6,559 research outputs found
Sufficient Covariate, Propensity Variable and Doubly Robust Estimation
Statistical causal inference from observational studies often requires
adjustment for a possibly multi-dimensional variable, where dimension reduction
is crucial. The propensity score, first introduced by Rosenbaum and Rubin, is a
popular approach to such reduction. We address causal inference within Dawid's
decision-theoretic framework, where it is essential to pay attention to
sufficient covariates and their properties. We examine the role of a propensity
variable in a normal linear model. We investigate both population-based and
sample-based linear regressions, with adjustments for a multivariate covariate
and for a propensity variable. In addition, we study the augmented inverse
probability weighted estimator, involving a combination of a response model and
a propensity model. In a linear regression with homoscedasticity, a propensity
variable is proved to provide the same estimated causal effect as multivariate
adjustment. An estimated propensity variable may, but need not, yield better
precision than the true propensity variable. The augmented inverse probability
weighted estimator is doubly robust and can improve precision if the propensity
model is correctly specified
Clinical impact of double protease inhibitor boosting with Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Amprenavir as part of salvage antiretroviral therapy
Purpose: Double protease inhibitor (PI) boosting is being explored as a new strategy in salvage antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. However, if a negative drug interaction leads to decreased drug levels of either or both PIs, double PI boosting could lead to decreased virologic response. A negative drug interaction has been described between amprenavir (APV) and lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r). This observational cohort study assessed the virologic impact of the addition of APV to a salvage ARV regimen, which also contains LPV/r, compared to a regimen containing LPV/r alone. Method: Patients initiated on a salvage ARV regimen that included LPV/r obtained from the expanded access program in Toronto, Canada, were evaluated. APV (600-1,200 mg bid) was added at the discretion of the treating physician. Results: Using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, we found that the addition of APV to a LPV/r-containing salvage regimen was not significantly associated with time to virologic suppression (< 50 copies/mL; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.75, p = .12) or with time to virologic rebound (adjusted HR = 1.46, p = .34). Those patients who received higher doses of APV had an increased chance of virologic suppression (p = .03). In a subset of 27 patients, the median LPV Ctrough was significantly lower in patients receiving APV (p = .04), and the median APV Ctrough was reduced compared to reported controls. Conclusion: Our data do not support an additional benefit in virologic reduction of double boosting with APV and LPV/r relative to LPV/r alone in salvage ARV therapy. Our study's limitations include its retrospective nature and the imbalance between the two groups potentially confounding the results. Although these factors were adjusted for in the multivariate analysis, a prospective randomized controlled trial is warranted to confirm our findings
Anomalous thermal conductivity and local temperature distribution on harmonic Fibonacci chains
The harmonic Fibonacci chain, which is one of a quasiperiodic chain
constructed with a recursion relation, has a singular continuous
frequency-spectrum and critical eigenstates. The validity of the Fourier law is
examined for the harmonic Fibonacci chain with stochastic heat baths at both
ends by investigating the system size N dependence of the heat current J and
the local temperature distribution. It is shown that J asymptotically behaves
as (ln N)^{-1} and the local temperature strongly oscillates along the chain.
These results indicate that the Fourier law does not hold on the harmonic
Fibonacci chain. Furthermore the local temperature exhibits two different
distribution according to the generation of the Fibonacci chain, i.e., the
local temperature distribution does not have a definite form in the
thermodynamic limit. The relations between N-dependence of J and the
frequency-spectrum, and between the local temperature and critical eigenstates
are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Cond. Ma
On the classification of conditionally integrable evolution systems in (1+1) dimensions
We generalize earlier results of Fokas and Liu and find all locally analytic
(1+1)-dimensional evolution equations of order that admit an -shock type
solution with .
To this end we develop a refinement of the technique from our earlier work
(A. Sergyeyev, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen, 35 (2002), 7653--7660), where we
completely characterized all (1+1)-dimensional evolution systems
\bi{u}_t=\bi{F}(x,t,\bi{u},\p\bi{u}/\p x,...,\p^n\bi{u}/\p x^n) that are
conditionally invariant under a given generalized (Lie--B\"acklund) vector
field \bi{Q}(x,t,\bi{u},\p\bi{u}/\p x,...,\p^k\bi{u}/\p x^k)\p/\p\bi{u} under
the assumption that the system of ODEs \bi{Q}=0 is totally nondegenerate.
Every such conditionally invariant evolution system admits a reduction to a
system of ODEs in , thus being a nonlinear counterpart to quasi-exactly
solvable models in quantum mechanics.
Keywords: Exact solutions, nonlinear evolution equations, conditional
integrability, generalized symmetries, reduction, generalized conditional
symmetries
MSC 2000: 35A30, 35G25, 81U15, 35N10, 37K35, 58J70, 58J72, 34A34Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX 2e, now uses hyperre
The Location and Appearance of Second Malignancies in Patients With Bilateral Retinoblastoma
Purpose. This paper describes the clinical history and radiographic appearance of second
malignancies in patients with bilateral retinoblastoma
Correlations and scaling in one-dimensional heat conduction
We examine numerically the full spatio-temporal correlation functions for all
hydrodynamic quantities for the random collision model introduced recently. The
autocorrelation function of the heat current, through the Kubo formula, gives a
thermal conductivity exponent of 1/3 in agreement with the analytical
prediction and previous numerical work. Remarkably, this result depends
crucially on the choice of boundary conditions: for periodic boundary
conditions (as opposed to open boundary conditions with heat baths) the
exponent is approximately 1/2. This is expected to be a generic feature of
systems with singular transport coefficients. All primitive hydrodynamic
quantities scale with the dynamic critical exponent predicted analytically.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure
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Structural mechanism of Myb-MuvB assembly.
The MuvB transcriptional regulatory complex, which controls cell-cycle-dependent gene expression, cooperates with B-Myb to activate genes required for the G2 and M phases of the cell cycle. We have identified the domain in B-Myb that is essential for the assembly of the Myb-MuvB (MMB) complex. We determined a crystal structure that reveals how this B-Myb domain binds MuvB through the adaptor protein LIN52 and the scaffold protein LIN9. The structure and biochemical analysis provide an understanding of how oncogenic B-Myb is recruited to regulate genes required for cell-cycle progression, and the MMB interface presents a potential therapeutic target to inhibit cancer cell proliferation
MINLO: Multi-scale improved NLO
In the present work we consider the assignment of the factorization and
renormalization scales in hadron collider processes with associated jet
production, at next-to-leading order (NLO) in perturbation theory. We propose a
simple, definite prescription to this end, including Sudakov form factors to
consistently account for the distinct kinematic scales occuring in such
collisions. The scheme yields results that are accurate at NLO and, for a large
class of observables, it resums to all orders the large logarithms that arise
from kinematic configurations involving disparate scales. In practical terms
the method is most simply understood as an NLO extension of the matrix element
reweighting procedure employed in tree level matrix element-parton shower
merging algorithms. By way of a proof-of-concept, we apply the method to Higgs
and Z boson production in association with up to two jets.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figure
Giant QCD K-factors beyond NLO
Hadronic observables in Z+jet events can be subject to large NLO corrections
at TeV scales, with K-factors that even reach values of order 50 in some cases.
We develop a method, LoopSim, by which approximate NNLO predictions can be
obtained for such observables, supplementing NLO Z+jet and NLO Z+2-jet results
with a unitarity-based approximation for missing higher loop terms. We first
test the method against known NNLO results for Drell-Yan lepton pt spectra. We
then show our approximate NNLO results for the Z+jet observables. Finally we
examine whether the LoopSim method can provide useful information even in cases
without giant K-factors, with results for observables in dijet events that can
be compared to early LHC data.Comment: 38 pages, 13 figures; v2 includes additional reference
Immunity toward H1N1 influenza hemagglutinin of historical and contemporary strains suggests protection and vaccine failure
Evolution of H1N1 influenza A outbreaks of the past 100 years is interesting and significantly complex and details of H1N1 genetic drift remains unknown. Here we investigated the clinical characteristics and immune cross-reactivity of significant historical H1N1 strains. We infected ferrets with H1N1 strains from 1943, 1947, 1977, 1986, 1999, and 2009 and showed each produced a unique clinical signature. We found significant cross-reactivity between viruses with similar HA sequences. Interestingly, A/FortMonmouth/1/1947 antisera cross-reacted with A/USSR/90/1977 virus, thought to be a 1947 resurfaced virus. Importantly, our immunological data that didn't show cross-reactivity can be extrapolated to failure of past H1N1 influenza vaccines, ie. 1947, 1986 and 2009. Together, our results help to elucidate H1N1 immuno-genetic alterations that occurred in the past 100 years and immune responses caused by H1N1 evolution. This work will facilitate development of future influenza therapeutics and prophylactics such as influenza vaccines.published_or_final_versio
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