Special Values of Generalized Polylogarithms

We study values of generalized polylogarithms at various points and relationships among them. Polylogarithms of small weight at the points 1/2 and -1 are completely investigated. We formulate a conjecture about the structure of the linear space generated by values of generalized polylogarithms.Comment: 32 page

Posterior-based proposals for speeding up Markov chain Monte Carlo

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is widely used for Bayesian inference in models of complex systems. Performance, however, is often unsatisfactory in models with many latent variables due to so-called poor mixing, necessitating development of application specific implementations. This paper introduces "posterior-based proposals" (PBPs), a new type of MCMC update applicable to a huge class of statistical models (whose conditional dependence structures are represented by directed acyclic graphs). PBPs generates large joint updates in parameter and latent variable space, whilst retaining good acceptance rates (typically 33%). Evaluation against other approaches (from standard Gibbs / random walk updates to state-of-the-art Hamiltonian and particle MCMC methods) was carried out for widely varying model types: an individual-based model for disease diagnostic test data, a financial stochastic volatility model, a mixed model used in statistical genetics and a population model used in ecology. Whilst different methods worked better or worse in different scenarios, PBPs were found to be either near to the fastest or significantly faster than the next best approach (by up to a factor of 10). PBPs therefore represent an additional general purpose technique that can be usefully applied in a wide variety of contexts.Comment: 54 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Right Hemisphere Partial Complex Seizures: Mania, Hallucinations, and Speech Disturbances During Ictal Events

A patient with right hemisphere complex partial seizures exhibited extreme emotional lability resembling mania, neologisms resembling those found in fluent aphasia, and hallucinations during ictal periods. The electroencephalographic and clinical findings in this case suggest that cortical and subcortical structures of the right hemisphere may play a role in mediating the expression of language content. RÉSUMÉ Chez un patient prÉsentant des crises partielles complexes de l'hÉmisphÈre droit, nous avons observÉ pendant les crises une labilitÉÉmotionnelle Évoquant le diagnostic de manie. des nÉologismes ressemblant À ceux de l'aphasie de Wernicke et des hallucinations. Nos constatation EEG et cliniques suggÈrent que les structures corticales et sous-corticales de l'hÉmisphÈre droit peuvent jouer un rÔle dans la mÉdiation de l'expression du contenu linguistique. RESUMEN Un paciente con ataques parciales complejos originados en el hemisferio derecho mostrÓ una labilidad emocional extrema semejante a la mania, neologismos comparables a los que se encuentran en la afasia fluida y alucinaciones durante los perÍodos ictales. Los hallazgos clÍnicos y del EEG en este caso sugieren que estructuras corticales y subcorticales del hemisferio derecho pueden jugar un papel en la funciÓn del contenido del lenguaje expresivo.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66016/1/j.1528-1157.1988.tb05093.x.pd

The pseudogap: friend or foe of high Tc?

Although nineteen years have passed since the discovery of high temperature superconductivity, there is still no consensus on its physical origin. This is in large part because of a lack of understanding of the state of matter out of which the superconductivity arises. In optimally and underdoped materials, this state exhibits a pseudogap at temperatures large compared to the superconducting transition temperature. Although discovered only three years after the pioneering work of Bednorz and Muller, the physical origin of this pseudogap behavior and whether it constitutes a distinct phase of matter is still shrouded in mystery. In the summer of 2004, a band of physicists gathered for five weeks at the Aspen Center for Physics to discuss the pseudogap. In this perspective, we would like to summarize some of the results presented there and discuss its importance in the context of strongly correlated electron systems.Comment: expanded version, 20 pages, 11 figures, to be published, Advances in Physic

Downregulation of miR-205 and miR-31 confers resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

Advanced prostate cancers are known to acquire not only invasive capabilities but also significant resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. To understand how microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to prostate cancer resistance to apoptosis, we compared microRNA expression profiles of a benign prostate cancer cell line WPE1-NA22 and a highly malignant WPE1-NB26 cell line (derived from a common lineage). We found that miR-205 and miR-31 are significantly downregulated in WPE1-NB26 cells, as well as in other cell lines representing advanced-stage prostate cancers. Antiapoptotic genes BCL2L2 (encoding Bcl-w) and E2F6 are identified as the targets of miR-205 and miR-31, respectively. By downregulating Bcl-w and E2F6, miR-205 and miR-31 promote chemotherapeutic agents-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. The promoter region of the miR-205 gene was cloned and was found to be hypermethylated in cell lines derived from advanced prostate cancers, contributing to the downregulation of the gene. Treatment with DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine induced miR-205 expression, downregulated Bcl-w, and sensitized prostate cancer cells to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Thus, downregulation of miR-205 and miR-31 has an important role in apoptosis resistance in advanced prostate cancer

The All-Data-Based Evolutionary Hypothesis of Ciliated Protists with a Revised Classification of the Phylum Ciliophora (Eukaryota, Alveolata)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The file attached is the published version of the article

Antibiotic treatment of bacterial vaginosis to prevent preterm delivery: Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) increases preterm delivery (PTD) risk, but treatment trials showed mixed results in preventing PTD. OBJECTIVES: Determine, using individual participant data (IPD), whether BV treatment during pregnancy reduced PTD or prolonged time-to-delivery. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Systematic Review (2013), MEDLINE, EMBASE, journal searches, and searches (January 2013-September 2022) ("bacterial vaginosis AND pregnancy") of (i) clinicaltrials.gov; (ii) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; (iii) World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Portal; and (iv) Web of Science ("bacterial vaginosis"). STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Studies randomising asymptomatic pregnant individuals with BV to antibiotics or control, measuring delivery gestation. Extraction was from original data files. Bias risk was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Analysis used "one-step" logistic and Cox random effect models, adjusting gestation at randomisation and PTD history; heterogeneity by I2 . Subgroup analysis tested interactions with treatment. In sensitivity analyses, studies not providing IPD were incorporated by "multiple random-donor hot-deck" imputation, using IPD studies as donors. RESULTS: There were 121 references (96 studies) with 23 eligible trials (11,979 participants); 13 studies (6915 participants) provided IPD; 12 (6115) were incorporated. Results from 9 (4887 participants) not providing IPD were imputed. Odds ratios for PTD for metronidazole and clindamycin versus placebo were 1.00 (95% CI 0.84, 1.17), I2  = 62%, and 0.59 (95% CI 0.42, 0.82), I2  = 0 before; and 0.95 (95% CI 0.81, 1.11), I2  = 59%, and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72, 1.12), I2  = 0, after imputation. Time-to-delivery did not differ from null with either treatment. Including imputed IPD, there was no evidence that either drug was more effective when administered earlier, or among those with a PTD history. CONCLUSIONS: Clindamycin, but not metronidazole, was beneficial in studies providing IPD, but after imputing data from missing IPD studies, treatment of BV during pregnancy did not reduce PTD, nor prolong pregnancy, in any subgroup or when started earlier in gestation

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws

A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust, bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero' relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies, whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling. For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to Springer: 07-June-201