Analytics for Power Grid Distribution Reliability in New York City

We summarize the first major effort to use analytics for preemptive maintenance and repair of an electrical distribution network. This is a large-scale multiyear effort between scientists and students at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and engineers from the Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Con Edison), which operates the world’s oldest and largest underground electrical system. Con Edison’s preemptive maintenance programs are less than a decade old and are made more effective with the use of analytics developing alongside them. Some of the data we used for our projects are historical records dating as far back as the 1880s, and some of the data are free-text documents typed by Con Edison dispatchers. The operational goals of this work are to assist with Con Edison’s preemptive inspection and repair program and its vented-cover replacement program. This has a continuing impact on the public safety, operating costs, and reliability of electrical service in New York City

UK-born Pakistani-origin infants are relatively more adipose than white British infants: findings from 8704 mother-offspring pairs in the Born-in-Bradford prospective birth cohort

Background: Previous studies have shown markedly lower birth weight among infants of South Asian origin compared with those of White European origin. Whether such differences mask greater adiposity in South Asian infants and whether they persist across generations in contemporary UK populations is unclear. Our aim was to compare birth weight, skinfold thickness and cord leptin between Pakistani and White British infants and to investigate the explanatory factors, including parental and grandparental birthplace. Methods: We examined the differences in birth weight and skinfold thickness between 4649 Pakistani and 4055 White British infants born at term in the same UK maternity unit and compared cord leptin in a subgroup of 775 Pakistani and 612 White British infants. Results: Pakistani infants were lighter (adjusted mean difference −234 g 95% CI −258 to −210) and were smaller in both subscapular and triceps skinfold measurements. The differences for subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness (mean z-score difference −0.27 95% CI −0.34 to −0.20 and −0.23 95% CI −0.30 to −0.16, respectively) were smaller than the difference in birth weight (mean z-score difference −0.52 95% CI −0.58 to −0.47) and attenuated to the null with adjustment for birth weight (0.03 95% CI −0.03 to 0.09 and −0.01 95% CI −0.08 to 0.05, respectively). Cord leptin concentration (indicator of fat mass) was similar in Pakistani and White British infants without adjustment for birth weight, but with adjustment became 30% higher (95% CI 17% to 44%) among Pakistani infants compared with White British infants. The magnitudes of difference did not differ by generation. Conclusions: Despite being markedly lighter, Pakistani infants had similar skinfold thicknesses and greater total fat mass, as indicated by cord leptin, for a given birth weight than White British infants. Any efforts to reduce ethnic inequalities in birth weight need to consider differences in adiposity and the possibility that increasing birth weight in South Asian infants might inadvertently worsen health by increasing relative adiposity

Whitefield News

File includes: January 2017 Volume 4, Issue 7 February 2017 Volume 4, Issue 8 March 2017 Volume 4, Issue 9 April 2017 Volume 4, Issue 10 May 2017 Volume 4, Issue 11 June 2017 Volume 4, Issue 12 July 2017 Volume 5, Issue 1 August 2017 Volume 5, Issue 2 September 2017 Volume 5, Issue 3 October 2017 Volume 5, Issue 4 November 2017 Volume 5, Issue 5 December 2017 Volume 5, Issue

Whitefield News

File includes: January 2016 Volume 3, Issue 7 February 2016 Volume 3, Issue 8 March 2016 Volume 3, Issue 9 April 2016 Volume 3, Issue 10 May 2016 Volume 3, Issue 11 June 2016 Volume 3, Issue 12 July 2016 Volume 4, Issue 1 August 2016 Volume 4, Issue 2 September 2016, Volume 4, Issue 3 October 2016, Volume 4, Issue 4 November 2016, Volume 4, Issue 5 December 2016, Volume 4, Issue

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Eye health indicators for universal health coverage: results of a global expert prioritisation process.

INTRODUCTION: In its recent World Report on Vision, the WHO called for an updated approach to monitor eye health as part of universal health coverage (UHC). This project sought to develop a consensus among eye health experts from all world regions to produce a menu of indicators for countries to monitor eye health within UHC. METHODS: We reviewed the literature to create a long-list of indicators aligned to the conceptual framework for monitoring outlined in WHO's World Report on Vision. We recruited a panel of 72 global eye health experts (40% women) to participate in a two-round, online prioritisation exercise. Two-hundred indicators were presented in Round 1 and participants prioritised each on a 4-point Likert scale. The highest-ranked 95 were presented in Round 2 and were (1) scored against four criteria (feasible, actionable, reliable and internationally comparable) and (2) ranked according to their suitability as a 'core' indicator for collection by all countries. The top 30 indicators ranked by these two parameters were then used as the basis for the steering group to develop a final menu. RESULTS: The menu consists of 22 indicators, including 7 core indicators, that represent important concepts in eye health for 2020 and beyond, and are considered feasible, actionable, reliable and internationally comparable. CONCLUSION: We believe this list can inform the development of new national eye health monitoring frameworks, monitor progress on key challenges to eye health and be considered in broader UHC monitoring indices at national and international levels

Differences in Muscle Protein Synthesis and Anabolic Signaling in the Postabsorptive State and in Response to Food in 65–80 Year Old Men and Women

Women have less muscle than men but lose it more slowly during aging. To discover potential underlying mechanism(s) for this we evaluated the muscle protein synthesis process in postabsorptive conditions and during feeding in twenty-nine 65–80 year old men (n = 13) and women (n = 16). We discovered that the basal concentration of phosphorylated eEF2Thr56 was ∼40% less (P<0.05) and the basal rate of MPS was ∼30% greater (P = 0.02) in women than in men; the basal concentrations of muscle phosphorylated AktThr308, p70s6kThr389, eIF4ESer209, and eIF4E-BP1Thr37/46 were not different between the sexes. Feeding increased (P<0.05) AktThr308 and p70s6kThr389 phosphorylation to the same extent in men and women but increased (P<0.05) the phosphorylation of eIF4ESer209 and eIF4E-BP1Thr37/46 in men only. Accordingly, feeding increased MPS in men (P<0.01) but not in women. The postabsorptive muscle mRNA concentrations for myoD and myostatin were not different between sexes; feeding doubled myoD mRNA (P<0.05) and halved that of myostatin (P<0.05) in both sexes. Thus, there is sexual dimorphism in MPS and its control in older adults; a greater basal rate of MPS, operating over most of the day may partially explain the slower loss of muscle in older women

Differences in Muscle Protein Synthesis and Anabolic Signaling in the Postabsorptive State and in Response to Food in 65–80 Year Old Men and Women

Women have less muscle than men but lose it more slowly during aging. To discover potential underlying mechanism(s) for this we evaluated the muscle protein synthesis process in postabsorptive conditions and during feeding in twenty-nine 65–80 year old men (n = 13) and women (n = 16). We discovered that the basal concentration of phosphorylated eEF2Thr56 was ∼40% less (P<0.05) and the basal rate of MPS was ∼30% greater (P = 0.02) in women than in men; the basal concentrations of muscle phosphorylated AktThr308, p70s6kThr389, eIF4ESer209, and eIF4E-BP1Thr37/46 were not different between the sexes. Feeding increased (P<0.05) AktThr308 and p70s6kThr389 phosphorylation to the same extent in men and women but increased (P<0.05) the phosphorylation of eIF4ESer209 and eIF4E-BP1Thr37/46 in men only. Accordingly, feeding increased MPS in men (P<0.01) but not in women. The postabsorptive muscle mRNA concentrations for myoD and myostatin were not different between sexes; feeding doubled myoD mRNA (P<0.05) and halved that of myostatin (P<0.05) in both sexes. Thus, there is sexual dimorphism in MPS and its control in older adults; a greater basal rate of MPS, operating over most of the day may partially explain the slower loss of muscle in older women