5 research outputs found
Breaking of ensemble equivalence in networks
It is generally believed that, in the thermodynamic limit, the microcanonical
description as a function of energy coincides with the canonical description as
a function of temperature. However, various examples of systems for which the
microcanonical and canonical ensembles are not equivalent have been identified.
A complete theory of this intriguing phenomenon is still missing. Here we show
that ensemble nonequivalence can manifest itself also in random graphs with
topological constraints. We find that, while graphs with a given number of
links are ensemble-equivalent, graphs with a given degree sequence are not.
This result holds irrespective of whether the energy is nonadditive (as in
unipartite graphs) or additive (as in bipartite graphs). In contrast with
previous expectations, our results show that: (1) physically, nonequivalence
can be induced by an extensive number of local constraints, and not necessarily
by long-range interactions or nonadditivity; (2) mathematically, nonquivalence
is determined by a different large-deviation behaviour of microcanonical and
canonical probabilities for a single microstate, and not necessarily for almost
all microstates. The latter criterion, which is entirely local, is not
restricted to networks and holds in general.Comment: Final version accepted for publication on Physical Review Letter
The effectiveness of mediolateral episiotomy in preventing obstetric anal sphincter injuries during operative vaginal delivery: a ten-year analysis of a national registry
Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) are associated with an increased risk of faecal incontinence after vaginal delivery. The aim of this retrospective population-based cohort study was to assess whether mediolateral episiotomy is associated with a reduction in the rate of OASIS during operative vaginal delivery. We used data from the Dutch Perinatal Registry (Perined) that includes records of almost all births between 2000 and 2010 in The Netherlands. In a cohort of 170,969 primiparous and multiparous women whose delivery was recorded, we estimated the association between mediolateral episiotomy and OASIS following both vacuum and forceps deliveries using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The incidences of OASIS following vacuum delivery in 130,157 primiparous women were 2.5% and 14% in those with and without a mediolateral episiotomy, respectively (adjusted OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.13-0.15), and in 29,183 multiparous women were 2.0% and 7.5%, respectively (adjusted OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.21-0.27). The incidences of OASIS following forceps delivery in 9,855 primiparous women were 3.4% and 26.7% in those with and without a mediolateral episiotomy, respectively (adjusted OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.07-0.11), and in 1,774 multiparous women were 2.6% and 14.2%, respectively (adjusted OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.08-0.22). The use of a mediolateral episiotomy during both vacuum delivery and forceps delivery is associated with a fivefold to tenfold reduction in the rate of OASIS in primiparous and multiparous wome
Extracellular vesicle miRNA predict FDG-PET status in patients with classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
KWF Kankerbestrijding, Grant/AwardNumber: KWF-5510; Cancer Center Amsterdam Foundation, Grant/AwardNumber: CCA-2013; The Hodgkin Lymphoma MRD Foundation; Technology Foundation STW, Grant/AwardNumber: CANCER-ID ProjectMinimally-invasive tools to assess tumour presence and burden may improve clinical
management. FDG-PET (metabolic) imaging is the current gold standard for interim
response assessment in patients with classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), but this
technique cannot be repeated frequently. Here we show that microRNAs (miRNA)
associated with tumour-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the circulation of cHL
patients may improve response assessment. Small RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR
reveal that the relative abundance of cHL-expressed miRNAs, miR-127-3p, miR-155-
5p, miR-21-5p, miR-24-3p and let-7a-5p is up to hundred-fold increased in plasma
EVs of cHL patients pre-treatmentwhen compared to completemetabolic responders
(CMR). Notably, in partial responders (PR) or treatment-refractory cases (n = 10)
the EV-miRNA levels remain elevated. In comparison, tumour specific copy number
variations (CNV) were detected in cell-free DNA of 8 out of 10 newly diagnosed
cHL patients but not in patients with PR. Combining EV-miR-127-3p and/or EV-let-
7a-5p levels, with serum TARC (a validated protein cHL biomarker), increases the
accuracy for predicting PET-status (n = 129) to an area under the curve of 0.93 (CI:
0.87-0.99), 93.5% sensitivity, 83.8/85.0% specificity and a negative predictive value
of 96%. Thus the level of tumour-associated miRNAs in plasma EVs is predictive
of metabolic tumour activity in cHL patients. Our findings suggest that plasma EV-miRNA are useful for detection of small residual lesions and may be applied as
serial response prediction tool.KWF Kankerbestrijding KWF-5510Cancer Center Amsterdam Foundation CCA-2013Hodgkin Lymphoma MRD FoundationTechnologiestichting ST