Time-to-event estimation by re-defining time

The primary goal of a time-to-event estimation model is to accurately infer the occurrence time of a target event. Most existing studies focus on developing new models to effectively utilize the information in the censored observations. In this paper, we propose a model to tackle the time-to-event estimation problem from a completely different perspective. Our model relaxes a fundamental constraint that the target variable, time, is a univariate number which satisfies a partial order. Instead, the proposed model interprets each event occurrence time as a time concept with a vector representation. We hypothesize that the model will be more accurate and interpretable by capturing (1) the relationships between features and time concept vectors and (2) the relationships among time concept vectors. We also propose a scalable framework to simultaneously learn the model parameters and time concept vectors. Rigorous experiments and analysis have been conducted in medical event prediction task on seven gene expression datasets. The results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed model. Furthermore, similarity information among time concept vectors helped in identifying time regimes, thus leading to a potential knowledge discovery related to the human cancer considered in our experiments.

Prevention of sudden cardiac death in the young: Developing a rational, reliable, and sustainable national health care resource. A report from the Cardiac Safety Research Consortium

This White Paper, prepared by members of the Cardiac Safety Research Consortium, discusses important issues regarding sudden cardiac death in the young (SCDY), a problem that does not discriminate by gender, race, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic level, or athletic status. The occurrence of SCDY has devastating impact on families and communities. Sudden cardiac death in the young is a matter of national and international public health, and its prevention has generated deep interest from multiple stakeholders, including families who have lost children, advocacy groups, academicians, regulators, and the medical industry. To promote scientific and clinical discussion of SCDY prevention and to germinate future initiatives to move this field forward, a Cardiac Safety Research Consortium-sponsored Think Tank was held on February 21, 2015 at the US Food and Drug Administration's White Oak facilities, Silver Spring, MD. The ultimate goal of the Think Tank was to spark initiatives that lead to the development of a rational, reliable, and sustainable national health care resource focused on SCDY prevention. This article provides a detailed summary of discussions at the Think Tank and descriptions of related multistakeholder initiatives now underway: it does not represent regulatory guidance.