Gravitational Geons on the Brane

In this paper, we examine the possibility of static, spherically symmetric gravitational geons on a 3 dimensional brane embedded in a 4+1 dimensional space-time. We choose a specific g_tt for the brane-world space-time metric. We then calculate g_rr analytically in the weak field limit and numerically for stronger fields. We show that the induced field equations on the brane do admit gravitational geon solutions.Comment: 14 pages with 9 figures. To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Pregnancy-Related Disease Outcomes in Women With Moderate to Severe Multiple Sclerosis Disability

Importance: Understanding the association between pregnancy and clinical outcomes in women with moderate to severe multiple sclerosis (MS) disability is crucial for guiding family planning and management strategies. Objective: To assess peripregnancy relapse activity and disability progression in women with a preconception Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 3 or higher. Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter retrospective cohort study used data from the MSBase Registry, with clinical observations spanning 1984 through 2024. Study cohorts included pregnant women with MS with a preconception EDSS score of 3 or higher (range: 3-10, with higher scores indicating more severe MS-related disability) and propensity score-matched nonpregnant women with MS (controls). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were peripregnancy annualized relapse rates (ARRs) and time to 6-month confirmed disability worsening (CDW). Results: A total of 1631 women with MS were included, of whom 575 were in the pregnant cohort (median [IQR] age at pregnancy, 32.5 [29.1-36.1] years) and 1056 were in the nonpregnant cohort (median [IQR] age, 32.6 [27.5-37.2] years). The median (range) preconception EDSS score was 3.5 (3.0-7.5). Relapse activity decreased during pregnancy, with a 75% reduction in ARR during the first trimester (rate ratio [RR], 0.25; 95% CI, 0.15-0.43), and increased to 36% above preconception levels in the first 3 months post partum (RR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.06-1.75). Relapse during pregnancy was associated with a higher preconception ARR (odds ratio [OR], 1.56; 95% CI, 1.10-2.20) and preconception use of natalizumab (OR, 4.42; 95% CI, 1.24-23.57) or fingolimod (OR, 14.07; 95% CI, 2.81-91.30). Older age (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99) and continuation of disease-modifying therapy into pregnancy (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.19-1.00) were associated with reduced risk. Disease-modifying therapy reinitiation within 1 month post partum was associated with lower odds of early postpartum relapse (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.23-0.86). There was no significant difference in time to CDW between the pregnant and nonpregnant groups (hazard ratio [HR], 1.15; 95% CI, 0.96-1.38). However, ARR during pregnancy (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.13-1.65) and postpartum EDSS score higher than 4 (HR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.80-4.03) were associated with shorter time to CDW. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, women with moderate to severe MS disability exhibited a pattern of peripregnancy relapse activity similar to that reported in women with less disability. Pregnancy was not associated with worse long-term disability outcomes, although optimizing disease control in the peripregnancy period remained critical

14-18 NOW – Contemporary Arts Commissions for the First World War Centenary

14-18 NOW: Contemporary arts commissions for the First World War centenary presents a detailed look at the extensive 14-18 NOW programme, which was set up to bring a creative response to the centenary of the First World War. The richly illustrated hardback includes an introduction by Margaret MacMillan and essays by David Olusoga, Danny Boyle, Akram Khan, Helen Marriage, Charlotte Higgins, Mark Kermode, William Kentridge and Rachel Whiteread.Spread over five years, 14-18 NOW created a new way of marking major national moments through the arts, commissioning artists to create works that respond to different aspects of the war through film, visual arts, literature, dance, theatre and music. With a vast number of images from the entire season, this fully-illustrated book is a reminder of the transformative power of the arts to bring the stories of the First World War to life, through projects such as Jeremy Deller's Somme tribute We're here because we're here, Peter Jackson's colourised film They Shall Not Grow Old, and Danny Boyle's Armistice beach memorial Pages of the Sea.The 14-18 NOW programme is one of the largest public art commissions of all time, creating over 100 artworks which have been seen by more than 35 million people. Artists include Rachel Whiteread, John Akomfrah, Gillian Wearing, Peter Jackson, Danny Boyle, Vivienne Westwood, Jeremy Deller, Shobana Jeyasingh, Sir Peter Blake, Anna Meredith, William Kentridge, Akram Khan, Susan Philipsz and Yinka Shonibare CBE.Perceptions of the war have been shaped by the artists of the time, including poets, painters, photographers and film-makers – many of whom served and who reflected on the war and its effects. One hundred years later, today's artists are opening up new perspectives on the present as well as the past.</p

14-18 NOW – Contemporary Arts Commissions for the First World War Centenary

14-18 NOW: Contemporary arts commissions for the First World War centenary presents a detailed look at the extensive 14-18 NOW programme, which was set up to bring a creative response to the centenary of the First World War. The richly illustrated hardback includes an introduction by Margaret MacMillan and essays by David Olusoga, Danny Boyle, Akram Khan, Helen Marriage, Charlotte Higgins, Mark Kermode, William Kentridge and Rachel Whiteread.Spread over five years, 14-18 NOW created a new way of marking major national moments through the arts, commissioning artists to create works that respond to different aspects of the war through film, visual arts, literature, dance, theatre and music. With a vast number of images from the entire season, this fully-illustrated book is a reminder of the transformative power of the arts to bring the stories of the First World War to life, through projects such as Jeremy Deller's Somme tribute We're here because we're here, Peter Jackson's colourised film They Shall Not Grow Old, and Danny Boyle's Armistice beach memorial Pages of the Sea.The 14-18 NOW programme is one of the largest public art commissions of all time, creating over 100 artworks which have been seen by more than 35 million people. Artists include Rachel Whiteread, John Akomfrah, Gillian Wearing, Peter Jackson, Danny Boyle, Vivienne Westwood, Jeremy Deller, Shobana Jeyasingh, Sir Peter Blake, Anna Meredith, William Kentridge, Akram Khan, Susan Philipsz and Yinka Shonibare CBE.Perceptions of the war have been shaped by the artists of the time, including poets, painters, photographers and film-makers – many of whom served and who reflected on the war and its effects. One hundred years later, today's artists are opening up new perspectives on the present as well as the past.</p

Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): the effect of sex and onset phenotype

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Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): The effect of sex and onset phenotype

Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) is a widely used measure of the disability progression rate. However, the global MSSS may not be the best basis for comparison between all patient groups. Objective: We evaluated sex-specific and onset phenotype–specific MSSS matrices to determine if they were more effective than the global MSSS as a basis for comparison within these subsets. Methods: Using a large international dataset of multiple sclerosis (MS) patient records and the original MSSS algorithm, we constructed global, sex-specific and onset phenotype–specific MSSS matrices. We compared matrices using permutation analysis. Results: Our final dataset included 30,203 MS cases, with 28.9% males and 6.5% progressive-onset cases. Our global MSSS matrix did not differ from previously published data ( p &gt; 0.05). The progressive-onset-specific matrix differed significantly from the relapsing-onset-specific matrix ( p &lt; 0.001), with lower MSSS attributed to cases with the same Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) and disease duration. When evaluated with a simulation, using an onset-specific MSSS improved statistical power in mixed cohorts. There were no significant differences by sex. Conclusion: The differences in the disability accrual rate between progressive- and relapsing-onset MS have a significant effect on MSSS. An onset-specific MSSS should be used when comparing the rate of disability progression among progressive-onset cases and for mixed cohorts. </jats:sec

MSJ881994_supplementary_material – Supplemental material for Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): The effect of sex and onset phenotype

Supplemental material, MSJ881994_supplementary_material for Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): The effect of sex and onset phenotype by Yuan Zhou, Suzi B Claflin, Jim Stankovich, Ingrid van der Mei, Steve Simpson, Richard H Roxburgh, Tomas Kalincik, Leigh Blizzard, Alessandra Lugaresi, Raed Alroughani, Seyed Aidin Sajedi, Helmut Butzkueven, Eugenio Pucci, Daniele LA Spitaleri, Franco Granella, Edgardo Cristiano, Bassem Yamout, Stella Hughes, Riadh Gouider, José Luis Sánchez Menoyo, Javier Olascoaga, Chris McGuigan, Cameron Shaw, Allan G Kermode, Krisztian Kasa, Talal Al-Harbi, Ayse Altintas, Guy Laureys, Yara Fragoso, Todd A Hardy, Tunde Csepany, Carmen-Adella Sirbu, Danny Decoo, Attila Sas, Jose C Alvarez-Cermeño, Karim Kotkata, Jorge Millán-Pascual and Bruce V Taylor in Multiple Sclerosis Journal</p

MSJ881994__Appendix_2 – Supplemental material for Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): The effect of sex and onset phenotype

Supplemental material, MSJ881994__Appendix_2 for Redefining the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS): The effect of sex and onset phenotype by Yuan Zhou, Suzi B Claflin, Jim Stankovich, Ingrid van der Mei, Steve Simpson, Richard H Roxburgh, Tomas Kalincik, Leigh Blizzard, Alessandra Lugaresi, Raed Alroughani, Seyed Aidin Sajedi, Helmut Butzkueven, Eugenio Pucci, Daniele LA Spitaleri, Franco Granella, Edgardo Cristiano, Bassem Yamout, Stella Hughes, Riadh Gouider, José Luis Sánchez Menoyo, Javier Olascoaga, Chris McGuigan, Cameron Shaw, Allan G Kermode, Krisztian Kasa, Talal Al-Harbi, Ayse Altintas, Guy Laureys, Yara Fragoso, Todd A Hardy, Tunde Csepany, Carmen-Adella Sirbu, Danny Decoo, Attila Sas, Jose C Alvarez-Cermeño, Karim Kotkata, Jorge Millán-Pascual and Bruce V Taylor in Multiple Sclerosis Journal</p