Recent evolution of an ice‐cored moraine at the Gentianes Pass, Valais Alps, Switzerland

International audienceLateral moraines located in permafrost environments often preserve large amounts of both glacier and periglacial ice. To understand how ice‐cored moraines located in high alpine environments evolve in a context of both glacier retreat and permafrost degradation, we performed 11 terrestrial laser‐scanning measurement campaigns between 2007 and 2014 on a highly anthropogenic overprinted moraine prone to instability. Resulting comparison of the subsequent 3D models allowed to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the morphological evolution of the moraine. The comparisons indicate a very high geomorphic activity of the moraine including large areas affected by downslope movements of blocks and 10 landslides with a volume between 24 ± 1 and 1,138 ± 47 m3. Data also indicated a very strong ice melt with a loss of ice thickness locally reaching 17.7 m at the foot of the moraine. These results, compared with resistivity and thermal measurements of the ground, suggest the combined role of ice loss at the foot of the moraine and the permafrost activity/warming in triggering these processes

Functional limit theorems for random regular graphs

Consider d uniformly random permutation matrices on n labels. Consider the sum of these matrices along with their transposes. The total can be interpreted as the adjacency matrix of a random regular graph of degree 2d on n vertices. We consider limit theorems for various combinatorial and analytical properties of this graph (or the matrix) as n grows to infinity, either when d is kept fixed or grows slowly with n. In a suitable weak convergence framework, we prove that the (finite but growing in length) sequences of the number of short cycles and of cyclically non-backtracking walks converge to distributional limits. We estimate the total variation distance from the limit using Stein's method. As an application of these results we derive limits of linear functionals of the eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix. A key step in this latter derivation is an extension of the Kahn-Szemer\'edi argument for estimating the second largest eigenvalue for all values of d and n.Comment: Added Remark 27. 39 pages. To appear in Probability Theory and Related Field

Regioisomeric and substituent effects upon the outcome of the reaction of 1-borodienes with nitrosoarene compounds

A study of the reactivity of 1-borodienes with nitrosoarene compounds has been carried out showing an outcome that differs according to the hybridization state of the boron moiety. Using an sp2 boron substituent, a one-pot hetero-Diels–Alder/ring contraction cascade occurred to afford N-arylpyrroles with low to good yields depending on the electronic properties of the substituents on the borodiene, whereas an sp3 boron substituent led to the formation of stable boro-oxazines with high regioselectivity in most of the cases, in moderate to good yields. 1H and 11B NMR studies on two boro-oxazine regioisomers showed that selective deprotection can be performed. Formation of either the pyrrole or the furan derivative is pH- and regioisomer-structure-dependent. The results obtained, together with previous B3LYP calculations, support mechanistic proposals which suggest that pyrrole, or furan, formation proceeds via oxazine formation, followed by a boryl rearrangement and an intramolecular addition–elimination sequence

The sugar and energy in non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The consumption of non-carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (NCSSBs) has many adverse health effects. However, the sugar and energy content in NCSSBs sold in China remain unknown. We aimed to investigate the sugar and energy content of NCSSBs in China and how these contents were labelled. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 15 supermarkets in Haidian District, Beijing from July to October 2017. The product packaging and nutrient information panels of NCSSBs were recorded to obtain type of products (local/imported), serving size, nutrient contents of carbohydrate, sugar and energy. For those NCSSBs without sugar content information, we used carbohydrate content as a replacement. RESULTS: A total of 463 NCSSBs met the inclusion criteria and were included in our analysis. The median of sugar content and energy content was 9.6 [interquartile range (IQR): 7.1-11.3] g/100 ml and 176 (IQR: 121-201) kJ/100 ml. The median of sugar contents in juice drinks, tea-based beverages, sports drinks and energy drinks were 10.4, 8.5, 5.0 and 7.4 g/100 ml. Imported products had higher sugar and energy content than local products. There were 95.2% products of NCSSBs receiving a 'red'(high) label for sugars per portion according to the UK criteria, and 81.6% products exceeding the daily free sugar intake recommendation from the World Health Organization (25 g). There were 82 (17.7%) products with sugar content on the nutrition labels and 60.2% of them were imported products. CONCLUSIONS: NCSSBs had high sugar and energy content, and few of them provided sugar content information on their nutrition labels especially in local products. Measures including developing better regulation of labelling, reducing sugar content and restricting the serving size are needed for reducing sugar intakes in China

Clinical consequences of upfront pathology review in the randomised PORTEC-3 trial for high-risk endometrial cancer

Development and application of statistical models for medical scientific researc

Nutritional Systems Biology Modeling: From Molecular Mechanisms to Physiology

The use of computational modeling and simulation has increased in many biological fields, but despite their potential these techniques are only marginally applied in nutritional sciences. Nevertheless, recent applications of modeling have been instrumental in answering important nutritional questions from the cellular up to the physiological levels. Capturing the complexity of today's important nutritional research questions poses a challenge for modeling to become truly integrative in the consideration and interpretation of experimental data at widely differing scales of space and time. In this review, we discuss a selection of available modeling approaches and applications relevant for nutrition. We then put these models into perspective by categorizing them according to their space and time domain. Through this categorization process, we identified a dearth of models that consider processes occurring between the microscopic and macroscopic scale. We propose a “middle-out” strategy to develop the required full-scale, multilevel computational models. Exhaustive and accurate phenotyping, the use of the virtual patient concept, and the development of biomarkers from “-omics” signatures are identified as key elements of a successful systems biology modeling approach in nutrition research—one that integrates physiological mechanisms and data at multiple space and time scales

Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer (PORTEC-3): patterns of recurrence and post-hoc survival analysis of a randomised phase 3 trial

Background: The PORTEC-3 trial investigated the benefit of combined adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy versus pelvic radiotherapy alone for women with high-risk endometrial cancer. We updated the analysis to investigate patterns of recurrence and did a post-hoc survival analysis. // Methods: In the multicentre randomised phase 3 PORTEC-3 trial, women with high-risk endometrial cancer were eligible if they had International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 stage I, endometrioid grade 3 cancer with deep myometrial invasion or lymphovascular space invasion, or both; stage II or III disease; or stage I–III disease with serous or clear cell histology; were aged 18 years and older; and had a WHO performance status of 0–2. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive radiotherapy alone (48·6 Gy in 1·8 Gy fractions given on 5 days per week) or chemoradiotherapy (two cycles of cisplatin 50 mg/m2 given intravenously during radiotherapy, followed by four cycles of carboplatin AUC5 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 given intravenously), by use of a biased coin minimisation procedure with stratification for participating centre, lymphadenectomy, stage, and histological type. The co-primary endpoints were overall survival and failure-free survival. Secondary endpoints of vaginal, pelvic, and distant recurrence were analysed according to the first site of recurrence. Survival endpoints were analysed by intention-to-treat, and adjusted for stratification factors. Competing risk methods were used for failure-free survival and recurrence. We did a post-hoc analysis to analyse patterns of recurrence with 1 additional year of follow-up. The study was closed on Dec 20, 2013; follow-up is ongoing. This study is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN14387080, and ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00411138. // Findings: Between Nov 23, 2006, and Dec 20, 2013, 686 women were enrolled, of whom 660 were eligible and evaluable (330 in the chemoradiotherapy group, and 330 in the radiotherapy-alone group). At a median follow-up of 72·6 months (IQR 59·9–85·6), 5-year overall survival was 81·4% (95% CI 77·2–85·8) with chemoradiotherapy versus 76·1% (71·6–80·9) with radiotherapy alone (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·70 [95% CI 0·51–0·97], p=0·034), and 5-year failure-free survival was 76·5% (95% CI 71·5–80·7) versus 69·1% (63·8–73·8; HR 0·70 [0·52–0·94], p=0·016). Distant metastases were the first site of recurrence in most patients with a relapse, occurring in 78 of 330 women (5-year probability 21·4%; 95% CI 17·3–26·3) in the chemoradiotherapy group versus 98 of 330 (5-year probability 29·1%; 24·4–34·3) in the radiotherapy-alone group (HR 0·74 [95% CI 0·55–0·99]; p=0·047). Isolated vaginal recurrence was the first site of recurrence in one patient (0·3%; 95% CI 0·0–2·1) in both groups (HR 0·99 [95% CI 0·06–15·90]; p=0·99), and isolated pelvic recurrence was the first site of recurrence in three women (0·9% [95% CI 0·3–2·8]) in the chemoradiotherapy group versus four (0·9% [95% CI 0·3–2·8]) in the radiotherapy-alone group (HR 0·75 [95% CI 0·17–3·33]; p=0·71). At 5 years, only one grade 4 adverse event (ileus or obstruction) was reported (in the chemoradiotherapy group). At 5 years, reported grade 3 adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups, occurring in 16 (8%) of 201 women in the chemoradiotherapy group versus ten (5%) of 187 in the radiotherapy-alone group (p=0·24). The most common grade 3 adverse event was hypertension (in four [2%] women in both groups). At 5 years, grade 2 or worse adverse events were reported in 76 (38%) of 201 women in the chemoradiotherapy group versus 43 (23%) of 187 in the radiotherapy-alone group (p=0·002). Sensory neuropathy persisted more often after chemoradiotherapy than after radiotherapy alone, with 5-year rates of grade 2 or worse neuropathy of 6% (13 of 201 women) versus 0% (0 of 187). No treatment-related deaths were reported. // Interpretation: This updated analysis shows significantly improved overall survival and failure-free survival with chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone. This treatment schedule should be discussed and recommended, especially for women with stage III or serous cancers, or both, as part of shared decision making between doctors and patients. Follow-up is ongoing to evaluate long-term survival