Fundamental collapse of the exciton-exciton effective scattering

The exciton-exciton effective scattering which rules the time evolution of two excitons is studied as a function of initial momentum difference, scattering angle and electron-to-hole mass ratio. We show that this effective scattering can collapse for energy-conserving configurations provided that the difference between the two initial exciton momenta is larger than a threshold value. Sizeable scatterings then exist in the forward direction only. We even find that, for an electron-to-hole mass ratio close to 1/2, the exciton-exciton effective scattering stays close to zero in all directions when the difference between the initial exciton momenta has a very specific value. This unexpected but quite remarkable collapse comes from tricky compensation between direct and exchange Coulomb processes which originates from the fundamental undistinguishability of the exciton fermionic components.Comment: Revised text version. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Neutropenia as an adverse event following vaccination : results from randomized clinical trials in healthy adults and systematic review

Background : In the context of early vaccine trials aimed at evaluating the safety profile of novel vaccines, abnormal haematological values, such as neutropenia, are often reported. It is therefore important to evaluate how these trials should be planned not to miss potentially important safety signals, but also to understand the implications and the clinical relevance. Methodology : We report and discuss the results from five clinical trials (two with a new Shigella vaccine in the early stage of clinical development and three with licensed vaccines) where the absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) were evaluated before and after vaccination. Additionally, we have performed a systematic review of the literature on cases of neutropenia reported during vaccine trials to discuss our results in a more general context. Principal Findings : Both in our clinical trials and in the literature review, several cases of neutropenia have been reported, in the first two weeks after vaccination. However, neutropenia was generally transient and had a benign clinical outcome, after vaccination with either multiple novel candidates or well-known licensed vaccines. Additionally, the vaccine recipients with neutropenia frequently had lower baseline ANC than non-neutropenic vaccinees. In many instances neutropenia occurred in subjects of African descent, known to have lower ANC compared to western populations. Conclusions : It is important to include ANC and other haematological tests in early vaccine trials to identify potential safety signals. Post-vaccination neutropenia is not uncommon, generally transient and clinically benign, but many vaccine trials do not have a sampling schedule that allows its detection. Given ethnic variability in the level of circulating neutrophils, normal ranges taking into account ethnicity should be used for determination of trial inclusion/exclusion criteria and classification of neutropenia related adverse events

Sources and Sinks of Microplastics in Canadian Lake Ontario Nearshore, Tributary and Beach Sediments

Microplastics contamination of Lake Ontario sediments is investigated with the aim of identifying distribution patterns and hotspots in nearshore, tributary and beach depositional environments. Microplastics are concentrated in nearshore sediments in the vicinity of urban and industrial regions. InHumber Bay and Toronto Harbour microplastic concentrations were consistently greater than 500 particles per kg dry sediment. Maximum concentrations of ~28,000 particles per kg dry sediment were determined in Etobicoke Creek. The microplastic particles were primarily fibres and fragments less than 2 mm in size. Both low- and high-density plastics were identified using Raman spectroscopy. We provide a baseline for future monitoring and discuss potential sources of microplastics in terms of how and where to implement preventative measures to reduce the contaminant influx. Although the impacts of microplastics contamination on ecosystem health and functioning is uncertain, understanding, monitoring and preventing further microplastics contamination in Lake Ontario and the other Great Lakes is crucial

Binomial outcomes in dataset with some clusters of size two: can the dependence of twins be accounted for? A simulation study comparing the reliability of statistical methods based on a dataset of preterm infants

Sauzet O, Peacock JL. Binomial outcomes in dataset with some clusters of size two: can the dependence of twins be accounted for? A simulation study comparing the reliability of statistical methods based on a dataset of preterm infants. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2017;17(1): 110.Background The analysis of perinatal outcomes often involves datasets with some multiple births. These are datasets mostly formed of independent observations and a limited number of clusters of size two (twins) and maybe of size three or more. This non-independence needs to be accounted for in the statistical analysis. Using simulated data based on a dataset of preterm infants we have previously investigated the performance of several approaches to the analysis of continuous outcomes in the presence of some clusters of size two. Mixed models have been developed for binomial outcomes but very little is known about their reliability when only a limited number of small clusters are present. Methods Using simulated data based on a dataset of preterm infants we investigated the performance of several approaches to the analysis of binomial outcomes in the presence of some clusters of size two. Logistic models, several methods of estimation for the logistic random intercept models and generalised estimating equations were compared. Results The presence of even a small percentage of twins means that a logistic regression model will underestimate all parameters but a logistic random intercept model fails to estimate the correlation between siblings if the percentage of twins is too small and will provide similar estimates to logistic regression. The method which seems to provide the best balance between estimation of the standard error and the parameter for any percentage of twins is the generalised estimating equations. Conclusions This study has shown that the number of covariates or the level two variance do not necessarily affect the performance of the various methods used to analyse datasets containing twins but when the percentage of small clusters is too small, mixed models cannot capture the dependence between siblings

Estimation des propriétés de rétention en eau des sols : Utilisation de classes de pédotransfert après stratifications texturale et texturo-structurale

Un programme de mesures des propriétés de rétention en eau des sols a été développé par l'INRA depuis une dizaine d'années afin de constituer un jeu de données qui puisse être utilisé pour tester les fonctions de pédotransfert (FPT) qui ont été proposées dans la littérature, en établir de nouvelles si celles proposées se révèlent non satisfaisantes et dans ce dernier cas, tester les nouvelles FPT. Dans ce contexte général et partant du constat que les FPT proposées ne permettent pas de prédire les propriétés de rétention en eau de façon satisfaisante, cette étude se propose de suivre une autre voie que celle habituellement suivie pour établir un outil d'estimation des propriétés de rétention en eau. Des classes de pédotransfert (CPT) sont proposées par classe de texture ou par classe combinant texture et structure, cette dernière étant renseignée à l'aide de la densité apparente déterminée sur des mottes de dimensions centimétriques. Ainsi, en utilisant soit la texture seule, soit la texture et la densité apparente de motte, on dispose des teneurs en eau massiques à –10, –33, –100, –330, –1000, –3 300 et –15 000 hPa en fonction de l'appartenance de l'horizon à telle ou telle classe de texture ou, telle ou telle classe combinant texture et densité apparente de motte. La qualité de la prédiction a été testée sur un échantillon de validation ; elle a aussi été comparée à celle qui aurait été obtenue si l'on avait utilisé les CPT de Jamagne et al. (1977). Par rapport à ces CPT, les résultats montrent une importante réduction du biais et un accroissement de la précision lorsque l'on utilise les CPT par classe de texture proposées dans cette étude. Lorsque l'on compare les CPT par classes texturales aux CPT par classes texturo-structurales, il n'y a pas d'amélioration notable du biais mais celui-ci était déjà très faible avec les CPT par classes texturales. En revanche, les CPT par classes texturo-structurales, qui permettent de tenir compte à la fois de la texture et de l'état structural du sol, améliorent la précision des prédictions. Pour les CPT par classes texturales, des teneurs en eau volumiques sont déduites des teneurs en eau massiques en utilisant la densité apparente de l'horizon. Les paramètres du modèle de van Genuchten sont donnés pour chaque classe de CPT. Une démarche permettant de prédire les propriétés de rétention en eau d'un horizon est proposée

Mapping the wind in the polar thermosphere a case study within the CEDAR Program

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95064/1/eost7749.pd

Dichotomisation using a distributional approach when the outcome is skewed

Sauzet O, Ofuya M, Peacock JL. Dichotomisation using a distributional approach when the outcome is skewed. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2015;15(1): 40.Background Dichotomisation of continuous outcomes has been rightly criticised by statisticians because of the loss of information incurred. However to communicate a comparison of risks, dichotomised outcomes may be necessary. Peacock et al. developed a distributional approach to the dichotomisation of normally distributed outcomes allowing the presentation of a comparison of proportions with a measure of precision which reflects the comparison of means. Many common health outcomes are skewed so that the distributional method for the dichotomisation of continuous outcomes may not apply. Methods We present a methodology to obtain dichotomised outcomes for skewed variables illustrated with data from several observational studies. We also report the results of a simulation study which tests the robustness of the method to deviation from normality and assess the validity of the newly developed method. Results The review showed that the pattern of dichotomisation was varying between outcomes. Birthweight, Blood pressure and BMI can either be transformed to normal so that normal distributional estimates for a comparison of proportions can be obtained or better, the skew-normal method can be used. For gestational age, no satisfactory transformation is available and only the skew-normal method is reliable. The normal distributional method is reliable also when there are small deviations from normality. Conclusions The distributional method with its applicability for common skewed data allows researchers to provide both continuous and dichotomised estimates without losing information or precision. This will have the effect of providing a practical understanding of the difference in means in terms of proportions