I read with interest comments about "diamond graphs" recently described in the American Statistician by my colleagues in the Johns Hopkins Department of Epidemiology led by Dr. Alvaro Munoz.
Permit three brief reactions. First, "diamond graphs" were developed as part of the Multi-center Aids Cohort Study, a seminal study of HIV infection in the U.S. in which these authors have been key co-investigators. The graphs were created to better address a real scientific objective and that usually bodes well for their longer-term value. Second, non-technical descriptions of statistical work written by public affairs people, such as the Johns Hopkins web-page article commented on, tend to be enthusiastic; such is the nature of public relations. I, for one, am delighted to see statistical work noticed and discussed by non-statisticians within my University and beyond. Third, this University leaves it to individual faculty whether or not to pursue a patent for a discovery. That Dr. Munoz and colleagues have decided to do so does reflects their preference, not a University or Department policy. In fact, the Johns Hopkins Department of Biostatistics faculty and graduates are active participants in and enthusiastic supporters of open source software development. For recent examples, see: http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/biostat/research/software.shtml Scott L. Zeger Department of Biostatistics Johns Hopkins University ______________________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help