The analysis of longitudinal quality of life measures with informative drop-out: a pattern mixture approach

The analysis of longitudinal health-related quality of life measures (HRQOL) can be seriously hampered due to informative drop-out. Random effects models assume Missing At Random and do not take into account informative drop-out. We therefore aim to correct the bias due to informative drop-out. Analyses of data from a trial comparing standard-dose and high-dose chemotherapy for patients with breast cancer with respect to long-term impact on HRQOL will serve as illustration. The subscale Physical Function (PF) of the SF36 will be used. A pattern mixture approach is proposed to account for informative drop-out. Patterns are defined based on events related to HRQOL, such as death and relapse. The results of this pattern mixture approach are compared to the results of the commonly used random effects model. The findings of the pattern mixture approach are well interpretable, and different courses over time in different patterns are distinguished. In terms of estimated differences between standard dose and high dose, the results of both approaches are slightly different, but have no consequences for the clinical evaluation of both doses. Under the assumption that drop-out is at random within the patterns, the pattern mixture approach adjusts the estimates to a certain degree. This approach accounts in a relatively simple way for informative drop-out

Trade patterns facilitating highly pathogenic avian influenza virus dissemination in the free-grazing layer duck system in Vietnam

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses continue to threaten smallholder poultry producers in several South‐east Asian countries, including Vietnam. In particular, the free‐grazing duck system has been repeatedly highlighted as a major risk factor for HPAI outbreaks. Free‐grazing ducks, which scavenge on rice paddies after the harvest, account for a large proportion of the duck population in Vietnam and the wider South‐east Asian region. However, the structure and dynamics of the free‐grazing duck production from farm to consumption has not been described for Vietnam. In this study, we used a value chain approach to provide a complete picture of the actors involved in the production and marketing of free‐grazing duck eggs and spent layer ducks, as well as to investigate the governance structure of this food system. Group interviews and key informant interviews were conducted in two provinces located in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) and the Red River Delta (RRD). The results presented here highlight similarities and differences in farming and trade practices between the two provinces. The trade of spent layer ducks involved large volumes of live ducks being sent to China and Cambodia for consumption, generating a substantial risk of transboundary spread of pathogens, including HPAI viruses. We describe the major role of “duck yards”, which act as hubs in the northbound trade of spent layer ducks. These yards should be considered as essential links in the value chain of spent layer ducks when considering HPAI surveillance and control. The veterinary authorities are only marginally involved in the value chain activities, and their influence could be strengthened by increasing surveillance activities for instance in duck yards. Last, we discuss the dynamics of the duck value chain and further implications for future HPAI management policies

Programmability of Chemical Reaction Networks

Motivated by the intriguing complexity of biochemical circuitry within individual cells we study Stochastic Chemical Reaction Networks (SCRNs), a formal model that considers a set of chemical reactions acting on a finite number of molecules in a well-stirred solution according to standard chemical kinetics equations. SCRNs have been widely used for describing naturally occurring (bio)chemical systems, and with the advent of synthetic biology they become a promising language for the design of artificial biochemical circuits. Our interest here is the computational power of SCRNs and how they relate to more conventional models of computation. We survey known connections and give new connections between SCRNs and Boolean Logic Circuits, Vector Addition Systems, Petri Nets, Gate Implementability, Primitive Recursive Functions, Register Machines, Fractran, and Turing Machines. A theme to these investigations is the thin line between decidable and undecidable questions about SCRN behavior

Profit or Utility Maximizing? : Strategy, tactics and the Municipal Tramways of York, c. 1918-1935

Purpose: This paper contests Mees (2010) theory that publically owned public transport operators normatively target their resources to maximize service rather than profit. Mees argues that neoliberal governments in the Anglosphere were mistaken to privatize their undertakings yet we show that the British ethos of municipal trading meant that municipalities always saw public transport as more of a business than a service. Methodology: We use an archival microstudy of the municipal tramway undertaking of the English city of York, using municipal archives triangulated with local and industry media sources. Findings: We propose the refination of the Mees spectrum of public transport from public to private (2010, pp. 73–75) to note that public undertakings can be operated within a profit-maximizing framework. Originality/Value: We provide a rare historical explication of an individual municipal trading enterprise and tramway system placed in its economic context together with its wider theoretical implications

Two-point function of strangeness-carrying vector-currents in two-loop Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate the correlator between two external vector-currents having the quantum-numbers of a charged kaon. We give the renormalized expression to two loops in standard chiral perturbation theory in the isospin limit, which, as a physical result, is finite and scale-independent. Applications include a low energy theorem, valid at two loop order, of a flavor breaking combination of vector current correlators as well as a determination of the phenomenologically relevant finite $O(p^6)$-counterterm combination $Q_V$ by means of inverse moment finite energy sum rules. This determination is less sensitive to isospin-breaking effects than previous attempts.Comment: 24 pages, revtex, 4 figures, 2 tables, revised version, one ref. adde

Subcell resolution in simplex stochastic collocation for spatial discontinuities

Subcell resolution has been used in the Finite Volume Method (FVM) to obtain accurate approximations of discontinuities in the physical space. Stochastic methods are usually based on local adaptivity for resolving discontinuities in the stochastic dimensions. However, the adaptive refinement in the probability space is ineffective in the non-intrusive uncertainty quantification framework, if the stochastic discontinuity is caused by a discontinuity in the physical space with a random location. The dependence of the discontinuity location in the probability space on the spatial coordinates then results in a staircase approximation of the statistics, which leads to first-order error convergence and an underprediction of the maximum standard deviation. To avoid these problems, we introduce subcell resolution into the Simplex Stochastic Collocation (SSC) method for obtaining a truly discontinuous representation of random spatial discontinuities in the interior of the cells discretizing the probability space. The presented SSC–SR method is based on resolving the discontinuity location in the probability space explicitly as function of the spatial coordinates and extending the stochastic response surface approximations up to the predicted discontinuity location. The applications to a linear advection problem, the inviscid Burgers’ equation, a shock tube problem, and the transonic flow over the RAE 2822 airfoil show that SSC–SR resolves random spatial discontinuities with multiple stochastic and spatial dimensions accurately using a minimal number of samples

The worldwide marine radiocarbon reservoir effect: definitions, mechanisms, and prospects

When a carbon reservoir has a lower radiocarbon content than the atmosphere, this is referred to as a reservoir effect. This is expressed as an offset between the radiocarbon ages of samples from the two reservoirs at a single point in time. The marine reservoir effect (MRE) has been a major concern in the radiocarbon community, as it introduces an additional source of error that is often difficult to accurately quantify. For this reason, researchers are often reluctant to date marine material where they have another option. The influence of this phenomenon makes the study of the MRE important for a broad range of applications. The advent of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) has reduced sample size requirements and increased measurement precision, in turn increasing the number of studies seeking to measure marine samples. These studies rely on overcoming the influence of the MRE on marine radiocarbon dates through the worldwide quantification of the local parameter ΔR, that is, the local variation from the global average MRE. Furthermore, the strong dependence on ocean dynamics makes the MRE a useful indicator for changes in oceanic circulation, carbon exchange between reservoirs, and the fate of atmospheric CO2, all of which impact Earth's climate. This article explores data from the Marine Reservoir Database and reviews the place of natural radiocarbon in oceanic records, focusing on key questions (e.g., changes in ocean dynamics) that have been answered by MRE studies and on their application to different subjects

Characterising the trophic niches of stocked and resident cyprinid fishes: consistency in partitioning over time, space and body sizes.

Hatchery-reared fish are commonly stocked into freshwaters to enhance recreational angling. As these fishes are often of high trophic position and attain relatively large sizes, they potentially interact with functionally similar resident fishes and modify food web structure. Hatchery-reared barbel Barbus barbus are frequently stocked to enhance riverine cyprinid fish communities in Europe; these fish can survive for over 20 years and exceed 8 kg. Here, their trophic consequences for resident fish communities were tested using co-habitation studies, mainly involving chub Squalius cephalus, a similarly large-bodied, omnivorous and long-lived species. These studies were completed over three spatial scales: pond mesocosms, two streams and three lowland rivers, and used stable isotope analysis. Experiments in mesocosms over 100 days revealed rapid formation of dietary specialisations and discrete trophic niches in juvenile B. barbus and S. cephalus. This niche partitioning between the species was also apparent in the streams over two years. In the lowland rivers, where fish were mature individuals within established populations, this pattern was also generally apparent in fishes of much larger body sizes. Thus, the stocking of these hatchery-reared fish only incurred minor consequences for the trophic ecology of resident fish, with strong patterns of trophic niche partitioning and diet specialisation. Application of these results to decision-making frameworks should enable managers to make objective decisions on whether cyprinid fish should be stocked into lowland rivers according to ecological risk

Depression and sickness behavior are Janus-faced responses to shared inflammatory pathways

It is of considerable translational importance whether depression is a form or a consequence of sickness behavior. Sickness behavior is a behavioral complex induced by infections and immune trauma and mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is an adaptive response that enhances recovery by conserving energy to combat acute inflammation. There are considerable phenomenological similarities between sickness behavior and depression, for example, behavioral inhibition, anorexia and weight loss, and melancholic (anhedonia), physio-somatic (fatigue, hyperalgesia, malaise), anxiety and neurocognitive symptoms. In clinical depression, however, a transition occurs to sensitization of immuno-inflammatory pathways, progressive damage by oxidative and nitrosative stress to lipids, proteins, and DNA, and autoimmune responses directed against self-epitopes. The latter mechanisms are the substrate of a neuroprogressive process, whereby multiple depressive episodes cause neural tissue damage and consequent functional and cognitive sequelae. Thus, shared immuno-inflammatory pathways underpin the physiology of sickness behavior and the pathophysiology of clinical depression explaining their partially overlapping phenomenology. Inflammation may provoke a Janus-faced response with a good, acute side, generating protective inflammation through sickness behavior and a bad, chronic side, for example, clinical depression, a lifelong disorder with positive feedback loops between (neuro)inflammation and (neuro)degenerative processes following less well defined triggers

Estimation of a suitable Schmidt number range in diesel sprays at high injection pressure

The aim of this paper is to estimate a suitable range for the Schmidt number value in non-evaporative diesel sprays. For this purpose, mass distribution data obtained from X-ray absorption experiments existing in literature and a theoretical derivation for spray microscopic characteristics have been combined. Firstly, a procedure based on Gaussian concentration profiles has been proposed in order to interpret X-ray absorption results and relate them to physical parameters as local concentration or spray density. After this, information about FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum) values has allowed to estimate spray angle in the tested conditions by the definition of Gaussian profiles for the mass radial distribution inside the spray. Following, a theoretical model dependent on momentum flux and Schmidt number has been used to simulate local mass concentration evolution along the spray axis and compare it with the values obtained from the experiments. The combination of the experimental and the theoretical data has allowed to estimate a suitable range for the Schmidt number value in such conditions as those existing in diesel sprays. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.This work was sponsored by "Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion" of the "Universitat Politecnica de Valencia" in the frame of the project "Estudio numeric de la cavitacion en toberas de inyeccion Diesel mediante Grid Computing (Cavigrid) Reference No 2597.Salvador Rubio, FJ.; Ruiz Rosales, S.; Gimeno, J.; De La Morena Borja, J. (2011). Estimation of a suitable Schmidt number range in diesel sprays at high injection pressure. International Journal of Thermal Sciences. 50(9):1790-1798. doi:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2011.03.030S1790179850