scholarly journals Constructing the effect of alternative intervention strategies on historic epidemics

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (27) ◽  
pp. 1203-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.R Cook ◽  
G.J Gibson ◽  
T.R Gottwald ◽  
C.A Gilligan

Data from historical epidemics provide a vital and sometimes under-used resource from which to devise strategies for future control of disease. Previous methods for retrospective analysis of epidemics, in which alternative interventions are compared, do not make full use of the information; by using only partial information on the historical trajectory, augmentation of control may lead to predictions of a paradoxical increase in disease. Here we introduce a novel statistical approach that takes full account of the available information in constructing the effect of alternative intervention strategies in historic epidemics. The key to the method lies in identifying a suitable mapping between the historic and notional outbreaks, under alternative control strategies. We do this by using the Sellke construction as a latent process linking epidemics. We illustrate the application of the method with two examples. First, using temporal data for the common human cold, we show the improvement under the new method in the precision of predictions for different control strategies. Second, we show the generality of the method for retrospective analysis of epidemics by applying it to a spatially extended arboreal epidemic in which we demonstrate the relative effectiveness of host culling strategies that differ in frequency and spatial extent. Some of the inferential and philosophical issues that arise are discussed along with the scope of potential application of the new method.

1998 ◽  
Vol 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Blecher ◽  
K. Seibel ◽  
M. Hillebrand ◽  
M. Böhm

ABSTRACTThe series resistance limits the linearity of photodiodes and decreases the efficiency of solar cells. It is usually determined from IV-measurements for moderate and high forward current density. This method, however, provides only partial information about Rs, since the series resistance depends on the operating point. An alternative method is based on noise measurements. System noise of the measuring system with a low-noise current-voltage converter has been investigated. A new method for extraction of photodiode series resistance from noise measurements is suggested. Noise measurements are carried out for a-Si:H pin diodes. The series resistance of an amorphous pin diode has been extracted for different operating conditions using the new measurement method.


1898 ◽  
Vol 62 (379-387) ◽  
pp. 376-385 ◽  

On a previous occasion I gave some boiling points of salt solutions under atmospheric pressure. As the dimensions of that abstract made a full account of the experimental method impossible, I have been given this opportunity, by the courtesy of the Council of the Royal Society, of describing the apparatus and procedure by which those results were obtained.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Evan Braswell ◽  
Jong-Won Park ◽  
Philip A. Stansly ◽  
Barry Craig Kostyk ◽  
Eliezer S. Louzada ◽  
...  

Abstract Huanglongbing (HLB), or Citrus Greening, is one of the most devastating diseases affecting agriculture today. Widespread throughout Citrus growing regions of the world, it has had severe economic consequences in all areas it has invaded. With no treatment available, management strategies focus on suppression and containment. Effective use of these costly control strategies relies on rapid and accurate identification of infected plants. Unfortunately, symptoms of the disease are slow to develop and indistinct from symptoms of other biotic/abiotic stressors. As a result, diagnosticians have focused on detecting the pathogen, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, by DNA-based detection strategies utilizing leaf midribs for sampling. Recent work has shown that fibrous root decline occurs in HLB-affected trees before symptom development among leaves. Moreover, the pathogen, Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus, has been shown to be more evenly distributed within roots than within the canopy. Motivated by these observations, a longitudinal study of young asymptomatic trees was established to observe the spread of disease through time and test the relative effectiveness of leaf- and root-based detection strategies. Detection of the pathogen occurred earlier, more consistently, and more often in root samples than in leaf samples. Moreover, little influence of geography or host variety was found on the probability of detection.


1978 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Judith Donovan Post ◽  
Fredie P. Gargano ◽  
Donald Q. Vining ◽  
Hubert L. Rosomoff

✓ With the advent of computerized tomography (CT), a new method of visualizing the spinal canal in cross-section has been created. Before the introduction of CT scanning, evaluation of the cross-sectional anatomy of the spinal canal was accomplished chiefly by the Toshiba unit. This study compares these two forms of tomography and discusses their relative effectiveness in diagnosing constrictive lesions of the spinal canal.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2185
Author(s):  
Azizur Rahman ◽  
Md Abdul Kuddus ◽  
Ryan H. L. Ip ◽  
Michael Bewong

At the end of December 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan city, China. Modelling plays a crucial role in developing a strategy to prevent a disease outbreak from spreading around the globe. Models have contributed to the perspicacity of epidemiological variations between and within nations and the planning of desired control strategies. In this paper, a literature review was conducted to summarise knowledge about COVID-19 disease modelling in three countries—China, the UK and Australia—to develop a robust research framework for the regional areas that are urban and rural health districts of New South Wales, Australia. In different aspects of modelling, summarising disease and intervention strategies can help policymakers control the outbreak of COVID-19 and may motivate modelling disease-related research at a finer level of regional geospatial scales in the future.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chittaranjan Mondal ◽  
Debadatta Adak ◽  
Abhijit Majumder ◽  
Nandadulal Bairagi

The Covid-19 pandemic has put the world under immeasurable stress. There is no specific drug or vaccine that can cure the infection or protect people from the infection of coronavirus. It is therefore prudent to use the existing resources and control strategies in an optimal way to contain the virus spread and provide the best possible treatments to the infected individuals. Use of the repurposing drugs along with the non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies may be the right way for fighting against the ongoing pandemic. It is the objective of this work to demonstrate through mathematical modelling and analysis how and to what extent such control strategies can improve the overall Covid-19 epidemic burden. The criteria for disease elimination & persistence were established through the basic reproduction number. A case study with the Indian Covid-19 epidemic data is presented to visualize and illustrate the effects of lockdown, maintaining personal hygiene & safe distancing, and repurposing drugs. It is shown that India can significantly improve the overall Covid-19 epidemic burden through the combined use of NPIs and repurposing drugs though containment of spreading is difficult without serious community participation.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 8477
Author(s):  
Roozbeh Mohammadi ◽  
Claudio Roncoli

Connected vehicles (CVs) have the potential to collect and share information that, if appropriately processed, can be employed for advanced traffic control strategies, rendering infrastructure-based sensing obsolete. However, before we reach a fully connected environment, where all vehicles are CVs, we have to deal with the challenge of incomplete data. In this paper, we develop data-driven methods for the estimation of vehicles approaching a signalised intersection, based on the availability of partial information stemming from an unknown penetration rate of CVs. In particular, we build machine learning models with the aim of capturing the nonlinear relations between the inputs (CV data) and the output (number of non-connected vehicles), which are characterised by highly complex interactions and may be affected by a large number of factors. We show that, in order to train these models, we may use data that can be easily collected with modern technologies. Moreover, we demonstrate that, if the available real data is not deemed sufficient, training can be performed using synthetic data, produced via microscopic simulations calibrated with real data, without a significant loss of performance. Numerical experiments, where the estimation methods are tested using real vehicle data simulating the presence of various penetration rates of CVs, show very good performance of the estimators, making them promising candidates for applications in the near future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e000506
Author(s):  
Megan Moore ◽  
Maria Schuler ◽  
Samantha Wilson ◽  
Morgan Whisenhunt ◽  
Ashleigh Adams ◽  
...  

Discomfort in the hospitalised patient continues to be one of the healthcare system’s greatest challenges to positive patient outcomes. The patients’ ability to focus on healing is impaired by discomforts such as pain, nausea and anxiety. Alternative, non-pharmacological therapies have shown to be effective in reducing discomfort and managing pain, complementing analgesic agents and optimising pain therapy modalities. This multi-cycle project is aimed to assess the effect of alternative therapies on inpatient, progressive care patients who reported discomfort or little to no relief in discomfort from prescribed analgesics and adjuvant agents. In the first Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycle, patients who reported discomfort were offered aromatherapy or visual relaxation DVDs. In the second PDSA cycle, patients were offered a comfort menu that consisted of multiple alternative interventions such as aromatherapy, ice or heat and ambulation. During each cycle, participants completed a survey measuring comfort levels before and after patient-selected alternative intervention(s) were administered. In the first PDSA cycle, 88% of patients reported an increase in comfort level after the intervention, and 97% reported an interest in using alternative therapy again. In the second PDSA cycle, 47% reported increased comfort, and 89% indicated a willingness to try alternative therapies again for improvement of comfort level. Overall, the quality improvement project increased the level of comfort reported by hospitalised patients, creating a gateway to comfort with less emphasis on prescribed analgesic medications.


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