This introductory book enables researchers and students of all backgrounds to compute interrater agreements for nominal data. It presents an overview of available indices, requirements, and steps to be taken in a research project with regard to reliability, preceded by agreement. The book explains the importance of computing the interrater agreement and how to calculate the corresponding indices. Furthermore, it discusses current views on chance expected agreement and problems related to different research situations, so as to help the reader consider what must be taken into account in order to achieve a proper use of the indices. The book offers a practical guide for researchers, Ph.D. and master students, including those without any previous training in statistics (such as in sociology, psychology or medicine), as well as policymakers who have to make decisions based on research outcomes in which these types of indices are used.

Encephalitis lethargica ('sleeping sickness') was a mysterious disorder that swept the world in the decade following the First World War, before disappearing without its cause having been identified. Around 85% of its victims, predominantly children, adolescents and younger adults, survived the acute disorder, but most developed severe neurological syndromes, particularly severe post-encephalitic parkinsonism and other severe motor abnormalities, that incapacitated them for the remainder of their lives. Despite its brief history, encephalitis lethargica played a major role in a variety medical discussions between the two World Wars, as this epitome of neuropsychiatric disease - attacking both motor and mental functions - appeared just as the separation of neurology and psychiatry had reached a critical point. Encephalitis lethargica sufferers presented an unprecedented combination of neurologic and psychiatric symptoms - including previously puzzling phenomena primarily associated with schizophrenia and hysteria, as well as behavioral changes and attention deficit disorders in children - that not only underscored the unity of mind and movement in the CNS, but also illuminated the critical role played by subcortical structures in consciousness and other higher mental functions that had formerly been associated with the soul and more recently presumed to be localized to the human cerebral cortex. Encephalitis lethargica exerted a greater influence on clinical and theoretic neuroscientific thought between the two World Wars than any other single disorder and had an enduring impact upon neurology and psychiatry. This book will be of interest to an educated audience active or interested in clinical (neurology, psychiatry, psychology) or laboratory neuroscience, particularly those interested in neuropsychiatry, as well as to those interested in the history of the biomedical sciences.

This book examines statistical methods and models used in the fields of global health and epidemiology. It includes methods such as innovative probability sampling, data harmonization and encryption, and advanced descriptive, analytical and monitory methods. Program codes using R are included as well as real data examples. Contemporary global health and epidemiology involves a myriad of medical and health challenges, including inequality of treatment, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its subsequent control, the flu, cancer, tobacco control, drug use, and environmental pollution. In addition to its vast scales and telescopic perspective; addressing global health concerns often involves examining resource-limited populations with large geographic, socioeconomic diversities. Therefore, advancing global health requires new epidemiological design, new data, and new methods for sampling, data processing, and statistical analysis. This book provides global health researchers with methods that will enable access to and utilization of existing data. Featuring contributions from both epidemiological and biostatistical scholars, this book is a practical resource for researchers, practitioners, and students in solving global health problems in research, education, training, and consultation.

This book is the first one in which basic demographic models are rigorously formulated by using modern age-structured population dynamics, extended to study real-world population problems. Age structure is a crucial factor in understanding population phenomena, and the essential ideas in demography and epidemiology cannot be understood without mathematical formulation; therefore, this book gives readers a robust mathematical introduction to human population studies. In the first part of the volume, classical demographic models such as the stable population model and its linear extensions, density-dependent nonlinear models, and pair-formation models are formulated by the McKendrick partial differential equation and are analyzed from a dynamical system point of view. In the second part, mathematical models for infectious diseases spreading at the population level are examined by using nonlinear differential equations and a renewal equation. Since an epidemic can be seen as a nonlinear renewal process of an infected population, this book will provide a natural unification point of view for demography and epidemiology. The well-known epidemic threshold principle is formulated by the basic reproduction number, which is also a most important key index in demography. The author develops a universal theory of the basic reproduction number in heterogeneous environments. By introducing the host age structure, epidemic models are developed into more realistic demographic formulations, which are essentially needed to attack urgent epidemiological control problems in the real world.

One of the first books on Covid-19 from an expert in emerging infectious disease.

The Coronavirus pandemic has devastated lives and livelihoods around the world - and continues to do so. These personal tragedies will, and must, be told and heard. There is, however, also a truthful and objective scientific narrative to be written about how the virus played out and how the world set about dealing with it. Spike is that story - from the inside. Its author, Jeremy Farrar, is one of the UK's leading scientists and a ? member of the SAGE emergency committee.

As head of the Wellcome Trust, and an expert in emerging infectious diseases, Jeremy Farrar was one of the first people in the world to hear about a mysterious new respiratory disease in China - and to learn that it could readily spread between people. Farrar describes how it feels as one of the key scientists at the sharp end of a fast-moving situation, when complex decisions must be made quickly amid great uncertainty. His book casts light on the UK government's claims to be 'following the science' in its response to the virus, and is informed not just by Farrar's views but by interviews with other top scientists and political figures.

Farrar, who has spent his career on the frontlines of epidemics including Nipah virus in Malaysia, bird flu in Vietnam and Ebola in West Africa, also reflects on the wider issues of Covid-19: the breath-taking scientific advances in creating tests, treatments and vaccines; the challenge to world leaders to respond for the global good and the need to address inequalities that hold back success against the virus. All these shape how the world ultimately fares not just against Covid-19, but against all the major health challenges we face globally.

In the tradition of its predecessor, the main purpose of this volume is the dissemination of statistical methodologies in the area of biological and medical sciences. The chapters are written by specialists with considerable experience in the application of statistical techniques for investigating biological issues. The volume is divided into four parts and the chapters illustrate some recent work on many issues. Most of the papers discuss the statistical principles in conjunction with specific applications. As a result biological as well as statistical readers will benefit from this exposition, and obtain the current state of knowledge in these areas. Many authors emphasize the open problems that might lead to further work on these subjects.

Providing genome-informed personalized treatment is a goal of modern medicine. Identifying new translational targets in nucleic acid characterizations is an important step toward that goal. The information tsunami produced by such genome-scale investigations is stimulating parallel developments in statistical methodology and inference, analytical frameworks, and computational tools. Within the context of genomic medicine and with a strong focus on cancer research, this book describes the integration of high-throughput bioinformatics data from multiple platforms to inform our understanding of the functional consequences of genomic alterations. This includes rigorous and scalable methods for simultaneously handling diverse data types such as gene expression array, miRNA, copy number, methylation, and next-generation sequencing data. This material is written for statisticians who are interested in modeling and analyzing high-throughput data. Chapters by experts in the field offer a thorough introduction to the biological and technical principles behind multiplatform high-throughput experimentation.

For readers of Mary Roach and Jared Diamond, an innovative look at the histories of different epidemics and what it meant for society, alongside what lessons different diseases have to teach us as society battles the novel coronavirus. Throughout history, there have been numerous epidemics that have threatened mankind with destruction. Diseases have the ability to highlight our shared concerns across the ages, affecting every social divide from national boundaries, economic categories, racial divisions, and beyond. Whether looking at smallpox, HIV, Ebola, or COVID-19 outbreaks, we see the same conversations arising as society struggles with the all-encompassing question: What do we do now? In "poignant yet relevant detail" (Niki Kapsambelis, author of The Inheritance), Quarantine Life from Cholera to COVID-19 demonstrates that these conversations have always involved the same questions of individual liberties versus the common good, debates about rushing new and untested treatments, considerations of whether quarantines are effective to begin with, what to do about healthy carriers, and how to keep trade circulating when society shuts down. This vibrant social and medical history tracks different diseases and outlines their trajectory, what they meant for society, and societal questions each disease brought up, along with practical takeaways we can apply to current and future pandemics--so we can all be better prepared for whatever life throws our way.

This authoritative handbook reviews the most widely-used methods for studying the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. Its thorough coverage spans the range of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches to documenting and measuring the complex psychological, behavioral, and physical experience of substance misuse and dependence, to ensure valid, useful results. Experts discuss special issues and considerations for conducting ethical research with specialized populations, including youth, inmates, and the LGBT community. Throughout these chapters, contributors demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of substance abuse research, with emphasis on professional ethics and the critical role of research in developing best practices and effective policy for prevention and treatment. Among the topics covered: * Transdisciplinary research perspective: a theoretical framework for substance abuse research * Longitudinal methods in substance use research * Considerations in blending qualitative and quantitative components in substance abuse research * The use of biological measures in social research on drug misuse * Using surveys to study substance use behavior * Applications of GIS to inform substance abuse research and interventions * Evaluating substance use prevention and treatment programs Research Methods in the Study of Substance Abuse is an essential resource for health services and public health professionals, policymakers, and researchers working and training in the field of addiction. It encourages the rigor and understanding necessary to address widespread social and public health concerns.

This volume gathers together selected, peer-reviewed papers presented at the BIOMAT 2020 International Symposium, which was virtually held on November 1-6, 2020, with an organization staff based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Topics covered in this volume include infection modeling, with an emphasis on different aspects of the COVID-19 and novel Coronavirus spread; a description of the effectiveness of quarantine measures via dynamic analysis of SLIR model; hemodynamic simulations in time-dependent domains; an optimal control model for the Ebola disease; and the co-existence of chaos and control in the context of biological models. Texts in agroforestry, economic development, and wastewater treatment processes complete this volume. Held every year since 2001, the BIOMAT International Symposium gathers together, in a single conference, researchers from Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and affine fields to promote the interdisciplinary exchange of results, ideas and techniques, promoting truly international cooperation for problem discussion. The 20th edition of the BIOMAT International Symposium has received contributions by authors from 18 countries: Algeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China (Hong Kong), Colombia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Morocco, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, USA, and Uzbekistan. Previous BIOMAT volumes with selected works from 2017, 2018, and 2019 were also published by Springer.

The 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa shocked the world with its devastation and its rapid migration to multiple continents. As the systems meant to respond to this sort of epidemic failed, the disease exposed not just weaknesses in international infectious disease surveillance and management, but the failures of governments, humanitarian organizations, and international institutions to handle the legal, ethical, and economic questions that arose with an event of this scale. Global Management of Infectious Disease After Ebola unites the insights of Ebola's first responders with those the world's foremost experts in law, economics, vaccine development, and global migration to identify missed opportunities from the Ebola crisis - and to apply these lessons to emerging infectious disease threats. Framed with critical discussions of both the global health financing infrastructures that precipitated the response and the ethical and human rights dilemmas that resulted from it, this volume is much more than postmortem to an outbreak: it is a vital, sometimes damning examination of where we've been and where we're going in the face of emerging infectious diseases.

Disease is everywhere. Everyone experiences disease, everyone knows somebody who is, or has been diseased, and disease-related stories hit the headlines on a regular basis. Many important issues in the philosophy of disease, however, have received remarkably little attention from philosophical thinkers. This book examines a number of important debates in the philosophy of medicine, including 'what is disease?', and the roles and viability of concepts of causation, in clinical medicine and epidemiology. Where much of the existing literature targets conceptual analyses of health and disease, this book provides the reader with an insight into these debates, and develops plausible alternative accounts. The author explores a range of related subjects, discussing a host of interesting philosophical questions within clinical medicine, pathology and epidemiology. In the second part of the book, the author examines the concepts of causation employed by clinicians and pathologists, how one should classify diseases, and whether the epidemiologist's models for inferring the causes of disease are all they're cracked up to be.

Human aging is perhaps the most complex and important subject that will be facing science and societies in the next century. People seem to be living longer and remaining more active than their parents and grandparents, caused by to social and demographic shifts that must be accommodated by society. On the other hand it presents perplexing questions about the underlying processes and determinants of healthy aging. This book gives a design for research that will increase our understanding of the factors that influence healthy aging and can lead to improvements in reducing the levels of disability in the population. Its focus is on bio-behavioural and psychological factors contributing to healthy aging. Since human aging is determined by many interacting conditions inside and outside of the organism, research should concentrate on ecological relationships between the human organism and its social and physical environment. Not only individual characteristics associated with aging are discussed in this book, but also their impacts on society. The information presented in 'Aging in Europe' has not been available in any single source before. In many ways this book provides a model of gaining knowledge through cooperation that should guide us in the next century and beyond.

In the current edition, Selenium: Its Molecular Biology and Role in Human Health expands extensively on the previous editions providing readers with the most significant advances in the rapidly developing selenium field. Evidence from epidemiology and veterinary science supports the essential role of selenium in (human) health, but its split personality in both preventing and supporting cancer and also in promoting insulin resistance has become more clearly defined. The pivotal role of glutathione peroxidase 4 in a new process of programmed cell death, ferroptosis, brings new impetus to the field. Recently defined mutations in selenoprotein and biosynthesis factor genes have been identified in patients, and the resulting disorders further emphasize the significance of selenoproteins in human health. The mechanism of selenoprotein biosynthesis, the functions of selenoproteins, and the roles of dietary selenium have been further elucidated, and new regulatory mechanisms involving selenoproteins discovered. The book, therefore, covers the breadth of current selenium research. With up-to-date chapters written by leaders in their fields, it serves as an invaluable resource for novices as well as specialists.

Environmental chemical hazards are a highly contentious topic in modern life. Nearly every nation on earth has faced its own environmental crises, and also shares perspectives on the possibility of global catastrophes. Of the many global concerns we face, the environmental issue is unique in many ways. The greatest of these is the fundamental scientific nature of the issue, and the extent to which our opinions are formed based on high-level scientific inquiry and assessment. The two key fields of study on this issue, environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment, are still given separate names because of their separate historical roots and scientific traditions, but are seen increasingly as inseparable aspects of the same basic investigation. In this book, Thomas J. Smith and David Kriebel assert that important advances in the quantification of environmental risks can only come through a true synthesis of the two fields. They have built a common biologic model of exposure, physiologic response, and disease, a synthesis of the various existing models which serves to both simplify and improve the application of environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment to current and future environmental chemical risks. When exposure assessor and epidemiologist agree from the start on the model for their study, the conceptual framework for the study they design and the analyses they carry out are much more likely to yield useful exposure-risk information. An explicit biologic model of the apparent processes linking exposure to disease should form the basis for any study seeking to quantify risk from environmental chemicals.

This volume collects selected, peer-reviewed contributions from the 2nd Conference of the International Society for Nonparametric Statistics (ISNPS), held in Cadiz (Spain) between June 11-16 2014, and sponsored by the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability, the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The 15 articles are a representative sample of the 336 contributed papers presented at the conference. They cover topics such as high-dimensional data modelling, inference for stochastic processes and for dependent data, nonparametric and goodness-of-fit testing, nonparametric curve estimation, object-oriented data analysis, and semiparametric inference. The aim of the ISNPS 2014 conference was to bring together recent advances and trends in several areas of nonparametric statistics in order to facilitate the exchange of research ideas, promote collaboration among researchers from around the globe, and contribute to the further development of the field.

This book describes how epigenetic context, in a large sense, affects gene expression and the development of an organism, using the asymptotic limit theorems of information theory to construct statistical models useful in data analysis. The approach allows deep understanding of how embedding context affects development. We find that epigenetic information sources act as tunable catalysts, directing ontogeny into characteristic pathways, a perspective having important implications for epigenetic epidemiology. In sum, environmental stressors can induce a broad spectrum of developmental dysfunctions, and the book explores a number of pandemic chronic diseases, using U.S. data at different scales and levels of organization. In particular, we find the legacy of slavery has been grossly compounded by accelerating industrial decline and urban decay. Individual chapters are dedicated to obesity and its sequelae, coronary heart disease, cancer, mental disorders, autoimmune dysfunction, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions. Developmental disorders are driven by environmental factors channeled by historical trajectory and are unlikely to respond to medical interventions at the population level in the face of persistent individual and community stress. Drugs powerful enough to affect deleterious epigenetic programming will likely have side effects leading to shortened lifespan. Addressing chronic conditions and developmental disorders requires significant large-scale changes in public policy and resource allocation.

Features modern research and methodology on the spread of infectious diseases and showcases a broad range of multi-disciplinary and state-of-the-art techniques on geo-simulation, geo-visualization, remote sensing, metapopulation modeling, cloud computing, and pattern analysis Given the ongoing risk of infectious diseases worldwide, it is crucial to develop appropriate analysis methods, models, and tools to assess and predict the spread of disease and evaluate the risk. Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases features mathematical and spatial modeling approaches that integrate applications from various fields such as geo-computation and simulation, spatial analytics, mathematics, statistics, epidemiology, and health policy. In addition, the book captures the latest advances in the use of geographic information system (GIS), global positioning system (GPS), and other location-based technologies in the spatial and temporal study of infectious diseases. Highlighting the current practices and methodology via various infectious disease studies, Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases features: * Approaches to better use infectious disease data collected from various sources for analysis and modeling purposes * Examples of disease spreading dynamics, including West Nile virus, bird flu, Lyme disease, pandemic influenza (H1N1), and schistosomiasis * Modern techniques such as Smartphone use in spatio-temporal usage data, cloud computing-enabled cluster detection, and communicable disease geo-simulation based on human mobility * An overview of different mathematical, statistical, spatial modeling, and geo-simulation techniques Analyzing and Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Infectious Diseases is an excellent resource for researchers and scientists who use, manage, or analyze infectious disease data, need to learn various traditional and advanced analytical methods and modeling techniques, and become aware of different issues and challenges related to infectious disease modeling and simulation. The book is also a useful textbook and/or supplement for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level courses in bioinformatics, biostatistics, public health and policy, and epidemiology.

Over the last twenty years there has been a dramatic upsurge in the application of meta-analysis to medical research. This has mainly been due to greater emphasis on evidence-based medicine and the need for reliable summaries of the vast and expanding volume of clinical research. At the same time there have been great strides in the development and refinement of the associated statistical methodology. This book describes the planning, conduct and reporting of a meta-analysis as applied to a series of randomized controlled clinical trials.

• The various approaches are presented within a general unified framework.

• Meta-analysis techniques are described in detail, from their theoretical development through to practical implementation.

• Each topic discussed is supported by detailed worked examples.

• A comparison of fixed and random effects approaches is included, as well as a discussion of Bayesian methods and cumulative meta-analysis.

• Fully documented programs using standard statistical procedures in SAS are available on the Web.

As economic and demographic conditions change, and technology advances, world leaders are becoming increasingly concerned with the future of health care. This comprehensive volume brings together North American and European experts in demographics, public administration, management, and health sciences to examine the challenges confronting health care personnel and systems in the industrialized countries. Following an overview of the general problems and methods of health care planning, contributors discuss such crucial topics as changes in the health status of populations; the impact of an aging population on health care systems; the prospects for reorganizing health care systems; the effects of new technology and drugs on health care; and the future of health care financing.

This book is a compilation of some of the most remarkable contributions made by scientists currently working in Latin America to the understanding of virus biology, the pathogenesis of virus-related diseases, virus epidemiology, vaccine trials and antivirals development. In addition to recognizing the many fine virologists working in Latin America, Human Virology in Latin America also discusses both the state-of-the-art research and the current challenges that are being faced in the region, in hopes of inspiring young scientists worldwide to become eminent virologists.

This unique book provides a retrospective analysis of the changes in survival outcomes at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center over the past six decades. Since opening its doors in 1944, M.D. Anderson has kept a continuous, uninterrupted data repository of the treatment and outcomes of each of its patients. It is this visionary database from the center s tumor registry which makes this groundbreaking book possible. Tracking results across time, this book shows radical shifts in outcomes trends, where great progress has been made, and where there is still a long way to go, and offers a snapshot into the parallel history of developments in care. Such data is crucial to informing how patients are counseled, how treatment decisions are determined, and how prognoses are made.

"60 Years of Survival Outcomes at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center" is the only book to concurrently present longitudinal data on survival outcomes across the spectrum of rare and common cancers. Each chapter deals with a specific disease site, discussing current management approaches and presenting key data replete with illustrative charts, graphs, and tables. With the resources available only to the practitioners at this inimitable institution, this book heralds a cornerstone moment in the study of survival outcomes and the depth of our knowledge of cancer care. "

This stimulating volume uses multiple lenses to analyze the complex causes of health disparities affecting minorities, in particular African Americans, and explains how this knowledge can be used to reduce their destructive effects. Pinpointing genetic, non-genetic, and epigenetic factors underlying health conditions common to the population-including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer-the author traces intricate links among these factors in the current environmental and social context. The section on non-genetic factors in health disparities, such as social determinants and health behaviors, adds depth to the ongoing discourse on public health and health policy objectives. And the chapters on gene/environment interactions outline the vast potential for developing new multidisciplinary frontiers in shrinking health inequities and personalizing care. Included in the coverage: The African diaspora and disease-specific disparities The genetic basis to health disparities The role of epigenetics Economic factors and health Psychological issues and how they affect disparities Gene-environment interactions in health disparities Race, a biological or social concept Compelling and accessible, Health Outcomes in a Foreign Land will challenge and inspire medical students, epidemiologists, public health professionals, biomedical research scientists, and social scientists to go farther in their work. A wider audience would include policymakers, government officials, nurses, physicians, lawyers, economists, community outreach investigators, and interested general readers.