Tuesday, October 20. 2009

New Spatial Epidemiology Journal

Elsevier launched a new peer-reviewed scientific journal in September called Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology . It's a "forum for academics and scholars in the growing fields of graphical information systems [sic], epidemiology, exposure science, and spatial statistics."

- The Medical News

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Health at 06:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, October 14. 2009

Spatial Thinking Decline May be Early Indicator of Alzheimers

Researchers from the University of Kansas published an article in the Archives of Neurology that suggests that “visuospatial” problems (trouble reading maps or building jigsaw puzzles) tend to appear about two or three years before memory loss. The study involved 444 people over the course of an average of six years; 134 developed Alzheimer’s.

- Telegraph

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Health at 07:33 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, September 8. 2009

A Day to Celebrate John Snow

Wired reports on this day in tech in 1854. It's the day John Snow convinced authorities to remove the handle from the Broad Street pump and thus he invent modern epidemiology and spurred lots of health related GIS use.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Health at 12:26 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, September 3. 2009

Stimulus and GIS Tidbits

The University of Central Florida received the $1.3 million federal grant from stimulus funds to study walking, cycling and gardening initiatives aimed at getting residents active.

Using focus groups, self-reporting, GIS mapping and physical activity measuring devices, researchers will gather data on the 183 participants’ physical activity over the course of two years.

The Forestry Commission says the money translates funds for private landowners and job creation in the state's number-one manufacturing industry. The Longleaf Pine Restoration Initiative will create or retain jobs that will include equipment operators, tree planters, herbicide applicators, GIS specialists, foresters, and forest technicians.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Health, Stimulus at 07:52 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, September 2. 2009

New iPhone "Outbreaks Near Me" app Encourages User Gen Health Info

I'm not entirely comfortable with the lay public reporting on outbreaks of H1N1 flu, especially if there is no way to determine the data are authoritative. There were enough challenges when medical professionals were doing the reporting this spring!

The app is tied into Boston's Children's Hospital, MIT and HealthMap, but there is no discussion in the press release about how the authority of the data is handled.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in LBS, Health at 06:20 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, August 27. 2009

Health and Science Tidbits

A study published in Cell Biology (abstract, article requires fee) confirms that those who are lost can and do "walk in circles" especially with out steady reference like the sun or moon. Without a basic visual clue, all the other inputs seem to get jumbled.

- New York Times

Mike Elgan argues for "tag and release" of kids to keep them off the couch and healthy. That means each one should carry a cell phone, instead of being trapped inside by well-meaning parents who want to keep them safe. While it's a bit of an ad for cell phones and child locators, Elgan does offer up a cultural change that needs to happen:

If you're a parent, having your child wear or carry a GPS cell phone device is a great idea. But what we need is a mass cultural movement to embrace them. GPS cell phones should be as common on kids as sneakers and backpacks. Safety is multiplied when your kids -- and your kids' friends -- all have them. Children gravitate toward each other and play in groups. If any child has an accident, or gets lost or abducted, all the other kids can immediately alert parents and police, complete with exact location data.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Health at 06:56 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |