The v4.2 release allows the users to visualize on the geographical mapping the additional data layers regarding population data and healthcare indicators. The 4.2 version also features major improvement to the simulation engine and enhancement to the data visualization settings. GLEAMviz is now also a great teaching tool, fully documented with the new manual v4.2.

The  GLEAMviz install package, the new manual and full documentation for the current version 4.2 can be downloaded here. If you already have any GLEAMviz 4.x version you can automatically update the client by launching the GLEAMviz application.

Ear­lier this month, the U.S. gov­ern­ment declared that the emerging H7N9 bird flu “poses a sig­nif­i­cant poten­tial for a public health emer­gency.” Although at the moment, the lack of human-to-human transmission makes the spreading pattern of the current outbreak not compatible with any widespread epidemic scenario, we have been mapping the disease’s pro­gres­sion by collecting data publicly available data and social media activity. An infographic summarizing the current situation has been prepared by Nicole Samay and has been discussed in the Northestern news (click on the left picture to enlarge it).  The data collection and aggregation is by S. Liu, M. Gomes, A. Pastore y Piontti, N. Perra, L. Rossi, A. Vespignani, Q.Zhang. Social media data collected and anlyzed by F. Ciulla and D. Mocanu.

In a new paper appearing in PLoS ONE we report a comprehensive survey of the worldwide linguistic landscape as emerging from mining the Twitter microblogging platform. The high resolution and coverage of the data allows us to investigate different indicators such as the linguistic homogeneity of different countries, the touristic seasonal patterns within countries and the geographical distribution of different languages in multilingual regions. We have also developed a web site that allows the interactive exploration of the languages found in the twitter signals around the world. Clicking or selecting a country will give the map of Twitter signal in different languages, as well as the percentage of twitter signals in that country.

In a new paper appearing in Scientific Reports we study the global consumption and production of Physics in the last 50 years. We analyze the entire database of the American Physical Society generating longitudinal citation networks geolocalized at the level of single urban areas.  We proposed two new algorithms that, considering the complexity of the networks, allow  the identification the key cities in the production and consumption of knowledge in Physics as a function of time. This work permits the exploration of the complex flow of citations from producers to consumers charactering the diffusion of knowledge, and to rank the importance of cities considering their scholarly research in Physics.

A new release of the GLEAMviz Simulator client is available, packing the following new features:

• Additional demographic and health-related data layers 
• Visualization of the cumulative individual transitions on the map as an alternative option to new transitions.
• Intuitive highlight of the census basins associated to each city/airport.

The updated version of the manual is available for download: GLEAMviz simulator client manual v4.1.

A new release of the Global epidemic and mobility model computational tool  (GLEAMviz 4.0) is now available for download. The new release features:
- New optimized engine code implementing the Global Epidemic and Mobility model. Your simulations will now run approximately ten times faster than before! 
- Multiple choices for implementing local human mobility (data, gravity models, ABM, etc.)
- New redesigned interface for the simulations management that allows the setting of disease models and interventions that can be  geographically dependent (and for specific time period).
-  The integration with the Epidemic Marketplace data platform (http://www.epimarketplace.net), a data integration system for epidemiological resources. And much more ....

The ongoing revolution in the way people communicate has given rise to a new kind of epidemiology. Digital data sources, when harnessed appropriately, can provide local and timely information about disease and health dynamics in populations around the world. At the same time the rapid, unprecedented increase in the availability of relevant data from various digital sources creates considerable technical and computational challenges. A new Editors' Outlook article on PLOS Computational Biology explores the challenges and opportunities created by the rapid increase in digital data sources.

We have been working hard for months on a new release of the GLEAMviz computational platform.  We are now pleased to announce the release of the 3.0 version of GLEAMviz. This new version features a major update of the application’s interface, including the new Simulator Builder which integrates the former Simulation Wizard and Model Builder. The new version also provides two new visualisations modes. Stay tuned for future updates concerning a new and faster simulation engine, the introduction of new modeling capabilities and much more....

We have been working on pandemics and contagion phenomena long enough to deserve a little fun on a more frivolous but compelling case study for the debate about the predictive power of big data analytics.  In the new paper posted in the arxiv "Beating the news using social Media: the case study of American Idol" we focus on the elimination of contestants in the American Idol TV shows as an example of a well defined voting phenomenon that each week draws millions of votes in the USA.  We provide evidence that Twitter activity during the time span defined by the TV show airing and the voting period following it, correlates with the contestants ranking and allows the anticipation of the voting outcome. Furthermore, the fraction of Tweets that contain geolocation information allows us to map the fanbase of each contestant, both within the US and abroad, showing that strong regional polarizations occur. 
 We did not make any predictions about the final outcome of the show, yet. In order to infer the Top voted contestant we need the data that will become available on Tuesday May 22 night EST time and we will upload a revised manuscript before the the season finale.