Reconstruction of Short-Lived Particles using Graph-Hypergraph Representation Learning

In collider experiments, the kinematic reconstruction of heavy, short-lived particles is vital for precision tests of the Standard Model and in searches for physics beyond it. Performing kinematic reconstruction in collider events with many final-state jets, such as the all-hadronic decay of topantitop quark pairs, is challenging. We present HyPER, a graph neural network that uses blended graph-hypergraph representation learning to reconstruct parent particles from sets of final-state objects. HyPER is tested on simulation and shown to perform favorably when compared to existing state-of-the-art reconstruction techniques, while demonstrating superior parameter efficiency. The novel hypergraph approach allows the method to be applied to particle reconstruction in a multitude of different physics processes

Geographic disparity in premature mortality in Ontario, 1992–1996

BACKGROUND: Standardized mortality ratios are used to identify geographic areas with higher or lower mortality than expected. This article examines geographic disparity in premature mortality in Ontario, Canada, at three geographic levels of population and considers factors that may underlie variations in premature mortality across geographic areas. All-cause, sex and disease chapter specific premature mortality were analyzed at the regional, district and public health unit level to determine the extent of geographic variation. Standardized mortality ratios for persons aged 0–74 years were calculated to identify geographic areas with significantly higher or lower premature mortality than expected, using Ontario death rates as the basis for the calculation of expected deaths in the local population. Data are also presented from the household component of the 1996/97 National Population Health Survey and from the 1996 Statistics Canada Census. RESULTS: Results showed approximately 20% higher than expected all-cause premature mortality for males and females in the North region. However, disparity in all-cause premature mortality in Ontario was most pronounced at the public health unit level, ranging from 20% lower than expected to 30% higher than expected. Premature mortality disparities were largely influenced by neoplasms, circulatory diseases, injuries and poisoning, respiratory diseases and digestive diseases, which accounted for more than 80% of all premature deaths. Premature mortality disparities were also more pronounced for disease chapter specific mortality. CONCLUSION: Geographic disparities in premature mortality are clearly greater at the small area level. Geographic disparities in premature mortality undoubtedly reflect the underlying distribution of population health determinants such as health related behaviours, social, economic and environmental influences

Observations and numerical simulations of large-eddy circulation in the ocean surface mixed layer

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 41 (2014): 7584–7590, doi:10.1002/2014GL061637.Two near-surface dye releases were mapped on scales of minutes to hours temporally, meters to order 1 km horizontally, and 1–20 m vertically using a scanning, depth-resolving airborne lidar. In both cases, dye evolved into a series of rolls with their major axes approximately aligned with the wind and/or near-surface current. In both cases, roll spacing was also of order 5–10 times the mixed layer depth, considerably larger than the 1–2 aspect ratio expected for Langmuir cells. Numerical large-eddy simulations under similar forcing showed similar features, even without Stokes drift forcing. In one case, inertial shear driven by light winds induced large aspect ratio large-eddy circulation. In the second, a preexisting lateral mixed layer density gradient provided the dominant forcing. In both cases, the growth of the large-eddy structures and the strength of the resulting dispersion were highly dependent on the type of forcing.Support for the 2004 field experiment was provided by the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Fund and Coastal Ocean Institute grant 27001545, both through Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and by Office of Naval Research grant N00014-01-1-0984. Support for the 2011 field experiments was provided by ONR grants N00014-09-1-0194, N00014-09-1-0175, N00014-11-WX-21010, N00014-12-WX-21031, and N00014-09-1-0460 and NSF grants OCE-0751734 and OCE-0751653. Simulations were supported under grant N00014-09-1-0268.2015-05-0

Increased plasma CD14 levels 1 year postpartum in women with pre-eclampsia during pregnancy: a case–control plasma proteomics study

Epidemiological data suggest that pre-eclampsia (PE) is associated with an increased risk of post-delivery metabolic dysregulation. The aim of the present case–control observational study was to examine the global plasma proteomic profile 1 year postpartum in women who developed PE during pregnancy (n = 5) compared to controls (n = 5), in order to identify a novel predictive marker linking PE with long-term metabolic imbalance. Key findings were verified with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a separate cohort (n = 17 women with PE and n = 43 controls). One hundred and seventy-two proteins were differentially expressed in the PE vs. control groups. Gene ontology analysis showed that Inflammatory|Immune responses, Blood coagulation and Metabolism were significantly enriched terms. CD14, mapping to the inflammatory response protein network, was selected for verification based on bibliographic evidence. ELISA measurements showed CD14 to be significantly increased 1 year postpartum in women with PE during pregnancy compared to controls [PE group (median ± SD): 296.5 ± 113.6; control group (median ± SD): 128.9 ± 98.5; Mann–Whitney U test p = 0.0078]. Overall, the identified proteins could provide insight into the long-term disease risk among women with PE during pregnancy and highlight the need for their postpartum monitoring. CD14 could be examined in larger cohorts as a predictive marker of insulin resistance and type II diabetes mellitus among women with PE

Targeted sampling by autonomous underwater vehicles

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Zhang, Y., Ryan, J. P., Kieft, B., Hobson, B. W., McEwen, R. S., Godin, M. A., Harvey, J. B., Barone, B., Bellingham, J. G., Birch, J. M., Scholin, C. A., & Chavez, F. P. Targeted sampling by autonomous underwater vehicles. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6 (2019): 415, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00415.In the vast ocean, many ecologically important phenomena are temporally episodic, localized in space, and move according to local currents. To effectively study these complex and evolving phenomena, methods that enable autonomous platforms to detect and respond to targeted phenomena are required. Such capabilities allow for directed sensing and water sample acquisition in the most relevant and informative locations, as compared against static grid surveys. To meet this need, we have designed algorithms for autonomous underwater vehicles that detect oceanic features in real time and direct vehicle and sampling behaviors as dictated by research objectives. These methods have successfully been applied in a series of field programs to study a range of phenomena such as harmful algal blooms, coastal upwelling fronts, and microbial processes in open-ocean eddies. In this review we highlight these applications and discuss future directions.This work was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The 2015 experiment in Monterey Bay was partially supported by NOAA Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Grant NA11NOS4780030. The 2018 SCOPE Hawaiian Eddy Experiment was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (OCE-0962032 and OCE-1337601), Simons Foundation Grant #329108, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Grant #3777, #3794, and #2728), and the Schmidt Ocean Institute for R/V Falkor Cruise FK180310. Publication of this paper was funded by the Schmidt Ocean Institute

Treatments for hyperemesis gravidarum and nausea and vomiting in pregnancy:A systematic review and economic assessment

Background: Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) affects up to 85% of all women during pregnancy, but for the majority self-management suffices. For the remainder, symptoms are more severe and the most severe form of NVP – hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) – affects 0.3–1.0% of pregnant women. There is no widely accepted point at which NVP becomes HG. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatments for NVP and HG. Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux (CAB) Abstracts, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, British Nursing Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Scopus, Conference Proceedings Index, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Health Economic Evaluations Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects were searched from inception to September 2014. References from studies and literature reviews identified were also examined. Obstetric Medicine was hand-searched, as were websites of relevant organisations. Costs came from NHS sources. Review methods: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for effectiveness, and population-based case series for adverse events and fetal outcomes. Treatments: vitamins B6 and B12, ginger, acupressure/acupuncture, hypnotherapy, antiemetics, dopamine antagonists, 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonists, intravenous (i.v.) fluids, corticosteroids, enteral and parenteral feeding or other novel treatment. Two reviewers extracted data and quality assessed studies. Results were narratively synthesised; planned meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity and incomplete reporting. A simple economic evaluation considered the implied values of treatments. Results: Seventy-three studies (75 reports) met the inclusion criteria. For RCTs, 33 and 11 studies had a low and high risk of bias respectively. For the remainder (n = 20) it was unclear. The non-randomised studies (n = 9) were low quality. There were 33 separate comparators. The most common were acupressure versus placebo (n = 12); steroid versus usual treatment (n = 7); ginger versus placebo (n = 6); ginger versus vitamin B6 (n = 6); and vitamin B6 versus placebo (n = 4). There was evidence that ginger, antihistamines, metoclopramide (mild disease) and vitamin B6 (mild to severe disease) are better than placebo. Diclectin® [Duchesnay Inc.; doxylamine succinate (10 mg) plus pyridoxine hydrochloride (10 mg) slow release tablet] is more effective than placebo and ondansetron is more effective at reducing nausea than pyridoxine plus doxylamine. Diclectin before symptoms of NVP begin for women at high risk of severe NVP recurrence reduces risk of moderate/severe NVP compared with taking Diclectin once symptoms begin. Promethazine is as, and ondansetron is more, effective than metoclopramide for severe NVP/HG. I.v. fluids help correct dehydration and improve symptoms. Dextrose saline may be more effective at reducing nausea than normal saline. Transdermal clonidine patches may be effective for severe HG. Enteral feeding is effective but extreme method treatment for very severe symptoms. Day case management for moderate/severe symptoms is feasible, acceptable and as effective as inpatient care. For all other interventions and comparisons, evidence is unclear. The economic analysis was limited by lack of effectiveness data, but comparison of costs between treatments highlights the implications of different choices. Limitations: The main limitations were the quantity and quality of the data available. Conclusion: There was evidence of some improvement in symptoms for some treatments, but these data may not be transferable across disease severities. Methodologically sound and larger trials of the main therapies considered within the UK NHS are needed. Study registration: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013006642. Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme