Chawarat Rotejanaprasert

Great discussions! The connection between spatial epidemiology and communicable diseases is well established. In this class, I’d like you to further explore the intersection between spatial epidemiology and non-communicable diseases. Mental health issues, for instance, have been on the rise, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. For the…[Read more]

The main task of the ‘maptools’ package is to use the function ‘readShapePoly’ to read a shapefile. If you encounter issues with ‘readShapePoly’ or the ‘maptools’ package, there are alternative packages and functions you can try. For instance, you can use the ‘shapefile’ function from the ‘raster’ package. Additionally, you can download the ‘m…[Read more]

Hello all,

The provided R code should work if all data and packages are downloaded properly. I suggest carefully checking the code, including spelling, packages,inputs, and data. If anyone can’t use the function ‘readShapePoly’, there are other functions you can try. Alternatively, you can try the ‘shapefile’ command in the ‘raster’ package.

Thank you for your comment, Soe Htike. You’ve raised a good point regarding the R version affecting the installation and functionality of INLA. I might have used a different R version when I prepared the materials, which could explain why I didn’t encounter this issue.

For those experiencing similar issues, the command provided on the INLA web…[Read more]

Hello both,

Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks, Kansiri. Your detailed setup for displaying PV_2015 cases is helpful. I appreciate your creativity in setting dot sizes and background colors. It’s great to see this collaborative spirit in our class. Please continue to share your insights and experiences.

Have a great day!

Hi Teerawat, Kansiri, and Nichcha,

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your suggestions to improve the QGIS instructions. Teerawat, incorporating bullets and more screenshots is a great idea. Kansiri and Nichcha, adding details on color settings and more visual cues will definitely help. I will work with the team on updating the document to…[Read more]

Hi Kansiri and Soe Htike,

Thank you both for sharing your experiences and tips with QGIS! It’s great to see students helping each other navigate different versions of the software. It’s common for software interfaces to change with updates, and your shared solutions are valuable for everyone in the class. I encourage all of you to continue using…[Read more]

Thank you, Nichcha, for sharing your experiences and solutions with the class. Your detailed account of the issues you encountered and how you resolved them would be valuable for your classmates.

To all students, I encourage you to use this forum to share and communicate with each other. Your experiences can help create a supportive and…[Read more]

Hello TMHG 517 class…

It’s truly great to see the collaboration and support you’re providing to one another during this course. I hope that these connections will continue to thrive beyond the classroom.

Regarding the recent change in the INLA system, there is a recent change internally within INLA. Specifically, the marginals of the linear…[Read more]

Hi class,

I would like to note that calculating fitted values in INLA can be approached differently based on the specific context. Departing from the class example, you might find it beneficial to explore the utilization of the ‘summary.fixed’ command, which offers an alternative method to determine the fitted values of relative risks. In regard…[Read more]

Hello everyone,

I’m glad to read your comments. Typically, spatial analysis in studies tends to concentrate on communicable diseases which you can see from TMHG549, GIS course. However, I think it would be also valuable to provide an alternative outlook from a view of non-communicable diseases. Despite the varying mode of transmission, the…[Read more]

Thank you, Chanapong, for your comment. I agree with you that spatial epidemiology’s interdisciplinary approach, which integrates advanced technologies and data from various scientific fields, allows us to gain valuable insights into disease patterns and their spatial context. Your point about considering the impact of location on disease factors…[Read more]

Thank you all for your contributions to this fruitful discussion! While communicable diseases are widely recognized for their spatial dimension, I also would like to emphasize that place can also serve as a proxy for non-communicable diseases, which we will further explore in this course. Understanding the geographic context and environmental…[Read more]

Hello both,

Thank you, Farhan, for assisting your fellow classmate. As Farhan mentioned, the R-INLA package is not available on CRAN due to its reliance on external C libraries, making it challenging to build binaries. To install the package, you must use install.packages() while adding the URL of the R-INLA repository.

In section 1.4 of the…[Read more]

Thank you for your feedback on Week 1 of the course. I’m glad to hear that you found it interesting on useful applications and data manipulation helpful. While you don’t have any questions at the moment, it’s great to see your interest in acquiring or creating vector and raster data for future use.

In upcoming modules, we will cover topics…[Read more]

Thank you for raising an important point regarding the availability of spatial health data. You are absolutely correct that it is quite difficult to find public spatial health data, which can involve serious ethical concerns, particularly in terms of patient privacy and confidentiality. As a result, such data is generally challenging to locate in…[Read more]

Great comment, Zarni. I completely agree with you. GIS is a powerful tool with extensive functionality. It’s however important to recognize that in resource-limited settings, not only Myanmar, data availability and quality can present significant challenges. The “garbage in, garbage out” principle applies to data analysis in any context, not only…[Read more]

Glad to hear you find GIS interesting and useful. There might be some issues along the ways, please don’t hesitate to ask questions. Embrace the learning journey and enjoy exploring the world of GIS!

Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the course format. I understand that different individuals have varying preferences when it comes to learning mediums. While some prefer video formats, others find value in written materials. Although in the past there have been comments suggesting a preference for written tutorials, I appreciate your…[Read more]

It’s great to hear that you find QGIS to be more powerful, though more complex. Embracing the complexity will undoubtedly provide you with a deeper understanding and mastery of the software… Regarding your preference for video tutorials, I completely understand the value of visual learning resources. However, I want to highlight that in the past t…[Read more]