Obesity and seatbelt use: a fatal relationship (original) (raw)
Related papers
2010
Databases are increasing in size at an exponential rate, especially with the business electronization and real-time economy. Processes that were once stored on paper are now stored in databases. Sometimes errors – such as data entry, incomplete information, and unstandardized formats from different data sources – can lead to the existence of more than one representation of the same object in a database. This paper presents the problem of duplicate records and their detection, and addresses the issue of one type of records in specific which is of great interest in the business world: that of duplicate payments. An application of record matching techniques to the database of a telecommunication company is used as an illustration.
Genome-based phylogeny of dsDNA viruses by a novel alignment-free method
Gene, 2012
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Sequence alignment is not directly applicable to whole genome phylogeny since several events such as rearrangements make full length alignments impossible. Here, a novel alignment-free method derived from the standpoint of information theory is proposed and used to construct the whole-genome phylogeny for a population of viruses from 13 viral families comprising 218 dsDNA viruses. The method is based on information correlation (IC) and partial information correlation (PIC). We observe that (i) the IC-PIC tree segregates the population into clades, the membership of each is remarkably consistent with biologist's systematics only with little exceptions; (ii) the IC-PIC tree reveals potential evolutionary relationships among some viral families; and (iii) the IC-PIC tree predicts the taxonomic positions of certain "unclassified" viruses. Our approach provides a new way for recovering the phylogeny of viruses, and has practical applications in developing alignment-free methods for sequence classification.
Improving environmental change research with systematic techniques for qualitative scenarios
Environmental Research Letters (ERL), 2012
Scenarios are key tools in analyses of global environmental change. Often they consist of quantitative and qualitative components, where the qualitative aspects are expressed in narrative, or storyline, form. Fundamental challenges in scenario development and use include identifying a small set of compelling storylines that span a broad range of policy-relevant futures, documenting that the assumptions embodied in the storylines are internally consistent, and ensuring that the selected storylines are sufficiently comprehensive, that is, that descriptions of important kinds of future developments are not left out. The dominant approach to scenario design for environmental change research has been criticized for lacking sufficient means of ensuring that storylines are internally consistent. A consequence of this shortcoming could be an artificial constraint on the range of plausible futures considered. We demonstrate the application of a more systematic technique for the development of storylines called the cross-impact balance (CIB) method. We perform a case study on the scenarios published in the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES), which are widely used. CIB analysis scores scenarios in terms of internal consistency. It can also construct a very large number of scenarios consisting of combinations of assumptions about individual scenario elements and rank these combinations in terms of internal consistency. Using this method, we find that the four principal storylines employed in the SRES scenarios vary widely in internal consistency. One type of storyline involving highly carbon-intensive development is underrepresented in the SRES scenario set. We conclude that systematic techniques like CIB analysis hold promise for improving scenario development in global change research.
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2013
The soybean looper (Pseudoplusia includens Walker, 1857) has become a major pest of soybean crops in Brazil. In order to determine the genetic diversity and phylogeny of variants of Pseudoplusia includens single nucleopolyhedrovirus (PsinSNPV-IA to-IG), partial sequences of the genes lef-8, lef-9, pif-2, phr and polh were obtained following degenerate PCR and phylogenetic trees constructed using maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods. The aligned sequences showed polymorphisms among the isolates, where the pif-2 gene was by far the most variable and is predicted to be under positive selection. Furthermore, some of the pif-2 DNA sequence mutations are predicted to result in significant amino acid substitutions, possibly leading to changes in oral infectivity of this baculovirus. Cladistic analysis revealed two closely related monophyletic groups, one containing PsinNPV isolates IB, IC and ID and another containing isolates IA, IE, IF and IG. The phylogeny of PsinSNPV in relation to 56 other baculoviruses was also determined from the concatenated partial LEF-8, LEF-9, PIF-2 and POLH/GRAN deduced amino acid sequences, using maximum-parsimony and Bayesian methods. This analysis clearly places PsinSNPV with the Group II Alphabaculovirus, where PsinSNPV is most closely related to Chrysodeixis chalcites NPV and Trichoplusia ni SNPV.
The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013
Background: It is unknown how an intensive emergency ultrasound (EUS) experience compares with comparable exposure done over the course of residency training. Objective: Our objective was to compare the accuracy of EUS of the gall bladder done by physicians after a 2week EUS elective with similarly numbered examinations done by physicians longitudinally over several years of residency training. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a previously reported prospective study of EUS for biliary disease. The 21 st À40 th examinations were compared between those who participated in an EUS elective and those who did not. The gold standard was ultrasound done by the Department of Radiology. Results: Mean time to complete 40 EUS examinations for biliary disease was 14 months for those participating in an EUS elective compared with 29 months for those who did not. One hundred and ninety-one examinations (49%) were done by 19 operators who did not participate in an EUS elective and 202 examinations (51%) were done by 23 operators who completed an EUS elective. There was no statistical difference between the two groups with regard to detecting the presence of gall stones, gall bladder wall thickening, pericholecystic free fluid, ductal dilation, or sludge. Conclusions: Physicians who participated in a 2-week, semi-structured EUS elective demonstrated EUS accuracy for biliary disease that was comparable with those who performed the same number of examinations over a longer period of time.
Association between bone discordance and dietary pattern among Iranian postmenopausal women
2016
Introduction: Bone discordance is new challenge in order to diagnosis of osteoporosis especially among postmenopausal women, there are many causes have been proposed for occurrence of this phenomenon. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of major dietary pattern on bone discordance. Design: Cross-sectional study Settings: The volunteer had completed demographic data. Dietary intake was assessed with a 147- item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Dietary patterns were created by factor analysis from 25 food groups. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was performed on the lumbar (L2-L4) and hip for cases. Subjects: We designed a cross-sectional survey of 258 postmenopausal women From June 2015 to February 2016. Results: Three major dietary patterns were identified by using factor analysis based on baseline intake data: Unhealthy, Mediterranean and Western diet. After analysis we found 53.4% were concordance and 42.8% (4% were in the major discordance group) ...
Baculovirus: Molecular Insights on Their Diversity and Conservation
International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2011
The Baculoviridae is a large group of insect viruses containing circular double-stranded DNA genomes of 80 to 180 kbp. In this study, genome sequences from 57 baculoviruses were analyzed to reevaluate the number and identity of core genes and to understand the distribution of the remaining coding sequences. Thirty one core genes with orthologs in all genomes were identified along with other 895 genes differing in their degrees of representation among reported genomes. Many of these latter genes are common to well-defined lineages, whereas others are unique to one or a few of the viruses. Phylogenetic analyses based on core gene sequences and the gene composition of the genomes supported the current division of the Baculoviridae into 4 genera: Alphabaculovirus, Betabaculovirus, Gammabaculovirus, and Deltabaculovirus.
Predictors of rear seat belt use among U.S. adults, 2012
Journal of safety research, 2015
Seat belt use reduces the risk of injuries and fatalities among motor vehicle occupants in a crash, but belt use in rear seating positions is consistently lower than front seating positions. Knowledge is limited concerning factors associated with seat belt use among adult rear seat passengers. Data from the 2012 ConsumerStyles survey were used to calculate weighted percentages of self-reported rear seat belt use by demographic characteristics and type of rear seat belt use enforcement. Multivariable regression was used to calculate prevalence ratios for rear seat belt use, adjusting for person-, household- and geographic-level demographic variables as well as for type of seat belt law in place in the state. Rear seat belt use varied by age, race, geographic region, metropolitan status, and type of enforcement. Multivariable regression showed that respondents living in states with primary (Adjusted Prevalence Ratio (APR): 1.23) and secondary (APR: 1.11) rear seat belt use enforcement...