Chronic kidney disease in public renal practices in Queensland, Australia, 2011–2018

Aim: To describe adults with (non-dialysis) chronic kidney disease (CKD) in nine public renal practice sites in the Australian state of Queensland. Methods: 7,060 persons were recruited to a CKD Registry in May 2011 and until start of kidney replacement therapy (KRT), death without KRT or June 2018, for a median period of 3.4 years. Results: The cohort comprised 7,060 persons, 52% males, with a median age of 68 yr; 85% had CKD stages 3A to 5, 45.4% were diabetic, 24.6% had diabetic nephropathy, and 51.7% were obese. Younger persons mostly had glomerulonephritis or genetic renal disease, while older persons mostly had diabetic nephropathy, renovascular disease and multiple diagnoses. Proportions of specific renal diagnoses varied >2-fold across sites. Over the first year, eGFR fell in 24% but was stable or improved in 76%. Over follow up, 10% started KRT, at a median age of 62 yr, most with CKD stages 4 and 5 at consent, while 18.8% died without KRT, at a median age of 80 yr. Indigenous people were younger at consent and more often had diabetes and diabetic kidney disease and had higher incidence rates of KRT. Conclusion: The spectrum of characteristics in CKD patients in renal practices is much broader than represented by the minority who ultimately start KRT. Variation in CKD by causes, age, site and Indigenous status, the prevalence of obesity, relative stability of kidney function in many persons over the short term, and differences between those who KRT and die without KRT are all important to explore

Evaluation of Ensemble Learning for Android Malware Family Identification

Every Android malware sample generally belongs to a specific family that performs a similar set of actions and characteristics. Having the ability to effectively identify Android malware families can assist in addressing the damage caused by malware. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of weighted majority voting, when attempting to identify Android malware families. The results of the comparison between the approach developed in this project and other approaches showed that this approach does perform better than some previous approaches. A comparison was also made between the individual classifiers and the weighted majority voting classifier. This comparison showed that in general k-Nearest Neighbors and ExtraTrees performed the best, with the weighted majority voting model performing slightly behind. The evaluation results show this approach could be a viable way of identifying families of An-droid malware. However, the process of selecting the best features could be improved. In addition to this, the method for calculating weights could also be altered which could improve results as currently there is little variation between each individual weight. Further improvements could also be made by exploring other potential features, such as dynamic features, however, this would come at a cost of time

Evaluation of Ensemble Learning for Android Malware Family Identification

Every Android malware sample generally belongs to a specific family that performs a similar set of actions and characteristics. Having the ability to effectively identify Android malware families can assist in addressing the damage caused by malware. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of weighted majority voting, when attempting to identify Android malware families. The results of the comparison between the approach developed in this project and other approaches showed that this approach does perform better than some previous approaches. A comparison was also made between the individual classifiers and the weighted majority voting classifier. This comparison showed that in general k-Nearest Neighbors and ExtraTrees performed the best, with the weighted majority voting model performing slightly behind. The evaluation results show this approach could be a viable way of identifying families of An-droid malware. However, the process of selecting the best features could be improved. In addition to this, the method for calculating weights could also be altered which could improve results as currently there is little variation between each individual weight. Further improvements could also be made by exploring other potential features, such as dynamic features, however, this would come at a cost of time

Blood pressure management in hypertensive people with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease in Queensland, Australia

High blood pressure is the most significant risk factor for the development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Lowering blood pressure is a goal to prevent CKD progression. This study of adults with CKD who have hypertension aimed to determine blood pressure control rates and the treatment patterns of hypertension and to explore factors associated with control of hypertension.This cross-sectional study included all non-dialysis people with CKD stages 3A to 5 under nephrology care in three public renal clinics in Queensland, who joined the CKD.QLD registry from May 2011 to Dec 2015 and had a history of hypertension. Demographic information, other health conditions, laboratory markers and anti-hypertensive medications in use at consent were extracted from the registry.Among 1814 CKD people in these three sites in the registry who were age ≥ 18 years and had CKD stage 3A to 5, 1750 or 96% had a history of hypertension. Of these, the proportion with BP control t

Black carbon over the South China Sea and in various continental locations in South China

Black carbon (BC) is an important atmospheric constituent as an air pollutant and as a climate forcer. To our knowledge, field measurements of BC have not been reported over the South China Sea. Observations of light-absorption coefficients (sigma(abs)) and BC concentrations by Aethalometer were conducted on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea and at five continental sites in the Pearl River delta (PRD) region, South China, in two periods: 16 May-20 June 2008 in the rainy season and 12 December 2008-8 January 2009 in the dry season. At the oceanic site, the daily average BC concentrations varied from 0.28 to 2.14 mu g m(-3) and variations of BC were small between the two periods (0.67 in the dry season sampling period and 0.54 mu g m(-3) in the rainy season sampling period). Similarly, little difference in BC level was found at a rural site in PRD between the two sampling periods (2.88 and 2.62 mu g m(-3)). At the PRD urban sites, the daily average concentration of BC ranged from 1.56 to 37.9 mu g m(-3), higher in the dry season sampling period (12.31 mu g m(-3)) and lower in the rainy season sampling period (6.17 mu g m(-3)). The observed average sigma(abs) values in rainy vs. dry season sampling periods are 119 vs. 62 Mm(-1) at the PRD urban sites, 29 vs. 26 Mm(-1) at the PRD background site, and 8.4 vs. 7.2 Mm(-1) at the marine site. At urban/suburban PRD sites, BC was observed to have a diurnal pattern of higher concentrations at night and at the urban sites a small peak in the early morning rush hour