Statistical Communication Theory

Contains reports on two research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NsG-496

Candidate Gene Association Study in Type 2 Diabetes Indicates a Role for Genes Involved in β-Cell Function as Well as Insulin Action

Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly common, serious metabolic disorder with a substantial inherited component. It is characterised by defects in both insulin secretion and action. Progress in identification of specific genetic variants predisposing to the disease has been limited. To complement ongoing positional cloning efforts, we have undertaken a large-scale candidate gene association study. We examined 152 SNPs in 71 candidate genes for association with diabetes status and related phenotypes in 2,134 Caucasians in a case-control study and an independent quantitative trait (QT) cohort in the United Kingdom. Polymorphisms in five of 15 genes (33%) encoding molecules known to primarily influence pancreatic β-cell function—ABCC8 (sulphonylurea receptor), KCNJ11 (KIR6.2), SLC2A2 (GLUT2), HNF4A (HNF4α), and INS (insulin)—significantly altered disease risk, and in three genes, the risk allele, haplotype, or both had a biologically consistent effect on a relevant physiological trait in the QT study. We examined 35 genes predicted to have their major influence on insulin action, and three (9%)—INSR, PIK3R1, and SOS1—showed significant associations with diabetes. These results confirm the genetic complexity of Type 2 diabetes and provide evidence that common variants in genes influencing pancreatic β-cell function may make a significant contribution to the inherited component of this disease. This study additionally demonstrates that the systematic examination of panels of biological candidate genes in large, well-characterised populations can be an effective complement to positional cloning approaches. The absence of large single-gene effects and the detection of multiple small effects accentuate the need for the study of larger populations in order to reliably identify the size of effect we now expect for complex diseases

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties associated with the chiral phase transition at finite density in the Gross-Neveu Model

We study the dynamics of the chiral phase transition at finite density in the Gross-Neveu (GN) model in the leading order in large-N approximation. The phase structure of the GN model in this approximation has the property that there is a tricritical point at a fixed temperature and chemical potential separating regions where the chiral transition is first order from that where it is second order. We consider evolutions starting in local thermal and chemical equilibrium in the massless unbroken phase for conditions pertaining to traversing a first or second order phase transition. We assume boost invariant kinematics and determine the evolution of the order parameter $\sigma$, the energy density and pressure as well as the effective temperature, chemical potential and interpolating number densities as a function of the proper time $\tau$. We find that before the phase transition, the system behaves as if it were an ideal fluid in local thermal equilibrium with equation of state $p=\epsilon$. After the phase transition, the system quickly reaches its true broken symmetry vacuum value for the fermion mass and for the energy density. The single particle distribution functions for Fermions and anti-Fermions go far out of equilibrium as soon as the plasma traverses the chiral phase transition. We have also determined the spatial dependence of the "pion" Green's function $<\bar{\psi}(x) \gamma_5 \psi(x) \bar{\psi}(0) \gamma_5 \psi(0)>$ as a function of the proper time.Comment: 39 pages, 23 figure

Sitting time, fidgeting and all-cause mortality in the UK Women's Cohort Study

Introduction: Sedentary behaviours (including sitting) may increase risk of mortality independently of physical activity level. Little is known about how fidgeting behaviours might modify the association. Methods: Data were drawn from the UK Women’s Cohort Study. In 1999/2002, 12,778 women (age 37 to 78) provided data on average daily sitting time, overall fidgeting (irrespective of posture), and a range of relevant covariates including physical activity, diet, smoking status and alcohol consumption. Participants were followed for mortality over a mean of 12 years. Proportional hazards Cox regression models were used to estimate the relative risk of mortality in the high (vs. low) and medium (vs. low) sitting time groups. Results: Fidgeting modified the risk associated with sitting time (p value for interaction = 0.04), leading us to separate groups for analysis. Adjusting for a range of covariates, sitting for 7+ hours/day (vs. <5 hours/day) was associated with 30% increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.02, 1.66) only among women in the low fidgeting group. Among women in the high fidgeting group, sitting for 5/6 (vs. <5 hrs/day) was associated with decreased risk of mortality (HR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.43, 0.91), adjusting for a range of covariates. There was no increased risk of mortality from longer sitting time in the middle and high fidgeting groups. Conclusions: Fidgeting may reduce the risk of all-cause mortality associated with excessive sitting time. More detailed and better validated measures of fidgeting should be identified in other studies in order to replicate these findings and identity mechanisms, particularly measures that distinguish fidgeting in a seated from standing posture

Invisible Belfast:Flat ontologies and remediation of the post-conflict city

[in]visible Belfast was a research-driven indie alternate reality game (ARG) that ran for 6 weeks during the spring of 2011 in Belfast and was subsequently adapted, 5 years later into a fictional documentary for BBC Radio 4. The ARG is a participatory and dispersed narrative, which the audience play through. The text expands outward across both physical and digital platforms to create a mystery for the players using everyday platforms. The ARG is a product of media convergence and at its heart transmedial, defined by its complexity and modes of participation. The fictional radio documentary which remediated the ARG into a more simple linear structure, but possibly a more complex narrative form, retells parts of the story for new audiences. The premise of [in]visible belfast – the game and later the documentary – is itself an adaptation of writer Ciaran Carson’s novel The Star Factory (1997): a postmodern adventure through the complex psychogeography of Belfast. A trail through the labyrinthine text, which paints the history of Belfast in poetic prose. This article will map the concept’s journey from novel to game to radio, contextualising its development within its political and urban landscape and charting the remediation of the narratives as they fold out across multiple media and complex story arches. The article will draw together ideas from previous publications on ARG, transmediality and complex textualities from the authors and reflect on the textual trajectories that the remediation of the narrative has taken from the original book, through the ARG, into the radio documentary. Building upon recent approaches from environmental philosopher Tim Morton and games theorist Ian Bogost, the authors argue that Belfast’s history propels medial adaptations of a particular kind, characterised by a ‘flat’ ontology of space and time and a sort of diffuse and dark urban experience for designers/producers and players/listeners

Mongooses (\u3ci\u3eUrva auropunctata\u3c/i\u3e) as reservoir hosts of leptospira species in the United States Virgin Islands, 2019–2020

During 2019–2020, the Virgin Islands Department of Health investigated potential animal reservoirs of Leptospira spp., the bacteria that cause leptospirosis. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated Leptospira spp. exposure and carriage in the small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata, syn: Herpestes auropunctatus), an invasive animal species. This study was conducted across the three main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), which are St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. We used the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), fluorescent antibody test (FAT), real-time polymerase chain reaction (lipl32 rt-PCR), and bacterial culture to evaluate serum and kidney specimens and compared the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of these laboratory meth-ods. Mongooses (n = 274) were live-trapped at 31 field sites in ten regions across USVI and humanely euthanized for Leptospira spp. testing. Bacterial isolates were sequenced and evaluated for species and phylogenetic analysis using the ppk gene. Anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies were detected in 34% (87/256) of mongooses. Reactions were observed with the following serogroups: Sejroe, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pyrogenes, Mini, Cynopteri, Australis, Hebdomadis, Autumnalis, Mankarso, Pomona, and Ballum. Of the kidney specimens exam-ined, 5.8% (16/270) were FAT-positive, 10% (27/274) were culture-positive, and 12.4% (34/ 274) were positive by rt-PCR. Of the Leptospira spp. isolated from mongooses, 25 were L. borgpetersenii, one was L. interrogans, and one was L. kirschneri. Positive predictive values of FAT and rt-PCR testing for predicting successful isolation of Leptospira by culture were 88% and 65%, respectively. The isolation and identification of Leptospira spp. in mongooses highlights the potential role of mongooses as a wildlife reservoir of leptospirosis; mongooses could be a source of Leptospira spp. infections for other wildlife, domestic animals, and humans

Distinct Actin and Lipid Binding Sites in Ysc84 Are Required during Early Stages of Yeast Endocytosis

During endocytosis in S. cerevisiae, actin polymerization is proposed to provide the driving force for invagination against the effects of turgor pressure. In previous studies, Ysc84 was demonstrated to bind actin through a conserved N-terminal domain. However, full length Ysc84 could only bind actin when its C-terminal SH3 domain also bound to the yeast WASP homologue Las17. Live cell-imaging has revealed that Ysc84 localizes to endocytic sites after Las17/WASP but before other known actin binding proteins, suggesting it is likely to function at an early stage of membrane invagination. While there are homologues of Ysc84 in other organisms, including its human homologue SH3yl-1, little is known of its mode of interaction with actin or how this interaction affects actin filament dynamics. Here we identify key residues involved both in Ysc84 actin and lipid binding, and demonstrate that its actin binding activity is negatively regulated by PI(4,5)P2. Ysc84 mutants defective in their lipid or actin-binding interaction were characterized in vivo. The abilities of Ysc84 to bind Las17 through its C-terminal SH3 domain, or to actin and lipid through the N-terminal domain were all shown to be essential in order to rescue temperature sensitive growth in a strain requiring YSC84 expression. Live cell imaging in strains with fluorescently tagged endocytic reporter proteins revealed distinct phenotypes for the mutants indicating the importance of these interactions for regulating key stages of endocytosis

Biogeochemical and climate drivers of wetland phosphorus and nitrogen release: implications for nutrient legacies and eutrophication risk

The dynamics and processes of nutrient cycling and release were examined for a lowland wetland‐pond system, draining woodland in southern England. Hydrochemical and meteorological data were analyzed from 1997 to 2017, along with high‐resolution in situ sensor measurements from 2016 to 2017. The results showed that even a relatively pristine wetland can become a source of highly bioavailable phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and silicon (Si) during low‐flow periods of high ecological sensitivity. The drivers of nutrient release were primary production and accumulation of biomass, which provided a carbon (C) source for microbial respiration and, via mineralization, a source of bioavailable nutrients for P and N co‐limited microorganisms. During high‐intensity nutrient release events, the dominant N‐cycling process switched from denitrification to nitrate ammonification, and a positive feedback cycle of P and N release was sustained over several months during summer and fall. Temperature controls on microbial activity were the primary drivers of short‐term (day‐to‐day) variability in P release, with subdaily (diurnal) fluctuations in P concentrations driven by water body metabolism. Interannual relationships between nutrient release and climate variables indicated “memory” effects of antecedent climate drivers through accumulated legacy organic matter from the previous year's biomass production. Natural flood management initiatives promote the use of wetlands as “nature‐based solutions” in climate change adaptation, flood management, and soil and water conservation. This study highlights potential water quality trade‐offs and shows how the convergence of climate and biogeochemical drivers of wetland nutrient release can amplify background nutrient signals by mobilizing legacy nutrients, causing water quality impairment and accelerating eutrophication risk