Computationally Efficient Kalman Filter Approaches for Fitting Smoothing Splines

Smoothing spline models have shown to be effective in various fields (e.g., engineering and biomedical sciences) for understanding complex signals from noisy data. As nonparametric models, smoothing spline ANOVA (Analysis Of variance) models do not fix the structure of the regression function, leading to more flexible model estimates (e.g., linear or nonlinear estimates). The functional ANOVA decomposition of the regression function estimates offers interpretable results that describe the relationship between the outcome variable, and the main and interaction effects of different covariates/predictors. However, smoothing spline ANOVA (SS-ANOVA) models suffer from high computational costs, with a computational complexity of ON3 for N observations. Various numerical approaches can address this problem. In this chapter, we focus on the introduction to a state space representation of SS-ANOVA models. The estimation algorithms based on the Kalman filter are implemented within the SS-ANOVA framework using the state space representation, reducing the computational costs significantly

Restaurant Inspection Scores and Foodborne Disease

Restaurants in the United States are regularly inspected by health departments, but few data exist regarding the effect of restaurant inspections on food safety. We examined statewide inspection records from January 1993 through April 2000. Data were available from 167,574 restaurant inspections. From 1993 to 2000, mean scores rose steadily from 80.2 to 83.8. Mean inspection scores of individual inspectors were 69–92. None of the 12 most commonly cited violations were critical food safety hazards. Establishments scoring <60 had a mean improvement of 16 points on subsequent inspections. Mean scores of restaurants experiencing foodborne disease outbreaks did not differ from restaurants with no reported outbreaks. A variety of factors influence the uniformity of restaurant inspections. The restaurant inspection system should be examined to identify ways to ensure food safety

Expression and prognostic significance of prothymosin-alpha and ERp57 in human gastric cancer

Prothymosin-alpha and ERp57 were previously identified as markers for gastric metaplasia in a mouse model of Helicobacter-induced gastric metaplasia and neoplasia. In this paper we assess whether the expression of these putative biomarkers in humans is correlated with gastric metaplasia and adenocarcinoma and clinical outcomes. Eight tissue microarrays, containing 749 paraffin-embedded tissue cores from 164 gastric cancer patients, were stained for prothymosin-alpha and ERp57 by horseradish peroxidase immunohistochemical techniques. The proportion of stained cells per core was quantitated using the Ariol SL-50 automated image analysis system. Prothymosin-alpha stained a significantly higher percentage of nuclei in cancer and metastases compared with normal gastric mucosa. ERp57 staining was significantly decreased in cancer and metastases compared with both normal gastric mucosa and metaplasias. ERp57 expression also correlated with greater depth of tumor invasion and advanced stage of disease. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis determined that tumors with the highest quartile of ERp57 expression were statistically associated with longer postoperative survival. A Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that maintenance of ERp57 expression was associated with longer postoperative survival. These results suggest that although prothymosin-alpha is overexpressed in gastric adenocarcinoma, it is not associated with alterations in survival. In contrast, loss of ERp57 expression correlated with more aggressive disease and could provide useful prognostic information for gastric cancer patients

COVID-19 symptoms and SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity in a large survey of first responders and healthcare personnel, May-July 2020

A SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey among first responder/healthcare personnel showed that loss of taste/smell was most predictive of seropositivity; percent seropositivity increased with number of COVID-19 symptoms. However, 22.9% with nine symptoms were seronegative, and 8.3% with no symptoms were seropositive. These findings demonstrate limitations of symptom-based surveillance and importance of testing.Public domain articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]