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Multivariate current-status data are frequently encountered in biomedical and public health studies. Semiparametric regression models have been extensively studied for univariate current-status data, but most existing estimation procedures are computationally intensive, involving either penalization or smoothing techniques. It becomes more challenging for the analysis of multivariate current-status data. In this article, we study the maximum likelihood estimations for univariate and bivariate current-status data under the semiparametric probit regression models. We present a simple computational procedure combining the expectation-maximization algorithm with the pool-adjacent-violators algorithm for solving the monotone constraint on the baseline function. Asymptotic properties of the maximum likelihood estimators are investigated, including the calculation of the explicit information bound for univariate current-status data, as well as the asymptotic consistency and convergence rate for bivariate current-status data. Extensive simulation studies showed that the proposed computational procedures performed well under small or moderate sample sizes. We demonstrate the estimation procedure with two real data examples in the areas of diabetic and HIV research.

In this paper we will review evidence on the early life and familial influences on childhood growth and development, with particular reference to the Lifeways cross-generation cohort study in the Republic of Ireland. The Lifeways cross-generation cohort study was established in 2001–2013 through two maternity hospitals in the Republic of Ireland and was one of many new cohort studies established worldwide in the millennium period. Mothers were recruited at first booking visit, completing a self-administered questionnaire, which included a 147 item semi-quantitative FFQ. Longitudinal follow-up is ongoing in 2013, with linkage data to hospital and general practice records and examination of children when aged 5 and 9 years. The study is one of very few containing data on grandparents of both lineages with at least one grandparent recruited at baseline. There have been consistent associations between parental and grandparental health status characteristics and children's outcomes, including infant birth-weight, BMI when child was aged 5 years and childhood wheeze or asthma when child was aged 3 and aged 5 years. In conclusion, empirical evidence to date shows consistent familial and cross-generational patterns, particularly in the maternal line.

The aim of this review is to examine two factors that may be associated with development of childhood overweight: early feeding, namely exclusive breastfeeding practices; family structure. Findings from the Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS (IDEFICS) study are presented in the context of the literature. IDEFICS is a multi-centre European study exploring the risks for overweight and obesity in children, which recruited 16 224 children aged 2–9 years from September 2007 to June 2008 at survey centres in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Germany and Spain. Among the IDEFICS sample, after controlling for confounders, exclusive breastfeeding for 4–6 months was protective of overweight (including obesity) when compared with children never exclusively breastfed (OR 0·73, 95 % CI 0·63, 0·85). Family structure and number of siblings may also be associated with overweight. IDEFICS children without siblings were more likely (OR 1·52, 95 % CI 1·34, 1·72) to be overweight than their peers with siblings when controlling for factors related to childhood overweight such as country, parental education, parental weight, maternal age, child's age, birth weight and gender. Both early feeding practices and family structure play a role in the future development of obesity. The impact of breastfeeding on future development of overweight is dependent upon the dose. Exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended 6 months appears to be protective of overweight. Family structure is also an important component and emerging research suggests only children are at increased risk for overweight in comparison with those with siblings. In European countries, approximately 22 million children are overweight. Early dietary exposures, genetic, environmental and social factors have all been proposed as potential causal factors. Two such factors include exclusive breastfeeding and the impact of being an only child. We have investigated these two factors for associations with overweight; our studies, in the context of previous findings, are the focus of this review.

Background The aim of the study was to examine disordered eating behaviors in university students in Vietnam. Methods A total of 244 female university students participated, and 203 data could be analyzed. The Body Mass Index, the SCOFF screening questionnaire and the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 were used to explore disordered eating behaviors. Results 45.3% of the participants were underweight, 53.2% were normal weight and 1.5% were overweight. 48.8% of students reported two or more yes-responses on the SCOFF screening questionnaire which indicates a high possibility of having eating disorder symptoms. The mean score for underweight subjects (M = 14.79, SD = 6.81) indicated a lower level on the drive for thinness scale of the EDI-2 compared to normal weight subjects (M = 24.65, SD = 6.86) and overweight subjects (M = 31.33, SD = 6.66). Additionally, underweight subjects (M = 27.24, SD = 7.57) were less dissatisfied with their body than normal weight subjects (M = 35.94, SD = 8.67) and overweight subjects (M = 43.33, SD = 11.24). A significant positive correlation appeared between the BMI and the EDI-2. The SCOFF questionnaire showed a statistically significant negative correlation with the BMI and the EDI-2. Conclusions Despite some limitations the current study shows a tendency in young females in urban Vietnam to be underweight and to develop disordered eating symptoms such as drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction. However, more studies using the SCOFF and the EDI-2 would be needed to verify these findings.

The severity of climate change and the urgency of ecological environment protection make the transformation of coal power imperative. In this paper, the relevant policies of coal-biomass co-firing power generation are combed, and the technical and economic evaluation of coal-biomass co-firing power generation technology is carried out using Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) model. The result is that the LCOE of coal-biomass indirect co-firing power generation project is significantly higher than that of the pure coal-fired unit, with the LCOE rising by nearly 8%. Through sensitivity analysis, the LCOE will increase by 10.7% when it combusts 15% biomass, and increase by 19.1% when it combusts 20% biomass. The LCOE corresponding to wood chips increased by 5.71% and the LCOE to rice husks decreased by 6.06%. Finally, this paper puts forward some relevant policy suggestions, hoping to provide some reference for the promotion of coal-biomass co-firing power generation in China.

Long-term care (LTC) needs for the elderly have become increasingly crucial policy concerns in rapidly aging Asia, especially in China, the most populous nation. However, very few studies have examined the cohort differences in terms of their existing and expected utilization of LTC services, above all urban-rural differences. This study aims to evaluate the differences of LTC current status and needs between urban-rural areas and age groups, and to identify influencing factors causing the different LTC needs. The data come from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey in 2014. A total of 7192 home-based elderly aged ≥65 years by multistage sampling were enrolled. The Andersen Model was applied to categorize the influential factors into three components including predisposing, enabling and needs. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influential factors of the three levels of LTC needs. A total of 6909 valid sample sizes were included in this study. The overall LTC needs of the elderly showed a rapidly increasing trend among which older people had the highest needs for bathing (27.29%) and toileting (15.8%). It was also demonstrated the aged cohort between urban and rural exerted an impact on all aspects of LTC status and needs to varying degrees ( 0.05). Compared with urban areas, the LTC needs for the elderly in rural areas was more vigorous, but the supply was seriously inadequate. The elderly who were older, living in rural areas, unmarried, non-farming, with low income, in poor health and having less autonomy had higher anticipated needs for LTC services (OR > 1, 0.01). Compared with the young-old in rural areas, the young-old in urban areas were prone to live alone (OR = 1.61, 0.01). The elderly who were older, living in rural areas, farming, with low income, lonely and depressed had higher anticipated needs for community-based services (1 OR 1.69, 0.05). The aged cohort in urban-rural distinction were facing an increasing need for immediate care due to the inadequate support being provided, especially among rural elderly. The oldest elderly in rural areas had higher LTC needs, and different levels of needs were affected by age, economic level, family support, health status and other related effects. This study provides evidence-based recommendation for further improving the construction and development of the LTC system in China.

Purpose of Review Current traditional treatments for ADHD present serious limitations in terms of long-term maintenance of symptom remission and side effects. Here, we provide an overview of the rationale and scientific evidence of the efficacy of neurofeedback in regulating the brain functions in ADHD. We also review the institutional and professional regulation of clinical neurofeedback implementations. Recent Findings Based on meta-analyses and (large multicenter) randomized controlled trials, three standard neurofeedback training protocols, namely theta/beta (TBR), sensori-motor rhythm (SMR), and slow cortical potential (SCP), turn out to be efficacious and specific. However, the practical implementation of neurofeedback as a clinical treatment is currently not regulated. Summary We conclude that neurofeedback based on standard protocols in ADHD should be considered as a viable treatment alternative and suggest that further research is needed to understand how specific neurofeedback protocols work. Eventually, we emphasize the need for standard neurofeedback training for practitioners and binding standards for use in clinical practice.

Systematic reviews (SRs) are becoming essential evidence in the decision-making process within the field of social sciences. This study aimed to investigate how Campbell SRs were cited and explore their specific application roles. We included Campbell SRs published between 2016 and 2020 by searching the Wiley online library, and retrieved the articles and documents citing Campbell SRs from the Web of Science and Google Scholar by December 31, 2021. We described the characteristics of the SRs and citations, and formulated a set of application roles by analyzing the sentences or paragraphs where the SRs were cited. Sixty nine Campbell SRs were published between 2016 and 2020; they were cited in 641 articles or documents a total of 1,289 times. The primary types of articles that cited Campbell SRs were cross-sectional studies (n = 226, 35.3%), SRs (n = 112, 17.5%), randomized controlled trials (n = 77, 12.0%), and policy reports (n = 57, 8.8%). Articles utilizing Campbell SRs were predominantly led by authors from the United States (n = 184, 28.7%), the United Kingdom (n = 98, 15.3%), and Australia (n = 51, 8.0%). We formulated a set of 10 application roles for the Campbell SRs, of which the most frequent were: describing the current status in the field of interest (n = 691, 53.6%), corroboration of the results (n = 140, 10.9%), identifying research gaps (n = 130, 10.1%), and providing methodological references (n = 126, 9.8%); the role of supporting policy recommendations or decisions accounted for 6.0% (n = 77) of the citations. Approximately 12% of Campbell SRs were used to support policy recommendations or decisions. Campbell SRs are widely applied, particularly in scientific research, to describe the current status in the field of interest. Although the current application of Campbell SRs in supporting policy recommendations and decisions may not be predominant, there is a growing recognition of their value in using Campbell SRs to inform decision-making. •Sixty-nine Campbell systematic reviews (SRs) were published between 2016 and 2020.•As of December 31, 2021, Campbell SRs have been cited 1289 times in 641 documents.•Identified ten different main roles for the application of Campbell SRs.•The most frequent role was to describe the current status in the field of interest.•Approximately 12% of Campbell SRs were used to support policy recommendations or decisions.

Interval censoring arises frequently in clinical, epidemiological, financial and sociological studies, where the event or failure of interest is known only to occur within an interval induced by periodic monitoring. We formulate the effects of potentially time-dependent covariates on the interval-censored failure time through a broad class of semiparametric transformation models that encompasses proportional hazards and proportional odds models. We consider nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation for this class of models with an arbitrary number of monitoring times for each subject. We devise an EM-type algorithm that converges stably, even in the presence of time-dependent covariates, and show that the estimators for the regression parameters are consistent, asymptotically normal, and asymptotically efficient with an easily estimated covariance matrix. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of our procedures through simulation studies and application to an HIV/AIDS study conducted in Thailand.

Radiopharmaceuticals are essential components of nuclear medicine and serve as one of the cornerstones of molecular imaging and precision medicine. They provide new means and approaches for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. After decades of development and hard efforts, a relatively matured radiopharmaceutical production and management system has been established in China with high-quality facilities. This review provides an overview of the current status of radiopharmaceuticals on production and distribution, clinical application, and regulatory supervision and also describes some important advances in research and development and clinical translation of radiopharmaceuticals in the past 10 years. Moreover, some prospects of research and development of radiopharmaceuticals in the near future are discussed.