Lawson – författare

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.

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.

In this powerful volume, 15 leading American philosophers examine and critically reassess Douglass's significance for contemporary social and political thought. Philosophically, Douglass's work sought to establish better ways of thinking, especially in the light of his convictions about our humanity and democratic legitimacy - convictions that were culturally and historically shaped by his experience of, and struggle against, the institution of American slavery.Contributors include Bernard R. Boxill, Angela Y. Davis, Lewis R. Gordon, Leonard Harris, Tommy L. Lott, Howard McGary, and John P. Pittman.

The benzodiazepines are among the most widely-used of drugs. However, in many countries their popularity is waning as prescribers become more aware of problems with unwanted effects and with rebound and withdrawal syndromes. The earlier benzodiazepines were long-acting, and it was thought that their shorter-acting successors would have important advantages. Other developments include partial agonists and partial inverse agonists, compounds acting on the benzodiazepine-GABA macro­ molecular site although not as a typical benzodiazepine, and anxiolytic agents acting on 5-HT pathways directly. I shall review the problems of unwanted effects and dependence, mainly from an epidemiological view­ point, and then relate the pharmacological properties of the newer com­ pounds to possible differences in their clinical profile of adverse effects. Adverse behavioural effects Benzodiazepines are used, inter alia, as anxiolytics and hyp­ notics. The latter use exploits the sedative actions which occur at higher than anxiolytic doses. The sedation should disappear by the time the patient wakes up. Hypnotics are thus unique in that their wanted effect and unwanted effect are identical - sedation - but separated in time by about 8 hours.