How vague is vague? How informative is informative? Reference analysis for Bayesian meta‐analysis

How informative is the mouse for human gut microbiota research?

The microbiota of the human gut is gaining broad attention owing to its association with a wide range of diseases, ranging from metabolic disorders (e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes) to autoimmune diseases (such as inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes), cancer and even neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. autism). Having been increasingly used in biomedical research, mice have become th...

How vague is vague? A simulation study of the impact of the use of vague prior distributions in MCMC using WinBUGS.

There has been a recent growth in the use of Bayesian methods in medical research. The main reasons for this are the development of computer intensive simulation based methods such as Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), increases in computing power and the introduction of powerful software such as WinBUGS. This has enabled increasingly complex models to be fitted. The ability to fit these complex ...

How is the Mother Tongue Acquired

Platelet Refractoriness and how it is formed

Abstract Background and Objectives Transfusion of platelet has become one of the main treatments for thrombocytopenic patients to reduce the severity and frequency of bleeding consequences. Failure to attain the desired level of platelets in a patient following platelet transfusion is defined as platelet refractoriness. The purpose of present paper is to review and study the mechanisms involve...

How Can Yes-No Questions Be Informative?

In this paper, we propose to analyze the informativeness of questions, in the context of ‘inquiry games’, where a player, Inquirer, intends to establish a certain conclusion by means of a combination of reasoning and interrogation, using information (answers) from other players, Sources. This paper is one step toward a precise game-theoretic foundation for these games, which where suggested by ...