A comparison of spatio-temporal disease mapping approaches including an application to ischaemic heart disease in New South Wales, Australia

© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The field of spatio-temporal modelling has witnessed a recent surge as a result of developments in computational power and increased data collection. These developments allow analysts to model the evolution of health outcomes in both space and time simultaneously. This paper models the trends in ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in New South Wales, Australia over an eight-year period between 2006 and 2013. A number of spatio-temporal models are considered, and we propose a novel method for determining the goodness-of-fit for these models by outlining a spatio-temporal extension of the Moran’s I statistic. We identify an overall decrease in the rates of IHD, but note that the extent of this health improvement varies across the state. In particular, we identified a number of remote areas in the north and west of the state where the risk stayed constant or even increased slightly

Spatial regression with covariate measurement error: A semiparametric approach

© 2016, The International Biometric Society. Spatial data have become increasingly common in epidemiology and public health research thanks to advances in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology. In health research, for example, it is common for epidemiologists to incorporate geographically indexed data into their studies. In practice, however, the spatially defined covariates are often measured with error. Naive estimators of regression coefficients are attenuated if measurement error is ignored. Moreover, the classical measurement error theory is inapplicable in the context of spatial modeling because of the presence of spatial correlation among the observations. We propose a semiparametric regression approach to obtain bias-corrected estimates of regression parameters and derive their large sample properties. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method through simulation studies and illustrate using data on Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD). Both simulation and practical application demonstrate that the proposed method can be effective in practice

Estimating metabolic rate for butadiene at steady state using a Bayesian physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model

In a study of 133 volunteer subjects, demographic, physiologic and pharmacokinetic data through exposure to 1,3-Butadiene (BD) were collected in order to estimate the percentage of BD concentration metabolized at steady state, and to determine whether this percentage varies across gender, racial, and age groups. During the 20 min of continuous exposure to 2 parts per million (ppm) of BD, five measurements of exhaled concentration were made on each subject. In the following 40 min washout period, another five measurements were collected. A Bayesian hierarchical compartmental physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model (PKPB) was used. Using prior information on the model parameters, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation was conducted to obtain posterior distributions. The overall estimate of the mean percent of BD metabolized at steady state was 12.7% (95% credible interval: 7.7–17.8%). There was no significant difference in gender with males having a mean of 13.5%, and females 12.3%. Among the racial groups, Hispanic (13.9%), White (13.0%), Asian (12.1%), and Black (10.9%), the significant difference came from the difference between Black and Hispanic with a 95% credible interval from −5.63 to −0.30%. Those older than 30 years had a mean of 12.2% versus 12.9% for the younger group; although this was not a statistically significant difference. Given a constant inhalation input of 2 ppm, at steady state, the overall mean exhaled concentrationwas estimated to be 1.75ppm (95% credible interval: 1.64–1.84).An equivalent parameter, first-order metabolic rate constant, was also estimated and found to be consistent with the percent of BD metabolized at steady state across gender, race, and age strata

A novel mixed-method approach to assess children's sedentary behaviours

Purpose: Accurately measuring sedentary behavior (SB) in children is challenging by virtue of its complex nature. While self-report questionnaires are susceptible to recall errors, accelerometer data lacks contextual information. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of using accelerometry combined with the Digitising Children’s Data Collection (DCDC) for Health application (app), to capture SB comprehensively. Methods: 74 children (9–10 years old) wore ActiGraph GT9X accelerometers for 7 days. Each received a SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab4 (SM-T230) tablet, with the DCDC app installed and a specially designed sedentary behavior study downloaded. The app uses four data collection tools: 1) Questionnaire, 2) Take a photograph, 3) Draw a picture, and 4) Record my voice. Children self-reported their SB daily. Accelerometer data were analyzed using R-package GGIR. App data were downloaded and individual participant profiles created. SBs reported were grouped into categories and reported as frequencies. Results: Participants spent, on average, 629 min (i.e., 73% of their waking time) sedentary. App data revealed most of their out-of-school SB consisted of screen time (112 photos, 114 drawings, and screen time mentioned 135 times during voice recordings). Playing with toys, reading, arts and crafts, and homework were also reported across all four data capturing tools on the app. On an individual level, data from the app often explained irregular patterns in physical activity and SB observed in accelerometer data. Conclusion: This mixed methods approach to assessing SB adds context to accelerometer data, providing researchers with information needed for intervention design

Validating the Sedentary Sphere method in children: does wrist or accelerometer brand matter?

This study aimed to validate the Sedentary Sphere posture classification method from wrist-worn accelerometers in children. Twenty-seven 9-10-year-old children wore ActiGraph GT9X (AG) and GENEActiv (GA) accelerometers on both wrists, and activPAL on the thigh while completing prescribed activities: five sedentary activities, standing with phone, walking (criterion for all 7: observation) and ten minutes free-living play (criterion: activPAL). In an independent sample, 21 children wore AG and GA accelerometers on the non-dominant wrist and activPAL for two days of free-living. Percent accuracy, pairwise 95% equivalence tests (±10% equivalence zone) and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) analyses were completed. Accuracy was similar, for prescribed activities irrespective of brand (non-dominant wrist: 77%-78%; dominant wrist: 79%). Posture estimates were equivalent between wrists within brand (±6%, ICC>0.81, lower 95% CI>0.75), between brands worn on the same wrist (±5%, ICC>0.84, lower 95% CI>0.80) and between brands worn on opposing wrists (±6%, ICC>0.78, lower 95% CI>0.72). Agreement with activPAL during free-living was 77%, but sedentary time was underestimated by 7% (GA) and 10% (AG). The Sedentary Sphere can be used to classify posture from wrist-worn AG and GA accelerometers for group-level estimates in children, but future work is needed to improve the algorithm for better individual-level results

Neural Activity Patterns in Response to Interspecific and Intraspecific Variation in Mating Calls in the Túngara Frog

During mate choice, individuals must classify potential mates according to species identity and relative attractiveness. In many species, females do so by evaluating variation in the signals produced by males. Male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) can produce single note calls (whines) and multi-note calls (whine-chucks). While the whine alone is sufficient for species recognition, females greatly prefer the whine-chuck when given a choice.To better understand how the brain responds to variation in male mating signals, we mapped neural activity patterns evoked by interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in túngara frogs by measuring expression of egr-1. We predicted that egr-1 responses to conspecific calls would identify brain regions that are potentially important for species recognition and that at least some of those brain regions would vary in their egr-1 responses to mating calls that vary in attractiveness. We measured egr-1 in the auditory brainstem and its forebrain targets and found that conspecific whine-chucks elicited greater egr-1 expression than heterospecific whines in all but three regions. We found no evidence that preferred whine-chuck calls elicited greater egr-1 expression than conspecific whines in any of eleven brain regions examined, in contrast to predictions that mating preferences in túngara frogs emerge from greater responses in the auditory system.Although selectivity for species-specific signals is apparent throughout the túngara frog brain, further studies are necessary to elucidate how neural activity patterns vary with the attractiveness of conspecific mating calls

Effect of Locally Delivered Minocycline Microspheres on Markers of Bone Resorption

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141419/1/jper0835.pd

Security challenges of small cell as a service in virtualized mobile edge computing environments

Research on next-generation 5G wireless networks is currently attracting a lot of attention in both academia and industry. While 5G development and standardization activities are still at their early stage, it is widely acknowledged that 5G systems are going to extensively rely on dense small cell deployments, which would exploit infrastructure and network functions virtualization (NFV), and push the network intelligence towards network edges by embracing the concept of mobile edge computing (MEC). As security will be a fundamental enabling factor of small cell as a service (SCaaS) in 5G networks, we present the most prominent threats and vulnerabilities against a broad range of targets. As far as the related work is concerned, to the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to investigate security challenges at the intersection of SCaaS, NFV, and MEC. It is also the first paper that proposes a set of criteria to facilitate a clear and effective taxonomy of security challenges of main elements of 5G networks. Our analysis can serve as a staring point towards the development of appropriate 5G security solutions. These will have crucial effect on legal and regulatory frameworks as well as on decisions of businesses, governments, and end-users

Moving from information and collaboration to action: report from the 3rd International Dog Health Workshop, Paris in April 2017

Abstract Background Breed-related health problems in dogs have received increased focus over the last decade. Responsibility for causing and/or solving these problems has been variously directed towards dog breeders and kennel clubs, the veterinary profession, welfare scientists, owners, regulators, insurance companies and the media. In reality, all these stakeholders are likely to share some responsibility and optimal progress on resolving these challenges requires all key stakeholders to work together. The International Partnership for Dogs (IPFD), together with an alternating host organization, holds biennial meetings called the International Dog Health Workshops (IDHW). The Société Centrale Canine (French Kennel Club) hosted the 3rd IDHW, in Paris, in April, 2017. These meetings bring together a wide range of stakeholders in dog health, science and welfare to improve international sharing of information and resources, to provide a forum for ongoing collaboration, and to identify specific needs and actions to improve health, well-being and welfare in dogs. Results The workshop included 140 participants from 23 countries and was structured around six important issues facing those who work to improve dog health. These included individualized breed-specific strategies for health and breeding, extreme conformations, education and communication in relation to antimicrobial resistance, behavior and welfare, genetic testing and population-based evidence. A number of exciting actions were agreed during the meeting. These included setting up working groups to create tools to help breed clubs accelerate the implementation of breed-health strategies, review aspects of extreme conformation and share useful information on behavior. The meeting also heralded the development of an online resource of relevant information describing quality measures for DNA testing. A demand for more and better data and evidence was a recurring message stressed across all themes. Conclusions The meeting confirmed the benefits from inclusion of a diverse range of stakeholders who all play relevant and collaborative parts to improve future canine health. Firm actions were set for progress towards improving breed-related welfare. The next international workshop will be in the UK in 2019 and will be organized by the UK Kennel Club