Andrew B. Lawson - Böcker

Research has generated a number of advances in methods for spatial cluster modelling in recent years, particularly in the area of Bayesian cluster modelling. Along with these advances has come an explosion of interest in the potential applications of this work, especially in epidemiology and genome research.In one integrated volume, this book reviews the state-of-the-art in spatial clustering and spatial cluster modelling, bringing together research and applications previously scattered throughout the literature. It begins with an overview of the field, then presents a series of chapters that illuminate the nature and purpose of cluster modelling within different application areas, including astrophysics, epidemiology, ecology, and imaging. The focus then shifts to methods, with discussions on point and object process modelling, perfect sampling of cluster processes, partitioning in space and space-time, spatial and spatio-temporal process modelling, nonparametric methods for clustering, and spatio-temporal cluster modelling.Many figures, some in full color, complement the text, and a single section of references cited makes it easy to locate source material. Leading specialists in the field of cluster modelling authored each chapter, and an introduction by the editors to each chapter provides a cohesion not typically found in contributed works. Spatial Cluster Modelling thus offers a singular opportunity to explore this exciting new field, understand its techniques, and apply them in your own research.

Progressively more and more attention has been paid to how location affects health outcomes. The area of disease mapping focusses on these problems, and the Bayesian paradigm has a major role to play in the understanding of the complex interplay of context and individual predisposition in such studies of disease. Using R for Bayesian Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling provides a major resource for those interested in applying Bayesian methodology in small area health data studies.Features:Review of R graphics relevant to spatial health dataOverview of Bayesian methods and Bayesian hierarchical modeling as applied to spatial dataBayesian Computation and goodness-of-fitReview of basic Bayesian disease mapping modelsSpatio-temporal modeling with MCMC and INLASpecial topics include multivariate models, survival analysis, missing data, measurement error, variable selection, individual event modeling, and infectious disease modelingSoftware for fitting models based on BRugs, Nimble, CARBayes and INLAProvides code relevant to fitting all examples throughout the book at a supplementary website The book fills a void in the literature and available software, providing a crucial link for students and professionals alike to engage in the analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal health data from a Bayesian perspective using R. The book emphasizes the use of MCMC via Nimble, BRugs, and CARBAyes, but also includes INLA for comparative purposes. In addition, a wide range of packages useful in the analysis of geo-referenced spatial data are employed and code is provided. It will likely become a key reference for researchers and students from biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, and environmental science.

Handbook of Spatial Epidemiology explains how to model epidemiological problems and improve inference about disease etiology from a geographical perspective. Top epidemiologists, geographers, and statisticians share interdisciplinary viewpoints on analyzing spatial data and space–time variations in disease incidences. These analyses can provide important information that leads to better decision making in public health.The first part of the book addresses general issues related to epidemiology, GIS, environmental studies, clustering, and ecological analysis. The second part presents basic statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology, including fundamental likelihood principles, Bayesian methods, and testing and nonparametric approaches. With a focus on special methods, the third part describes geostatistical models, splines, quantile regression, focused clustering, mixtures, multivariate methods, and much more. The final part examines special problems and application areas, such as residential history analysis, segregation, health services research, health surveys, infectious disease, veterinary topics, and health surveillance and clustering.Spatial epidemiology, also known as disease mapping, studies the geographical or spatial distribution of health outcomes. This handbook offers a wide-ranging overview of state-of-the-art approaches to determine the relationships between health and various risk factors, empowering researchers and policy makers to tackle public health problems.

Progressively more and more attention has been paid to how location affects health outcomes. The area of disease mapping focusses on these problems, and the Bayesian paradigm has a major role to play in the understanding of the complex interplay of context and individual predisposition in such studies of disease. Using R for Bayesian Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling provides a major resource for those interested in applying Bayesian methodology in small area health data studies.Features:Review of R graphics relevant to spatial health dataOverview of Bayesian methods and Bayesian hierarchical modeling as applied to spatial dataBayesian Computation and goodness-of-fitReview of basic Bayesian disease mapping modelsSpatio-temporal modeling with MCMC and INLASpecial topics include multivariate models, survival analysis, missing data, measurement error, variable selection, individual event modeling, and infectious disease modelingSoftware for fitting models based on BRugs, Nimble, CARBayes and INLAProvides code relevant to fitting all examples throughout the book at a supplementary website The book fills a void in the literature and available software, providing a crucial link for students and professionals alike to engage in the analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal health data from a Bayesian perspective using R. The book emphasizes the use of MCMC via Nimble, BRugs, and CARBAyes, but also includes INLA for comparative purposes. In addition, a wide range of packages useful in the analysis of geo-referenced spatial data are employed and code is provided. It will likely become a key reference for researchers and students from biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, and environmental science.

Since the publication of the second edition, many new Bayesian tools and methods have been developed for space-time data analysis, the predictive modeling of health outcomes, and other spatial biostatistical areas. Exploring these new developments, Bayesian Disease Mapping: Hierarchical Modeling in Spatial Epidemiology, Third Edition provides an up-to-date, cohesive account of the full range of Bayesian disease mapping methods and applications. In addition to the new material, the book also covers more conventional areas such as relative risk estimation, clustering, spatial survival analysis, and longitudinal analysis. After an introduction to Bayesian inference, computation, and model assessment, the text focuses on important themes, including disease map reconstruction, cluster detection, regression and ecological analysis, putative hazard modeling, analysis of multiple scales and multiple diseases, spatial survival and longitudinal studies, spatiotemporal methods, and map surveillance. It shows how Bayesian disease mapping can yield significant insights into georeferenced health data. The target audience for this text is public health specialists, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians who need to work with geo-referenced health data.

Spatial epidemiology is the description and analysis of the geographical distribution of disease. It is more important now than ever, with modern threats such as bio-terrorism making such analysis even more complex. This second edition of Statistical Methods in Spatial Epidemiology is updated and expanded to offer a complete coverage of the analysis and application of spatial statistical methods. The book is divided into two main sections: Part 1 introduces basic definitions and terminology, along with map construction and some basic models. This is expanded upon in Part II by applying this knowledge to the fundamental problems within spatial epidemiology, such as disease mapping, ecological analysis, disease clustering, bio-terrorism, space-time analysis, surveillance and infectious disease modelling. Provides a comprehensive overview of the main statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology.Updated to include a new emphasis on bio-terrorism and disease surveillance.Emphasizes the importance of space-time modelling and outlines the practical application of the method.Discusses the wide range of software available for analyzing spatial data, including WinBUGS, SaTScan and R, and features an accompanying website hosting related software.Contains numerous data sets, each representing a different approach to the analysis, and provides an insight into various modelling techniques.This text is primarily aimed at medical statisticians, researchers and practitioners from public health and epidemiology. It is also suitable for postgraduate students of statistics and epidemiology, as well professionals working in government agencies.

The growth of biostatistics has been phenomenal in recent years and has been marked by considerable technical innovation in both methodology and computational practicality. One area that has experienced significant growth is Bayesian methods. The growing use of Bayesian methodology has taken place partly due to an increasing number of practitioners valuing the Bayesian paradigm as matching that of scientific discovery. In addition, computational advances have allowed for more complex models to be fitted routinely to realistic data sets. Through examples, exercises and a combination of introductory and more advanced chapters, this book provides an invaluable understanding of the complex world of biomedical statistics illustrated via a diverse range of applications taken from epidemiology, exploratory clinical studies, health promotion studies, image analysis and clinical trials.Key Features: Provides an authoritative account of Bayesian methodology, from its most basic elements to its practical implementation, with an emphasis on healthcare techniques.Contains introductory explanations of Bayesian principles common to all areas of application.Presents clear and concise examples in biostatistics applications such as clinical trials, longitudinal studies, bioassay, survival, image analysis and bioinformatics.Illustrated throughout with examples using software including WinBUGS, OpenBUGS, SAS and various dedicated R programs.Highlights the differences between the Bayesian and classical approaches.Supported by an accompanying website hosting free software and case study guides.Bayesian Biostatistics introduces the reader smoothly into the Bayesian statistical methods with chapters that gradually increase in level of complexity. Master students in biostatistics, applied statisticians and all researchers with a good background in classical statistics who have interest in Bayesian methods will find this book useful.

Spatial epidemiology is the description and analysis of the geographical distribution of disease. It is more important now than ever, with modern threats such as bio-terrorism making such analysis even more complex. This second edition of Statistical Methods in Spatial Epidemiology is updated and expanded to offer a complete coverage of the analysis and application of spatial statistical methods. The book is divided into two main sections: Part 1 introduces basic definitions and terminology, along with map construction and some basic models. This is expanded upon in Part II by applying this knowledge to the fundamental problems within spatial epidemiology, such as disease mapping, ecological analysis, disease clustering, bio-terrorism, space-time analysis, surveillance and infectious disease modelling. * Provides a comprehensive overview of the main statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology. * Updated to include a new emphasis on bio-terrorism and disease surveillance. * Emphasizes the importance of space-time modelling and outlines the practical application of the method.* Discusses the wide range of software available for analyzing spatial data, including WinBUGS, SaTScan and R, and features an accompanying website hosting related software. * Contains numerous data sets, each representing a different approach to the analysis, and provides an insight into various modelling techniques. This text is primarily aimed at medical statisticians, researchers and practitioners from public health and epidemiology. It is also suitable for postgraduate students of statistics and epidemiology, as well professionals working in government agencies.

Following the events of 9/11 and in the current world climate, there is increasing concern of the impact of potential bioterrorism attacks. Spatial surveillance systems are used to detect changes in public health data, and alert us to possible outbreaks of disease, either from natural resources or from bioterrorism attacks. Statistical methods play a key role in spatial surveillance, as they are used to identify changes in data, and build models of that data in order to make predictions about future activity. This book is the first to provide an overview of all the current key methods in spatial surveillance, and present them in an accessible form, suitable for the public health professional. It features an abundance of examples using real data, highlighting the practical application of the methodology. It is edited and authored by leading researchers and practitioners in spatial surveillance methods. Provides an overview of the current key methods in spatial surveillance of public health data.Includes coverage of both single and multiple disease surveillance.Covers all of the key topics, including syndromic surveillance, spatial cluster detection, and Bayesian data mining.

Disease mapping involves the analysis of geo-referenced disease incidence data and has many applications, for example within resource allocation, cluster alarm analysis, and ecological studies. There is a real need amongst public health workers for simpler and more efficient tools for the analysis of geo-referenced disease incidence data. Bayesian and multilevel methods provide the required efficiency, and with the emergence of software packages – such as WinBUGS and MLwiN – are now easy to implement in practice. Provides an introduction to Bayesian and multilevel modelling in disease mapping.Adopts a practical approach, with many detailed worked examples.Includes introductory material on WinBUGS and MLwiN.Discusses three applications in detail – relative risk estimation, focused clustering, and ecological analysis.Suitable for public health workers and epidemiologists with a sound statistical knowledge.Supported by a Website featuring data sets and WinBUGS and MLwiN programs.Disease Mapping with WinBUGS and MLwiN  provides a practical introduction to the use of software for disease mapping for researchers, practitioners and graduate students from statistics, public health and epidemiology who analyse disease incidence data.

This superb introductory guide explains the basic principles underlying the construction and analysis of disease maps. Growing public awareness of environmental hazards has increased the demand for investigations into the geographical distribution of disease and as data resulting from studies is not always straightforward to interpret, there has been a need for an accessible, clearly written introduction to the subject. This book supplies the reader with an array of tools and skills so that maps may be produced and correctly interpreted, and also describes the role of disease mapping within epidemiology, highlighting its important role in studies of environmental health and environmental epidemiology. It provides:* An introduction to new developments in disease mapping* Comprehensive coverage of an active area of research and development* Numerous case studies to highlight the application of the techniques discussedThis text will be invaluable to anyone with an interest in disease mapping, and is an essential volume for both the specialist and the non-specialist. It is of particular relevance to epidemiologists, medical statisticians, geographers, and public health advisors, as well as environmental health workers, occupational health physicians, and infectious disease specialists.

Offers an in-depth report on advanced statistical tools for public health disease surveillance, which is the result of a prestigious World Health Organisation (WHO) and EU Biomed programme initiative. Traditionally, the role of public health disease surveillance has been to identify and evaluate morbidity and mortality but increasingly, more sophisticated methods are being applied as the authorities extend their studies to include control and prevention of disease. This book brings together leading experts to discuss complex methodologies for the statistical evaluation of disease mapping and risk assessment. It includes a broad variety of statistical techniques and where appropriate, examples are included on topical issues such as the analysis of putative health hazards. For easy reference the text is presented in five distinct sections, each with an introductory review: * Disease Mapping * Clustering of Disesase * Ecological Analysis * Risk Assessment for Putative Sources of Hazard * Public Health Applications and Case Studies Representative of the most pertinent issues within disease surveillance and mapping, this book will provide an accessible overview for statisticians and epidemiologists.

Since the publication of the second edition, many new Bayesian tools and methods have been developed for space-time data analysis, the predictive modeling of health outcomes, and other spatial biostatistical areas. Exploring these new developments, Bayesian Disease Mapping: Hierarchical Modeling in Spatial Epidemiology, Third Edition provides an up-to-date, cohesive account of the full range of Bayesian disease mapping methods and applications. In addition to the new material, the book also covers more conventional areas such as relative risk estimation, clustering, spatial survival analysis, and longitudinal analysis. After an introduction to Bayesian inference, computation, and model assessment, the text focuses on important themes, including disease map reconstruction, cluster detection, regression and ecological analysis, putative hazard modeling, analysis of multiple scales and multiple diseases, spatial survival and longitudinal studies, spatiotemporal methods, and map surveillance. It shows how Bayesian disease mapping can yield significant insights into georeferenced health data. The target audience for this text is public health specialists, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians who need to work with geo-referenced health data.

Handbook of Spatial Epidemiology explains how to model epidemiological problems and improve inference about disease etiology from a geographical perspective. Top epidemiologists, geographers, and statisticians share interdisciplinary viewpoints on analyzing spatial data and space–time variations in disease incidences. These analyses can provide important information that leads to better decision making in public health.The first part of the book addresses general issues related to epidemiology, GIS, environmental studies, clustering, and ecological analysis. The second part presents basic statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology, including fundamental likelihood principles, Bayesian methods, and testing and nonparametric approaches. With a focus on special methods, the third part describes geostatistical models, splines, quantile regression, focused clustering, mixtures, multivariate methods, and much more. The final part examines special problems and application areas, such as residential history analysis, segregation, health services research, health surveys, infectious disease, veterinary topics, and health surveillance and clustering.Spatial epidemiology, also known as disease mapping, studies the geographical or spatial distribution of health outcomes. This handbook offers a wide-ranging overview of state-of-the-art approaches to determine the relationships between health and various risk factors, empowering researchers and policy makers to tackle public health problems.