Contact and cooperation in the Belgian fertility and family survey.

Cooperation; Fertility and family survey;

Performance of likelihood-based estimation methods for multilevel binary regression models.

By means of a fractional factorial simulation experiment, we. compare the performance of penalised quasi-likelihood (PQL), non-adaptive Gaussian quadrature and adaptive Gaussian quadrature in estimating parameters for multilevel logistic regression models. The comparison is done in terms of bias, mean-squared error (MSE), numerical convergence and computational efficiency. It turns out that in terms of MSE, standard versions of the quadrature methods per-form relatively poorly in comparison with PQL.Bias; Binary regression; Convergence; Efficiency; Factorial; Fractional factorial experiment; Gaussian quadrature; Logistic regression; Methods; Model; Models; Monte Carlo simulation; Multilevel analysis; Parameters; Penalised quasi-likelihood; Performance; Regression; Simulation;

Hydrodynamic lift of vesicles under shear flow in microgravity

The dynamics of a vesicle suspension in a shear flow between parallel plates has been investigated under microgravity conditions, where vesicles are only submitted to hydrodynamic effects such as lift forces due to the presence of walls and drag forces. The temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of the vesicles has been recorded thanks to digital holographic microscopy, during parabolic flights and under normal gravity conditions. The collected data demonstrates that vesicles are pushed away from the walls with a lift velocity proportional to $\dot{\gamma} R^3/z^2$ where $\dot{\gamma}$ is the shear rate, $R$ the vesicle radius and $z$ its distance from the wall. This scaling as well as the dependence of the lift velocity upon vesicle aspect ratio are consistent with theoretical predictions by Olla [J. Phys. II France {\bf 7}, 1533--1540 (1997)].Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

A stochastic movement simulator improves estimates of landscape connectivity

Acknowledgments This publication issued from the project TenLamas funded by the French Ministère de l'Energie, de l'Ecologie, du Développement Durable et de la Mer through the EU FP6 BiodivERsA Eranet; by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) through the open call INDHET and 6th extinction MOBIGEN to V. M. Stevens, M. Baguette, and A. Coulon, and young researcher GEMS (ANR-13-JSV7-0010-01) to V. M. Stevens and M. Baguette; and by a VLIR-VLADOC scholarship awarded to J. Aben. L. Lens, J. Aben, D. Strubbe, and E. Matthysen are grateful to the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for financial support of fieldwork and genetic analysis (grant G.0308.13). V. M. Stevens and M. Baguette are members of the “Laboratoire d'Excellence” (LABEX) entitled TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41). J. M. J. Travis and S. C. F. Palmer also acknowledge the support of NERC. A. Coulon and J. Aben contributed equally to the work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Genotype-Phenotype Correlation in NF1: Evidence for a More Severe Phenotype Associated with Missense Mutations Affecting NF1 Codons 844-848

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common genetic disorder with a birth incidence of 1:2,000–3,000, is characterized by a highly variable clinical presentation. To date, only two clinically relevant intragenic genotype-phenotype correlations have been reported for NF1 missense mutations affecting p.Arg1809 and a single amino acid deletion p.Met922del. Both variants predispose to a distinct mild NF1 phenotype with neither externally visible cutaneous/plexiform neurofibromas nor other tumors. Here, we report 162 individuals (129 unrelated probands and 33 affected relatives) heterozygous for a constitutional missense mutation affecting one of five neighboring NF1 codons—Leu844, Cys845, Ala846, Leu847, and Gly848—located in the cysteine-serine-rich domain (CSRD). Collectively, these recurrent missense mutations affect ∼0.8% of unrelated NF1 mutation-positive probands in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) cohort. Major superficial plexiform neurofibromas and symptomatic spinal neurofibromas were more prevalent in these individuals compared with classic NF1-affected cohorts (both p \u3c 0.0001). Nearly half of the individuals had symptomatic or asymptomatic optic pathway gliomas and/or skeletal abnormalities. Additionally, variants in this region seem to confer a high predisposition to develop malignancies compared with the general NF1-affected population (p = 0.0061). Our results demonstrate that these NF1 missense mutations, although located outside the GAP-related domain, may be an important risk factor for a severe presentation. A genotype-phenotype correlation at the NF1 region 844–848 exists and will be valuable in the management and genetic counseling of a significant number of individuals

Micro-Capsules in Shear Flow

This paper deals with flow-induced shape transitions of elastic capsules. The state of the art concerning both theory and experiments is briefly reviewed starting with dynamically induced small deformation of initially spherical capsules and the formation of wrinkles on polymerized membranes. Initially non-spherical capsules show tumbling and tank-treading motion in shear flow. Theoretical descriptions of the transition between these two types of motion assuming a fixed shape are at variance with the full capsule dynamics obtained numerically. To resolve the discrepancy, we expand the exact equations of motion for small deformations and find that shape changes play a dominant role. We classify the dynamical phase transitions and obtain numerical and analytical results for the phase boundaries as a function of viscosity contrast, shear and elongational flow rate. We conclude with perspectives on timedependent flow, on shear-induced unbinding from surfaces, on the role of thermal fluctuations, and on applying the concepts of stochastic thermodynamics to these systems.Comment: 34 pages, 15 figure

Melting and refreezing beneath Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf (East Antarctica) inferred from radar, GPS, and ice core data

Ice-penetrating radar profiles across the grounding line of a small ice-rise promontory located within the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf in the Dronning Maud Land sector of East Antarctica show downward dipping englacial radar-detected reflectors. Model results indicate that this reflector pattern is best fit by including basal melting of at least 15 cm a-1. This rate of melting is low compared with rates observed on larger ice shelves in both West and East Antarctica. Ice cores extracted from a rift system close to the ice-rise promontory show several meters of marine ice accreted beneath the shelf. These observations of low rates of basal melting, and limited distribution of accreted marine ice suggest that either Antarctic surface water may reach the ice shelf base or that circulation beneath the shelf is likely dominated by the production of high salinity shelf water rather than the incursion of circumpolar deep water, implying a weak sub-shelf circulation system here. Many of the ice shelves located along the coast of Dronning Maud Land are, like Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf, characterized by frequent ice rises and promontories. Therefore, it is highly likely that these are also of shallow bathymetry and are subject to similarly weak side-shelf basal melting and refreezing