Probing the isovector transition strength of the low-lying nuclear excitations induced by inverse kinematics proton scattering

A compact approach based on the folding model is suggested for the determination of the isoscalar and isovector transition strengths of the low-lying ($\Delta S=\Delta T=0$) excitations induced by inelastic proton scattering measured with exotic beams. Our analysis of the recently measured inelastic $^{18,20}$O+p scattering data at $E_{\rm lab}=30$ and 43 MeV/nucleon has given for the first time an accurate estimate of the isoscalar $\beta_0$ and isovector $\beta_1$ deformation parameters (which cannot be determined from the (p,p') data alone by standard methods) for 2$^+_1$ and $3^-_1$ excited states in $^{18,20}$O. Quite strong isovector mixing was found in the 2$^+_1$ inelastic $^{20}$O+p scattering channel, where the strength of the isovector form factor $F_1$ (prototype of the Lane potential) corresponds to a $\beta_1$ value almost 3 times larger than $\beta_0$ and a ratio of nuclear transition matrix elements $M_n/M_p\simeq 4.2$.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

On the minimization of Dirichlet eigenvalues of the Laplace operator

We study the variational problem \inf \{\lambda_k(\Omega): \Omega\ \textup{open in}\ \R^m,\ |\Omega| < \infty, \ \h(\partial \Omega) \le 1 \}, where $\lambda_k(\Omega)$ is the $k$'th eigenvalue of the Dirichlet Laplacian acting in $L^2(\Omega)$, \h(\partial \Omega) is the $(m-1)$- dimensional Hausdorff measure of the boundary of $\Omega$, and $|\Omega|$ is the Lebesgue measure of $\Omega$. If $m=2$, and $k=2,3, \cdots$, then there exists a convex minimiser $\Omega_{2,k}$. If $m \ge 2$, and if $\Omega_{m,k}$ is a minimiser, then $\Omega_{m,k}^*:= \textup{int}(\overline{\Omega_{m,k}})$ is also a minimiser, and $\R^m\setminus \Omega_{m,k}^*$ is connected. Upper bounds are obtained for the number of components of $\Omega_{m,k}$. It is shown that if $m\ge 3$, and $k\le m+1$ then $\Omega_{m,k}$ has at most $4$ components. Furthermore $\Omega_{m,k}$ is connected in the following cases : (i) $m\ge 2, k=2,$ (ii) $m=3,4,5,$ and $k=3,4,$ (iii) $m=4,5,$ and $k=5,$ (iv) $m=5$ and $k=6$. Finally, upper bounds on the number of components are obtained for minimisers for other constraints such as the Lebesgue measure and the torsional rigidity.Comment: 16 page

Pre-Training on In Vitro and Fine-Tuning on Patient-Derived Data Improves Deep Neural Networks for Anti-Cancer Drug-Sensitivity Prediction

Large-scale databases that report the inhibitory capacities of many combinations of candidate drug compounds and cultivated cancer cell lines have driven the development of preclinical drug-sensitivity models based on machine learning. However, cultivated cell lines have devolved from human cancer cells over years or even decades under selective pressure in culture conditions. Moreover, models that have been trained on in vitro data cannot account for interactions with other types of cells. Drug-response data that are based on patient-derived cell cultures, xenografts, and organoids, on the other hand, are not available in the quantities that are needed to train high-capacity machine-learning models. We found that pre-training deep neural network models of drug sensitivity on in vitro drug-sensitivity databases before fine-tuning the model parameters on patient-derived data improves the models’ accuracy and improves the biological plausibility of the features, compared to training only on patient-derived data. From our experiments, we can conclude that pre-trained models outperform models that have been trained on the target domains in the vast majority of cases

Disease activity in and quality of life of patients with psoriatic arthritis mutilans : the Nordic PAM Study

Objective: To describe the social status and health-related quality of life of patients with psoriatic arthritis mutilans (PAM) in the Nordic countries.Method: Patients with at least one mutilated joint confirmed by radiology were studied. Disease activity involving joints and skin, physician-assessed disease activity, and patient's education and work status were recorded. Data from the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, Health Assessment Questionnaire and Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire were gathered and correlated with disease duration, pain, and general well-being (visual analogue scale). The controls were 58 Swedish patients with long-standing psoriatic arthritis sine PAM.Results: Sixty-seven patients were included. Patients with PAM had a protracted disease history (3314years) and disease onset at a relatively early age (30 +/- 12years). Overall inflammatory activity at inclusion was mild to moderate. The mean number of mutilated joints was 8.2 and gross deformity was found in 16% of patients. Forty per cent were treated with biological and 32% with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Forty-two per cent had retired early or were on sick leave. Impaired functional capacity with little or no ability to perform self-care or everyday tasks was reported by 21% of the patients. Patients between 45 and 60years of age reported the most impaired quality of life in comparison to the control group.Conclusion: PAM seriously affects social functioning. Whether early recognition of PAM and new forms of therapy can improve disease outcome and quality of life remains to be studied.Peer reviewe

History of Foot Ulcer Increases Mortality Among Individuals With Diabetes: Ten-year follow-up of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, Norway

OBJECTIVE To compare mortality rates for individuals with diabetes with and without a history of foot ulcer (HFU) and with that for the nondiabetic population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This population-based study included 155 diabetic individuals with an HFU, 1,339 diabetic individuals without an HFU, and 63,632 nondiabetic individuals who were all followed for 10 years with mortality as the end point. RESULTS During the follow-up period, a total of 49.0% of diabetic individuals with an HFU died, compared with 35.2% of diabetic individuals without an HFU and 10.5% of those without diabetes. In Cox regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, education, current smoking, and waist circumference, having an HFU was associated with more than a twofold (2.29 [95% CI 1.82–2.88]) hazard risk for mortality compared with that of the nondiabetic group. In corresponding analyses comparing diabetic individuals with and without an HFU, an HFU was associated with 47% increased mortality (1.47 [1.14–1.89]). Significant covariates were older age, male sex, and current smoking. After inclusion of A1C, insulin use, microalbuminuria, cardiovascular disease, and depression scores in the model, each was significantly related to life expectancy. CONCLUSIONS AN HFU increased mortality risk among community-dwelling adults and elderly individuals with diabetes. The excess risk persisted after adjustment for comorbidity and depression scores, indicating that close clinical monitoring might be warranted among individuals with an HFU, who may be particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes. Hospital-based studies have shown that mortality rates in individuals with diabetic foot ulcers are about twice those observed in individuals with diabetes without foot ulcers (1,2). A diabetic foot ulcer reflects the presence of underlying pathological conditions, and the risk of recurrent ulcers is high (3,4). It has been suggested that the elevated mortality rate among individuals with diabetic foot ulcers is related to comorbid disease such as cardiovascular disease and nephropathy (5) or to psychological factors including depression (6). Although the mortality rate in individuals with diabetes is high, no large population-based studies have examined the impact on mortality of a history of foot ulcers (HFU) among individuals with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to compare mortality rates for individuals with diabetes reporting an HFU with those for individuals without an HFU and the nondiabetic population. These issues were investigated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 2), which includes a very large population-based sample of men and women from a well-defined geographic area. Participants with self-reported diabetes were well characterized with regard to their diabetes, and information on demographics, lifestyle, and prevalent disease including depression was available

In-plane magnetic anisotropy of Fe atoms on Bi2_2Se3_3(111)

The robustness of the gapless topological surface state hosted by a 3D topological insulator against perturbations of magnetic origin has been the focus of recent investigations. We present a comprehensive study of the magnetic properties of Fe impurities on a prototypical 3D topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ using local low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and integral x-ray magnetic circular dichroism techniques. Single Fe adatoms on the Bi$_2$Se$_3$ surface, in the coverage range $\approx 1$ are heavily relaxed into the surface and exhibit a magnetic easy axis within the surface-plane, contrary to what was assumed in recent investigations on the opening of a gap. Using \textit{ab initio} approaches, we demonstrate that an in-plane easy axis arises from the combination of the crystal field and dynamic hybridization effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, typos correcte

Matching anticancer compounds and tumor cell lines by neural networks with ranking loss

Computational drug sensitivity models have the potential to improve therapeutic outcomes by identifying targeted drug components that are likely to achieve the highest efficacy for a cancer cell line at hand at a therapeutic dose. State of the art drug sensitivity models use regression techniques to predict the inhibitory concentration of a drug for a tumor cell line. This regression objective is not directly aligned with either of these principal goals of drug sensitivity models: We argue that drug sensitivity modeling should be seen as a ranking problem with an optimization criterion that quantifies a drug’s inhibitory capacity for the cancer cell line at hand relative to its toxicity for healthy cells. We derive an extension to the well-established drug sensitivity regression model PaccMann that employs a ranking loss and focuses on the ratio of inhibitory concentration and therapeutic dosage range. We find that the ranking extension significantly enhances the model’s capability to identify the most effective anticancer drugs for unseen tumor cell profiles based in on in-vitro data