The image this month is a map of the Internet created by Matt Britt from data from the Opte Project. The closeup shows how nodes representing Internet addresses are connected (see the description in Wikimedia Commons).
The image relates to the theme of the editorial: network theory and how it is increasingly used to understand connections and relationships in health and medicine, whether at a cellular, population, or social level. In a paper on the dynamics of influenza transmission published this month (Mossong, et al. e74), network analysis helped the authors produce a mathematical model suggesting that 5- to 19-year-olds will suffer the highest burden of respiratory infection during any initial spread. Another paper (Lewis, et al. e50) using phylodynamics—a mix of genetics, epidemiology, and evolutionary biology—elucidated a transmission network that provides insights into HIV prevention.
Image Credit: Image by Matt Britt, using data from the Opte Project
Editorial
It's the Network, Stupid: Why Everything in Medicine Is Connected
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050071
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The PLoS Medicine Debate
When Should Children with HIV Infection Be Started on Antiretroviral Therapy
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050073
Essays
Observational Research, Randomised Trials, and Two Views of Medical Science
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050067
Late-Life Cardiac Interventions and the Treatment Imperative
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050007
Could an Open-Source Clinical Trial Data-Management System Be What We Have All Been Looking For?
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050006
Perspectives
Inferring HIV Transmission Dynamics from Phylogenetic Sequence Relationships
PLOS Medicine: published March 18, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050069
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Determining Origins and Causes of Childhood Obesity via Mendelian Randomization Analysis
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050065
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The Potential Effect of Statins on Rituximab Immunotherapy
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050077
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Further Evidence that Exclusive Breast-Feeding Reduces Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Compared With Mixed Feeding
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050063
Policy Forums
Defining Challenges and Proposing Solutions for Control of the Virus Vector Aedes aegypti
PLOS Medicine: published March 18, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050068
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Syndromic Surveillance: Adapting Innovations to Developing Settings
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050072
Research in Translation
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Aberrant Recapitulation of Developmental Programs?
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050062
Research Articles
Social Contacts and Mixing Patterns Relevant to the Spread of Infectious Diseases
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050074
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Episodic Sexual Transmission of HIV Revealed by Molecular Phylodynamics
PLOS Medicine: published March 18, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050050
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The Impact of Monitoring HIV Patients Prior to Treatment in Resource-Poor Settings: Insights from Mathematical Modelling
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050053
Multidisciplinary Prospective Study of Mother-to-Child Chikungunya Virus Infections on the Island of La Réunion
PLOS Medicine: published March 18, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050060
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An Antibiotic-Responsive Mouse Model of Fulminant Ulcerative Colitis
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050041
Aberrant Mucin Assembly in Mice Causes Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Spontaneous Inflammation Resembling Ulcerative Colitis
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050054
Alcohol Intake and Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review Implementing a Mendelian Randomization Approach
PLOS Medicine: published March 4, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050052
Global Transcript Profiles of Fat in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for BMI: Pathways behind Acquired Obesity
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050051
Exploring the Developmental Overnutrition Hypothesis Using Parental–Offspring Associations and FTO as an Instrumental Variable
PLOS Medicine: published March 11, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050033
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Increased Microerythrocyte Count in Homozygous α+-Thalassaemia Contributes to Protection against Severe Malarial Anaemia
PLOS Medicine: published March 18, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050056
Statins Impair Antitumor Effects of Rituximab by Inducing Conformational Changes of CD20
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050064
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Correction
Correction: Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study
PLOS Medicine: published March 25, 2008 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050070