Glassiness and constrained dynamics of a short-range non-disordered spin model

We study the low temperature dynamics of a two dimensional short-range spin system with uniform ferromagnetic interactions, which displays glassiness at low temperatures despite the absence of disorder or frustration. The model has a dual description in terms of free defects subject to dynamical constraints, and is an explicit realization of the ``hierarchically constrained dynamics'' scenario for glassy systems. We give a number of exact results for the statics of the model, and study in detail the dynamical behaviour of one-time and two-time quantities. We also consider the role played by the configurational entropy, which can be computed exactly, in the relation between fluctuations and response.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures; minor changes, references adde

Global survival trends for brain tumors, by histology: analysis of individual records for 556,237 adults diagnosed in 59 countries during 2000–2014 (CONCORD-3)

Background: Survival is a key metric of the effectiveness of a health system in managing cancer. We set out to provide a comprehensive examination of worldwide variation and trends in survival from brain tumors in adults, by histology. Methods: We analyzed individual data for adults (15–99 years) diagnosed with a brain tumor (ICD-O-3 topography code C71) during 2000–2014, regardless of tumor behavior. Data underwent a 3-phase quality control as part of CONCORD-3. We estimated net survival for 11 histology groups, using the unbiased nonparametric Pohar Perme estimator. Results: The study included 556,237 adults. In 2010–2014, the global range in age-standardized 5-year net survival for the most common sub-types was broad: in the range 20%–38% for diffuse and anaplastic astrocytoma, from 4% to 17% for glioblastoma, and between 32% and 69% for oligodendroglioma. For patients with glioblastoma, the largest gains in survival occurred between 2000–2004 and 2005–2009. These improvements were more noticeable among adults diagnosed aged 40–70 years than among younger adults. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the largest account to date of global trends in population-based survival for brain tumors by histology in adults. We have highlighted remarkable gains in 5-year survival from glioblastoma since 2005, providing large-scale empirical evidence on the uptake of chemoradiation at population level. Worldwide, survival improvements have been extensive, but some countries still lag behind. Our findings may help clinicians involved in national and international tumor pathway boards to promote initiatives aimed at more extensive implementation of clinical guidelines

Caretakers' perceptions and willingness‐to‐pay for complementary food in urban and rural Cambodia

Inadequate child nutrition during the first ‘1000 days’ is widespread in Cambodia, resulting in a high prevalence of child malnutrition. Access to processed complementary food in packages (PCFP) may support caretakers in improving diet of young children. This study aimed to evaluate the caretakers' preferences and willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for PCFP in Cambodia. The study was conducted in urban and rural settings, involving 520 caretakers with children aged 7–24 months in Phnom Penh (urban) and Prey Veng (rural). Four PCFPs were included: a commercial brand, a social‐commercial brand, a worldwide distributed fortified complementary food aid product (CSB++) and an experimental fortified rice‐and‐fish‐based PCFP developed in Cambodia (WF‐L). Sensory analysis was conducted for all products, stated WTP was assessed for three products (excluding CSB++) and actual WTP experiment was conducted on WF‐L only. Our results show that overall, WF‐L was preferred by the rural participants over food aid CSB++. Further improvements in the organoleptic qualities of WF‐L should focus on consistency and taste. The participants were, on average, willing to pay 1,667 Cambodian riel (KHR, $0.4) and 1,192 KHR ($0.3) in urban and rural settings, respectively, for 35 g of WF‐L. We also found that despite being nutritionally inadequate, most participants considered homemade porridge to be healthier, more practical and preferred by the children. Therefore improving the quality of homemade foods merits urgent consideration. When applying PCFP in nutrition programmes as a supplementary option to homemade complementary foods, locally produced products could be a more viable supplementary option than global food aid