NAISR: A 3D Neural Additive Model for Interpretable Shape Representation

Deep implicit functions (DIFs) have emerged as a powerful paradigm for many computer vision tasks such as 3D shape reconstruction, generation, registration, completion, editing, and understanding. However, given a set of 3D shapes with associated covariates there is at present no shape representation method which allows to precisely represent the shapes while capturing the individual dependencies on each covariate. Such a method would be of high utility to researchers to discover knowledge hidden in a population of shapes. We propose a 3D Neural Additive Model for Interpretable Shape Representation (NAISR) which describes individual shapes by deforming a shape atlas in accordance to the effect of disentangled covariates. Our approach captures shape population trends and allows for patient-specific predictions through shape transfer. NAISR is the first approach to combine the benefits of deep implicit shape representations with an atlas deforming according to specified covariates. Although our driving problem is the construction of an airway atlas, NAISR is a general approach for modeling, representing, and investigating shape populations. We evaluate NAISR with respect to shape reconstruction, shape disentanglement, shape evolution, and shape transfer for the pediatric upper airway. Our experiments demonstrate that NAISR achieves competitive shape reconstruction performance while retaining interpretability.Comment: 20 page

Autoregression as a means of assessing the strength of seasonality in a time series

BACKGROUND: The study of the seasonal variation of disease is receiving increasing attention from health researchers. Available statistical tests for seasonality typically indicate the presence or absence of statistically significant seasonality but do not provide a meaningful measure of its strength. METHODS: We propose the coefficient of determination of the autoregressive regression model fitted to the data ([Image: see text]) as a measure for quantifying the strength of the seasonality. The performance of the proposed statistic is assessed through a simulation study and using two data sets known to demonstrate statistically significant seasonality: atrial fibrillation and asthma hospitalizations in Ontario, Canada. RESULTS: The simulation results showed the power of the [Image: see text] in adequately quantifying the strength of the seasonality of the simulated observations for all models. In the atrial fibrillation and asthma datasets, while the statistical tests such as Bartlett's Kolmogorov-Smirnov (BKS) and Fisher's Kappa support statistical evidence of seasonality for both, the [Image: see text] quantifies the strength of that seasonality. Corroborating the visual evidence that asthma is more conspicuously seasonal than atrial fibrillation, the calculated [Image: see text] for atrial fibrillation indicates a weak to moderate seasonality ([Image: see text] = 0.44, 0.28 and 0.45 for both genders, males and females respectively), whereas for asthma, it indicates a strong seasonality ([Image: see text] = 0.82, 0.78 and 0.82 for both genders, male and female respectively). CONCLUSIONS: For the purposes of health services research, evidence of the statistical presence of seasonality is insufficient to determine the etiologic, clinical and policy relevance of findings. Measurement of the strength of the seasonal effect, as can be determined using the [Image: see text] technique, is also important in order to provide a robust sense of seasonality

A population based time series analysis of asthma hospitalisations in Ontario, Canada: 1988 to 2000

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common yet incompletely understood health problem associated with a high morbidity burden. A wide variety of seasonally variable environmental stimuli such as viruses and air pollution are believed to influence asthma morbidity. This study set out to examine the seasonal patterns of asthma hospitalisations in relation to age and gender for the province of Ontario over a period of 12 years. METHODS: A retrospective, population-based study design was used to assess temporal patterns in hospitalisations for asthma from April 1, 1988 to March 31, 2000. Approximately 14 million residents of Ontario eligible for universal healthcare coverage during this time were included for analysis. Time series analyses were conducted on monthly aggregations of hospitalisations. RESULTS: There is strong evidence of an autumn peak and summer trough seasonal pattern occurring every year over the 12-year period (Fisher-Kappa (FK) = 23.93, p > 0.01; Bartlett Kolmogorov Smirnov (BKS) = 0.459, p < 0.01). This pattern was observed in both sexes. However, young males (0–4 years) were hospitalised at two to three times the rate of females of the same age. Rates were much lower in the older age groups. A downward trend in asthma hospitalisations was observed in the total population over the twelve-year period (beta = -0.980, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: A clear and consistent seasonal pattern was observed in this study for asthma hospitalisations. These findings have important implications for the development of effective management and prevention strategies

PLEASANT: Preventing and Lessening Exacerbations of Asthma in School-age children Associated with a New Term - a cluster randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Asthma episodes and deaths are known to be seasonal. A number of reports have shown peaks in asthma episodes in school-aged children associated with the return to school following the summer vacation. A fall in prescription collection in the month of August has been observed, and was associated with an increase in the number of unscheduled contacts after the return to school in September. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of the study was to assess whether or not a NHS-delivered public health intervention reduces the September peak in unscheduled medical contacts. DESIGN: Cluster randomised trial, with the unit of randomisation being 142 NHS general practices, and trial-based economic evaluation. SETTING: Primary care. INTERVENTION: A letter sent (n = 70 practices) in July from their general practitioner (GP) to parents/carers of school-aged children with asthma to remind them of the importance of taking their medication, and to ensure that they have sufficient medication prior to the start of the new school year in September. The control group received usual care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was the proportion of children aged 5-16 years who had an unscheduled medical contact in September 2013. Supporting end points included the proportion of children who collected prescriptions in August 2013 and unscheduled contacts through the following 12 months. Economic end points were quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained and costs from an NHS and Personal Social Services perspective. RESULTS: There is no evidence of effect in terms of unscheduled contacts in September. Among children aged 5-16 years, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.09 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96 to 1.25] against the intervention. The intervention did increase the proportion of children collecting a prescription in August (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.64) as well as scheduled contacts in the same month (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.52). For the wider time intervals (September-December 2013 and September-August 2014), there is weak evidence of the intervention reducing unscheduled contacts. The intervention did not reduce unscheduled care in September, although it succeeded in increasing the proportion of children collecting prescriptions in August as well as having scheduled contacts in the same month. These unscheduled contacts in September could be a result of the intervention, as GPs may have wanted to see patients before issuing a prescription. The economic analysis estimated a high probability that the intervention was cost-saving, for baseline-adjusted costs, across both base-case and sensitivity analyses. There was no increase in QALYs. LIMITATION: The use of routine data led to uncertainty in the coding of medical contacts. The uncertainty was mitigated by advice from a GP adjudication panel. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention did not reduce unscheduled care in September, although it succeeded in increasing the proportion of children both collecting prescriptions and having scheduled contacts in August. After September there is weak evidence in favour of the intervention. The intervention had a favourable impact on costs but did not demonstrate any impact on QALYs. The results of the trial indicate that further work is required on assessing and understanding adherence, both in terms of using routine data to make quantitative assessments, and through additional qualitative interviews with key stakeholders such as practice nurses, GPs and a wider group of children with asthma. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN03000938. FUNDING DETAILS: This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 20, No. 93. See the HTA programme website for further project information

Vitamin D as an Adjunctive Therapy in Asthma. Part 1: A Review of Potential Mechanisms

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is highly prevalent worldwide. The classical role for vitamin D is to regulate calcium absorption form the gastrointestinal tract and influence bone health. Recently vitamin D receptors and vitamin D metabolic enzymes have been discovered in numerous sites systemically supporting diverse extra-skeletal roles of vitamin D, for example in asthmatic disease. Further, VDD and asthma share several common risk factors including high latitude, winter season, industrialization, poor diet, obesity, and dark skin pigmentation. Vitamin D has been demonstrated to possess potent immunomodulatory effects, including effects on T cells and B cells as well as increasing production of antimicrobial peptides (e.g. cathelicidin). This immunomodulation may lead to asthma specific clinical benefits in terms of decreased bacterial/viral infections, altered airway smooth muscle-remodeling and efunction as well as modulation of response to standard anti-asthma therapy (e.g. glucocorticoids and immunotherapy). Thus, vitamin D and its deficiency have a number of biological effects that are potentially important in altering the course of disease pathogenesis and severity in asthma. The purpose of this first of a two-part review is to review potential mechanisms whereby altering vitamin D status may influence asthmatic disease

Comparing Notes: Recording and Criticism

This chapter charts the ways in which recording has changed the nature of music criticism. It both provides an overview of the history of recording and music criticism, from the advent of Edison’s Phonograph to the present day, and examines the issues arising from this new technology and the consequent transformation of critical thought and practice

Asthma Prevalence and Severity in Arab American Communities in the Detroit Area, Michigan

Immigrant populations provide a unique intersection of cultural and environmental risk factors implicated in asthma etiology. This study focuses on asthma prevalence and severity in 600 Arab American households in metro Detroit, the largest immigrant reception zone for Arab Americans in North America. The survey method introduced a number of novel features: (a) a ranking scheme for the key environmental risk factors for asthma was used to derive an aggregated environmental risk index (ERI) for each household, and (b) an aggregate measure of asthma severity based on symptom frequency and intensity. Environmental risk factors and surrogates for socioeconomic status (SES) were found to be stronger predictors of asthma prevalence than asthma severity, while demographic variables such as English fluency and birth in the United States were better predictors of asthma severity than asthma prevalence. These results suggest that SES variables may be more reflective of environmental exposures in communities involved in this study, while English fluency and birth in the United States may be linked to health care access and utilization behavior that can influence the asthma management. We also found a significant relationship between asthma prevalence and degree of acculturation. Asthma prevalence was highest among moderately acculturated immigrants compared with new immigrants and those who were well acculturated, suggesting that among Arab Americans in the Detroit area, risk factors associated with new immigrant status are replaced by “western” risk factors as the population becomes more acculturated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44945/1/10903_2005_Article_3673.pd

Wider Still and Wider: British Music Criticism since the Second World War

This chapter provides the first historical examination of music criticism in Britain since the Second World War. In the process, it also challenges the simplistic prevailing view of this being a period of decline from a golden age in music criticism