panels) to sub-component level (large flat panel with multiple carbon fibre-reinforced polymer stringers and aluminium frames) for the detection and localisation of barely visible impact damage

Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purpose: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common entrapment neuropathy caused by increased pressure of median nerve in the wrist area. The results of electronic searches in several studies have shown different prevalence rates of this syndrome in Iran in different populations. So, the purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran using meta-analysis. Materials and methods: Relevant keywords were searched in national and international databases. The articles were then selected based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria and quality assessment. Data including author names, year of publication, sample size, sample descriptions, assessment criteria, and the prevalence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome were entered in Excel. The standard error of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in each study was calculated based on the formula for binomial distribution. According to the I-squared heterogeneity and Q indices, the random or fixed effect model were used to estimate the overall prevalence. Also, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and survey of publication bias were carried out. Results: A systematic search was completed and 10 articles met the inclusion criteria with 11 evidence of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. A total of 14525 people had been studied in whom the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome varied from 1.82 to 64.6. The overall prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome with physical examination based on the random effect model was estimated to be 17.53 (95 CI, 13.74-21.31). Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed a relatively high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. But, the frequency of this syndrome in different target groups requires further investigations. © 2018, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purpose: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common entrapment neuropathy caused by increased pressure of median nerve in the wrist area. The results of electronic searches in several studies have shown different prevalence rates of this syndrome in Iran in different populations. So, the purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran using meta-analysis. Materials and methods: Relevant keywords were searched in national and international databases. The articles were then selected based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria and quality assessment. Data including author names, year of publication, sample size, sample descriptions, assessment criteria, and the prevalence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome were entered in Excel. The standard error of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in each study was calculated based on the formula for binomial distribution. According to the I-squared heterogeneity and Q indices, the random or fixed effect model were used to estimate the overall prevalence. Also, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and survey of publication bias were carried out. Results: A systematic search was completed and 10 articles met the inclusion criteria with 11 evidence of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. A total of 14525 people had been studied in whom the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome varied from 1.82 to 64.6. The overall prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome with physical examination based on the random effect model was estimated to be 17.53 (95 CI, 13.74-21.31). Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed a relatively high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. But, the frequency of this syndrome in different target groups requires further investigations. © 2018, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Coordination of smart home energy management systems in neighborhood areas: A systematic review

High penetration of selfish Home Energy Management Systems (HEMSs) causes adverse effects such as rebound peaks, instabilities, and contingencies in different regions of distribution grid. To avoid these effects and relieve power grid stress, the concept of HEMSs coordination has been suggested. Particularly, this concept can be employed to fulfill important grid objectives in neighborhood areas such as flattening aggregated load profile, decreasing electricity bills, facilitating energy trading, diminishing reverse power flow, managing distributed energy resources, and modifying consumers' consumption/generation patterns. This paper reviews the latest investigations into coordinated HEMSs. The required steps to implement these systems, accounting for coordination topologies and techniques, are thoroughly explored. This exploration is mainly reported through classifying coordination approaches according to their utilization of decomposition algorithms. Furthermore, major features, advantages, and disadvantages of the methods are examined. Specifically, coordination process characteristics, its mathematical issues and essential prerequisites, as well as players concerns are analyzed. Subsequently, specific applications of coordination designs are discussed and categorized. Through a comprehensive investigation, this work elaborates significant remarks on critical gaps in existing studies toward a useful coordination structure for practical HEMSs implementations. Unlike other reviews, the present survey focuses on effective frameworks to determine future opportunities that make the concept of coordinated HEMSs feasible. Indeed, providing effective studies on HEMSs coordination concept is beneficial to both consumers and service providers since as reported, these systems can lead to 5% to 30% reduction in electricity bills

Access to

Health care facility ventilation design greatly affects disease transmission by aerosols. The desire to control infection in hospitals and at the same time to reduce their carbon footprint motivates the use of unconventional solutions for building design and associated control measures. This paper considers indoor sources and types of infectious aerosols, and pathogen viability and infectivity behaviors in response to environmental conditions. Aerosol dispersion, heat and mass transfer, deposition in the respiratory tract, and infection mechanisms are discussed, with an emphasis on experimental and modeling approaches. Key building design parameters are described that include types of ventilation systems (mixing, displacement, natural and hybrid), air exchange rate, temperature and relative humidity, air flow distribution structure, occupancy, engineered disinfection of air (filtration and UV radiation), and architectural programming (source and activity management) for health care facilities. The paper describes major findings and suggests future research needs in methods for ventilation design of health care facilities to prevent airborne infection risk

Metabolic analysis of the interaction between plants and herbivores

Insect herbivores by necessity have to deal with a large arsenal of plant defence metabolites. The levels of defence compounds may be increased by insect damage. These induced plant responses may also affect the metabolism and performance of successive insect herbivores. As the chemical nature of induced responses is largely unknown, global metabolomic analyses are a valuable tool to gain more insight into the metabolites possibly involved in such interactions. This study analyzed the interaction between feral cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and small cabbage white caterpillars (Pieris rapae) and how previous attacks to the plant affect the caterpillar metabolism. Because plants may be induced by shoot and root herbivory, we compared shoot and root induction by treating the plants on either plant part with jasmonic acid. Extracts of the plants and the caterpillars were chemically analysed using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography/Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLCT/MS). The study revealed that the levels of three structurally related coumaroylquinic acids were elevated in plants treated on the shoot. The levels of these compounds in plants and caterpillars were highly correlated: these compounds were defined as the ‘metabolic interface’. The role of these metabolites could only be discovered using simultaneous analysis of the plant and caterpillar metabolomes. We conclude that a metabolomics approach is useful in discovering unexpected bioactive compounds involved in ecological interactions between plants and their herbivores and higher trophic levels.

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health1–3. As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting4–6. The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness7,8; however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health9–11. Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but—to our knowledge—no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries12–14. By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations

Parasites of non-native freshwater fishes introduced into england and wales suggest enemy release and parasite acquisition

When non-native species are introduced into a new range, their parasites can also be introduced, with these potentially spilling-over into native hosts. However, in general, evidence suggests that a high proportion of their native parasites are lost during introduction and infections by some new parasites from the native range might occur, potentially resulting in parasite spill-back to native species. These processes were investigated here using parasite surveys and literature review on seven non-native freshwater fishes introduced into England and Wales. Comparison of the mean numbers of parasite species and genera per population for each fish species England andWaleswith their native ranges revealed\9 % of the native parasite fauna were present in their populations in England and Wales. There was no evidence suggesting these introduced parasites had spilled over into sympatric native fishes. The non-native fishes did acquire parasites following their introduction, providing potential for parasite spill-back to sympatric fishes, and resulted in non-significant differences in overall mean numbers of parasites per populations between the two ranges. Through this acquisition, the non-native fishes also had mean numbers of parasite species and genera per population that were not significantly different to sympatric native fishes. Thus, the non-native fishes in England and Wales showed evidence of enemy release, acquired new parasites following introduction providing potential for spill-back, but showed no evidence of parasite spill-over