Illness in Long-Term Travelers Visiting GeoSentinel Clinics

Length of travel appears to be associated with health risks

Soviet strategy in the Red Sea basin.

http://archive.org/details/sovietstrategyin00nur

Cold case homicides and assigning priority for investigation: a review of available literature

Purpose: The purpose of this scoping literature review was to identify and consolidate all available theories and methods for cold case homicide evaluation, solvability and priority ranking that would serve to guide a broader exploratory study and future research. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the findings of a scoping literature review. The review forms part of a broader exploratory study. The scoping literature review sought to identify reported evidence from the extant literature in identifying and defining key concepts relevant to cold prioritisation. It also sought to identify any knowledge gaps relevant to the scoping review question. Findings: The review suggested that internationally, there is a wide variance and inconsistency in the processes, methods and criteria used by policing agencies to evaluate and prioritise cold cases for investigation. Despite this, there were four themes that could be regarded as [parameters for future cold case research: cold case evaluation and review, prioritisation methods, solvability and prioritisation systems and tools. The review revealed several gaps in the literature. No papers could be found discussing the allocation of individual priority rankings based on any kind of weighted criteria system or model. Further, no information could be found in the available literature on any automated systems, online tools, algorithms, or applications utilised when evaluating or prioritising cases. Research limitations/implications: The research results are limited in that it is possible that relevant extant literature exists that was not discoverable using the scoping review search strategy. Practical implications: The paper is a part of a broader exploratory study that seeks to develop a framework for cold case prioritisation that, in a time where public scrutiny has increased, has increased transparency with clearly articulated criteria for evaluation and process. Originality/value: This paper assimilates the extant literature associated with cold case evaluation and prioritisation and presents a summary of themes and gaps in knowledge that informs future research

Characterisation of oligosaccharides produced on hydrolysis of galactomannan with β-D-mannanase

International audienc

Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) Workflow Analysis

INTRODUCTION: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency Chemical and Biological Technologies Directorate (DTRA CB) has initiated the Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) research and development program. Operational biosurveillance capability gaps were analyzed and the required characteristics of new technology were outlined, the results of which will be described in this contribution. METHODS: Work process flow diagrams, with associated explanations and historical examples, were developed based on in-person, structured interviews with public health and preventative medicine analysts from a variety of Department of Defense (DoD) organizations, and with one organization in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and with a major U.S. city health department. The particular nuanced job characteristics of each organization were documented and subsequently validated with the individual analysts. Additionally, the commonalities across different organizations were described in meta-workflow diagrams and descriptions. RESULTS: Two meta-workflows were evident from the analysis. In the first type, epidemiologists identify and characterize health-impacting events, determine their cause, and determine community-level responses to the event. Analysts of this type monitor information (primarily statistical case information) from syndromic or disease reporting system or other sources to determine whether there are any unusual diseases or clusters of disease outbreaks in the jurisdiction. This workflow involved three consecutive processes: triage, analysis and reporting. Investigation and response processes to disease outbreaks are both parallel and overlapping in many circumstances. In the second meta-workflow type, analysts monitor for a potential health event through text-based sources and data reports within their particular area of responsibility. This surveillance activity is often interspersed with other activities required of their job. They may generate a daily/weekly/monthly report or only report when an event is detected that requires notification/response. There are similar triage, analysis and reporting workflow stages to the first meta-workflow type, but in contrast these analysts are focused on informing leadership and response in the form of policy modification. They are also subject to answering leadership-driven biosurveillance queries. CONCLUSIONS: In these interviews, analysts described the shortcomings of various technologies that they use, or technology features that they wish were available. These can be grouped into the following feature categories: Data: Analysts want rapid access to all relevant data sources, advisories for data that may be relevant to their interests, and availability of information at the appropriate level for their analysis (e.g., output of interpretations from expert analysts instead of raw data). Enhanced search: Analysts would like customization of information based on relevance, selective filtering of sources, prioritization of search topics, and the ability to view other analysts searches. Verification: Analysts want indications of information that has been verified or discarded by other analysts, a trail of information history and uses, and automatic verification (e.g., data quality editing) if possible. Analytics: Analysts want access to forecasting models, services to suggest analysis methods, pointers to other analysts’ expertise, methods, and reports, and tools for “big data” exploitation. Collaboration and communication: Analysts want assistance identifying people who may have needed information, real-time chat, the ability to compare analyses with colleagues, and the ability to shield data, results, or collaborations from selected others. Archival: Analysts want automation to provide lessons learned, methods and outcomes for related events, the ability to automatically improve baselines with analyzed data, and assistance with reporting on interim analytic decisions. The current understanding of the biosurveillance analyst’s functions and processes, based on the results of these interviews, will continue to evolve as further dialog with analysts are combined with results of evaluations during subsequent phases of the new BSVE program