68 research outputs found
Understanding Mobile Traffic Patterns of Large Scale Cellular Towers in Urban Environment
Understanding mobile traffic patterns of large scale cellular towers in urban
environment is extremely valuable for Internet service providers, mobile users,
and government managers of modern metropolis. This paper aims at extracting and
modeling the traffic patterns of large scale towers deployed in a metropolitan
city. To achieve this goal, we need to address several challenges, including
lack of appropriate tools for processing large scale traffic measurement data,
unknown traffic patterns, as well as handling complicated factors of urban
ecology and human behaviors that affect traffic patterns. Our core contribution
is a powerful model which combines three dimensional information (time,
locations of towers, and traffic frequency spectrum) to extract and model the
traffic patterns of thousands of cellular towers. Our empirical analysis
reveals the following important observations. First, only five basic
time-domain traffic patterns exist among the 9,600 cellular towers. Second,
each of the extracted traffic pattern maps to one type of geographical
locations related to urban ecology, including residential area, business
district, transport, entertainment, and comprehensive area. Third, our
frequency-domain traffic spectrum analysis suggests that the traffic of any
tower among the 9,600 can be constructed using a linear combination of four
primary components corresponding to human activity behaviors. We believe that
the proposed traffic patterns extraction and modeling methodology, combined
with the empirical analysis on the mobile traffic, pave the way toward a deep
understanding of the traffic patterns of large scale cellular towers in modern
metropolis.Comment: To appear at IMC 201
How enlightened self-interest guided global vaccine sharing benefits all: a modelling study
Background: Despite the consensus that vaccines play an important role in
combating the global spread of infectious diseases, vaccine inequity is still
rampant with deep-seated mentality of self-priority. This study aims to
evaluate the existence and possible outcomes of a more equitable global vaccine
distribution and explore a concrete incentive mechanism that promotes vaccine
equity. Methods: We design a metapopulation epidemiological model that
simultaneously considers global vaccine distribution and human mobility, which
is then calibrated by the number of infections and real-world vaccination
records during COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to July 2021. We explore the
possibility of the enlightened self-interest incentive mechanism, i.e.,
improving one's own epidemic outcomes by sharing vaccines with other countries,
by evaluating the number of infections and deaths under various vaccine sharing
strategies using the proposed model. To understand how these strategies affect
the national interests, we distinguish the imported and local cases for further
cost-benefit analyses that rationalize the enlightened self-interest incentive
mechanism behind vaccine sharing. ...Comment: Accepted by Journal of Global Healt
Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab and baricitinib among patients hospitalized for COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Introduction: Tocilizumab and baricitinib are recommended treatment options for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory response; however, there is a lack of systematic review directly evaluating their efficacy and safety.Objective: This review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab and baricitinib in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Methods: Relevant databases were searched for studies that compared the effect or safety of baricitinib or tocilizumab in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The mortality was the main outcome. The hospital length of stay or adverse drug reactions were taken into consideration as secondary endpoints. The analyses were performed in Revman 5.3 or Stata 16.0. The protocol and analysis plan were pre-registered in PROSPERO, with the registration number CRD42023408219.Results: In total, 10 studies with 2,517 patients were included. The overall pooled data demonstrated that, there was no statistically significant difference in the 28-day mortality rate and the hospital length of stay between the tocilizumab and baricitinib (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.80β1.51, p = 0.57; OR = β0.68, 95% CI = β2.24β0.87, p = 0.39). The adverse reactions including secondary infection rate, thrombotic and bleeding events, and acute liver injury of tocilizumab were significantly higher than that of baricitinib. (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.18β1.88, p < 0.001,OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.11β2.08, p = 0.009; OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.11β2.08, p = 0.009; OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.49β3.35, p < 0.001).Conclusion: In patients hospitalized with COVID-19, no discernible difference in therapeutic efficacy was observed between tocilizumab and baricitinib; however, the group treated with baricitinib demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of adverse effects
Partial preservation of the normal thyroid gland based on tumor diameter may be possible in small medullary thyroid carcinoma: a two-center 15-year retrospective study
BackgroundAt present, there are some controversies in the formulation of surgical protocol for small medullary thyroid carcinoma(s-MTC). We wanted to explore the feasibility of normal thyroid gland retention in small medullary thyroid carcinoma based on different tumor diameters and its prognostic impact on the tumor.MethodsThe data of patients with stage T1 MTC treated at Tianjin Cancer Hospital and Sichuan Cancer Hospital from 2006 to 2021 were analyzed. The tumor diameters of 0.5 cm and 1.0 cm were used as dividing points. The outcomes were tumor recurrence, metastasis, or patient death. Survival was estimated by the KapanβMeier curve.ResultsA total of 121 T1 s-MTC patients were included, including 55 with total thyroidectomy (TT) and 66 with subthyroidectomy (Sub-TT). There were eleven cases of tumor recurrence and metastasis, and four patients died. When the tumor diameter was 1.0 cm as the cut-off point, tumor diameter (p = 0.010), TT (p = 0.028), unilateral and bilateral type (p = 0.009), and TNM staging (p = 0.007) had significant effects on progression-free survival (PFS). The tumor diameter, unilateral and bilateral type, and TT were risk factors for the prognosis of T1 MTC (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe tumor diameter of 1.0 cm can be used as a cut-off point for stage T1 MTC. Alt-hough there was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between T1a and T1b in patients, tumor diameter significantly influenced PFS. TT is not necessary for patients with sporadic MTC with T1a
Genetic Diversity and Phylogeny of Antagonistic Bacteria against Phytophthora nicotianae Isolated from Tobacco Rhizosphere
The genetic diversity of antagonistic bacteria from the tobacco rhizosphere was examined by BOXAIR-PCR, 16S-RFLP, 16S rRNA sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis methods. These studies revealed that 4.01% of the 6652 tested had some inhibitory activity against Phytophthora nicotianae. BOXAIR-PCR analysis revealed 35 distinct amplimers aligning at a 91% similarity level, reflecting a high degree of genotypic diversity among the antagonistic bacteria. A total of 25 16S-RFLP patterns were identified representing over 33 species from 17 different genera. Our results also found a significant amount of bacterial diversity among the antagonistic bacteria compared to other published reports. For the first time; Delftia tsuruhatensis, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Advenella incenata, Bacillus altitudinis, Kocuria palustris, Bacillus licheniformis, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Myroides odoratimimus are reported to display antagonistic activity towards Phytophthora nicotianae. Furthermore, the majority (75%) of the isolates assayed for antagonistic activity were Gram-positives compared to only 25% that were Gram-negative bacteria
A cross-cultural study of domestic luminous environment in the United Kingdom and Japan
Abstract not available
Methylprednisolone as Adjunct to Endovascular Thrombectomy for Large-Vessel Occlusion Stroke
Importance
It is uncertain whether intravenous methylprednisolone improves outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion (LVO) undergoing endovascular thrombectomy.
Objective
To assess the efficacy and adverse events of adjunctive intravenous low-dose methylprednisolone to endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke secondary to LVO.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was implemented at 82 hospitals in China, enrolling 1680 patients with stroke and proximal intracranial LVO presenting within 24 hours of time last known to be well. Recruitment took place between February 9, 2022, and June 30, 2023, with a final follow-up on September 30, 2023.InterventionsEligible patients were randomly assigned to intravenous methylprednisolone (n = 839) at 2 mg/kg/d or placebo (n = 841) for 3 days adjunctive to endovascular thrombectomy.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary efficacy outcome was disability level at 90 days as measured by the overall distribution of the modified Rankin Scale scores (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). The primary safety outcomes included mortality at 90 days and the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 hours.
Results
Among 1680 patients randomized (median age, 69 years; 727 female [43.3%]), 1673 (99.6%) completed the trial. The median 90-day modified Rankin Scale score was 3 (IQR, 1-5) in the methylprednisolone group vs 3 (IQR, 1-6) in the placebo group (adjusted generalized odds ratio for a lower level of disability, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.96-1.25]; P = .17). In the methylprednisolone group, there was a lower mortality rate (23.2% vs 28.5%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.98]; P = .03) and a lower rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (8.6% vs 11.7%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.55-0.99]; P = .04) compared with placebo.
Conclusions and Relevance
Among patients with acute ischemic stroke due to LVO undergoing endovascular thrombectomy, adjunctive methylprednisolone added to endovascular thrombectomy did not significantly improve the degree of overall disability.Trial RegistrationChiCTR.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR210005172
A Bimodal Model to Estimate Dynamic Metropolitan Population by Mobile Phone Data
Accurate, real-time and fine-spatial population distribution is crucial for urban planning, government management, and advertisement promotion. Limited by technics and tools, we rely on the census to obtain this information in the past, which is coarse and costly. The popularity of mobile phones gives us a new opportunity to investigate population estimation. However, real-time and accurate population estimation is still a challenging problem because of the coarse localization and complicated user behaviors. With the help of the passively collected human mobility and locations from the mobile networks including call detail records and mobility management signals, we develop a bimodal model beyond the prior work to better estimate real-time population distribution at metropolitan scales. We discuss how the estimation interval, space granularity, and data type will influence the estimation accuracy, and find the data collected from the mobility management signals with the 30 min estimation interval performs better which reduces the population estimation error by 30% in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). These results show us the great potential of using bimodal model and mobile phone data to estimate real-time population distribution
A systematic review involving 11,187 participants evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on anxiety and depression in pregnant women
Background COVID-19 has started to spread within China since the end of December 2019. As a special population, the pregnant and delivery women maybe influenced both in physical and psychological aspects. The meta-analysis was conducted about mental health in pregnant and delivery women. Methods We searched both MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library in English and CBM, CNKI, WANFANG and CSSCI in Chinese to find literature from December 2019 to 31 July 2020 related to COVID-19 and mental health in patient with pregnancy and delivery, among which results such as comments, letters, reviews and case reports were excluded. The prevalence of anxiety and depression in the population was synthesized and discussed. Results A total of 11,187 subjects were included in 15 studies. Random effect model is used to account for the data by Revman 5.2. The results showed that the prevalence of depression was 30% (95% CI: 0.23β0.37), the prevalence of anxiety was 34% (95% CI: 0.26β0.43) and prevalence of both anxiety and depression was 18% (95% CI: 0.09β0.29). The prevalence of anxiety (OR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.39β3.31, Zβ=β3.47, p=.0005), depression (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.07β3.56, Zβ=β2.19, p=.03) were higher than that of controls. Significant heterogeneity was detected across studies regarding these prevalence estimates. Subgroup analysis was taken according to assessment tools, and sensitivity analysis was done to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Conclusions The higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, both depression and anxiety in women with pregnancy and delivery during COVID-19 pandemic although the significant heterogeneity detected in studies. We must interpret the results with caution and also put attention to this result. As the epidemic is ongoing, it is vital to set up a comprehensive crisis prevention system
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