bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bayesian approaches to disease mapping
Authors: Wakefield J. C. , Best N. G. , Waller L.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the underlying assumptions of Bayesian methods for disease mapping and discusses mathematical details. The chapter proceeds as follows. Section 7.2 describes a three-state hierarchical model within which disease mapping data may be viewed. Section 7.3 considers implementation and simulation-based techniques. Section 7.4 provides two illustrative examples of the use of Bayesian disease mapping models. Section 7.5 considers some extensions and alternative approaches to the models presented. Section 7.6 provides a concluding discussion.
Clustering, cluster detection, and spatial variation in risk
Authors: Wakefield J. C. , Kelsall J. E. , Morris S. E.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses issues relating to, and reviews methods proposed for, cluster detection and clustering. The chapter proceeds as follows. Section 8.2 reviews of methods proposed for assessing the level of clustering in a set of data, and for cluster detection. Section 8.3 provides illustrative examples of the methods discussed in the previous section. Section 8.4 provides a concluding discussion.
Assessment of disease risk in relation to a pre-specified source
Authors: Morris S. E. , Wakefield J. C.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews specific problems of the assessment of disease risk in relation to a pre-specified source. The chapter proceeds as follows. Section 9.2 provides a context for point-source studies and describes a general statistical framework. Section 9.3 describes a number of conventional epidemiological techniques while Section 9.4 describes semi-parametric statistical approaches to modelling. Section 9.5 reviews regression methods. Section 9.6 illustrates a number of methods using data on the incidence of stomach cancer in the proximity of a municipal incinerator. Section 9.7 provides a concluding discussion.
Bayesian mapping of Hodgkin’s disease in France
Authors: Mollié A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents a case study mapping mortality rates for Hodgkin's disease in French departments. It illustrates and compares various methods for estimating rates for rare diseases. Some practical issues for implementing the fully Bayesian approach are discussed.
Exposure assessment
Authors: Briggs D. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews different exposure assessment methods. It argues that there is no single or optimal method for defining and assessing exposures. Much depends on the scientific circumstances of the study: the pollutant and sources under investigation, the scale of the analysis, the study design, the specific aetiological hypothesis which motivates it, and the purposes of the study. Fitness of purpose must then be the key criterion in selecting the method for exposure assessment.
Dispersion modelling
Authors: Colvile R. , Briggs D. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter is concerned with the processes and mechanisms by which human populations are exposed to environmental contaminants, focusing on the process of dispersion by turbulent diffusion. It discusses the problems and limitations of the approach, including the availability of data. It addresses the use of dispersion modelling in exposure assessment for epidemiological studies. It shows that dispersion modelling provides a potentially powerful tool for exposure assessment.
Combining models of health and exposure data: the SAVIAH study
Authors: Best N. G. , Ickstadt K. , Wolpert R. L. , Briggs D. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes a regression-based approach to air pollution mapping, developed as part of the European Union-funded SAVIAH (Small-Area Variations In Air Quality and Health) project. The approach involves the use of monitored NO2 concentrations as a marker of traffic-related pollution, integrated with data about road networks, traffic volume, and topography within a geographical information system environment, and feeding a regression model to predict air pollution across the study area.
Water quality and health
Authors: Kanarek M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on the association between drinking water quality and health. It considers pollutants that have been linked to cancer mortality and incidence, including asbestos, arsenic, chlorination by-products, nitrates, and radium. It discusses the problems that plague researchers in conducting studies of drinking water and health. It argues that drinking water epidemiology studies on both infectious and non-infectious agents are an essential component of public health research. However, mainstream epidemiology has not paid enough attention to this potential source of disease, mainly due to the difficulty of drinking water studies, especially in terms of exposure assessment.
Contribution of epidemiology to understanding coronary heart disease
Authors: Epstein F. H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the crucial role of epidemiology in understanding coronary heart disease (CHD). Topics covered include historical background of CHD epidemiology, predicting CHD, preventing CHD, contributions from epidemiological methodology, impact on medical practice and public policy, and understanding CHD.
US trends
Authors: Luepker R. V.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) in the United States, including mortality trends, morbidity trends, and factors associated with temporal CHD trends. CHD mortality adjusted for age continues to decline in the United States. However, crude mortality, unadjusted for age, has changed more modestly, with CHD being postponed, and manifesting at progressively older ages. The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) — defined to include both first hospitalized event and out-of-hospital death as first CHD manifestation — is declining modestly, mainly due to a decline in out-of-hospital mortality. Recurrent or second AMI is declining at a rate greater that incident AMI, particularly in the 1990s, as is case fatality for hospitalized AMI. There is also evidence that the severity of hospitalized AMI is declining.
Coronary heart disease in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
Authors: Bobak M. , Marmot M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU). The chapter has three parts. First, it describes the levels and trends of mortality from CHD in CEE/FSU. Second, it reviews the possible explanations for the high rates and for the trends. Finally, it considers a few aspects of CHD in CEE/FSU that provide important findings or hypotheses relevant for the rest of the world, such as socio-economic inequalities, impact of societal transformation, and binge drinking.
Developing countries
Authors: Reddy K. S.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in developing countries. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, developing countries contributed 3.5 million of the 6.2 million global deaths attributable to CHD in 1990. he projections envisage that these countries will account for 7.8 million of the 11.1 million deaths related to CHD in 2020. Nearly half of these deaths will occur below the age of seventy years, in contrast to less than a quarter of CHD deaths in the rich industrial countries. Proportional mortality rates of deaths attributable to CVD have also risen in these countries, from 24.5% in 1990 to 28.5% in 1998.
Trends in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a comparison between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark, 1950–99
Authors: Joossens J. V. , Kesteloot H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter compares mortality trends and possible explanatory factors in three developed affluent countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. These countries have similar socio-economic systems, and each has a social healthcare system covering the whole population, but they have important differences in employment. All-cause mortality is used as the ‘gold standard’ against which to validate cardiovascular mortality. To explore which factors might explain the observed changes in mortality in the three countries, levels and time-related changes in mortality rates in both sexes are compared with changes in lifestyle and in socio-economic factors, primarily unemployment.
Dietary patterns and coronary heart disease risk
Authors: Erlinger T. P. , Appel L. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes and compares selected dietary patterns, each of which has been associated with reduced coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. The dietary patterns include those consumed by free-living persons (i.e., a traditional Mediterranean diet consumed in Crete, vegetarian diets, diets consumed in rural China, and a traditional Okinawan diet) and diets tested in clinical trials (i.e., Lyon Diet Heart Study, Indo-Mediterranean Diet Heart Study, and the DASH clinical trial). Several distinct dietary patterns are associated with lower CHD rates and with improved CHD risk factors. A common feature of these diets is an emphasis on plant-based foods. Accordingly, fibre intake is high while saturated fat intake is low, less than 10% kcal in all instances. When total fat intake is high, that is, over 30% kcal, the predominant fat is monounsaturated fats. N-3 polyunsaturated fats are frequently consumed in small quantities and in a variety of forms. Carbohydrate intake is typically high; the predominant forms appear to be complex carbohydrates, likely from whole grain products with minimal processing.
Alcohol and coronary heart disease
Authors: Bobak M. , Marmot M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews the evidence on the consumption of alcohol and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and with compares it mortality in general. The chapter has four general sections. The first section studies of ‘average’ volume of drinking and CHD. It reviews the results of the studies, the potential biases in studies of alcohol, the biological mechanisms for the cardioprotective effects of alcohol, the possibility that the effect of alcohol is modified by background cardiovascular risk, and the public health implications of the results. The second section examines the role of drinking patterns, namely the effect of binge and heavy drinking on CHD. It then reviews the evidence linking different types of alcoholic beverages with CHD risk. Finally, the effects of alcohol on all-cause mortality are summarized.
Obesity
Authors: Dyer A. R. , Stamler J. , Greenland P.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews studies on the link between obesity and coronary heart disease (CHD). These include results from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry Study and the Western Electric Study. Studies confirm that overweight is one of the major CHD/CVD risk factors. Concerted efforts are needed for its prevention and treatment.
Women and cardiovascular heart disease
Authors: Kuller L. H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter assesses the substantially lower incidence and mortality due to coronary heart disease (CHD) for women as compared to men. It considers three major current hypotheses to explain these differences: (i) the lower risk among women is due to hormonal differences or tissue-specific hormone receptors; (ii) differences in the distribution of body fat and subsequent metabolic changes, including insulin resistance and distribution of lipoprotein particles, account for the differences in coronary atherosclerosis and clinical CHD among men and women; and (iii) variations in immune response and inflammation are important determinants of differences in CHD between men and women.
Use of oral contraceptives
Authors: Poulter N. R.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews studies on the link between oral contraceptive (OC) use and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). The small absolute excess risk of a myocardial infarction (MI) due to the use of combined OCs should be balanced against the risks and benefits associated with the use of alternative forms of contraception and of the effect of OCs on other CV end points, on risk of, or protection against, certain forms of neoplasia, on quality of life, and ultimately on overall morbidity and mortality. The users of OCs are the only ones who can ultimately make this decision, but despite the small absolute risks involved, given the young age of OC users and the iatrogenic background to any complications induced, it is incumbent upon the medical research community to objectively evaluate the various pieces of information necessary to make such judgements.
Mental illness and coronary heart disease
Authors: Stansfeld S. , Rasul F.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes the evidence linking mental illness and CHD, the associations between mental illness and risk factors for CHD, and the potential mechanisms through which mental illness may affect the heart. There is evidence that (a) depression is an independent predictor of CHD morbidity and mortality; (b) exhaustion is a predictor in the eighteen months before cardiac events; (c) phobic anxiety predicts sudden cardiac death; and (d) depression post-myocardial infarction (MI) predicts increased mortality rates.
Psychophysiology
Authors: Steptoe A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter summarizes applications of psychophysiological methods in coronary heart disease (CHD) epidemiology. It demonstrates that psychophysiological pathways are biologically plausible, and can be studied in ways that illuminate CHD aetiology. The contributions of psychophysiological processes within the multiple determinants of CHD risk are presented in a schematic model at the end of the chapter.
Chronic infection and circulating markers of inflammation
Authors: Whincup P. , Danesh J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a critical review of the available epidemiological and clinical evidence on CHD and markers of persistent infection and of inflammation. Epidemiological and clinical data on specific persistent infective agents and CHD is generally weak and inconclusive. Although larger and more rigorous studies now suggest that it is unlikely that chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or CMV are strong determinants of CHD, available studies have been unable to confirm or exclude the existence of any modest associations.
Air pollution
Authors: Pope III C. A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews studies of day-to-day changes in acute exposure to air pollutants, including studies of early episodes of extremely elevated air pollution, more recent episodes with only moderately elevated concentrations of pollution, and results of numerous daily time-series studies of cardiovascular mortality and hospitalizations. It reviews results of recent cohort-based studies that have evaluated mortality risk and chronic, long-term exposure to air pollution. It then discusses the growing number of studies that attempt to look at specific physiological end points that may be part of the pathophysiological pathway linking cardiopulmonary mortality and particulate air pollution. Epidemiological studies have shown that air pollution, especially the fine particulate matter common to many urban and industrial environments, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Seasonal variations in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and the role of temperature
Authors: Toledano M. B. , Shaddick G. , Elliott P.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the relationship between ambient temperature and mortality or disease occurrence in adults, in particular from cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiological investigation provides evidence for a relationship between ambient temperature and mortality, particularly from cardiovascular and respiratory causes. The association is consistent across different study designs and methodologies, countries worldwide, and varying time periods, despite the use of routine data and their inherent inaccuracies. Whilst both hot and cold temperatures are associated with increased deaths, the effects of hot temperatures appear to reflect mainly short-term mortality displacement, whilst cold temperatures appear to have prolonged effects on mortality.
The developmental origins of coronary heart disease
Authors: Barker D. J. P.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the developmental origins of coronary heart disease. The recent discovery that people who develop coronary heart disease (CHD) grew differently to other people during fetal life and childhood has led to a new ‘developmental’ model for the disease. Studies have shown an association between low birthweight and CHD. Low birthweight has also been shown to predict altered glucose tolerance in studies around the world.
Screening for type 2 diabetes
Authors: Johnston D. G. , Alberti K. G. M. M. , Godsland I. F. , Pierce M. , Shepperd S.
Published: September 2009

Macrovascular disease is the major cause of premature death in diabetes. The age-adjusted mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) is 2-4 times higher than in the non-diabetic population. The major role of screening for diabetes is to diagnose it early to prevent or delay the complications. This chapter presents the arguments for and against screening for diabetes, and how this should be done.
The secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
Authors: Anand S. S. , Lonn E. , Yusuf S.
Published: September 2009

Observational studies and clinical trials have shown that lower levels of risk factors in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) can substantially reduce their risk of suffering recurrent vascular events. Efforts directed towards reducing further CV events in patients with established CVD are known as secondary prevention. This chapter reviews the epidemiological evidence for risk factor control, lifestyle changes, and medical strategies in the secondary prevention setting. Mainstays of secondary prevention include attention to blood pressure lowering, glucose control, tobacco cessation, and optimizing an individual's cholesterol using proven medical therapies, together with sound dietary and physical activity programs, and regular use of antiplatelet agents.
Smoke-free policies are an effective way to reduce heart disease rapidly
Authors: Fichtenberg C. M. , Glantz S. A.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the impact of tobacco control campaigns on heart disease mortality and morbidity, focusing on the California tobacco control programme. Smoking reduction is considered the quickest, most effective prevention strategy for heart disease morbidity and mortality. The most effective components of tobacco control programmes are taxation of cigarettes, passage of clean air legislation, and media campaigns focusing on tobacco industry manipulation and second-hand smoke.
Nutrition policy: national strategies for dietary change
Authors: James W. P. T. , Rigby N. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter considers national strategies for dietary change aimed at preventing cardiovascular and other adult chronic diseases such as cancer. It argues that despite the emphasis on the need for appropriate diets to prevent cardiovascular disease, the practical changes to improve diets on a global basis have been very modest. We have now entered a phase when global industrial interests are so powerful and focused on maintaining profits that governments are going to find it very difficult to promote radical dietary changes. The recent emphasis on individual responsibility and the importance of the free market further limits the likelihood of governments accepting the importance of major public health initiatives to alter the toxic environment affecting most societies in the world.
Lessening inequalities and effecton coronary heart disease
Authors: Whitehead M. , Marmot M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter starts by summarizing the evidence on the social patterning of coronary heart disease (CHD), and then outlines some of the main pathways leading to the marked social gradient in disease. An understanding of these pathways and mechanisms is needed to devise plausible and theoretically sound strategies to intervene along the pathways. The second half of the chapter applies an equity perspective in a discussion of the effectiveness of these strategies, with a particular focus on the potential to reduce differential exposure, vulnerability, and consequences of CHD.
Behaviour change
Authors: Cooke L. J. , Jarvis M. J. , Wardle J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on three aspects of health behaviour vital to the reduction of coronary heart disease (CHD): smoking cessation, increased physical activity, and improved diet. The successes achieved at the population level in reducing tobacco use are not yet evident for unhealthy eating and exercise practices.
Contributions to change: treatment
Authors: Tunstall-Pedoe H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter considers the impact of treatment on cardiovascular disease. It argues that for the first two decades of the last half century, it is unlikely that treatment had much impact on coronary heart disease which followed its own natural history. The development of powerful new pharmacological agents along with the discovery of new uses for old ones, coupled with really large randomized controlled trials (RCTs), enabled effective treatments to be introduced, firstly in the acute phase, but probably more effectively for secondary prevention.
Community change and the role of public health
Authors: Puska P.
Published: September 2009

Strong medical evidence exists on the important role of some behavioural risk factors in the prevention of cardiovascular and many other chronic diseases. Community-based preventive programmes start from the fact that people's behaviours are strongly determined by their social and physical environment. Thus, the intervention target is the community and not the individual. This chapter discusses some relevant theories as well as the basic principles of planning, implementation, and evaluation of community programmes.
Retrospective exposure assessment
Authors: Ahrens Wolfgang , Stewart Patricia
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to retrospective exposure assessment for exposure in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It provides a number of strategies of how to approach this, and stresses the importance of a pilot study. It provides examples of data sources for historical exposures, and various examples and references.
Exposure surrogates: job-exposure matrices, self-reports, and expert evaluations
Authors: Teschke Kay
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the use of exposure surrogates, job exposure matrices, self reports, and expert evaluations for exposure in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It provides estimates for the validity and reliability of the various approaches. It provides various examples and references.
Dermal exposure assessment
Authors: Semple Sean , Cherrie John W.
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the assessment of dermal exposure in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It describes models that could be used for the assessment. It provides various examples and references.
Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling
Authors: Loizou George , Spendiff Martin
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of exposure in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It describes models that could be used for the assessment. It provides various examples and references.
Allergen exposure and occupational respiratory allergy and asthma
Authors: Heederik Dick
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the assessment of allergen exposures in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It discusses strategies and methods used, and provides various examples and references.
Particulate matter
Authors: Suh Helen H.
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the assessment of particulate matter exposures in environmental epidemiological studies. It discusses strategies and methods used, and various samplers for monitoring. It provides various examples and references.
Exposure assessment of pesticides in cancer epidemiology
Authors: Dosemeci Mustafa
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the assessment of pesticides in occupational epidemiological studies. It discusses strategies and methods used. It provides various examples and references.
Radiofrequency exposure and cancer
Authors: van Tongeren Martie , Chadwick Philip
Published: September 2009

This chapter provides a general introduction to the assessment of radiofrequency in occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. It discusses strategies and methods used. It provides various examples and references.
Historical and policy approaches
Authors: Berridge Virginia
Published: September 2009

This chapter develops a historical understanding of “health promotion” at three different levels. First, it looks at how the term “health promotion” fits into changing definitions of public health and the rationales for those definitions since the 18th century. It then examines a more short-term form of historical evaluation, looking at how the “contemporary history” of recent health promotion policies can also provide a form of evaluation. Finally, the chapter addresses the question of why we are talking about evaluation at all.
Economic evaluation of health promotion interventions
Authors: Stevens Warren
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on economic approaches to evaluation. It begins with brief discussion of why we should not expect infinite resources at our disposal, and the optimization of benefits with limited resources. It then considers the measurement of cost benefits, dealing with uncertainty around measurement, and the effect of this uncertainty on transferring results from one location to another. The chapter presents a case study that looks at the introduction of bed nets in Gambia and concludes with a discussion of some of the more common debates in the field.
Evaluating interventions
Authors: Britton Annie , Thorogood Margaret
Published: September 2009

An experimental study is the standard method for evaluating clinical effectiveness. In such a study, a group of people exposed to an intervention is compared with another group that has not been exposed. There are a range of study designs with various advantages and disadvantages. This chapter discusses these different designs and how the most appropriate design must be chosen. It considers some of the strengths and weaknesses of randomized controlled trials and describes some other forms of experimental design used in health promotion.
Evaluating social marketing interventions
Authors: Chapman Steven
Published: September 2009

Social marketing is a process for designing and modifying health promotion interventions. This chapter focuses on the evaluation of social marketing. Topics discussed include the PERForM performance framework for social marketing, measures of social marketing performance, and the social marketing evidence base.
Evaluating sensitive interventions
Authors: Jewkes Rachel
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on the difficulties in evaluating a sensitive and complicated topic: intimate partner violence. Topics discussed include challenges of evaluating design, measuring women's experiences of intimate partner violence, and evaluating interventions to reduce men's use of intimate partner violence. It argues that evaluations must explore multiple forms of intimate partner violence and consider the subjective experiences of women as well as more objective measures of frequency and severity.
Evaluating community development initiatives in health promotion
Authors: Jewkes Rachel
Published: September 2009

This chapter focuses on the evaluation of community development initiatives. Community development initiatives are characterized by multifaceted interventions, seeking participation, and joint working in the project as a whole as well as in the constituent activities. Evaluation of these projects must also be multifaceted and tailored to each part of the broader initiative. Evaluations should include the impact of participation on major actors in the stakeholder group, and should be undertaken with references to five questions: Who participates? What is the nature of that participation? Whose agenda dominates? How does participation impact in participants from all sectors? How does the participatory process impact on non-participants in the community?
Reprogramming of striate and extrastriate visual cortices following retinal lesions
Authors: Dreher B.
Published: September 2009

This chapter considers the reorganization of the primary visual cortex of the cat following monocular or binocular retinal lesions. These studies reveal the importance of horizontal connections within the visual cortex. The mechanisms of reorganization are investigated utilizing molecular, pharmacological, and electrophysiological techniques.
Redistribution of cerebral functions following primary visual cortex damage during infancy
Authors: Lomber Stephen G. , Payne Bertram R.
Published: September 2009

The consequences of focal injury to the cerebral cortex in the immature brain differ from the consequences caused by similar damage of the mature cerebrum. In the immature brain, some distant neurons are more vulnerable to the injury, whereas others survive and expand their projections to bypass damaged or degenerated structures. The net result is the sparing of neural processing and behaviors. This chapter summarizes both the modifications in the visual pathways resulting from primary visual cortex damage sustained early in development, and the neural and behavioral processes that are spared or permanently impaired.
Behavioral and neural alterations following V1 damage in immature primates
Authors: Rodman Hillary R.
Published: September 2009

This chapter describes the behavioral deficits observed following lesions of the primary visual cortex in both mature and infant macaque monkeys. Overall, the consequences of such lesions are far more severe in adulthood than during development. The chapter also presents anatomical evidence that alterations to the thalamocortical pathways may explain the greater behavioral abilities identified following visual cortex lesions incurred during development, but not maturity.
Neurochemical changes underlying motion perception plasticity after lesions of extrastriate visual cortex in adult cats
Authors: Huxlin Krystel R.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines how lesions of the cat lateral suprasylvian (LS) extrastriate region initially produces behavior deficits specific to complex moving stimuli. It describes how visual training in the impaired hemifield shows that specific and active training is needed for functional recovery following the lesions. Lesions induce a down-regulation in activity within supragranular layers of area 18, which leads to alterations in the neurochemistry of specific sets of LS-projecting pyramidal cells and the inter-neurons that surround them.
A time-line of auditory cortical reorganization after noise-induced hearing loss
Authors: Eggermont Jos J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines the reorganization of the tonotopic map in cat primary auditory cortex (AI) following noise-induced hearing loss. It shows that the remapping is due to previously inhibited excitatory inputs and may contribute to the hypersensitivity of bordering frequencies and to the occurrence of tinnitus.
Development, maintenance and plasticity of tonotopic projections from cochlea to auditory cortex
Authors: Harrison Robert V.
Published: September 2009

Patterns of neural activity generated at peripheral sensory organs are influential in the development, maintenance, and plastic change to central brain areas. This chapter explores these mechanisms in the auditory system, specifically in the context of cochleotopic (tonotopic) projections up to cortex. It briefly reviews a series of studies in which tonotopic map reorganization is observed as a result of experimental changes to patterns of neural input from the cochlea. It discusses some of the practical (clinical) implications of new knowledge on auditory system plasticity. Finally, it extends discussions of brain plasticity to consider not just neurons, but also other cortical components such as glial cells and blood vasculature.
Recruitment of the auditory cortex in congenitally deaf cats
Authors: Kral Andrej , Hartmann Rainer , Klinke Rainer
Published: September 2009

This chapter investigates experience-based changes in the auditory system using the congenitally deaf white cat model. Through the use of cochlear implants, which permit acoustic experience, the auditory cortex of the congenitally deaf cat cortex is shown to be capable to modifying itself to resemble that of hearing cats.
Reprogramming surviving motor cortex after stroke
Authors: Muellbacher Wolf , Hallett Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses neural remapping after a stroke with respect to maximal recovery, considering the effectiveness of current therapies, including TMS, physical therapy, pharmacological therapies and their own work on inhibition therapies, in purposefully generating a new map following stroke-induced damage.
Cerebral reprogramming underlying functional recovery following stroke
Authors: Ward Nick S. , Frackowiak Richard S. J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study reorganization following motor cortex damage resulting from a stroke. It describes high activity soon after the stroke followed by a gradual decrease, and activity patterns correlated to an increased or decreased behavioral outcome.
Reorganization of somatosensory and motor cortex following peripheral nerve or spinal cord injury in primates
Authors: Kaas Jon H. , Rothemund Yvonne
Published: September 2009

Damage to peripheral nerves or the central axons of those nerves in the spinal cord disrupts the normal flow of information to the brain, and the output of the brain via motor neuron projections to muscles. These lesions have immediate consequences for sensory processing and motor control, and start a process of compensation first involving rebalancing of inhibition and excitation in central circuits, followed by an array of changes in gene expression, neurotransmitters and receptor expression, synaptic adjustments and neuron growth and retraction. The changes, commonly referred to as reorganizations, often promote partial recoveries, but they can lead to perception errors and movement disorders. This chapter focuses on reorganizations that have been experimentally studied in monkeys, and compares the results with those that have been obtained in noninvasive studies in humans. The emphasis is on sensory and motor cortex, where reorganizations have most extensively been explored, but subcortical alterations related to cortical reorganizations are also reviewed.
Critical periods for functional recovery after cortical injury during development
Authors: Kolb Bryan , Gibb Robbin
Published: September 2009

This chapter reviews studies in laboratory animals, and especially rats, in which precise developmental age has been manipulated and both functional and anatomical outcome has been examined. It also considers treatments that can modify the age-dependent effects of early cortical injuries.
Adaptive functional changes in the cerebral cortex during multiple sclerosis
Authors: Reddy Hasini
Published: September 2009

This chapter examines reorganization following damage due to the progression of multiple sclerosis in humans studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other imaging techniques. It also discusses difficulties in assessing such reorganization and the methods used to bypass these difficulties.
Cortical reprogramming
Authors: Flor Herta , Koeppe Caroline
Published: September 2009

The previous chapters showed the malleability of the adult cortex is and how it adapts to injury and environmental challenges. However, it is difficult to assess the functional significance of cortical plasticity in animals. In humans, psychophysical testing and the systematic evaluation of self-reported sensation can shed light on perceptual phenomena that are associated with large scale plastic cortical changes. This chapter examines the functional significance of plastic changes in somatosensory and motor cortex and presents an overview of the results of human studies that tested perceptual correlates. In addition to the description of the induced functional changes, the chapter also addresses the potential implications for rehabilitation.
Reprogramming cortex
Authors: Newton Jessica R. , Majewska Ania K. , Ellsworth Charlene , Sur Mriganka
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses how reprogramming the brain, by inducing visual inputs to innervate the auditory pathway, can reveal the relative influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in determining the function and organization of sensory cortex and thalamic nuclei. It describes its effect on retinal innervation, its physiological and behavioral consequences, and its potential influence on cortical circuitry.
Sound localization in early-blind human subjects
Authors: Saint-Amour Dave , Guillemot Jean-Paul , Lassonde Maryse , Lepore Franco
Published: September 2009

The idea that early-blind subjects may be able to compensate their loss of vision by developing a greater efficiency in the use of their other sensory modalities — primarily touch and audition — was expressed more than two centuries ago by Diderot in his ‘Lettre sur les Aveugles’ (1749). This chapter explores this notion by asking whether or not blind people develop compensatory capacities that render them more proficient in the processing of auditory stimuli than sighted people. It then discusses the possible mechanisms by which intermodal compensation may be achieved.
The longitudinal study of spatial cognitive development in children with pre- or perinatal focal brain injury
Authors: Stiles Joan , Moses Pamela , Paul Brianna M.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the perceptual effects of pre- or perinatal lesions. It shows that when subjects were asked to perform a task the outcome may appear normal, however, procedural affects may be present. Imaging techniques are used to study anatomical and functional changes related to recovered behavior.
Critical Appraisal of Epidemiological Studies and Clinical Trials
Authors: Elwood Mark
Published: September 2009

This book presents a logical system of critical appraisal, and facilitates studies to be evaluated and carried out effectively. This system emphasizes the central importance of cause and effect relationships. Its great strength is that it is applicable to a wide range of issues, and both to intervention trials and observational studies. This system unifies the often different approaches used in epidemiology, health services research, clinical trials, and evidence-based medicine, starting from a logical consideration of cause and effect. The book looks at the issues of study design, selection of subjects, bias, confounding, and the place of statistical methods. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and the applications of this logic to evidence-based medicine, knowledge-based health care, and health practice and policy are discussed. Current and often controversial examples are used, including screening for prostate cancer, publication bias in psychiatry, public health issues in developing countries, and conflicts between observational studies and randomized trials. Statistical issues are explained clearly without complex mathematics, and the most useful methods are summarized in the appendix. The final chapters give six applications of the critical appraisal of major studies: randomized trials of medical treatment and prevention, a prospective and a retrospective cohort study, a small matched case-control study, and a large case-control study. In these chapters, sections of the original papers are reproduced and the original studies placed in context by a summary of current developments.
The importance of causal relationships in medicine and health care
Authors: Elwood J. Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the concept of causation. Topics covered include definition and types of causation, a direct test of causation (the randomized trial), and methods of counting events. Self-test questions are provided at the end of the chapter.
Study designs which can demonstrate and test causation
Authors: Elwood J. Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part describes the key study designs used in clinical and epidemiological studies of causation. The designs are defined by two features: whether the study subjects are selected by their exposure or by their outcome, and the time dimensions of the study. The second part describes the key strengths and weaknesses of each type of study, with many examples. Self test questions are provided at the end of the chapter.
Selection of subjects for study
Authors: Elwood J. Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter deals with how subjects are selected for inclusion in analytical and intervention studies. To interpret a study, one must assess the problems that may have been overcome, or introduced, by the methods used to select subjects for the study. In observational cohort studies, one has to select subjects who are or have been exposed to the putative causal factor and a suitable comparison group who are unexposed or less exposed. In the case-control design, one has to select subjects in whom the outcome has occurred (cases) to compare with subjects in whom the outcome has not occurred (controls). In intervention studies, one selects subjects who are suitable and willing to have either the intervention being assessed or the alternative with which it is compared, which may be no intervention. Part 1 of this chapter covers the general principles, and Part 2 illustrates the application of these principles to each type of study. Self-test questions are provided at the end of the chapter.
Error and bias in observations
Authors: Elwood J. Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter is divided into two parts. First, it discusses the general principles of identifying and minimizing error and bias in observations. Secondly, it looks at how to measure and adjust for bias. Self-test questions are provided at the end of the chapter.
Critical appraisal of a matched case–control study
Authors: Elwood J. Mark
Published: September 2009

This chapter presents an example of the application of the scheme for critical appraisal: a small matched case-control study entitled ‘Increased risk of endometrial carcinoma among users of conjugated estrogens’, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1975. The study is the first publication showing an important relationship between a disease and a widely used drug. It was chosen because it is now of historical importance, and is a good example of an individually matched study with several issues of interpretation. In addition, it shows an interesting way of assessing confounding, which is valid although not usually used in current studies.
What is evidence for population health?
Authors: Heller Richard F.
Published: September 2009

Why do we need to consider evidence for population health and how can it draw on the success of evidence-based medicine? This chapter describes the Population Health Evidence Cycle: Ask, collect; understand; use.
Measuring the population impact
Authors: Heller Richard F.
Published: September 2009

This chapter reports on a number of ways to examine the impact of risk factors and intervention benefits on the population as a whole. It begins with a new set of “population impact measures” which have been specially designed for this purpose, and reflects on other measures which have been in use for longer. These new measures should be of value to the policy maker in determining the impact of a particular policy on a whole population.
Public health informatics: the role of e-science in building the evidence base
Authors: Heller Richard F.
Published: September 2009

This chapter identifies the importance of the revolution in information technology, which is transforming our ability to collect data of importance in building an evidence base for population health. The complexity of collecting and analyzing public health exposures and outcomes in a timely fashion to feed into policy will only be realized by the use of electronic information processing systems.
Individual or population priorities for population health: involving the public
Authors: Heller Richard F.
Published: September 2009

This chapter discusses the differences between individual and population health priorities. It describes the Population Health Evidence Cycle (Ask the question, Collect the evidence, and Understand and use the evidence) as an organizing structure for how to involve the public in priority setting. A new definition of public health is advocated: “Use of theory, experience, and evidence derived through the population sciences to improve the health of the population in a way that best meets the implicit and explicit needs of the community (the public)”.
Evidence into action: population impact assessment and population health decision support
Authors: Heller Richard F.
Published: September 2009

This chapter introduces practical tools to provide support for population health decision-making, bringing together a number of themes from throughout the book. Population impact assessment, using the Population Health Evidence Cycle, can help calculate and present the benefits of alternative uses of resources on the health of the population. Local data are essential for this, and key to being able to create and utilize the population health decision support systems described. Examples are given in an appendix.
Protecting human subjects in brain research: a pragmatic perspective
Authors: Miller Franklin G. , Fins Joseph J.
Published: September 2009

This chapter elucidates ethical considerations in designing and carrying out clinical research on people with brain disorders based on an approach to research ethics derived from American philosophical pragmatism. Focusing on placebo-controlled trials of pharmacological treatments and deep-brain stimulation for psychiatric and neurological disorders, the chapter reflects how moral principles and standards can conflict when applied to contextually complex situations. To guide ethical judgment, it calls for a careful balancing of morally relevant considerations and an understanding of moral norms rather than categorical or absolute rules.
When genes and brains unite: ethical implications of genomic neuroimaging
Authors: Canli Turhan
Published: September 2009

Geneticists, neuroscientists, and personality psychologists are now on a quest to understand the biological basis of personality and individual differences. This chapter highlights recent advances in this field of research. It illustrates how data obtained from neuroimaging scans can predict narrowly defined forms of behavior better than self-report and other behavioral measures, and argues that future integration of genetic and life experience data with neuroimaging data will further enhance this capability. It identifies likely applications of this technology and concludes that a statistically informed cost-benefit analysis may be the most practical approach towards the ethical use of this technology across a diverse set of real-life applications.