Robert Power

Bio: Robert Power is an academic researcher from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Reproductive health. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 151 publications receiving 5790 citations. Previous affiliations of Robert Power include Burnet Institute & University of Queensland.

Using Social Media to Enhance Emergency Situation Awareness

Abstract: The described system uses natural language processing and data mining techniques to extract situation awareness information from Twitter messages generated during various disasters and crises.

Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity

Abstract: We tested whether polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder would predict creativity. Higher scores were associated with artistic society membership or creative profession in both Icelandic (P = 5.2 × 10(-6) and 3.8 × 10(-6) for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder scores, respectively) and replication cohorts (P = 0.0021 and 0.00086). This could not be accounted for by increased relatedness between creative individuals and those with psychoses, indicating that creativity and psychosis share genetic roots.

Fecundity of Patients With Schizophrenia, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anorexia Nervosa, or Substance Abuse vs Their Unaffected Siblings

Abstract: Context It is unknown how genetic variants conferring liability to psychiatric disorders survive in the population despite strong negative selection. However, this is key to understanding their etiology and designing studies to identify risk variants. Objectives To examine the reproductive fitness of patients with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders vs their unaffected siblings and to evaluate the level of selection on causal genetic variants. Design We measured the fecundity of patients with schizophrenia, autism, bipolar disorder, depression, anorexia nervosa, or substance abuse and their unaffected siblings compared with the general population. Setting Population databases in Sweden, including the Multi-Generation Register and the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register. Participants In total, 2.3 million individuals among the 1950 to 1970 birth cohort in Sweden. Main Outcome Measures Fertility ratio (FR), reflecting the mean number of children compared with that of the general population, accounting for age, sex, family size, and affected status. Results Except for women with depression, affected patients had significantly fewer children (FR range for those with psychiatric disorder, 0.23-0.93; P Conclusions Our results suggest that strong selection exists against schizophrenia, autism, and anorexia nervosa and that these variants may be maintained by new mutations or an as-yet unknown mechanism. Bipolar disorder did not seem to be under strong negative selection. Vulnerability to depression, and perhaps substance abuse, may be preserved by balancing selection, suggesting the involvement of common genetic variants in ways that depend on other genes and on environment.

Emergency situation awareness from twitter for crisis management

Abstract: This paper describes ongoing work with the Australian Government to detect, assess, summarise, and report messages of interest for crisis coordination published by Twitter. The developed platform and client tools, collectively termed the Emergency Situation Awareness - Automated Web Text Mining (ESA-AWTM) system, demonstrate how relevant Twitter messages can be identified and utilised to inform the situation awareness of an emergency incident as it unfolds.A description of the ESA-AWTM platform is presented detailing how it may be used for real life emergency management scenarios. These scenarios are focused on general use cases to provide: evidence of pre-incident activity; near-real-time notification of an incident occurring; first-hand reports of incident impacts; and gauging the community response to an emergency warning. Our tools have recently been deployed in a trial for use by crisis coordinators.

Microbial genome-wide association studies: lessons from human GWAS

Abstract: The reduced costs of sequencing have led to whole-genome sequences for a large number of microorganisms, enabling the application of microbial genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Given the successes of human GWAS in understanding disease aetiology and identifying potential drug targets, microbial GWAS are likely to further advance our understanding of infectious diseases. These advances include insights into pressing global health problems, such as antibiotic resistance and disease transmission. In this Review, we outline the methodologies of GWAS, the current state of the field of microbial GWAS, and how lessons from human GWAS can direct the future of the field.

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Developing and evaluating complex interventions: The new Medical Research Council guidance

Abstract: Evaluating complex interventions is complicated. The Medical Research Council9s evaluation framework (2000) brought welcome clarity to the task. Now the council has updated its guidance

Developing and Evaluating Complex Interventions: New Guidance

Abstract: Peter Craig, MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network Paul Dieppe, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Oxford Sally Macintyre, MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Susan Michie, Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, University College London Irwin Nazareth, MRC General Practice Research Framework Mark Petticrew, Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine