This book presents the state of the art of biostatistical methods and their applications in clinical oncology. Many methodologies established today in biostatistics have been brought about through its applications to the design and analysis of oncology clinical studies. This field of oncology, now in the midst of evolution owing to rapid advances in biotechnologies and cancer genomics, is becoming one of the most promising disease fields in the shift toward personalized medicine. Modern developments of diagnosis and therapeutics of cancer have also been continuously fueled by recent progress in establishing the infrastructure for conducting more complex, large-scale clinical trials and observational studies. The field of cancer clinical studies therefore will continue to provide many new statistical challenges that warrant further progress in the methodology and practice of biostatistics. This book provides a systematic coverage of various stages of cancer clinical studies. Topics from modern cancer clinical trials include phase I clinical trials for combination therapies, exploratory phase II trials with multiple endpoints/treatments, and confirmative biomarker-based phase III trials with interim monitoring and adaptation. It also covers important areas of cancer screening, prognostic analysis, and the analysis of large-scale molecular data in the era of big data.

Soft computing techniques are no longer limited to the arena of computer science. The discipline has an exponentially growing demand in other branches of science and engineering and even into health and social science. This book contains theory and applications of soft computing in engineering, health, and social and applied sciences. Different soft computing techniques such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary algorithms and hybrid systems are discussed. It also contains important chapters in machine learning and clustering. This book presents a survey of the existing knowledge and also the current state of art development through original new contributions from the researchers. This book may be used as a one-stop reference book for a broad range of readers worldwide interested in soft computing. In each chapter, the preliminaries have been presented first and then the advanced discussion takes place. Learners and researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds will find several useful tools and techniques to develop their soft computing skills. This book is meant for graduate students, faculty and researchers willing to expand their knowledge in any branch of soft computing. The readers of this book will require minimum prerequisites of undergraduate studies in computation and mathematics.

Neuroimaging provides a valuable noninvasive window into the human neural system and is used in fundamental and clinical research. Imaging techniques are essential for understanding spontaneous neural activity and brain mechanisms engaged in the processing of external inputs, memory formation, and cognition. Modern imaging modalities make it possible to visualize memory processes within the brain and to create images of its structure and function. Scientists and technologists are joining forces to pave the way for improving imaging technologies and methods, data analysis, and the application of imaging to investigate the wide spectra of neurological diseases, neuropsychological disorders, and aging. Imaging techniques are essential for the identification of biological markers of the earliest stages of neurodiseases and the development of new therapies. This book intends to provide the reader with a short overview of the current achievements in the state-of-the-art imaging modality methods, their highlights, and limitations in neuroscience research and clinical applications. The current state of in-vivo neuroimaging methods in the context of the understanding and diagnosis of mental disorders and relation to the mind is also discussed in a modern compact format, featuring the latest and most relevant research results.

This book introduces and discusses the most important aspects of clinical research methods and biostatistics for oncologists, pursuing a tailor-made and practical approach. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been in vogue in the last few decades, particularly in rapidly advancing fields such as oncology. This approach has been used to support decision-making processes worldwide, sparking new clinical research and guidelines on clinical and surgical oncology. Clinical oncology research has many peculiarities, including specific study endpoints, a special focus on survival analyses, and a unique perspective on EBM. However, during medical studies and in general practice, these topics are barely taught. Moreover, even when EBM and clinical cancer research are discussed, they are presented in a theoretical fashion, mostly focused on formulas and numbers, rather than on clinical application for a proper literature appraisal. Addressing that gap, this book discusses more practical aspects of clinical research and biostatistics in oncology, instead of relying only on mathematical formulas and theoretical considerations. Methods and Biostatistics in Oncology will help readers develop the skills they need to understand the use of research on everyday oncology clinical practice for study design and interpretation, as well to demystify the use of EBM in oncology.

This book presents a multidisciplinary survey of biostatics methods, each illustrated with hands-on examples. It introduces advanced methods in statistics, including how to choose and work with statistical packages. Specific topics of interest include microarray analysis, missing data techniques, power and sample size, statistical methods in genetics. The book is an essential resource for researchers at every level of their career.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most frequent gynecological malignancy in the developed world. Optimal treatment of EC depends on early diagnosis and pre-operative stratification to appropriately select the extent of surgery and to plan further therapeutic approaches. Currently, endometrial histology is the gold standard for diagnosis, as there are no valid non-invasive methods available, and patient stratification is based on histopathology and surgical findings.

This book presents an overview of computational and statistical design and analysis of mass spectrometry-based proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics data. This contributed volume provides an introduction to the special aspects of statistical design and analysis with mass spectrometry data for the new omic sciences. The text discusses common aspects of design and analysis between and across all (or most) forms of mass spectrometry, while also providing special examples of application with the most common forms of mass spectrometry. Also covered are applications of computational mass spectrometry not only in clinical study but also in the interpretation of omics data in plant biology studies. Omics research fields are expected to revolutionize biomolecular research by the ability to simultaneously profile many compounds within either patient blood, urine, tissue, or other biological samples. Mass spectrometry is one of the key analytical techniques used in these new omic sciences. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, time-of-flight data, and Fourier transform mass spectrometry are but a selection of the measurement platforms available to the modern analyst. Thus in practical proteomics or metabolomics, researchers will not only be confronted with new high dimensional data types—as opposed to the familiar data structures in more classical genomics—but also with great variation between distinct types of mass spectral measurements derived from different platforms, which may complicate analyses, comparison, and interpretation of results.