On short time existence for Lagrangian mean curvature flow

We consider a short time existence problem motivated by a conjecture of Joyce (Conjectures on Bridgeland stability for Fukaya categories of Calabi–Yau manifolds, special Lagrangians, and Lagrangian mean curvature flow. arXiv:1401.4949, 2014). Specifically we prove that given any compact Lagrangian L⊂CnL⊂Cn with a finite number of singularities, each asymptotic to a pair of non-area-minimising, transversally intersecting Lagrangian planes, there is a smooth Lagrangian mean curvature flow existing for some positive time, that attains L as t↘0t↘0 as varifolds, and smoothly locally away from the singularities

Risks associated with obesity in pregnancy, for the mother and baby: a systematic review of reviews

Maternal obesity is linked with adverse outcomes for mothers and babies. To get an overview of risks related to obesity in pregnant women, a systematic review of reviews was conducted. For inclusion, reviews had to compare pregnant women of healthy weight with women with obesity, and measure a health outcome for mother and/or baby. Authors conducted full-text screening, quality assurance using the AMSTAR tool and data extraction steps in pairs. Narrative analysis of the 22 reviews included show gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension, depression, instrumental and caesarean birth, and surgical site infection to be more likely to occur in pregnant women with obesity compared with women with a healthy weight. Maternal obesity is also linked to greater risk of preterm birth, large-for-gestational-age babies, foetal defects, congenital anomalies and perinatal death. Furthermore, breastfeeding initiation rates are lower and there is greater risk of early breastfeeding cessation in women with obesity compared with healthy weight women. These adverse outcomes may result in longer duration of hospital stay, with concomitant resource implications. It is crucial to reduce the burden of adverse maternal and foetal/child outcomes caused by maternal obesity. Women with obesity need support to lose weight before they conceive, and to minimize their weight gain in pregnancy

Quality of Life of People Living with HIV in Australia: The Role of Stigma, Social Disconnection and Mental Health.

HIV is a manageable chronic illness, due to advances in biomedical management. However, many people living with HIV (PLHIV) continue to experience psychosocial challenges, which have been associated with poorer quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to explore how psychosocial factors contributed to the QoL of PLHIV in Australia; specifically, the relationship between HIV-related stigma, social connectedness, mental health, and QoL. Participants were 122 PLHIV attending The Albion Centre (a tertiary HIV clinic in Sydney, Australia), who completed questionnaires which measured HIV-related stigma, social support, mental health symptomology and QoL. Results indicated that HIV-related stigma predicted poorer QoL, as did mental health symptomology. Conversely, social connectedness improved QoL. Additionally, social connectedness was found to mediate the relationship between HIV-related stigma and QoL, whereas the hypothesized moderating role of mental health symptomology on this model was not significant. These findings provide insight into the impact of psychosocial factors on QoL, offering practitioners various points of clinical intervention

The strategic under-reporting of bank risk

We show that banks significantly under-report the risk in their trading book when they have lower equity capital. Specifically, a decrease in a bank’s equity capital results in substantially more violations of its self-reported risk levels in the following quarter. The under-reporting is especially high during the critical periods of high systemic risk and for banks with larger trading operations. We exploit a discontinuity in the expected benefit of under-reporting present in Basel regulations to provide further support for a causal link between capital-saving incentives and under-reporting. Overall, we show that banks’ self-reported risk measures become least informative precisely when they matter the most

It's Good But it's Not Right: Instructional Self-Talk and Skilled Performance

This research examined the relative effectiveness of instructional versus motivational self-talk for skilled athletes. Forty Gaelic footballers completed a shooting accuracy task with their dominant and non-dominant feet. Results indicated significantly more accurate performance when executing the task using the dominant foot and motivational as compared to instructional self-talk. No difference emerged between the two types of self-talk within the non-dominant foot condition. Results challenge the widely held view that instructional self-talk is most effective for accuracy based tasks and should prompt practitioners to consider the skill level of their clients when constructing self-talk interventions