Validation of the BOADICEA model and a 313-variant polygenic risk score for breast cancer risk prediction in a Dutch prospective cohort

Purpose: We evaluated the performance of the recently extended Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA version 5) in a Dutch prospective cohort, using a polygenic risk score (PRS) based on 313 breast cancer (BC)–associated variants (PRS313) and other, nongenetic risk factors. Methods: Since 1989, 6522 women without BC aged 45 or older of European descent have been included in the Rotterdam Study. The PRS313 was calculated per 1 SD in controls from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). Cox regression analysis was performed to estimate the association between the PRS313 and incident BC risk. Cumulative 10-year risks were calculated with BOADICEA including different sets of variables (age, risk factors and PRS313). C-statistics were used to evaluate discriminative ability. Results: In total, 320 women developed BC. The PRS313 was significantly associated with BC (hazard ratio [HR] per SD of 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.40–1.73]). Using 10-year risk estimates including age and the PRS313, other risk factors improved the discriminatory ability of the BOADICEA model marginally, from a C-statistic of 0.636 to 0.653. Conclusions: The effect size of the PRS313 is highly reproducible in the Dutch population. Our results validate the BOADICEA v5 model for BC risk assessment in the Dutch general population

A new SPS programme

A new experiemntal program to study hadron production in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS has been recently proposed by the NA49-future collaboration. The physics goals of the program are: (i) search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter and a study of the properties of the onset of deconfinemnt in nucleus-nucleus collisions, (ii) measurements of correlations, fluctuations and hadron spectra at high transverse momentum in proton-nucleus collisions needed as for better understanding of nucleus-nucleus results, (iii) measurements of hadron production in hadron-nucleus interactions needed for neutrino (T2K) and cosmic-ray (Pierre Auger Observatory and KASCADE) expriments. The physics of the nucleus-nucleus program is reviewed in this presentation

Search for the QCD critical point at SPS energies

Lattice QCD calculations locate the QCD critical point at energies accessible at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). We present average transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations, as well as baryon and anti-baryon transverse mass spectra which are expected to be sensitive to effects of the critical point. The future CP search strategy of the NA61/SHINE experiment at the SPS is also discussed.Lattice QCD calculations locate the QCD critical point at energies accessible at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). We present average transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations, as well as baryon and anti-baryon transverse mass spectra which are expected to be sensitive to effects of the critical point. The future CP search strategy of the NA61/SHINE experiment at the SPS is also discussed

论创业投资中的风险控制

创业投资是资本市场培育高新技术产业的一种创新的制度安排，有别于一般的投资活动。由于被投资企业的不确定性、交易中信息的高度不对称及投资参与方以外的因素，使得创业投资在获得高收益回报的同时，要承担比一般投资活动大得多的风险，高风险是其核心特征。对风险的有效控制成为创业投资成功获得预期收益的关键。在我国目前这种环境下，由于经济体制和市场机制的缺陷，创业投资蕴含的风险更大，更有必要强调风险控制。全文共分三章，主要内容如下： 第一章比较创业投资与一般投资的主要区别，阐明创业投资风险的特殊性和风险控制的重点。 第二章这是文章的重点，针对创业投资的三个风险来源：被投资企业的不确定性、交易中信息的高度不对...学位：经济学硕士院系专业：经济学院经济系_政治经济学学号：19980900

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L−1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature

Longterm Followup after Tapering Mycophenolate Mofetil during Maintenance Treatment for Proliferative Lupus Nephritis

Objective. To determine the timing for safe reduction of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) dose during remission-maintenance therapy of proliferative lupus nephritis. Methods. The study population consisted of 44 patients evaluated retrospectively; MMF dose was empirically tapered in 18/44 patients until the latest observation. Results. Patients reducing MMF ≤ 18 months after remission/complete remission had a 6.8-fold/6.3-fold higher risk of relapse compared to those taking a stable dose (p = 0.001, p = 0.011, respectively). Reducing MMF later than 18 months was not associated with increased relapse rates. Conclusion. Reducing MMF > 1.5 years after remission/complete remission seems to warrant drug tapering without increased risk of disease flare in proliferative lupus nephritis. The Journal of Rheumatology Copyright © 2011. All rights reserved