Analysis of TNF-antagonist switch over time and associated risk factors in the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort.

Abstract Background and aims. Limited data from large cohorts are available on tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists (infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab pegol) switch over time. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of switching from one TNF antagonist to another and to identify associated risk factors. Methods. Data from the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Cohort Study (SIBDCS) were analyzed. Results. Of 1731 patients included into the SIBDCS (956 with Crohn's disease [CD] and 775 with ulcerative colitis [UC]), 347 CD patients (36.3%) and 129 UC patients (16.6%) were treated with at least one TNF antagonist. A total of 53/347 (15.3%) CD patients (median disease duration 9 years) and 20/129 (15.5%) of UC patients (median disease duration 7 years) needed to switch to a second and/or a third TNF antagonist, respectively. Median treatment duration was longest for the first TNF antagonist used (CD 25 months; UC 14 months), followed by the second (CD 13 months; UC 4 months) and third TNF antagonist (CD 11 months; UC 15 months). Primary nonresponse, loss of response and side effects were the major reasons to stop and/or switch TNF antagonist therapy. A low body mass index, a short diagnostic delay and extraintestinal manifestations at inclusion were identified as risk factors for a switch of the first used TNF antagonist within 24 months of its use in CD patients. Conclusion. Switching of the TNF antagonist over time is a common issue. The median treatment duration with a specific TNF antagonist is diminishing with an increasing number of TNF antagonists being used.

Magnitude and Frequency of Iowa Floods, 1966

Flood records for regular and partial-record gaging stations are contained in the following pages. Each listing contains the station number .and name, descriptive paragraphs pertaining to the station, and a listing of the flood peaks available through the 1965 water year 2/. 2/ A water year is the period from October 1 to the following September 30 and has the same yearly designation as September. Peaks above a base as well as annual peaks are listed. These provide the data for a partial-duration flood-frequency curve. Most of the material is self-explanatory and needs no discussion. However, a few items may be made clearer by the brief explanation which follows.

Quality of Learners' Time and Learning Performance Beyond Quantitative Time-on-Task

Peer-reviewed

Feeding rate and frequency on juvenile pompano growth

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ideal feeding rate and frequency for juvenile pompano (Trachinotus marginatus). Two experiments were carried out in a completely randomized design, with three replicates each. In experiment I, 25 fish (4.8±0.6 g and 6.48±0.01 cm) were stocked in 15 tanks (50 L) during 21 days and fed 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20% body weight per day. In experiment II, 20 fish (4.1±0.1 g and 6.6±0.1 cm) were stocked in 15 tanks (40 L) during 28 days and fed 2, 6, 8, and 10 times a day. The tested feeding rates and frequencies did not influence survival. Final weight and length in experiment I were significantly lower in fish fed 4% body weight per day, whereas in experiment II only weight was significantly lower in fish fed 2 and 6 times a day. At the end of both experiments, apparent feed conversion showed significant difference, with the worst value observed for fish fed 20% body weight per day in experiment I and 2 times a day in experiment II. Juvenile pompano show better growth performance when fed 8% body weight per day and 8 times a day.

Gliotransmitters Travel in Time and Space.

The identification of the presence of active signaling between astrocytes and neurons in a process termed gliotransmission has caused a paradigm shift in our thinking about brain function. However, we are still in the early days of the conceptualization of how astrocytes influence synapses, neurons, networks, and ultimately behavior. In this Perspective, our goal is to identify emerging principles governing gliotransmission and consider the specific properties of this process that endow the astrocyte with unique functions in brain signal integration. We develop and present hypotheses aimed at reconciling confounding reports and define open questions to provide a conceptual framework for future studies. We propose that astrocytes mainly signal through high-affinity slowly desensitizing receptors to modulate neurons and perform integration in spatiotemporal domains complementary to those of neurons.

Wigner higher-order spectra: definition, properties, computation and application to transient signal analysis

The Wigner higher order moment spectra (WHOS)are defined as extensions of the Wigner-Ville distribution (WD)to higher order moment spectra domains. A general class oftime-frequency higher order moment spectra is also defined interms of arbitrary higher order moments of the signal as generalizations of the Cohen’s general class of time-frequency representations. The properties of the general class of time-frequency higher order moment spectra can be related to theproperties of WHOS which are, in fact, extensions of the properties of the WD. Discrete time and frequency Wigner higherorder moment spectra (DTF-WHOS) distributions are introduced for signal processing applications and are shown to beimplemented with two FFT-based algorithms. One applicationis presented where the Wigner bispectrum (WB), which is aWHOS in the third-order moment domain, is utilized for thedetection of transient signals embedded in noise. The WB iscompared with the WD in terms of simulation examples andanalysis of real sonar data. It is shown that better detectionschemes can be derived, in low signal-to-noise ratio, when theWB is applied.

Artificial evolution on network structures : how time and space influence dynamics

Abstract The main objective of this work is to show how the choice of the temporal dimension and of the spatial structure of the population influences an artificial evolutionary process. In the field of Artificial Evolution we can observe a common trend in synchronously evolv¬ing panmictic populations, i.e., populations in which any individual can be recombined with any other individual. Already in the '90s, the works of Spiessens and Manderick, Sarma and De Jong, and Gorges-Schleuter have pointed out that, if a population is struc¬tured according to a mono- or bi-dimensional regular lattice, the evolutionary process shows a different dynamic with respect to the panmictic case. In particular, Sarma and De Jong have studied the selection pressure (i.e., the diffusion of a best individual when the only selection operator is active) induced by a regular bi-dimensional structure of the population, proposing a logistic modeling of the selection pressure curves. This model supposes that the diffusion of a best individual in a population follows an exponential law. We show that such a model is inadequate to describe the process, since the growth speed must be quadratic or sub-quadratic in the case of a bi-dimensional regular lattice. New linear and sub-quadratic models are proposed for modeling the selection pressure curves in, respectively, mono- and bi-dimensional regu¬lar structures. These models are extended to describe the process when asynchronous evolutions are employed. Different dynamics of the populations imply different search strategies of the resulting algorithm, when the evolutionary process is used to solve optimisation problems. A benchmark of both discrete and continuous test problems is used to study the search characteristics of the different topologies and updates of the populations. In the last decade, the pioneering studies of Watts and Strogatz have shown that most real networks, both in the biological and sociological worlds as well as in man-made structures, have mathematical properties that set them apart from regular and random structures. In particular, they introduced the concepts of small-world graphs, and they showed that this new family of structures has interesting computing capabilities. Populations structured according to these new topologies are proposed, and their evolutionary dynamics are studied and modeled. We also propose asynchronous evolutions for these structures, and the resulting evolutionary behaviors are investigated. Many man-made networks have grown, and are still growing incrementally, and explanations have been proposed for their actual shape, such as Albert and Barabasi's preferential attachment growth rule. However, many actual networks seem to have undergone some kind of Darwinian variation and selection. Thus, how these networks might have come to be selected is an interesting yet unanswered question. In the last part of this work, we show how a simple evolutionary algorithm can enable the emrgence o these kinds of structures for two prototypical problems of the automata networks world, the majority classification and the synchronisation problems. Synopsis L'objectif principal de ce travail est de montrer l'influence du choix de la dimension temporelle et de la structure spatiale d'une population sur un processus évolutionnaire artificiel. Dans le domaine de l'Evolution Artificielle on peut observer une tendence à évoluer d'une façon synchrone des populations panmictiques, où chaque individu peut être récombiné avec tout autre individu dans la population. Déjà dans les année '90, Spiessens et Manderick, Sarma et De Jong, et Gorges-Schleuter ont observé que, si une population possède une structure régulière mono- ou bi-dimensionnelle, le processus évolutionnaire montre une dynamique différente de celle d'une population panmictique. En particulier, Sarma et De Jong ont étudié la pression de sélection (c-à-d la diffusion d'un individu optimal quand seul l'opérateur de sélection est actif) induite par une structure régulière bi-dimensionnelle de la population, proposant une modélisation logistique des courbes de pression de sélection. Ce modèle suppose que la diffusion d'un individu optimal suit une loi exponentielle. On montre que ce modèle est inadéquat pour décrire ce phénomène, étant donné que la vitesse de croissance doit obéir à une loi quadratique ou sous-quadratique dans le cas d'une structure régulière bi-dimensionnelle. De nouveaux modèles linéaires et sous-quadratique sont proposés pour des structures mono- et bi-dimensionnelles. Ces modèles sont étendus pour décrire des processus évolutionnaires asynchrones. Différentes dynamiques de la population impliquent strategies différentes de recherche de l'algorithme résultant lorsque le processus évolutionnaire est utilisé pour résoudre des problèmes d'optimisation. Un ensemble de problèmes discrets et continus est utilisé pour étudier les charactéristiques de recherche des différentes topologies et mises à jour des populations. Ces dernières années, les études de Watts et Strogatz ont montré que beaucoup de réseaux, aussi bien dans les mondes biologiques et sociologiques que dans les structures produites par l'homme, ont des propriétés mathématiques qui les séparent à la fois des structures régulières et des structures aléatoires. En particulier, ils ont introduit la notion de graphe sm,all-world et ont montré que cette nouvelle famille de structures possède des intéressantes propriétés dynamiques. Des populations ayant ces nouvelles topologies sont proposés, et leurs dynamiques évolutionnaires sont étudiées et modélisées. Pour des populations ayant ces structures, des méthodes d'évolution asynchrone sont proposées, et la dynamique résultante est étudiée. Beaucoup de réseaux produits par l'homme se sont formés d'une façon incrémentale, et des explications pour leur forme actuelle ont été proposées, comme le preferential attachment de Albert et Barabàsi. Toutefois, beaucoup de réseaux existants doivent être le produit d'un processus de variation et sélection darwiniennes. Ainsi, la façon dont ces structures ont pu être sélectionnées est une question intéressante restée sans réponse. Dans la dernière partie de ce travail, on montre comment un simple processus évolutif artificiel permet à ce type de topologies d'émerger dans le cas de deux problèmes prototypiques des réseaux d'automates, les tâches de densité et de synchronisation.

Time and space: genetic structure of the common sea urchin paracentrotus lividus in the south-eastern iberian coast

Spatio-temporal variability in settlement and recruitment, high mortality during the first life-history stages, and selection may determine the genetic structure of cohorts of long-lived marine invertebrates at small scales. We conducted a spatial and temporal analysis of the common Mediterranean Sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus to determine the genetic structure of cohorts at different scales. In Tossa de Mar (NW Mediterranean), recruitment was followed over 5 consecutive springs (2006-2010). In spring 2008, recruits and two-year-old individuals were collected at 6 locations along East and South Iberian coasts separated from 200 to over 1,100 km. All cohorts presented a high genetic diversity based on a fragment of mtCOI. Our results showed a marked genetic homogeneity in the temporal monitoring and a low degree of spatial structure in 2006. In 2008, coupled with an abnormality in the usual circulation patterns in the area, the genetic structure of the southern populations studied changed markedly, with arrival of many private haplotypes. This fact highlights the importance of point events in renewing the genetic makeup of populations, which can only be detected through analysis of the cohort structure coupling temporal and spatial perspectives.

Electric Motor and Frequency Converter Markets in Latin America and Especially in the Mining Industry of Chile

Latinalaisen Amerikan osuus maailmantaloudesta on pieni verrattuna sen maantieteelliseen kokoon, väkilukuun ja luonnonvaroihin. Aluetta pidetään kuitenkin yhtenä tulevaisuuden merkittävistä kasvumarkkinoista. Useissa Latinalaisen Amerikan maissa on teollisuutta, joka hyödyntää luonnonvaroja ja tuottaa raaka-aineita sekä kotimaan että ulkomaiden markkinoille. Tällaisia tyypillisiä teollisuudenaloja Latinalaisessa Amerikassa ovat kaivos- ja metsäteollisuus sekä öljyn ja maakaasun tuotanto. Näiden teollisuudenalojen tuotantolaitteiden ja koneiden valmistusta ei Latinalaisessa Amerikassa juurikaan ole. Ne tuodaan yleensä Pohjois-Amerikasta ja Euroopasta. Tässä diplomityössä tutkitaan sähkömoottorien ja taajuusmuuttajien markkinapotentiaalia Latinalaisessa Amerikassa. Tutkimuksessa perehdytään Latinalaisen Amerikan maiden kansantalouksien tilaan sekä arvioidaan sähkömoottorien ja taajuusmuuttajien markkinoiden kokoa tullitilastojen avulla. Chilen kaivosteollisuudessa arvioidaan olevan erityistä potentiaalia. Diplomityössä selvitetään ostoprosessin kulkua Chilen kaivosteollisuudessa ja eri asiakastyyppien roolia siinä sekä tärkeimpiä päätöskriteerejä toimittaja- ja teknologiavalinnoissa.

Using time and stochastic models for software reliability forecasting and analysis

Tämä työ luo katsauksen ajallisiin ja stokastisiin ohjelmien luotettavuus malleihin sekä tutkii muutamia malleja käytännössä. Työn teoriaosuus sisältää ohjelmien luotettavuuden kuvauksessa ja arvioinnissa käytetyt keskeiset määritelmät ja metriikan sekä varsinaiset mallien kuvaukset. Työssä esitellään kaksi ohjelmien luotettavuusryhmää. Ensimmäinen ryhmä ovat riskiin perustuvat mallit. Toinen ryhmä käsittää virheiden ”kylvöön” ja merkitsevyyteen perustuvat mallit. Työn empiirinen osa sisältää kokeiden kuvaukset ja tulokset. Kokeet suoritettiin käyttämällä kolmea ensimmäiseen ryhmään kuuluvaa mallia: Jelinski-Moranda mallia, ensimmäistä geometrista mallia sekä yksinkertaista eksponenttimallia. Kokeiden tarkoituksena oli tutkia, kuinka syötetyn datan distribuutio vaikuttaa mallien toimivuuteen sekä kuinka herkkiä mallit ovat syötetyn datan määrän muutoksille. Jelinski-Moranda malli osoittautui herkimmäksi distribuutiolle konvergaatio-ongelmien vuoksi, ensimmäinen geometrinen malli herkimmäksi datan määrän muutoksille.

Networks of noisy oscillators with correlated degree and frequency dispersion

We investigate how correlations between the diversity of the connectivity of networks and the dynamics at their nodes affect the macroscopic behavior. In particular, we study the synchronization transition of coupled stochastic phase oscillators that represent the node dynamics. Crucially in our work, the variability in the number of connections of the nodes is correlated with the width of the frequency distribution of the oscillators. By numerical simulations on Erdös-Rényi networks, where the frequencies of the oscillators are Gaussian distributed, we make the counterintuitive observation that an increase in the strength of the correlation is accompanied by an increase in the critical coupling strength for the onset of synchronization. We further observe that the critical coupling can solely depend on the average number of connections or even completely lose its dependence on the network connectivity. Only beyond this state, a weighted mean-field approximation breaks down. If noise is present, the correlations have to be stronger to yield similar observations.

Reframing video gaming and internet use addiction : empirical cross-national comparison of heavy use over time and addiction scales among young users

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Evidence-based and reliable measures of addictive disorders are needed in general population-based assessments. One study suggested that heavy use over time (UOT) should be used instead of self-reported addiction scales (AS). This study compared UOT and AS regarding video gaming and internet use empirically, using associations with comorbid factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data from the 2011 French Survey on Health and Consumption on Call-up and Preparation for Defence-Day (ESCAPAD), cross-sectional data from the 2012 Swiss ado@internet.ch study and two waves of longitudinal data (2010-13) of the Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). SETTING: Three representative samples from the general population of French and Swiss adolescents and young Swiss men, aged approximately 17, 14 and 20 years, respectively. PARTICIPANTS: ESCAPAD: n =22 945 (47.4% men); ado@internet.ch: n =3049 (50% men); C-SURF: n =4813 (baseline + follow-up, 100% men). MEASUREMENTS: We assessed video gaming/internet UOT ESCAPAD and ado@internet.ch: number of hours spent online per week, C-SURF: latent score of time spent gaming/using internet] and AS (ESCAPAD: Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire, ado@internet.ch: Internet Addiction Test, C-SURF: Gaming AS). Comorbidities were assessed with health outcomes (ESCAPAD: physical health evaluation with a single item, suicidal thoughts, and appointment with a psychiatrist; ado@internet.ch: WHO-5 and somatic health problems; C-SURF: Short Form 12 (SF-12 Health Survey) and Major Depression Inventory (MDI). FINDINGS: UOT and AS were correlated moderately (ESCAPAD: r = 0.40, ado@internet.ch: r = 0.53 and C-SURF: r = 0.51). Associations of AS with comorbidity factors were higher than those of UOT in cross-sectional (AS: .005 ≤ |b| ≤ 2.500, UOT: 0.001 ≤ |b| ≤ 1.000) and longitudinal analyses (AS: 0.093 ≤ |b| ≤ 1.079, UOT: 0.020 ≤ |b| ≤ 0.329). The results were similar across gender in ESCAPAD and ado@internet.ch (men: AS: 0.006 ≤ |b| ≤ 0.211, UOT: 0.001 ≤ |b| ≤ 0.061; women: AS: 0.004 ≤ |b| ≤ 0.155, UOT: 0.001 ≤ |b| ≤ 0.094). CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of heavy use over time captures part of addictive video gaming/internet use without overlapping to a large extent with the results of measuring by self-reported addiction scales (AS). Measuring addictive video gaming/internet use via self-reported addiction scales relates more strongly to comorbidity factors than heavy use over time.