Empirical Bayes procedures for stabilizing maps of U.S. cancer mortality rates.

"The geographic mapping of age-standardized, cause-specific death rates is a powerful tool for identifying possible etiologic factors, because the spatial distribution of mortality risks can be examined for correlations with the spatial distribution of disease-specific risk factors. This article presents a two-stage empirical Bayes procedure for calculating age-standardized cancer death rates, for use in mapping, which are adjusted for the stochasticity of rates in small area populations. Using the adjusted rates helps isolate and identify spatial patterns in the rates.

Cancer mortality in U.S. counties with hazardous waste sites and ground water pollution.

Since the late 1950s, more than 750 million tons of toxic chemical wastes have been discarded in an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 hazardous waste sites (HWSs). Uncontrolled discarding of chemical wastes creates the potential for risks to human health. Utilizing the National Priorities Listing (NPL) of hazardous waste sites developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this study identified 593 waste sites in 339 U.

Stroke mortality maps. United States whites aged 35-74 years, 1962-1982.

We mapped average age-adjusted stroke mortality rates for white men and white women aged 35-74 years for state economic areas (counties or groups of counties) in the continental United States for three 7-year periods between 1962 and 1982. Despite the decline of national stroke mortality rates, rates in some areas failed to decline between 1962-1968 and 1969-1975. All areas experienced declines in 1976-1982, by which time some rates in the highest decile of the rate distribution were comparable to rates that had been in the lowest decile in 1962-1968.

Effect of tissue fit on corneal shape after transplantation.

Postkeratoplasty astigmatism is now a major problem preventing visual recovery. Certain postoperative topographic characteristics are felt to be dictated by the fit of the donor corneal button in its recipient bed. Deficient tissue at the wound is predicted to contribute to the location of the steep meridian and excess tissue to the location of the flat meridian.

A new photogrammetric method for quantifying corneal topography.

Attempts to describe normal corneal shape and to represent corneal topography by an array of discrete points have limited usefulness. A quantitative photogrammetric method that produces indices to describe corneal shape was developed. Four indices depict the departure of keratographic rings from circularity, and two indices express the trends and consistencies of all the rings from one keratograph.