Real-time detection of anomalous paths through networks

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014.The proliferation of increasingly inexpensive mobile devices capable of transmitting accurate positional information to other devices and servers has led to a variety of applications ranging from health situation monitoring to GPS-based offender monitoring. One of the resultant challenges is in understanding, in real-time, when incoming observations merit further examination. In this research, we investigate an approach for identifying anomalous paths through networks using real-time comparisons to a previously learned model. Our approach, the development of a series of “posterior weighted graphs” allows us to both determine which underlying model a particular path most closely represents as well as evaluate this relationship in real-time as more observations become available. Here we present the posterior weighted graph approach for examining path similarity and an extension for detecting anomalies in real-time. Our results illustrate how we can distinguish from among multiple candidate paths and, likewise, when observations no longer match an expected model

EFFICACY OF ELECTRON BEAM IRRADIATION OF PROCESSED PORK PRODUCTS

The research reported on in this paper was conducted as part of a larger project. That project is on-going and is focused on ascertaining if irradiation of processed meats would be effective and economical. It involved the examination, through modeling, of the irradiation of one of many currently produced ready-to-eat (RTE) convenience-oriented, value-added pork products, sliced boneless ham. The results and findings reported in this paper represent the initial estimates of the cost and potential profitability or economic viability of irradiation of processed meats. The results and findings in this paper should be considered preliminary with extension and verification to be reported in a later paper by the authors. The objective of the portion of that project reported on in this paper was to conduct cost analysis of alternative irradiation methods and to ascertain the cost of each of those methods. Three scenarios were considered for cost analysis. The first scenario was the installation of an X-ray irradiator at an existing meat processing plant. The second scenario was the installation of a Cobalt-60 irradiator at an existing meat processing plant. The third scenario assumed that the meat processor contracted for irradiation services from an off-site company providing such service to a number of clients. For purposes of this study it was assumed that irradiation of sliced boneless ham would result in either a $.06/pound reduction in costs from processor to consumer, a$.06/pound increase in willingness to pay [price] or an equivalent combination of reduced costs and increased price. Total cost per pound for the irradiation process applied to sliced boneless ham ranged from $0.008, at the 200 million pound annual throughput rate using Cobalt-60 irradiation, to$0.069 at the 50 million pound annual throughput rate when contracting with an off-site company.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Invitation to grief in the family context

Grief is a family affair, yet it is commonly viewed as an individual phenomenon. As an international, interdisciplinary team, we explore grief within a family context across theoretical, research, practice, and educational domains. Families are complex and working with this complexity is challenging but necessary for a holistic view of grief. We therefore encourage an increased focus on theorizing, researching, practicing, and educating using innovative approaches to address the complexities of grief within the context of families. Learnings from within each domain will affirm and enhance the development of family-level thinking and approaches

Modeling Checkpoint-Based Movement with the Earth Mover's Distance

Movement data comes in various forms, including trajectory data and checkpoint data. While trajectories give detailed information about the movement of individual entities, checkpoint data in its simplest form does not give identities, just counts at checkpoints. However, checkpoint data is of increasing interest since it is readily available due to privacy reasons and as a by-product of other data collection. In this paper we propose to use the Earth Mover’s Distance as a versatile tool to reconstruct individual movements or flow based on checkpoint counts at different times. We analyze the modeling possibilities and provide experiments that validate model predictions, based on coarse-grained aggregations of data about actual movements of couriers in London, UK. While we cannot expect to reconstruct precise individual movements from highly granular checkpoint data, the evaluation does show that the approach can generate meaningful estimates of object movements. B. Speckmann and K. Verbeek are supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under project nos. 639.023.208 and 639.021.541, respectively. This paper arose from work initiated at Dagstuhl seminar 12512 “Representation, analysis and visualization of moving objects”, December 2012. The authors gratefully acknowledge Schloss Dagstuhl for their support

Spatial patterns of an endemic Mediterranean palm recolonizing old fields

Throughout Europe, increased levels of land abandonment lead to (re)colonization of old lands by forests and shrublands. Very little is known about the spatial pattern of plants recolonizing such old fields. We mapped in two 21–22-ha plots, located in the Doñana National Park (Spain), all adult individuals of the endozoochorous dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis L. and determined their sex and sizes. We used techniques of spatial point pattern analysis (SPPA) to precisely quantify the spatial structure of these C. humilis populations. The objective was to identify potential processes generating the patterns and their likely consequences on palm reproductive success. We used (1) Thomas point process models to describe the clustering of the populations, (2) random labeling to test the sexual spatial segregation, and (3) mark correlation functions to assess spatial structure in plant sizes. Plants in both plots showed two critical scales of clustering, with small clusters of a radius of 2.8–4 m nested within large clusters with 38–44 m radius. Additional to the clustered individuals, 11% and 27% of all C. humilis individuals belonged to a random pattern that was independently superimposed to the clustered pattern. The complex spatial pattern of C. humilis could be explained by the effect of different seed-dispersers and predators’ behavior and their relative abundances. Plant sexes had no spatial segregation. Plant sizes showed a spatial aggregation inside the clusters, with a decreasing correlation with distance. Clustering of C. humilis is strongly reliant on its seed dispersers and stressful environmental conditions. However, it seems that the spatial patterns and dispersal strategies of the dwarf palm make it a successful plant for new habitat colonization. Our results provide new information on the colonization ability of C. humilis and can help to develop management strategies to recover plant populationsPeer reviewe

The Right Place at the Right Time: Creative Spaces in Libraries

Purpose This essay explores the recent trend in libraries: that of the establishment of spaces specifically set aside for creative work. The rise of these dedicated creative spaces is owed to a confluence of factors that happen to be finding their expression together in recent years. This essay examines the history of these spaces and explores the factors that gave rise to them and will fuel them moving forward. Design/Methodology/Approach A viewpoint piece, this essay combines historical research and historical/comparative analyses to examine the ways by which libraries have supported creative work in the past and how they may continue to do so into the 21st century. Findings The key threads brought together include a societal recognition of the value of creativity and related skills and attributes; the philosophies, values, and missions of libraries in both their longstanding forms and in recent evolutions; the rise of participatory culture as a result of inexpensive technologies; improved means to build community and share results of efforts; and library experience and historical practice in matters related to creativity. The chapter concludes with advice for those interested in the establishment of such spaces, grounding those reflections in the author’s experiences in developing a new creative space at Virginia Commonwealth University. Originality/value While a number of pieces have been written that discuss the practicalities of developing certain kinds of creative spaces, very little has been written that situates these spaces in larger social and library professional contexts; this essay begins to fill that gap

Control and elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem: thresholds fail to differentiate schistosomiasis morbidity prevalence in children

BACKGROUND: Current World Health Organization guidelines utilize prevalence of heavy-intensity infections (PHIs), that is, ≥50 eggs per 10 mL of urine for Schistosoma haematobium and ≥400 eggs per gram of stool for S. mansoni, to determine whether a targeted area has controlled schistosomiasis morbidity or eliminated schistosomiasis as a public health problem. The relationship between these PHI categories and morbidity is not well understood. METHODS: School-age participants enrolled in schistosomiasis monitoring and evaluation cohorts from 2003 to 2008 in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia were surveyed for infection and morbidity at baseline and after 1 and 2 rounds of preventive chemotherapy. Logistic regression was used to compare morbidity prevalence among participants based on their school's PHI category. RESULTS: Microhematuria levels were associated with the S. haematobium PHI categories at all 3 time points. For any other S. haematobium or S. mansoni morbidity that was measured, PHI categories did not differentiate morbidity prevalence levels consistently. CONCLUSIONS: These analyses suggest that current PHI categorizations do not differentiate the prevalence of standard morbidity markers. A reevaluation of the criteria for schistosomiasis control is warranted

Defining elimination as a public health problem for schistosomiasis control programmes: beyond prevalence of heavy-intensity infections

WHO's 2021?30 road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) outlines disease-specific and cross-cutting targets for the control, elimination, and eradication of NTDs in affected countries. For schistosomiasis, the criterion for elimination as a public health problem (EPHP) is defined as less than 1% prevalence of heavy-intensity infections (ie, ≥50 Schistosoma haematobium eggs per 10 mL of urine or ≥400 Schistosoma mansoni eggs per g of stool). However, we believe the evidence supporting this definition of EPHP is inadequate and the shifting distribution of schistosomiasis morbidity towards more subtle, rather than severe, morbidity in the face of large-scale control programmes requires guidelines to be adapted. In this Viewpoint, we outline the need for more accurate measures to develop a robust evidence-based monitoring and evaluation framework for schistosomiasis. Such a framework is crucial for achieving the goal of widespread EPHP of schistosomiasis and to meet the WHO road map targets. We encourage use of overall prevalence of schistosome infection (instead of the prevalence of heavy-intensity infections), development of species-dependent and age-dependent morbidity markers, and construction of a standardised monitoring and evaluation protocol

Use of a tablet-based system to perform abdominal ultrasounds in a field investigation of schistosomiasis-related morbidity in western Kenya

Chronic intestinal schistosomiasis can cause severe hepatosplenic disease and is a neglected tropical disease of public health importance in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya. Although the goal of control programs is to reduce morbidity, milestones for program performance focus on reductions in prevalence and intensity of infection, rather than actual measures of morbidity. Using ultrasound to measure hepatosplenic disease severity is an accepted method of determining schistosomiasis-related morbidity; however, ultrasound has not historically been considered a field-deployable tool because of equipment limitations and unavailability of expertise. A point-of-care tablet-based ultrasound system was used to perform abdominal ultrasounds in a field investigation of schistosomiasis-related morbidity in western Kenya; during the study, other pathologies and pregnancies were also identified via ultrasound, and participants referred to care. Recent technological advances may make it more feasible to implement ultrasound as part of a control program and can also offer important benefits to the community

Associations between infection intensity categories and morbidity prevalence in school-age children are much stronger for Schistosoma haematobium than for S. mansoni

BACKGROUND: World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for measuring global progress in schistosomiasis control classify individuals with Schistosoma spp. infections based on the concentration of excreted eggs. We assessed the associations between WHO infection intensity categories and morbidity prevalence for selected S. haematobium and S. mansoni morbidities in school-age children. METHODOLOGY: A total of 22,488 children aged 6-15 years from monitoring and evaluation cohorts in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia from 2003-2008 were analyzed using Bayesian logistic regression. Models were utilized to evaluate associations between intensity categories and the prevalence of any urinary bladder lesion, any upper urinary tract lesion, microhematuria, and pain while urinating (for S. haematobium) and irregular hepatic ultrasound image pattern (C-F), enlarged portal vein, laboratory-confirmed diarrhea, and self-reported diarrhea (for S. mansoni) across participants with infection and morbidity data. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: S. haematobium infection intensity categories possessed consistent morbidity prevalence across surveys for multiple morbidities and participants with light infections had elevated morbidity levels, compared to negative participants. Conversely, S. mansoni infection intensity categories lacked association with prevalence of the morbidity measures assessed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Current status infection intensity categories for S. haematobium were associated with morbidity levels in school-age children, suggesting urogenital schistosomiasis morbidity can be predicted by an individual's intensity category. Conversely, S. mansoni infection intensity categories were not consistently indicative of childhood morbidity at baseline or during the first two years of a preventive chemotherapy control program