On the equivalence of modes of convergence for log-concave measures

An important theme in recent work in asymptotic geometric analysis is that many classical implications between different types of geometric or functional inequalities can be reversed in the presence of convexity assumptions. In this note, we explore the extent to which different notions of distance between probability measures are comparable for log-concave distributions. Our results imply that weak convergence of isotropic log-concave distributions is equivalent to convergence in total variation, and is further equivalent to convergence in relative entropy when the limit measure is Gaussian.Comment: v3: Minor tweak in exposition. To appear in GAFA seminar note

Remarks on the Central Limit Theorem for Non-Convex Bodies

In this note, we study possible extensions of the Central Limit Theorem for non-convex bodies. First, we prove a Berry-Esseen type theorem for a certain class of unconditional bodies that are not necessarily convex. Then, we consider a widely-known class of non-convex bodies, the so-called p-convex bodies, and construct a counter-example for this class

Paraoxonase 2 protein is spatially expressed in the human placenta and selectively reduced in labour

Humans parturition involves interaction of hormonal, neurological, mechanical stretch and inflammatory pathways and the placenta plays a crucial role. The paraoxonases (PONs 1–3) protect against oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation, modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and regulation of apoptosis. Nothing is known about the role of PON2 in the placenta and labour. Since PON2 plays a role in oxidative stress and inflammation, both features of labour, we hypothesised that placental PON2 expression would alter during labour. PON2 was examined in placentas obtained from women who delivered by cesarean section and were not in labour and compared to the equivalent zone of placentas obtained from women who delivered vaginally following an uncomplicated labour. Samples were obtained from 12 sites within each placenta: 4 equally spaced apart pieces were sampled from the inner, middle and outer placental regions. PON2 expression was investigated by Western blotting and real time PCR. Two PON2 forms, one at 62 kDa and one at 43 kDa were found in all samples. No difference in protein expression of either isoform was found between the three sites in either the labour or non-labour group. At the middle site there was a highly significant decrease in PON2 expression in the labour group when compared to the non-labour group for both the 62 kDa form (p = 0.02) and the 43 kDa form (p = 0.006). No spatial differences were found within placentas at the mRNA level in either labour or non-labour. There was, paradoxically, an increase in PON2 mRNA in the labour group at the middle site only. This is the first report to describe changes in PON2 in the placenta in labour. The physiological and pathological significance of these remains to be elucidated but since PON2 is anti-inflammatory further studies are warranted to understand its role

Recording the Heart Beat of Cattle using a Gradiometer System of Optically Pumped Magnetometers

Monitoring of heart rate has the potential to provide excellent data for the remote monitoring of animals, and heart rate has been associated with stress, pyrexia, pain and illness in animals. However monitoring of heart rate in domesticated animals is difficult as it entails the restraint of the animal (which may in turn affect heart rate), and the application of complex monitoring equipment that is either invasive or not practical to implement under commercial farm conditions. Therefore accurate non-invasive automated remote monitoring of heart rate has not been possible in domesticated animals. Biomagnetism associated with muscle and nerve action provides a promising emerging field in medical sensing, but it is currently confined to magnetically-shielded clinical environments. In this study, we use biomagnetic sensing on commercial dairy cattle under farm conditions as a model system to show proof-of-principle for non-contact magnetocardiography (MCG) outside a controlled laboratory environment. By arranging magnetometers in a differential set-up and using purpose-built low-noise electronics, we are able to suppress common mode noise and successfully record the heart rate, the heart beat intervals and the heart beat amplitude. Comparing the MCG signal with simultaneous data recorded using a conventional electrocardiogram (ECG) allowed alignment of the two signals, and was able to match features of the ECG including the P-wave, the QRS complex and the T-wave. This study has shown the potential for MCG to be developed as a non-contact method for the assessment of heart rate and other cardiac attributes in adult dairy cattle. Whilst this study using an animal model showed the capabilities of un-shielded MCG, these techniques also suggest potentially exciting opportunities in human cardiac medicine outside hospital environments

Effects of Light, Food Availability and Temperature Stress on the Function of Photosystem II and Photosystem I of Coral Symbionts

Background: Reef corals are heterotrophic coelenterates that achieve high productivity through their photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts. Excessive seawater temperature destabilises this symbiosis and causes corals to "bleach," lowering their photosynthetic capacity. Bleaching poses a serious threat to the persistence of coral reefs on a global scale. Despite expanding research on the causes of bleaching, the mechanisms remain a subject of debate.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings: This study determined how light and food availability modulate the effects of temperature stress on photosynthesis in two reef coral species. We quantified the activities of Photosystem II, Photosystem I and whole chain electron transport under combinations of normal and stressful growth temperatures, moderate and high light levels and the presence or absence of feeding of the coral hosts. Our results show that PS1 function is comparatively robust against temperature stress in both species, whereas PS2 and whole chain electron transport are susceptible to temperature stress. In the symbiotic dinoflagellates of Stylophora pistillata the contents of chlorophyll and major photosynthetic complexes were primarily affected by food availability. In Turbinaria reniformis growth temperature was the dominant influence on the contents of the photosynthetic complexes. In both species feeding the host significantly protected photosynthetic function from high temperature stress.\ud \ud Conclusions/Significance: Our findings support the photoinhibition model of coral bleaching and demonstrate that PS1 is not a major site for thermal damage during bleaching events. Feeding mitigates bleaching in two scleractinian corals, so that reef responses to temperature stresses will likely be influenced by the coinciding availabilities of prey for the host

Exclusion Performance in Dwarf Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) and Sheep (Ovis orientalis aries)

Using a comparative approach, we investigated the ability of dwarf goats and sheep to use direct and indirect information about the location of a food reward in an object-choice task. Subjects had to choose between two cups with only one covering a reward. Before making a choice, subjects received information about the baited (direct information) or non-baited cup (indirect information). Both goats and sheep were able to use direct information (presence of food) in the object choice task. After controlling for local enhancement, we found that goats rather than sheep were able to use indirect information (i.e., the absence of food) to find a reward. The actual test setup could not clarify whether individual goats were able to inferentially reason about the content of the baited cup when only shown the content of the non-baited cup or if they simply avoided the empty cup in that situation. As browsing species, feral and wild goats exhibit highly selective feeding behaviour compared to the rather unselective grazing sheep. The potential influence of this species-specific foraging flexibility of goats and sheep for using direct and indirect information to find a food reward is discussed in relation to a higher aversion to losses in food acquisition in goats compared to sheep

Characterization of pulmonary function in 10â18 year old patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Pulmonary function loss in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is progressive and leads to pulmonary insufficiency. The purpose of this study in 10â18 year old patients with DMD is the assessment of the inter-correlation between pulmonary function tests (PFTs), their reliability and the association with the general disease stage measured by the Brooke score. Dynamic PFTs (peak expiratory flow [PEF], forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1]) and maximum static airway pressures (MIP, MEP) were prospectively collected from 64 DMD patients enrolled in the DELOS trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01027884). Baseline PEF percent predicted (PEF%p) was <80% and patients had stopped taking glucocorticoids at least 12 months prior to study start. At baseline PEF%p, FVC%p and FEV1%p correlated well with each other (Spearman's rho: PEF%pâFVC%p: 0.54; PEF%pâFEV1%p: 0.72; FVC%pâFEV1%p: 0.91). MIP%p and MEP%p correlated well with one another (MIP%pâMEP%p: 0.71) but less well with PEF%p (MIP%pâPEF%p: 0.40; MEP%pâPEF%p: 0.41) and slightly better with FVC%p (MIP%pâFVC%p: 0.59; MEP%pâFVC%p: 0.74). The within-subject coefficients of variation (CV) for successive measures were 6.97% for PEF%p, 6.69% for FVC%p and 11.11% for FEV1%p, indicating that these parameters could be more reliably assessed compared to maximum static airway pressures (CV for MIP%p: 18.00%; MEP%p: 15.73%). Yearly rates of PFT decline (placebo group) were larger in dynamic parameters (PEF%p: â8.9% [SD 2.0]; FVC%p: â8.7% [SD 1.1]; FEV1%p: â10.2% [SD 2.0]) than static airway pressures (MIP%p: â4.5 [SD 1.3]; MEP%p: â2.8 [SD 1.1]). A considerable drop in dynamic pulmonary function parameters was associated with loss of upper limb function (transition from Brooke score category 4 to category 5). In conclusion, these findings expand the understanding of the reliability, correlation and evolution of different pulmonary function measures in DMD patients who are in the pulmonary function decline phase

Idebenone reduces respiratory complications in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), progressive loss of respiratory function leads to restrictive pulmonary disease and places patients at significant risk for severe respiratory complications. Of particular concern are ineffective cough, secretion retention and recurrent respiratory tract infections. In a Phase 3 randomized controlled study (DMD Long-term Idebenone Study, DELOS) in DMD patients 10–18 years of age and not taking concomitant glucocorticoid steroids, idebenone (900 mg/day) reduced significantly the loss of respiratory function over a 1-year study period. In a post-hoc analysis of DELOS we found that more patients in the placebo group compared to the idebenone group experienced bronchopulmonary adverse events (BAEs): placebo: 17 of 33 patients, 28 events; idebenone: 6 of 31 patients, 7 events. The hazard ratios (HR) calculated “by patient” (HR 0.33, p = 0.0187) and for “all BAEs” (HR 0.28, p = 0.0026) indicated a clear idebenone treatment effect. The overall duration of BAEs was 222 days (placebo) vs. 82 days (idebenone). In addition, there was also a difference in the use of systemic antibiotics utilized for the treatment of BAEs. In the placebo group, 13 patients (39.4%) reported 17 episodes of antibiotic use compared to 7 patients (22.6%) reporting 8 episodes of antibiotic use in the idebenone group. Furthermore, patients in the placebo group used systemic antibiotics for longer (105 days) compared to patients in the idebenone group (65 days). This post-hoc analysis of DELOS indicates that the protective effect of idebenone on respiratory function is associated with a reduced risk of bronchopulmonary complications and a reduced need for systemic antibiotics