When did C-section get popular?
C-section birth has a long history. But when did it get really popular? I generated this simple plot comparing the number births on a weekday and the number on a Saturday or Sunday. We can infer that...
View ArticleHow to create CMYK images for journal publications?
Many journals require color figures to be in CMYK format. If you are not doing this over and over again, here is a quick and dirty way to do it, assuming that you are a Windows user. 1. Create your RGB...
View ArticleHow to tell if the R session you are running is 64 bit or 32 bit?
Under Windows, here is a simple hack to find out whether you are running a 64 bit or 32 bit R. Type the command version in the prompt. If you see arch x86_64, then it is 64 bit. Otherwise, it...
View ArticleCircumvent Skype’s unable to add contact problem
In my workplace, the internet connection is through a proxy server. With Skype, I was able to talk to people in my contact list, but I was not able to add new contact. The problem and some solutions...
View ArticleSimilar functions in R and Matlab
Although R and Matlab have many similarities, switching between the two languages is not always easy. Below is a lookup table that hopefully will make the process easier. Matlab R Note size dim find...
View ArticleLightweight http daemons for Windows and Mac
As a Dropbox user, I often need to start a web server from a non-standard root folder location. Under Windows, I have been using Mongoose and loves it. Mongoose is a single .exe file that can be put...
View ArticleEstimating the intensity of ward admission and its effect on emergency...
Abstract Emergency department access block is an urgent problem faced by many public hospitals today. When access block occurs, patients in need of acute care cannot access inpatient wards within an...
View ArticleRank 1 update to Cholesky factorization in R
Rank 1 update can be achieved in Matlab with the built-in function cholupdate(). More details about the function can be found here: http://www.mathworks.com.au/help/matlab/ref/cholupdate.html In R, the...
View ArticleOverride a non-generic method in S3 OOP system
In R OOP, you can override a generic method for your custom class. For example, you can define print() and plot() methods for an class Foo. It is also easy to overrisk a non-generic method if you use...
View ArticleDetecting contaminated birthdates using generalized additive models
Background Erroneous patient birthdates are common in health databases. Detection of these errors usually involves manual verification, which can be resource intensive and impractical. By identifying a...
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