13 research outputs found
No phase transition for Gaussian fields with bounded spins
Let a<b, \Omega=[a,b]^{\Z^d} and H be the (formal) Hamiltonian defined on
\Omega by
H(\eta) = \frac12 \sum_{x,y\in\Z^d} J(x-y) (\eta(x)-\eta(y))^2 where
J:\Z^d\to\R is any summable non-negative symmetric function (J(x)\ge 0 for all
x\in\Z^d, \sum_x J(x)<\infty and J(x)=J(-x)). We prove that there is a unique
Gibbs measure on \Omega associated to H. The result is a consequence of the
fact that the corresponding Gibbs sampler is attractive and has a unique
invariant measure.Comment: 7 page
Testing statistical hypothesis on random trees and applications to the protein classification problem
Efficient automatic protein classification is of central importance in
genomic annotation. As an independent way to check the reliability of the
classification, we propose a statistical approach to test if two sets of
protein domain sequences coming from two families of the Pfam database are
significantly different. We model protein sequences as realizations of Variable
Length Markov Chains (VLMC) and we use the context trees as a signature of each
protein family. Our approach is based on a Kolmogorov--Smirnov-type
goodness-of-fit test proposed by Balding et al. [Limit theorems for sequences
of random trees (2008), DOI: 10.1007/s11749-008-0092-z]. The test statistic is
a supremum over the space of trees of a function of the two samples; its
computation grows, in principle, exponentially fast with the maximal number of
nodes of the potential trees. We show how to transform this problem into a
max-flow over a related graph which can be solved using a Ford--Fulkerson
algorithm in polynomial time on that number. We apply the test to 10 randomly
chosen protein domain families from the seed of Pfam-A database (high quality,
manually curated families). The test shows that the distributions of context
trees coming from different families are significantly different. We emphasize
that this is a novel mathematical approach to validate the automatic clustering
of sequences in any context. We also study the performance of the test via
simulations on Galton--Watson related processes.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOAS218 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Obtaining Communities with a Fitness Growth Process
The study of community structure has been a hot topic of research over the
last years. But, while successfully applied in several areas, the concept lacks
of a general and precise notion. Facts like the hierarchical structure and
heterogeneity of complex networks make it difficult to unify the idea of
community and its evaluation. The global functional known as modularity is
probably the most used technique in this area. Nevertheless, its limits have
been deeply studied. Local techniques as the ones by Lancichinetti et al. and
Palla et al. arose as an answer to the resolution limit and degeneracies that
modularity has.
Here we start from the algorithm by Lancichinetti et al. and propose a unique
growth process for a fitness function that, while being local, finds a
community partition that covers the whole network, updating the scale parameter
dynamically. We test the quality of our results by using a set of benchmarks of
heterogeneous graphs. We discuss alternative measures for evaluating the
community structure and, in the light of them, infer possible explanations for
the better performance of local methods compared to global ones in these cases
Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study
Summary
Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally.
Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies
have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of
the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income
countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality.
Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to
hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis,
exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a
minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical
status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary
intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause,
in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status.
We did a complete case analysis.
Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital
diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal
malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome
countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male.
Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3).
Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income
countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups).
Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome
countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries;
p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients
combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11],
p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20
[1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention
(ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety
checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed
(ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of
parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65
[0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality.
Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome,
middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will
be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger
than 5 years by 2030