AttributeRank: An Algorithm for Attribute Ranking in Clinical Variable Selection.

Background: Risk difference is a valuable measure of association in epidemiology and healthcare which has the potential to be used in medical and clinical variable selection.

Objective: In this study, an attribute ranking algorithm, called AttributeRank, was developed to facilitate variable selection from clinical data sets.

Methods: The algorithm computes the risk difference between a predictor and the response variable to determine the level of importance of a predictor.

Segmentation of African countries based on infection and death rates of COVID-19 before vaccination: A rigid population to source for workforce amidst the pandemic?

This study established segments among African countries to show the hierarchies of COVID-19 infection and death rates across the continent before the commencement of vaccination. Four clusters were extracted, each consisting of countries with a similar number of cumulative infections and deaths per 100 thousand population. When compared with the pre-vaccination figures from Europe, Americas, and Asia, it was observed that the African population exhibited a good level of rigidity and resilience to the pandemic, pre-vaccination.