5,105 research outputs found

    Possible loss and recovery of Gibbsianness during the stochastic evolution of Gibbs measures

    Get PDF
    We consider Ising-spin systems starting from an initial Gibbs measure ν\nu and evolving under a spin-flip dynamics towards a reversible Gibbs measure μν\mu\not=\nu. Both ν\nu and μ\mu are assumed to have a finite-range interaction. We study the Gibbsian character of the measure νS(t)\nu S(t) at time tt and show the following: (1) For all ν\nu and μ\mu, νS(t)\nu S(t) is Gibbs for small tt. (2) If both ν\nu and μ\mu have a high or infinite temperature, then νS(t)\nu S(t) is Gibbs for all t>0t>0. (3) If ν\nu has a low non-zero temperature and a zero magnetic field and μ\mu has a high or infinite temperature, then νS(t)\nu S(t) is Gibbs for small tt and non-Gibbs for large tt. (4) If ν\nu has a low non-zero temperature and a non-zero magnetic field and μ\mu has a high or infinite temperature, then νS(t)\nu S(t) is Gibbs for small tt, non-Gibbs for intermediate tt, and Gibbs for large tt. The regime where μ\mu has a low or zero temperature and tt is not small remains open. This regime presumably allows for many different scenarios

    Risk of non-affective psychotic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder by refugee status in Sweden

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: Refugees have different experiences of obtaining a refugee status, however it remains unclear if this affects their risk of psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate whether risk for non-affective psychotic disorder (NAPD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) differs between quota refugees (resettled from refugee camps) and non-quota refugees (former asylum seekers). METHOD: A register-based cohort with a sample size of 52 561 refugees in Sweden starting 1 January 1997 ending 31 December 2011. EXPOSURE: refugee status (quota or non-quota refugees). Cox regression models estimated adjusted HRs with 95% CIs for NAPD (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), F20-29) and PTSD (ICD-10, F43.1) by refugee status. RESULTS: There were more non-quota refugees (77.0%) than quota refugees (23.0%). In total we identified 401 cases of NAPD, 1.0% among quota refugees and 0.7% among non-quota refugees, and 1070 cases of PTSD, 1.9% among quota refugees and 2.1% among non-quota refugees. Male quota refugees were at increased risk for NAPD compared with male non-quota refugees (HRmale=1.41, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.82 and HRfemale=0.65, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.00). All quota refugees were at a reduced risk of PTSD compared with non-quota refugees (HR=0.74, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.87). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that risk of NAPD and PTSD varies for quota and non-quota refugees, highlighting the possibility that different experiences of the migration process differentiate the risk of psychiatric disorders among refugees

    Suicide risk in people with post-traumatic stress disorder: a cohort study of 3.1 million people in Sweden

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is associated with suicide risk in the general population, whether this differs by sex, or what the population impact of PTSD is for suicide. METHODS: We constructed a nationwide cohort of all people living in Sweden, born 1973-1997, followed from their 14th birthday (or immigration, if later) until suicide, other death, emigration or 31 December 2016. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios [HR], and calculated the population impact of PTSD on suicide. We included sensitivity analyses to explore effects of outcome and exposure definitions, and to account for potential competing risks. RESULTS: Of 3,177,706 participants, 22,361 (0•7%) were diagnosed with PTSD, and 6,319 (0•2%) died by suicide over 49•2 million person-years. Compared with women and men without PTSD, suicide rates were 6•74 (95%CI: 5•61-8•09) and 3•96 (95%CI: 3•12-5•03) times higher in those with PTSD, respectively, after sociodemographic adjustment. Suicide rates remained elevated in women (HR: 2•61; 95%CI: 2•16-3•14) and men (HR: 1•67; 95%CI: 1•31-2•12) after adjustment for previous psychiatric conditions; attenuation was driven by previous non-fatal suicide attempts. Findings were insensitive to definitions or competing risks. If causal, 1•6% (95%CI: 1•2-2•1) of general population suicides could be attributed to PTSD, and up to 53.7% (95%CI: 46.1-60.2) in people with PTSD. LIMITATIONS: Residual confounding remains possible due to depressive and anxiety disorders diagnosed in primary care but unrecorded in these registers. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical guidelines for the management of people with PTSD should recognise increased suicide risk

    Association of neighbourhood migrant density and risk of non-affective psychosis: a national, longitudinal cohort study

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: Elevated risk of psychotic disorders in migrant groups is a public mental health priority. We investigated whether living in areas of high own-region migrant density was associated with reduced risk of psychotic disorders among migrants and their children, and whether generation status, probable visible minority status, or region-of-origin affected this relationship. METHODS: We used the Swedish registers to identify migrants and their children born between Jan 1, 1982, and Dec 31, 1996, and living in Sweden on or after their 15th birthday. We tracked all included participants from age 15 years or date of migration until emigration, death, or study end (Dec 31, 2016). The outcome was an ICD-10 diagnosis of non-affective psychosis (F20-29). We calculated own-region and generation-specific own-region density within the 9208 small areas for market statistics neighbourhoods in Sweden, and estimated the relationship between density and diagnosis of non-affective psychotic disorders using multilevel Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for individual confounders (generation status, age, sex, calendar year, lone dwelling, and time since migration [migrants only]), family confounders (family income, family unemployment, and social welfare), and neighbourhood confounders (deprivation index, population density, and proportion of lone dwellings), and using the Akaike information criterion (AIC) to compare model fit. FINDINGS: Of 468 223 individuals included in the final cohort, 4582 (1·0%) had non-affective psychotic disorder. Lower own-region migrant density was associated with increased risk of psychotic disorders among migrants (hazard ratio [HR] 1·05, 95% CI 1·02-1·07 per 5% decrease) and children of migrants (1·03, 1·01-1·06), after adjustment. These effects were stronger for probable visible minority migrants (1·07, 1·04-1·11), including migrants from Asia (1·42, 1·15-1·76) and sub-Saharan Africa (1·28, 1·15-1·44), but not migrants from probable non-visible minority backgrounds (0·99, 0·94-1·04). Among migrants, adding generation status to the measure of own-region density provided a better fit to the data than overall own-region migrant density (AIC 36 103 vs 36 106, respectively), with a 5% decrease in generation-specific migrant density corresponding to a HR of 1·07 (1·04-1·11). INTERPRETATION: Migrant density was associated with non-affective psychosis risk in migrants and their children. Stronger protective effects of migrant density were found for probable visible minority migrants and migrants from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. For migrants, this risk intersected with generation status. Together, these results suggest that this health inequality is socially constructed. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust, Royal Society, Mental Health Research UK, University College London, National Institute for Health Research, Swedish Research Council, and FORTE

    Tunneling and Metastability of continuous time Markov chains

    Full text link
    We propose a new definition of metastability of Markov processes on countable state spaces. We obtain sufficient conditions for a sequence of processes to be metastable. In the reversible case these conditions are expressed in terms of the capacity and of the stationary measure of the metastable states

    Suicide risk among refugees compared with non-refugee migrants and the Swedish-born majority population

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesised that refugees have an increased risk of suicide. AIMS: To investigate whether risk of suicide is higher among refugees compared with non-refugee migrants from the same areas of origin and with the Swedish-born population, and to examine whether suicide rates among migrants converge to the Swedish-born population over time. METHOD: A population-based cohort design using linked national registers to follow 1 457 898 people born between 1 January 1970 and 31 December 1984, classified by migrant status as refugees, non-refugee migrants or Swedish-born. Participants were followed from their 16th birthday or date of arrival in Sweden until death, emigration or 31 December 2015, whichever came first. Cox regression models estimated adjusted hazard ratios for suicide by migrant status, controlling for age, gender, region of origin and income. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in suicide risk between refugee and non-refugee migrants (hazard ratio 1.28, 95% CI 0.93-1.76) and both groups had a lower risk of suicide than Swedish born. During their first 5 years in Sweden no migrants died by suicide; however, after 21-31 years their suicide risk was equivalent to the Swedish-born population (hazard ratio 0.94, 95% CI 0.79-1.22). After adjustment for income this risk was significantly lower for migrants than the Swedish-born population. CONCLUSIONS: Being a refugee was not an additional risk factor for suicide. Our findings regarding temporal changes in suicide risk suggest that acculturation and socioeconomic deprivation may account for a convergence of suicide risk between migrants and the host population over time. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None

    Heat flow in chains driven by thermal noise

    Full text link
    We consider the large deviation function for a classical harmonic chain composed of N particles driven at the end points by heat reservoirs, first derived in the quantum regime by Saito and Dhar and in the classical regime by Saito and Dhar and Kundu et al. Within a Langevin description we perform this calculation on the basis of a standard path integral calculation in Fourier space. The cumulant generating function yielding the large deviation function is given in terms of a transmission Green's function and is consistent with the fluctuation theorem. We find a simple expression for the tails of the heat distribution which turn out to decay exponentially. We, moreover, consider an extension of a single particle model suggested by Derrida and Brunet and discuss the two-particle case. We also discuss the limit for large N and present a closed expression for the cumulant generating function. Finally, we present a derivation of the fluctuation theorem on the basis of a Fokker-Planck description. This result is not restricted to the harmonic case but is valid for a general interaction potential between the particles.Comment: Latex: 26 pages and 9 figures, appeared in J. Stat. Mech. P04005 (2012

    Inequalities in Psychiatric Service Use and Mortality by Migrant Status Following a First Diagnosis of Psychotic Disorder: A Swedish Cohort Study of 1.3M People

    Get PDF
    It is unclear whether inequalities in mental healthcare and mortality following the onset of psychosis exist by migrant status and region-of-origin. We investigated whether (1) mortality (including by major causes of death); (2) first admission type (inpatient or outpatient); (3) in-patient length of stay (LOS) at first diagnosis for psychotic disorder presentation, and; (4) time-to-readmission for psychotic disorder differed for refugees, non-refugee migrants, and by region-of-origin. We established a cohort of 1 335 192 people born 1984-1997 and living in Sweden from January 1, 1998, followed from their 14th birthday or arrival to Sweden, until death, emigration, or December 31, 2016. People with ICD-10 psychotic disorder (F20-33; N = 9399) were 6.7 (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 5.9-7.6) times more likely to die than the general population, but this did not vary by migrant status (P = .15) or region-of-origin (P = .31). This mortality gap was most pronounced for suicide (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 12.2; 95% CI: 10.4-14.4), but persisted for deaths from other external (aHR: 5.1; 95%CI: 4.0-6.4) and natural causes (aHR: 2.3; 95%CI: 1.6-3.3). Non-refugee (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.2-1.6) and refugee migrants (aOR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1-1.8) were more likely to receive inpatient care at first diagnosis. No differences in in-patient LOS at first diagnosis were observed by migrant status. Sub-Saharan African migrants with psychotic disorder were readmitted more quickly than their Swedish-born counterparts (adjusted sub-hazard ratio [sHR]: 1.2; 95%CI: 1.1-1.4). Our findings highlight the need to understand the drivers of disparities in psychosis treatment and the mortality gap experienced by all people with disorder, irrespective of migrant status or region-of-origin

    Geometric and dynamic perspectives on phase-coherent and noncoherent chaos

    Get PDF
    Statistically distinguishing between phase-coherent and noncoherent chaotic dynamics from time series is a contemporary problem in nonlinear sciences. In this work, we propose different measures based on recurrence properties of recorded trajectories, which characterize the underlying systems from both geometric and dynamic viewpoints. The potentials of the individual measures for discriminating phase-coherent and noncoherent chaotic oscillations are discussed. A detailed numerical analysis is performed for the chaotic R\"ossler system, which displays both types of chaos as one control parameter is varied, and the Mackey-Glass system as an example of a time-delay system with noncoherent chaos. Our results demonstrate that especially geometric measures from recurrence network analysis are well suited for tracing transitions between spiral- and screw-type chaos, a common route from phase-coherent to noncoherent chaos also found in other nonlinear oscillators. A detailed explanation of the observed behavior in terms of attractor geometry is given.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure
    corecore