| 1. |
- Grüning, Björn, et al.
(författare)
-
Bioconda: A sustainable and comprehensive software distribution for the life sciences
- 2017
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We present Bioconda (https://bioconda.github.io), a distribution of bioinformatics software for the lightweight, multi-platform and language-agnostic package manager Conda. Currently, Bioconda offers a collection of over 3000 software packages, which is continuously maintained, updated, and extended by a growing global community of more than 200 contributors. Bioconda improves analysis reproducibility by allowing users to define isolated environments with defined software versions, all of which are easily installed and managed without administrative privileges.
|
|
| 2. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
-
The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Baranowska-Rataj, Anna, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
-
Does the number of siblings affect health in midlife? : Evidence from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Demographic Research. - Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. - 1435-9871. ; 35, s. 1259-1302
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In many societies, growing up in a large family is associated with receiving less parental time, attention, and financial support. As a result, children with a large number of siblings may have worse physical and mental health outcomes than children with fewer siblings.Objective: Our objective is to examine the long-term causal effects of sibship size on physical and mental health in modern Sweden.Methods: We employ longitudinal data covering the entire Swedish population from the Multigenerational Register and the Medical Birth Register. This data includes information on family size and on potential confounders such as parental background. We use the Prescribed Drug Register to identify the medicines that have been prescribed and dispensed. We use instrumental variable models with multiple births as instruments to examine the causal effects of family size on the health outcomes of children, as measured by receiving medicines at age 45.Results: Our results indicate that in Sweden, growing up in a large family does not have a detrimental effect on physical and mental health in midlife.Contribution: We provide a systematic overview of the health-related implications of growing up in a large family. We adopt a research design that gives us the opportunity to make causal inferences about the long-term effects of family size. Moreover, our paper provides evidence on the links between family size and health outcomes in the context of a developed country that implements policies oriented towards reducing social inequalities in health and other living conditions.
|
|
| 5. |
- Chaparro, M. Pia, et al.
(författare)
-
Childhood family structure and women's adult overweight risk : A longitudinal study
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 45:5, s. 511-519
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate whether women's adult overweight and obesity risk was associated with their childhood family structure, measured as their mothers' marital status history, during the women's first 18 years of life.METHODS: Using linked register data, we analyzed 30,584 primiparous women born in Sweden in 1975 who were between 19-35 years of age when their height and pre-pregnancy weight was recorded. The outcomes were women's overweight/obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) and the predictor was mothers' marital status history, which was summarized using sequence analysis. We carried out nested logistic regression models adjusting for women's age and maternal sociodemographic characteristics.RESULTS: Mothers' marital status history was summarized into six clusters: stable marriage, stable cohabitation, married then divorcing, cohabiting then separating, varied transitions, and not with father. In fully adjusted models and compared with women whose mothers belonged to the stable marriage cluster: (1) women whose mothers belonged to the other marital status clusters had higher odds of overweight/obesity (odds ratio (OR) ranging 1.15-1.19; p < 0.05); and (2) women whose mothers belonged to the stable cohabitation (OR = 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.14-1.52), cohabiting then separating (OR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.01-1.49), varied transitions (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.11-1.39), and not with father (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.00-1.54) clusters had higher odds of obesity.CONCLUSIONS: Women whose mothers were not in stable marriage relationships had higher odds of being overweight or obese in adulthood. The finding that even women raised in the context of stable cohabitation had higher odds of being overweight or obese is intriguing as these relationships are socially accepted in Sweden.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Chaparro, Pia, et al.
(författare)
-
Regional inequalities in pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity in Sweden, 1992, 2000, and 2010
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 43:5, s. 534-539
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: To investigate regional differences and time trends in women's overweight and obesity in Sweden. Methods: Using data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register (women aged 18 years, first pregnancy only) and the Total Population Register accessed through the Umea SIMSAM Lab, age-standardized prevalence of pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity (BMI 25 kg/m(2)) and obesity (BMI 30 kg/m(2)) were estimated by county for the years 1992, 2000, and 2010. Maps were created using ArcMap v10.2.2 to display regional variations over time and logistic regression analyses were used to assess if the observed trends were significant. Results: The prevalence of pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and obesity increased significantly in all Swedish counties between 1992, and 2010. In 2010, Sodermanland and Gotland exhibited the highest age-standardized overweight/obesity (39.7%) and obesity (15.1%) prevalence, respectively. The sharpest increases between 1992 and 2010 were observed in Vasterbotten for overweight/obesity (75% increase) and in Gotland for obesity (233% increase). Across the years, Stockholm had the lowest prevalence of overweight/obesity (26.3% in 2010) and obesity (7.3% in 2010) and one of the least steep increases in prevalence of both between 1992 and 2010. Conclusions: Substantial regional differences in pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity prevalence are apparent in Sweden. Further research should elucidate the mechanisms causing these differences.
|
|
| 8. |
- de Luna, Xavier, et al.
(författare)
-
Proxy variables and nonparametric identification of causal effects
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Economics Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-1765 .- 1873-7374. ; 150, s. 152-154
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Proxy variables are often used in linear regression models with the aim of removing potential confounding bias. In this paper we formalise proxy variables within the potential outcomes framework, giving conditions under which it can be shown that causal effects are nonparametrically identified. We characterise two types of proxy variables and give concrete examples where the proxy conditions introduced may hold by design.
|
|
| 9. |
- Fowler, Philip, 1986-
(författare)
-
Methods for improving covariate balance in observational studies
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis contributes to the field of causal inference, where the main interest is to estimate the effect of a treatment on some outcome. At its core, causal inference is an exercise in controlling for imbalance (differences) in covariate distributions between the treated and the controls, as such imbalances otherwise can bias estimates of causal effects. Imbalance on observed covariates can be handled through matching, where treated and controls with similar covariate distributions are extracted from a data set and then used to estimate the effect of a treatment.The first paper of this thesis describes and investigates a matching design, where a data-driven algorithm is used to discretise a covariate before matching. The paper also gives sufficient conditions for if, and how, a covariate can be discretised without introducing bias.Balance is needed for unobserved covariates too, but is more difficult to achieve and verify. Unobserved covariates are sometimes replaced with correlated counterparts, usually referred to as proxy variables. However, just replacing an unobserved covariate with a correlated one does not guarantee an elimination of, or even reduction of, bias. In the second paper we formalise proxy variables in a causal inference framework and give sufficient conditions for when they lead to nonparametric identification of causal effects.The third and fourth papers both concern estimating the effect an enhanced cooperation between the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Public Employment Service has on reducing sick leave. The third paper is a study protocol, where the matching design used to estimate this effect is described. The matching was then also carried out in the study protocol, before the outcome for the treated was available, ensuring that the matching design was not influenced by any estimated causal effects. The third paper also presents a potential proxy variable for unobserved covariates, that is used as part of the matching. The fourth paper then carries out the analysis described in the third paper, and uses an instrumental variable approach to test for unobserved confounding not captured by the supposed proxy variable.
|
|
| 10. |
- Fowler, Philip, et al.
(författare)
-
Study protocol for the evaluation of a vocational rehabilitation
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Observational Studies. ; 3, s. 1-27
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a study protocol for the evaluation of a vocational rehabilitation, namely a collaboration between the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Public Employment Service, where individuals needing support to regain work ability were called to a joint assessment meeting. This protocol describes a matching study design using a lasso algorithm, where we do not have access to outcome data on work ability for the treated. The matching design is based on a collection of health and socio-economic covariates measured at baseline. We also have access to a prognosis made by caseworkers on the expected length of the individual sick leave. This prognosis variable is, we argue, a proxy variable for potential unmeasured confounders. We present results showing balance achieved on observed covariates.
|
|
