Screening for health risks: A social science perspective

Health screening promises to reduce risks to individuals via probabilistic sifting of populations for medical conditions. The categorisation and selection of 'conditions' such as cardiovascular events, dementia and depression for screening itself requires prior interpretive labour which usually remains unexamined. Screening systems can take diverse organisational forms and varying relationships to health status, as when purported disease precursors, for example 'pre-cancerous' polyps, or supposed risk factors, such as high cholesterol themselves, become targets for screening. Screening at best yields small, although not necessarily unworthwhile, net population health gains. It also creates new risks, leaving some individuals worse-off than if they had been left alone. The difficulties associated with attempting to measure small net gains through randomised controlled trials are sometimes underestimated. Despite endemic doubts about its clinical utility, bibliometric analysis of published papers shows that responses to health risks are coming to be increasingly thought about in terms of screening. This shift is superimposed on a strengthening tendency to view health through the lens of risk. It merits further scrutiny as a societal phenomenon

Modification of the simple mass balance equation for calculation of critical loads of acidity.

Over the last few years, the simple mass balance equation for the calculation of critical loads of acidity has been gradually modified as the underlying critical load concepts have developed and as problems with particular forms of the equation have been identified, through application in particular countries. The first major update of the equation took place following a workshop held in Vienna, Austria (Hojesky et al. 1993). The workshop was held to discuss problems which had been identified when the then current form of the equation was applied in countries with high rainfall. The problems had largely arisen because of simplifications and assumptions incorporated into the early formulation of the equation. The equation was reformulated to overcome the problems identified at the workshop. However, further problems were identified when the reformulated equation was applied in the UK in situations with a combination of high rainfall, large marine inputs and widespread occurrence of organic soils. A small workshop was, therefore held in Grange-over-Sands, UK in late 1993 to dicuss the problems and to further re-evaluate the equation. The problems had arisen in the UK because of simplifications and assumptions made in the formulation concerning, in particular, cation leaching and uptake. As a result, a more rigorous treatment of these variables was incorporated into the equation. The reformulation of the equation, as derived at the September 1993 workshop is described below

Routine data linkage to identify and monitor diabetes in clozapine-treated patients with schizophrenia

No abstract available

The effects of H2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 treatments on the chemistry of soil drainage water and pine seedlings in forest soil microcosms

International audienceAn experiment comparing effects of sulphuric acid and reduced N deposition on soil water quality and on chemical and physical growth indicators for forest ecosystems is described. Six H2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 treatment loads, from 0 ? 44 and 0 ? 25 kmolc ha-1 yr-1, respectively, were applied to outdoor microcosms of Pinus sylvestris seedlings in 3 acid to intermediate upland soils (calc-silicate, quartzite and granite) for 2 years. Different soil types responded similarly to H2SO4 loads, resulting in decreased leachate pH, but differently to reduced N inputs. In microcosms of calc-silicate soil, nitrification of NH4 resulted in lower pH and higher cation leaching than in acid treatments. By contrast, in quartzite and granite soils, (NH4)2SO4 promoted direct cation leaching, although leachate pH increased. The results highlighted the importance of soil composition on the nature of the cations leached, the SO4 adsorption capacities and microbial N transformations. Greater seedling growth on calc-silicate soils under both treatment types was related to sustained nutrient availability. Reductions in foliar P and Mg with higher N treatments were observed for seedlings in the calc-silicate soil. There were few treatment effects on quartzite and granite microcosm tree seedlings since P limitation precluded seedling growth responses to treatments. Hence, any benefits of N deposition to seedlings on quartzite and granite soils appeared limited by availability of co-nutrients, exacerbated by rapid depletion of soil exchangeable base cations. Keywords: acidification, manipulation, nitrogen, ammonium, deposition, soil, drainage, pine, microcosms, fores

Diseño de un instrumento de caracterización de rasgos de personalidad en agresores sexuales

Especial InterésEl objetivo del instrumento es brindar una medida de los rasgos de personalidad predominantes en los agresores sexuales. Gracias a la revisión teórica y empírica, se identificó que se encuentran similitudes en sus rasgos de personalidad, a partir de los cuales se proponen 4 rasgos principales: Narcisista, Obsesivo Compulsivo, Antisocial y Límite de la personalidad. El cuestionario está compuesto por 35 ítems, de tipo dicotómico, que definen los 4 rasgos mencionados, dirigido a población penitenciaria condenada por delito de Agresión Sexual.RESUMEN 1. JUSTIFICACIÓN 2. MARCO LEGAL 3. MARCO ÉTICO 4. OBJETIVOS 5. PRODUCTO VISIBLE 6. ESTUDIO DE MERCADEO 7. El PRODUCTO RESULTADOS DISCUSIÓNPregradoPsicólog

Using Variable-Rate Alerting to Counter Boredom in Human Supervisory Control

A low task load, long duration experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of cyclical attention switching strategies on operator performance in supervisory domains. The impetus for such a study stems from the lack of prior work to improve human-system performance in low task load supervisory domains through the use of design interventions. In this study, a design intervention in the form of auditory alerts is introduced and the effects of the alerts are examined. The test bed consists of a video game-like simulation environment, which allows a single operator the ability to supervise multiple unmanned vehicles. Each participant in the study completed two different four hour sessions, with and without the alerts. The results suggest that the alerts can be useful for operators who are distracted for a considerable amount of time, but that the alerts may not be appropriate for operators who are able to sustain directed attention for prolonged periods.United States. Office of Naval Researc

Obesity, Waist Circumference, Weight Change, and Risk of Incident Psoriasis: Prospective Data from the HUNT Study.

Although psoriasis has been associated with obesity, there are few prospective studies with objective measures. We prospectively examined the effect of body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and 10-year weight change on the risk of developing psoriasis among 33,734 people in the population-based Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (i.e., HUNT), Norway. During follow-up, 369 incident psoriasis cases occurred. Relative risk (RR) of psoriasis was estimated by Cox regression. One standard deviation higher body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio gave RRs of 1.22 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11-1.34), 1.26 (95% CI = 1.15-1.39), and 1.18 (95% CI = 1.07-1.31), respectively. Compared with normal weight participants, obese people had an RR of 1.87 (95% CI = 1.38-2.52), whereas comparing the fourth with the first quartile of waist circumference gave an RR of 1.95 (95% CI = 1.46-2.61). One standard deviation higher weight change gave an RR of 1.20 (95% CI = 1.07-1.35), and people who increased their body weight by 10 kg or more had an RR of 1.72 (95% CI = 1.15-2.58) compared with being weight stable. In conclusion, obesity and high abdominal fat mass doubles the risk of psoriasis, and long-term weight gain substantially increases psoriasis risk. Preventing weight gain and promoting maintenance of a normal body weight could reduce incidence of psoriasis

Classifying atopic dermatitis: protocol for a systematic review of subtypes (phenotypes) and associated characteristics.

INTRODUCTION: Atopic dermatitis is a complex disease with differing clinical presentations. Many attempts have been made to identify uniform subtypes, or phenotypes, of atopic dermatitis in order to identify different aetiologies, improve diagnosis, estimate more accurate clinical prognoses, inform treatment andmanagement or predict treatment efficacy andeffectiveness. However, no consensus yet exists on exactly what defines these phenotypes or how many there are and whether they are genuine or statistical artefacts. This review aims to identify previously reported phenotypes of atopic dermatitis, the features used to define them and any characteristics or clinical outcomes significantly associated with them. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search Ovid Embase, Ovid MEDLINE and Web of Science from inception to the latest available date at the time of the search for studies attempting to classify atopic dermatitis in humans using any cross-sectional or longitudinal epidemiological or interventional design. Primary outcomes are atopic dermatitis phenotypes, features used to define them and characteristics associated with them in subsequent analyses. A secondary outcome is the methodological approach used to derive them. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts for inclusion, extract data and assess study quality. We will present the results of this review descriptively and with frequencies where possible. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for this study as it is a systematic review. We will report results from this systematic review in a peer-reviewed journal. The main value of this study will be to inform further research. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018087500

Simulation of a Machine Learning Based Controller for a Fixed-Wing UAV with Distributed Sensors

Recent research suggests that the information obtained from arrays of sensors distributed on the wing of a fixed-wing small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can provide information not available to conventional sensor suites. These arrays of sensors are capable of sensing the flow around the aircraft and it has been indicated that they could be a potential tool to improve flight control and overall flight performance. However, more work needs to be carried out to fully exploit the potential of these sensors for flight control. This work presents a 3 degrees-of-freedom longitudinal flight dynamics and control simulation model of a small fixed-wing UAV. Experimental readings of an array of pressure and strain sensors distributed across the wing were integrated in the model. This study investigated the feasibility of using machine learning to control airspeed of the UAV using the readings from the sensing array, and looked into the sensor layout and its effect on the performance of the controller. It was found that an artificial neural network was able to learn to mimic a conventional airspeed controller using only distributed sensor signals, but showed better performance for controlling changes in airspeed for a constant altitude than holding airspeed during changes in altitude. The neural network could control airspeed using either pressure or strain sensor information, but having both improved robustness to increased levels of turbulence. Results showed that some strain sensors and many pressure sensors signals were not necessary to achieve good controller performance, but that the pressure sensors near the leading edge of the wing were required. Future work will focus on replacing other elements of the flight control system with machine learning elements and investigate the use of reinforcement learning in place of supervised learning.</p