352 research outputs found
Fitting Ranked English and Spanish Letter Frequency Distribution in U.S. and Mexican Presidential Speeches
The limited range in its abscissa of ranked letter frequency distributions
causes multiple functions to fit the observed distribution reasonably well. In
order to critically compare various functions, we apply the statistical model
selections on ten functions, using the texts of U.S. and Mexican presidential
speeches in the last 1-2 centuries. Dispite minor switching of ranking order of
certain letters during the temporal evolution for both datasets, the letter
usage is generally stable. The best fitting function, judged by either
least-square-error or by AIC/BIC model selection, is the Cocho/Beta function.
We also use a novel method to discover clusters of letters by their
observed-over-expected frequency ratios.Comment: 7 figure
Association between benzodiazepine use with or without opioid use and all-cause mortality in the United States, 1999-2015
Importance: Although overall rates of opioid use have been plateauing, coprescriptions of benzodiazepines and opioids have increased greatly in recent years. It is unknown whether this combination is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality as opposed to being more frequently used by persons with a baseline elevated risk of death.
Objective: To evaluate whether benzodiazepine use, with or without opioid use, is associated with increased all-cause mortality relative to the use of low-risk antidepressants.
Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study used a large, nationally representative US data set (the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys [NHANES]) from 1999 to 2015. Eight cycles of NHANES data were used, spanning 37 610 person-years of follow-up time among 5212 individuals. Statistical analysis was performed from August 24, 2019, through May 23, 2020.
Exposures: The primary exposure variable was benzodiazepine and opioid coprescriptions. Individuals taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) served as an active comparator reference group.
Main Outcomes and Measures: All-cause mortality was obtained via linkage of NHANES to the National Death Index. Propensity scores were calculated from covariates associated with sociodemographic factors, comorbidities, and medication use for more than 1000 prescription types. Propensity score-weighted mortality hazards were calculated from Cox proportional hazards regression models.
Results: Of 5212 participants aged 20 years or older (1993 men [38.2%]; mean [SD] age, 54.8 [16.9] years) followed up for a median of 6.7 years (range, 0.2-16.8 years), 101 deaths (33.0 per 1000 person-years) occurred among those receiving cotreatment, 236 deaths (26.5 per 1000 person-years) occurred among those receiving only benzodiazepines, and 227 deaths (20.2 per 1000 person-years) occurred among SSRI recipients taking neither opioids nor benzodiazepines. After propensity score weighting, a significant increase in all-cause mortality was associated with benzodiazepine and opioid cotreatment (hazard ratio, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.65-2.52]) and benzodiazepines without opioids (hazard ratio, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.33-1.92]). Subgroup analyses revealed an increased risk of mortality for individuals receiving cotreatment who were 65 years or younger but not for those older than 65 years; similar findings were observed for those receiving benzodiazepines without opioids.
Conclusions and Relevance: This study found a significant increase in all-cause mortality associated with benzodiazepine use with or without opioid use in comparison with SSRI use. Benzodiazepine and opioid cotreatment, in particular, was associated with a 2-fold increase in all-cause mortality even after taking into account medical comorbidities and polypharmacy burden
A new ordering principle for the classical statistical analysis of Poisson processes with background
Inspired by the recent proposal by Feldman and Cousins of a ``unified
approach to the classical statistical analysis of small signals'' based on a
choice of ordering in Neyman's construction of classical confidence intervals,
I propose a new ordering principle for the classical statistical analysis of
Poisson processes with background which minimizes the effect on the resulting
confidence intervals of the observation of less background events than
expected. The new ordering principle is applied to the calculation of the
confidence region implied by the recent null result of the KARMEN neutrino
oscillation experiment.Comment: 16 pages including 5 figures, RevTeX. Final version published in
Phys. Rev. D 59 (1999) 05300
Effects of neutrino oscillations and neutrino magnetic moments on elastic neutrino-electron scattering
We consider elastic antineutrino-electron scattering taking into account
possible effects of neutrino masses and mixing and of neutrino magnetic moments
and electric dipole moments. Having in mind antineutrinos produced in a nuclear
reactor we compute, in particular, the weak-electromagnetic interference terms
which are linear in the magnetic (electric dipole) moments and also in the
neutrino masses. We show that these terms are, however, suppressed compared to
the pure weak and electromagnetic cross section. We also comment upon the
possibility of using the electromagnetic cross section to investigate neutrino
oscillations.Comment: 12 pages, REVTEX file, no figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
Neutrino mass matrix with U(2) flavor symmetry and neutrino oscillations
The three neutrino mass matrices in the model are studied
focusing on the neutrino oscillation experiments. The atmospheric neutrino
anomaly could be explained by the large oscillation.
The long baseline experiments are expected to detect signatures of the neutrino
oscillation even if the atmospheric neutrino anomaly is not due to the neutrino
oscillation. However, the model cannot solve the solar neutrino deficit while
it could be reconciled with the LSND data.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex file, to be published in PR
Progress in neutrino oscillation searches and their implications
Neutrino Oscillation, in which a given flavour of neutrino transforms into
another is a powerful tool for probing small neutrino masses. The intrinsic
neutrino properties involved are neutrino mass squared difference
and the mixing angle in vacuum . In this talk I will summarize the
progress that we have achieved in our search for neutrino oscillation with
special emphasis on the recent results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
(SNO) on the measurement of solar neutrino fluxes. I will outline the current
bounds on the neutrino masses and mixing parameters and discuss the major
physics goals of future neutrino experiments in the context of the present
picture.Comment: Plenary Talk, WHEPP-7, January 2002, published in Pramana, Vol. 60,
261, 200
Is CP Violation Observable in Long Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiments ?
We have studied CP violation originated by the phase of the neutrino mixing
matrix in the long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. The direct
measurements of CP violation is the difference of the transition probabilities
between CP-conjugate channels. In those experiments, the CP violating effect is
not suppressed if the highest neutrino mass scale is taken to be 1\sim 5 \eV,
which is appropriate for the cosmological hot dark matter. Assuming the
hierarchy for the neutrino masses, the upper bounds of CP violation have been
caluculated for three cases, in which mixings are constrained by the recent
short baseline ones. The calculated upper bounds are larger than ,
which will be observable in the long baseline accelerator experiments. The
matter effect, which is not CP invariant, has been also estimated in those
experiments.Comment: 28 pages, LaTex file, 6 figures included using epsfig Matter effect
is estimated(Figs.3(a) (b)). Physical parameters are change
Muon-anti-neutrino <---> electron-anti-neutrino mixing: analysis of recent indications and implications for neutrino oscillation phenomenology
We reanalyze the recent data from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector
(LSND) experiment, that might indicate anti-nu_muanti-nu_e mixing. This
indication is not completely excluded by the negative results of established
accelerator and reactor neutrino oscillation searches. We quantify the region
of compatibility by means of a thorough statistical analysis of all the
available data, assuming both two-flavor and three-flavor neutrino
oscillations. The implications for various theoretical scenarios and for future
oscillation searches are studied. The relaxation of the LSND constraints under
different assumptions in the statistical analysis is also investigated.Comment: 17 pages (RevTeX) + 9 figures (Postscript) included with epsfig.st
Constraints on long-baseline neutrino oscillation probabilities and CP asymmetries from neutrino oscillation data
We consider long-baseline neutrino oscillations in the framework of two
schemes with mixing of four massive neutrinos which can accommodate all the
existing indications in favour of neutrino mixing. Within these schemes, we
derive bounds on the oscillation probabilities and the CP-odd
neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries in long-baseline experiments. Using the
results of short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, we obtain rather
strong upper bounds on the long-baseline probabilities 1-P(nu_e->nu_e) and
P(nu_mu->nu_e). Nevertheless, the projected sensitivities of the MINOS and
ICARUS experiments are better than our bounds. We also show that there are no
corresponding constraints for nu_mu->nu_mu and nu_mu->nu_tau long-baseline
oscillations and that the CP-odd asymmetry in the latter channel can reach the
maximal value allowed by the unitarity of the mixing matrix. Some schemes with
mixing of three neutrinos are also considered.Comment: 32 pages including 5 figures, RevTeX. New discussion of the matter
effect
Natural Neutrino Mass Matrix
Naturalness of the neutrino mass hierarchy and mixing is studied. First we
select among 12 neutrino mixing patterns a few patterns, which could form the
natural neutrino mass matrix. Further we show that if the Dirac neutrino mass
matrix is taken as the natural one in the quark sector, then only two mixing
patterns without the large mixing lead to the natural right-handed Majorana
mass matrix. The rest of the chosen patterns with three degenerate mass
solution lead to the unnatural right-handed Majorana mass matrix in the see-saw
mechanism. Notice however, that for the chosen two natural patterns there could
be a huge mass hierarchy such as in order to reproduce
the inverse mass hierarchy of the light neutrinos.Comment: 31 pages, LaTex file, no figures, arguments made more clear, main
conclusions unchanged, version accepted for publication in PRD Reort-no:
Lund-Mph-97/14 Revise
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