Project description:This editorial accompanies the second special issue on Bayesian data analysis published in this journal. The emphases of this issue are on Bayesian estimation and modeling. In this editorial, we outline the basics of current Bayesian estimation techniques and some notable developments in the statistical literature, as well as adaptations and extensions by psychological researchers to better tailor to the modeling applications in psychology. We end with a discussion on future outlooks of Bayesian data analysis in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record
Project description:Oncolytic viruses (OVs), either occurring naturally or through genetic engineering, can selectively infect, replicate in, and kill cancer cells, while leaving normal cells (almost) unharmed [...].
Project description:Background In order to track progress towards the target of universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a measure (demand for family planning satisfied with modern contraceptive methods) and a benchmark (at least 75% by 2030 in all countries) have been recommended. Objectives The goal of this study was to assess the prospects of reaching the benchmark at the country level. Such information can facilitate strategic planning, including resource allocation at global and country levels. Design We selected 63 countries based on their status as least developed according to the United Nations or as a priority country in global family planning initiatives. Using United Nations estimates and projections of family planning indicators between 1970 and 2030, we calculated percent demand for family planning satisfied with modern contraceptive methods for each year and country. We then calculated the annual percentage point changes between 2014 and 2030 required to meet the benchmark. The required rates of change were compared to current projections as well as estimates between 1970 and 2010. Results To reach the benchmark on average across the 63 countries, demand satisfied with modern methods must increase by 2.2 percentage points per year between 2014 and 2030 – more than double current projections. Between 1970 and 2010, such rapid progress was observed in 24 study countries but typically spanning 5–10 years. At currently projected rates, only 9 of the 63 study countries will reach the benchmark. Meanwhile, the gap between projected and required changes is largest in the Central and West African regions, 0.9 and 3.0 percentage points per year, respectively. If the benchmark is achieved, 334 million women across the study countries will use a modern contraceptive method in 2030, compared to 226 million women in 2014. Conclusions In order to achieve the component of the SDGs calling for universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, substantial effort is needed to accelerate rates of progress by a factor of 2 in most study countries and by a factor of 3 in Central and West African countries.
Project description:The goal of this Special Issue is to introduce prevention scientists to an emerging form of healthcare, called precision medicine. This approach integrates investigation of the mechanisms of disease and health-compromising behaviors with prevention, treatment, and cure resolved at the level of the individual. Precision Medicine and its derivative personalized prevention represents a promising paradigm for prevention science as it accounts for response heterogeneity and guides development of targeted interventions that may enhance program effect sizes. If successfully integrated into prevention science research, personalized prevention is an approach that can inform the development of decision support tools (screening measures, prescriptive algorithms) and enhance the utility of mobile health technologies that will enable practitioners to use personalized consumer data to inform decisions about the best type and/or intensity of a prevention strategy for particular individuals or subgroups of individuals. In this special issue, we present conceptual articles that provide a heuristic framework for precision-based, personalization prevention research and empirical studies that address research questions exemplary of a new generation of precision-based personalized preventive interventions focused on children's mental health, behavioral health, and education.
Project description:This special issue of AGE showcases powerful alternative or unconventional approaches to basic aging research, including the use of exceptionally long-lived animal model species and comparative methods from evolutionary biology. In this opening paper, we introduce several of these alternative aging research themes, including the comparative phylogenetic approach. This approach applies modern inferential methods for dissecting basic physiological and biochemical mechanisms correlated with phenotypic traits including longevity, slow aging, sustained somatic maintenance, and repair of molecular damage. Comparative methods can be used to assess the general relevance of specific aging mechanisms--including oxidative processes--to diverse animal species, as well as to assess their potential clinical relevance to humans and other mammals. We also introduce several other novel, underexploited approaches with particular relevance to biogerontology, including the use of model animal species or strains that retain natural genetic heterogeneity, studies of effects of infectious disease and parasites on aging and responses to caloric restriction, studies of reproductive aging, and naturally occurring sex differences in aging. We emphasize the importance of drawing inferences from aging phenomena in laboratory studies that can be applied to clinically relevant aging syndromes in long-lived, outbred animals, including humans.
Project description:"The Chromosome 16 Consortium is integrated in the Human Proteome Project that aims to develop an entire map of the proteins encoded by the human genome following a gene-centric strategy (C-HPP) to make progress in the understanding of human biology in health and disease (B/D-HPP). To characterize the proteome of Chr16, three cell lines were selected, MCF7 breast cancer human epithelial cells, CCD18 human colon fibroblasts, and Jurkat human T lymphocytes. "
Project description:Three-dimensional (3D) printing has a long history of applications in biomedical engineering. The development and expansion of traditional biomedical applications are being advanced and enriched by new printing technologies. New biomedical applications such as bioprinting are highly attractive and trendy. This Special Issue aims to provide readers with a glimpse of the recent profile of 3D printing in biomedical research.