Big brother is watching - using digital disease surveillance tools for near real-time forecasting

Abstract for the International Journal of Infectious Diseases 79 (S1) (2019).https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(18)34659-9/abstractPublished versio

Estudio de la nueva torre de control del aeropuerto de Tenerife-Norte

Aunque el criterio fundamental de diseño de la torre de control de un aeropuerto es obviamente que esta instalación satisfaga los requisitos funcionales propios del control del tráfico aéreo (suministrar los servicios de control de tránsito aéreo a tránsito de aeródromo), el hecho de que este elemento de la arquitectura aeroporLuaria deba ocupar, precisamente debido a los req ui sitos específicos de vis ibilidad, un lugar destacado dentro del complejo aeroportuario, ha ocasionado que con el tiempo en las construcciones se hayan convertido en elementos singulares y emblemáticos, diseñados tanto para cumplir la batería de requisitos operativos, constructivos y de equipamiento que asegurcn el cumplimiento de su misión, como para, en muchos casos, servir de signo identificador de l aeropuerto. Todo ello ha ocasionado que en los últimos años se haya vertido mucha imaginación en el diseño de tales torres de control, pudiéndose encontrar en los aeropuertos las torres de control de las más variadas formas y aspectos

An experimental study of fog and cloud computing in CEP-based Real-Time IoT applications

Internet of Things (IoT) has posed new requirements to the underlying processing architecture, specially for real-time applications, such as event-detection services. Complex Event Processing (CEP) engines provide a powerful tool to implement these services. Fog computing has raised as a solution to support IoT real-time applications, in contrast to the Cloud-based approach. This work is aimed at analysing a CEP-based Fog architecture for real-time IoT applications that uses a publish-subscribe protocol. A testbed has been developed with low-cost and local resources to verify the suitability of CEP-engines to low-cost computing resources. To assess performance we have analysed the effectiveness and cost of the proposal in terms of latency and resource usage, respectively. Results show that the fog computing architecture reduces event-detection latencies up to 35%, while the available computing resources are being used more efficiently, when compared to a Cloud deployment. Performance evaluation also identifies the communication between the CEP-engine and the final users as the most time consuming component of latency. Moreover, the latency analysis concludes that the time required by CEP-engine is related to the compute resources, but is nonlinear dependent of the number of things connected

Frequency and Angular Variations of Land Surface Microwave Emissivities: Can we Estimate SSM/T and AMSU Emissivities from SSM/I Emissivities?

To retrieve temperature and humidity profiles from SSM/T and AMSU, it is important to quantify the contribution of the Earth surface emission. So far, no global estimates of the land surface emissivities are available at SSM/T and AMSU frequencies and scanning conditions. The land surface emissivities have been previously calculated for the globe from the SSM/I conical scanner between 19 and 85 GHz. To analyze the feasibility of deriving SSM/T and AMSU land surface emissivities from SSM/I emissivities, the spectral and angular variations of the emissivities are studied, with the help of ground-based measurements, models and satellite estimates. Up to 100 GHz, for snow and ice free areas, the SSM/T and AMSU emissivities can be derived with useful accuracy from the SSM/I emissivities- The emissivities can be linearly interpolated in frequency. Based on ground-based emissivity measurements of various surface types, a simple model is proposed to estimate SSM/T and AMSU emissivities for all zenith angles knowing only the emissivities for the vertical and horizontal polarizations at 53 deg zenith angle. The method is tested on the SSM/T-2 91.655 GHz channels. The mean difference between the SSM/T-2 and SSM/I-derived emissivities is less than or equal to 0.01 for all zenith angles with an r.m.s. difference of approx. = 0.02. Above 100 GHz, preliminary results are presented at 150 GHz, based on SSM/T-2 observations and are compared with the very few estimations available in the literature

The impact of psychosis on the course of cognition: a prospective, nested case-control study in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis

BACKGROUND: Although cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia are rooted early in development, the impact of psychosis on the course of cognitive functioning remains unclear. In this study a nested case-control design was used to examine the relationship between emerging psychosis and the course of cognition in individuals ascertained as clinical high-risk (CHR) who developed psychosis during the study (CHR + T). METHOD: Fifteen CHR + T subjects were administered a neurocognitive battery at baseline and post-psychosis onset (8.04 months, s.d. = 10.26). CHR + T subjects were matched on a case-by-case basis on age, gender, and time to retest with a group of healthy comparison subjects (CNTL, n = 15) and two groups of CHR subjects that did not transition: (1) subjects matched on medication treatment (i.e. antipsychotics and antidepressants) at both baseline and retesting (Meds-matched CHR + NT, n = 15); (2) subjects unmedicated at both assessments (Meds-free CHR + NT, n = 15). RESULTS: At baseline, CHR + T subjects showed large global neurocognitive and intellectual impairments, along with specific impairments in processing speed, verbal memory, sustained attention, and executive function. These impairments persisted after psychosis onset and did not further deteriorate. In contrast, CHR + NT subjects demonstrated stable mild to no impairments in neurocognitive and intellectual performance, independent of medication treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Cognition appears to be impaired prior to the emergence of psychotic symptoms, with no further deterioration associated with the onset of psychosis. Cognitive deficits represent trait risk markers, as opposed to state markers of disease status and may therefore serve as possible predictors of schizophrenia prior to the onset of the full illness

On Supergroups with Odd Clifford Parameters and Supersymmetry with Modified Leibniz Rule

We investigate supergroups with Grassmann parameters replaced by odd Clifford parameters. The connection with non-anticommutative supersymmetry is discussed. A Berezin-like calculus for odd Clifford variables is introduced. Fermionic covariant derivatives for supergroups with odd Clifford variables are derived. Applications to supersymmetric quantum mechanics are made. Deformations of the original supersymmetric theories are encountered when the fermionic covariant derivatives do not obey the graded Leibniz property. The simplest non-trivial example is given by the N=2 SQM with a real $(1,2,1)$ multiplet and a cubic potential. The action is real. Depending on the overall sign ("Euclidean" or "Lorentzian") of the deformation, a Bender-Boettcher pseudo-hermitian hamiltonian is encountered when solving the equation of motion of the auxiliary field. A possible connection of our framework with the Drinfeld twist deformation of supersymmetry is pointed out.Comment: Final version to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A; 20 page

Psychosis Prevention: A Modified Clinical High Risk Perspective From the Recognition and Prevention (RAP) Program

OBJECTIVE: Early intervention and prevention of psychosis remain a major challenge. Prediction would be greatly advanced with improved ability to identify individuals at true risk, which, at present, is moderate at best. The authors tested a modified strategy to improve prediction by selecting a more homogeneous high-risk sample (attenuated positive symptom criteria only, age range of mid-teens to early 20s) than is currently standard, combined with a systematic selection of neurodevelopmental deficits. METHOD: A sample of 101 treatment-seeking adolescents (mean age, 15.9 years) at clinical high risk for psychosis were followed clinically for up to 5 years (mean follow-up time, 3.0 years, SD=1.6). Adolescents were included only if they exhibited one or more attenuated positive symptoms at moderate to severe, but not psychotic, severity levels. Cox regression was used to derive a risk index. RESULTS: The overall conversion rate to psychosis was 28.3%. The final predictor model, with a positive predictive validity of 81.8%, consisted of four variables: disorganized communication, suspiciousness, verbal memory deficits, and decline in social functioning during follow-up. Significant effects also suggest narrowing the risk age range to 15-22 years. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical high risk criteria that emphasize disorganized communication and suspiciousness while also including compromised verbal memory and declining social functioning have the potential to improve predictive accuracy compared with attenuated positive symptoms used alone. On the resulting risk index (a weighted combination of the predictors), low scores were interpreted as signifying minimal risk, with little treatment necessary, high scores as suggesting aggressive intervention, and intermediate scores, although less informative, as supporting psychosocial treatment

Contributions of early cortical processing and reading ability to functional status in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

Background: There is a growing recognition that individuals at clinical high risk need intervention for functional impairments, along with emerging psychosis, as the majority of clinical high risk (CHR) individuals show persistent deficits in social and role functioning regardless of transition to psychosis. Recent studies have demonstrated reduced reading ability as a potential cause of functional disability in schizophrenia, related to underlying deficits in generation of mismatch negativity (MMN). The present study extends these findings to subjects at CHR. Methods: The sample consisted of 34 CHR individuals and 33 healthy comparison subjects (CNTLs) from the Recognition and Prevention (RAP) Program at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York. At baseline, reading measures were collected, along with MMN to pitch, duration, and intensity deviants, and measures of neurocognition, and social and role (academic/work) functioning. Results: CHR subjects showed impairments in reading ability, neurocognition, and MMN generation, relative to CNTLs. Lower-amplitude MMN responses were correlated with worse reading ability, slower processing speed, and poorer social and role functioning. However, when entered into a simultaneous regression, only reduced responses to deviance in sound duration and volume predicted poor social and role functioning, respectively. Conclusions: Deficits in reading ability exist even prior to illness onset in schizophrenia and may represent a decline in performance from prior abilities. As in schizophrenia, deficits are related to impaired MMN generation, suggesting specific contributions of sensory-level impairment to neurocognitive processes related to social and role function. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved