2,052 research outputs found
Simulations of a mortality plateau in the sexual Penna model for biological ageing
The Penna model is a strategy to simulate the genetic dynamics of
age-structured populations, in which the individuals genomes are represented by
bit-strings. It provides a simple metaphor for the evolutionary process in
terms of the mutation accumulation theory. In its original version, an
individual dies due to inherited diseases when its current number of
accumulated mutations, n, reaches a threshold value, T. Since the number of
accumulated diseases increases with age, the probability to die is zero for
very young ages (n = T). Here, instead
of using a step function to determine the genetic death age, we test several
other functions that may or may not slightly increase the death probability at
young ages (n < T), but that decreases this probability at old ones. Our
purpose is to study the oldest old effect, that is, a plateau in the mortality
curves at advanced ages. Imposing certain conditions, it has been possible to
obtain a clear plateau using the Penna model. However, a more realistic one
appears when a modified version, that keeps the population size fixed without
fluctuations, is used. We also find a relation between the birth rate, the
age-structure of the population and the death probability.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Revisiting mortality deceleration patterns in a gamma-Gompertz-Makeham framework
We calculate life-table aging rates (LARs) for overall mortality by estimating a gamma-Gompertz-Makeham (G GM) model and taking advantage of LAR’s parametric representation by Vaupel and Zhang [34]. For selected HMD countries, we study how the evolution of estimated LAR patterns could explain observed 1) longevity dynamics, and 2) mortality improvement or deterioration at different ages.
Surprisingly, the age of mortality deceleration x showed almost no correlation with a number of longevity measures apart from e0. In addition, as mortality concentrates at older ages with time, its characteristic bell-shaped pattern becomes more pronounced. Moreover, in a GGM framework, we identify the impact of senescent mortality on shape of the rate of population aging. We also find evidence for a strong relationship between x and the statistically significant curvilinear changes in the evolution of e0 over time. Finally, model-based LARs appear to be consistent with point b) of the “heterogeneity hypothesis” [12]: mortality deceleration, due to selection effects, should shift to older ages as the level of total adult mortality declines
Patterns and localized structures in bistable semiconductor resonators
We report experiments on spatial switching dynamics and steady state
structures of passive nonlinear semiconductor resonators of large Fresnel
number. Extended patterns and switching front dynamics are observed and
investigated. Evidence of localization of structures is given.Comment: 5 pages with 9 figure
Quantised Vortices in an Exciton-Polariton Fluid
One of the most striking quantum effects in a low temperature interacting
Bose gas is superfluidity. First observed in liquid 4He, this phenomenon has
been intensively studied in a variety of systems for its amazing features such
as the persistence of superflows and the quantization of the angular momentum
of vortices. The achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in dilute
atomic gases provided an exceptional opportunity to observe and study
superfluidity in an extremely clean and controlled environment. In the solid
state, Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons has now been reported
several times. Polaritons are strongly interacting light-matter
quasi-particles, naturally occurring in semiconductor microcavities in the
strong coupling regime and constitute a very interesting example of composite
bosons. Even though pioneering experiments have recently addressed the
propagation of a fluid of coherent polaritons, still no conclusive evidence is
yet available of its superfluid nature. In the present Letter, we report the
observation of spontaneous formation of pinned quantised vortices in the
Bose-condensed phase of a polariton fluid by means of phase and amplitude
imaging. Theoretical insight into the possible origin of such vortices is
presented in terms of a generalised Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The implications
of our observations concerning the superfluid nature of the non-equilibrium
polariton fluid are finally discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Polariton Condensation and Lasing
The similarities and differences between polariton condensation in
microcavities and standard lasing in a semiconductor cavity structure are
reviewed. The recent experiments on "photon condensation" are also reviewed.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures; Based on the book chapter in Exciton Polaritons
in Microcavities, (Springer Series in Solid State Sciences vol. 172), V.
Timofeev and D. Sanvitto, eds., (Springer, 2012
The prognostic value of the hypoxia markers CA IX and GLUT 1 and the cytokines VEGF and IL 6 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated by radiotherapy ± chemotherapy
BACKGROUND: Several parameters of the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia, inflammation and angiogenesis, play a critical role in tumor aggressiveness and treatment response. A major question remains if these markers can be used to stratify patients to certain treatment protocols. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-relationship and the prognostic significance of several biological and clinicopathological parameters in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated by radiotherapy ± chemotherapy. METHODS: We used two subgroups of a retrospective series for which CT-determined tumoral perfusion correlated with local control. In the first subgroup (n = 67), immunohistochemistry for carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) was performed on the pretreatment tumor biopsy. In the second subgroup (n = 34), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine pretreatment levels of the cytokines vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum. Correlation was investigated between tumoral perfusion and each of these biological markers, as well as between the markers mutually. The prognostic value of these microenvironmental parameters was also evaluated. RESULTS: For CA IX and GLUT-1, the combined assessment of patients with both markers expressed above the median showed an independent correlation with local control (p = 0.02) and disease-free survival (p = 0.04) with a trend for regional control (p = 0.06). In the second subgroup, IL-6 pretreatment serum level above the median was the only independent predictor of local control (p = 0.009), disease-free survival (p = 0.02) and overall survival (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we are the first to report a link in HNSCC between IL-6 pretreatment serum levels and radioresistance in vivo. This link is supported by the strong prognostic association of pretreatment IL-6 with local control, known to be the most important parameter to judge radiotherapy responses. Furthermore, the combined assessment of CA IX and GLUT-1 correlated independently with prognosis. This is a valuable indication that a combined approach is important in the investigation of prognostic markers
Phase-Locked Spatial Domains and Bloch Domain Walls in Type-II Optical Parametric Oscillators
We study the role of transverse spatial degrees of freedom in the dynamics of
signal-idler phase locked states in type-II Optical Parametric Oscillators.
Phase locking stems from signal-idler polarization coupling which arises if the
cavity birefringence and/or dichroism is not matched to the nonlinear crystal
birefringence. Spontaneous Bloch domain wall formation is theoretically
predicted and numerically studied. Bloch walls connect, by means of a
polarization transformation, homogeneous regions of self-phase locked
solutions. The parameter range for their existence is analytically found. The
polarization properties and the dynamics of walls in one- and two transverse
spatial dimensions is explained. Transition from Bloch to Ising walls is
characterized, the control parameter being the linear coupling strength. Wall
dynamics governs spatiotemporal dynamical states of the system, which include
transient curvature driven domain growth, persistent dynamics dominated by
spiraling defects for Bloch walls, and labyrinthine pattern formation for Ising
walls.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure
Using ordinal logistic regression to evaluate the performance of laser-Doppler predictions of burn-healing time
Background
Laser-Doppler imaging (LDI) of cutaneous blood flow is beginning to be used by burn surgeons to predict the healing time of burn wounds; predicted healing time is used to determine wound treatment as either dressings or surgery. In this paper, we do a statistical analysis of the performance of the technique.
Methods
We used data from a study carried out by five burn centers: LDI was done once between days 2 to 5 post burn, and healing was assessed at both 14 days and 21 days post burn. Random-effects ordinal logistic regression and other models such as the continuation ratio model were used to model healing-time as a function of the LDI data, and of demographic and wound history variables. Statistical methods were also used to study the false-color palette, which enables the laser-Doppler imager to be used by clinicians as a decision-support tool.
Results
Overall performance is that diagnoses are over 90% correct. Related questions addressed were what was the best blood flow summary statistic and whether, given the blood flow measurements, demographic and observational variables had any additional predictive power (age, sex, race, % total body surface area burned (%TBSA), site and cause of burn, day of LDI scan, burn center). It was found that mean laser-Doppler flux over a wound area was the best statistic, and that, given the same mean flux, women recover slightly more slowly than men. Further, the likely degradation in predictive performance on moving to a patient group with larger %TBSA than those in the data sample was studied, and shown to be small.
Conclusion
Modeling healing time is a complex statistical problem, with random effects due to multiple burn areas per individual, and censoring caused by patients missing hospital visits and undergoing surgery. This analysis applies state-of-the art statistical methods such as the bootstrap and permutation tests to a medical problem of topical interest. New medical findings are that age and %TBSA are not important predictors of healing time when the LDI results are known, whereas gender does influence recovery time, even when blood flow is controlled for.
The conclusion regarding the palette is that an optimum three-color palette can be chosen 'automatically', but the optimum choice of a 5-color palette cannot be made solely by optimizing the percentage of correct diagnoses
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