Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

analogues of chaitin's omega in the computably enumerable sets

We show that there are computably enumerable (c.e.) sets with maximum initial segment Kolmogorov complexity amongst all c.e. sets (with respect to both the plain and the prefix-free version of Kolmogorov complexity). These c.e. sets belong to the weak truth table degree of the halting problem, but not every weak truth table complete c.e. set has maximum initial segment Kolmogorov complexity. Moreover, every c.e. set with maximum initial segment prefix-free complexity is the disjoint union of two c.e. sets with the same property; and is also the disjoint union of two c.e. sets of lesser initial segment complexity. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.We show that there are computably enumerable (c.e.) sets with maximum initial segment Kolmogorov complexity amongst all c.e. sets (with respect to both the plain and the prefix-free version of Kolmogorov complexity). These c.e. sets belong to the weak truth table degree of the halting problem, but not every weak truth table complete c.e. set has maximum initial segment Kolmogorov complexity. Moreover, every c.e. set with maximum initial segment prefix-free complexity is the disjoint union of two c.e. sets with the same property; and is also the disjoint union of two c.e. sets of lesser initial segment complexity. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Growth hormone (GH) and reproduction: a review

International audienceInteraction between growth and reproduction occurs in many vertebrates and is particularly obvious at certain stages of the life cycle in fish. Endocrine interactions between the gonadotropic axis and the somatotropic axis are described, the potential role of GH being emphasised. A comparative analysis of these phenomena in mammals, amphibians and fish, suggests a specific role of GH in the physiology of puberty, gametogenesis and fertility. It also shows the original contribution made by studies on the fish model in this field of investigations.Les intéractions entre les fonctions de croissance et de reproduction mises en evidence chez de nombreux vertébrés, sont particulièrement aigües à certainesé tapes du cycle vital des poissons. Nous dérivons les interactions endocrines existant entre les axes somatrope et gonadotrope en insistant sur le role joué par l'hormone de croissance (GH). L'analyse comparée de ces phénomènes chez les mammifères, les poissons et les amphibiens permet de suggérer que la GH joue un rôle spécifique dans la physiologie de la puberté, la gametogenèse et la fertilité Nous mettons en évidence l'apport original des études effectuées sur le module poisson dans ce champ d'investigation.

Physical activity, sedentary time and breast cancer risk: a Mendelian randomisation study

Objectives Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour are associated with higher breast cancer risk in observational studies, but ascribing causality is difficult. Mendelian randomisation (MR) assesses causality by simulating randomised trial groups using genotype. We assessed whether lifelong physical activity or sedentary time, assessed using genotype, may be causally associated with breast cancer risk overall, pre/post-menopause, and by case-groups defined by tumour characteristics. Methods We performed two-sample inverse-variance-weighted MR using individual-level Breast Cancer Association Consortium case-control data from 130 957 European-ancestry women (69 838 invasive cases), and published UK Biobank data (n=91 105-377 234). Genetic instruments were single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated in UK Biobank with wrist-worn accelerometer-measured overall physical activity (n snps =5) or sedentary time (n snps =6), or accelerometer-measured (n snps =1) or self-reported (n snps =5) vigorous physical activity. Results Greater genetically-predicted overall activity was associated with lower breast cancer overall risk (OR=0.59; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42 to 0.83 per-standard deviation (SD;∼8 milligravities acceleration)) and for most case-groups. Genetically-predicted vigorous activity was associated with lower risk of pre/perimenopausal breast cancer (OR=0.62; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.87,≥3 vs. 0 self-reported days/week), with consistent estimates for most case-groups. Greater genetically-predicted sedentary time was associated with higher hormone-receptor-negative tumour risk (OR=1.77; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.92 per-SD (∼7% time spent sedentary)), with elevated estimates for most case-groups. Results were robust to sensitivity analyses examining pleiotropy (including weighted-median-MR, MR-Egger). Conclusion Our study provides strong evidence that greater overall physical activity, greater vigorous activity, and lower sedentary time are likely to reduce breast cancer risk. More widespread adoption of active lifestyles may reduce the burden from the most common cancer in women

Body mass index and complications following major gastrointestinal surgery: A prospective, international cohort study and meta-analysis

Aim Previous studies reported conflicting evidence on the effects of obesity on outcomes after gastrointestinal surgery. The aims of this study were to explore the relationship of obesity with major postoperative complications in an international cohort and to present a metaanalysis of all available prospective data. Methods This prospective, multicentre study included adults undergoing both elective and emergency gastrointestinal resection, reversal of stoma or formation of stoma. The primary end-point was 30-day major complications (Clavien–Dindo Grades III–V). A systematic search was undertaken for studies assessing the relationship between obesity and major complications after gastrointestinal surgery. Individual patient meta-analysis was used to analyse pooled results. Results This study included 2519 patients across 127 centres, of whom 560 (22.2%) were obese. Unadjusted major complication rates were lower in obese vs normal weight patients (13.0% vs 16.2%, respectively), but this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.863) on multivariate analysis for patients having surgery for either malignant or benign conditions. Individual patient meta-analysis demonstrated that obese patients undergoing surgery formalignancy were at increased risk of major complications (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.49–2.96, P < 0.001), whereas obese patients undergoing surgery for benign indications were at decreased risk (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46–0.75, P < 0.001) compared to normal weight patients. Conclusions In our international data, obesity was not found to be associated with major complications following gastrointestinal surgery. Meta-analysis of available prospective data made a novel finding of obesity being associated with different outcomes depending on whether patients were undergoing surgery for benign or malignant disease