Publications by authors named "Nick James"

Article Synopsis
  • Clinical trials in genitourinary oncology are primarily classified as industry-sponsored trials (ISTs) led by pharmaceutical companies, or investigator-initiated trials (IITs) spearheaded by academic researchers, with both playing critical roles in advancing cancer treatment.
  • A study analyzing data from the US, Canada, France, and the UK found a total of 5,834 GU trials from 2007 to 2021, with a near-equal distribution of ISTs and IITs, though post-2017 saw a notable increase in ISTs, particularly in Canada and the UK.
  • The widening gap between ISTs and IITs is likely due to funding and resource constraints for researchers
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper develops new mathematical techniques to identify temporal shifts among a collection of US equities partitioned into a new and more detailed set of market sectors. Although conceptually related, our three analyses reveal distinct insights about financial markets, with meaningful implications for investment managers. First, we explore a variety of methods to identify nonlinear shifts in a market sector structure and describe the mathematical connection between the measure used and the captured phenomena.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • BC2001 study investigated the impact of combining chemotherapy with radiotherapy to improve survival rates in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), focusing on a 24-gene hypoxia-associated signature to identify potential treatment benefits.
  • Analysis revealed that the level of hypoxia in tumors did not significantly influence the effectiveness of chemotherapy in BC2001, and both high and low hypoxia scores experienced similar outcomes.
  • The study found that while high hypoxia scores correlated with worse invasive loco-regional control with hypofractionated radiotherapy, this effect was not observed in patients receiving conventional radiotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Despite major increases in the longevity of men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), most men still die of prostate cancer. Phase III trials assessing new therapies in mHSPC with overall survival (OS) as the primary end point will take approximately a decade to complete. We investigated whether radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) and clinical PFS (cPFS) are valid surrogates for OS in men with mHSPC and could potentially be used to expedite future phase III clinical trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Since its conception, the cryptocurrency market has been frequently described as an immature market, characterized by significant swings in volatility and occasionally described as lacking rhyme or reason. There has been great speculation as to what role it plays in a diversified portfolio. For instance, is cryptocurrency exposure an inflationary hedge or a speculative investment that follows broad market sentiment with amplified beta? We have recently explored similar questions with a clear focus on the equity market.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To compare the MRI texture profile of acetabular subchondral bone in normal, asymptomatic cam positive, and symptomatic cam-FAI hips and determine the accuracy of a machine learning model for discriminating between the three hip classes.

Methods: A case-control, retrospective study was performed including 68 subjects (19 normal, 26 asymptomatic cam, 23 symptomatic cam-FAI). Acetabular subchondral bone of unilateral hip was contoured on 1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper applies new and recently introduced approaches to study trends in gun violence in the United States. We use techniques in both the time and frequency domain to provide a more complete understanding of gun violence dynamics. We analyze gun violence incidents on a state-by-state basis as recorded by the Gun Violence Archive.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • There have been improvements in treating advanced prostate cancer, but some areas still need more research and evidence to help doctors make the best choices.
  • In 2021, experts gathered for a conference to vote on important questions about treating advanced prostate cancer, focusing on three big topics that people often disagree on.
  • The results of their votes can give helpful guidance to doctors and patients, but each person's treatment should still be based on their specific situation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper applies existing and new approaches to study trends in the performance of elite athletes over time. We study both track and field scores of men and women athletes on a yearly basis from 2001 to 2019, revealing several trends and findings. First, we perform a detailed regression study to reveal the existence of an "Olympic effect," where average performance improves during Olympic years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper compares and contrasts the spread and impact of COVID-19 in the three countries most heavily impacted by the pandemic: the United States (US), India and Brazil. All three of these countries have a federal structure, in which the individual states have largely determined the response to the pandemic. Thus, we perform an extensive analysis of the individual states of these three countries to determine patterns of similarity within each.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces new methods to track the offset between two multivariate time series on a continuous basis. We then apply this framework to COVID-19 counts on a state-by-state basis in the United States to determine the progression from cases to deaths as a function of time. Across multiple approaches, we reveal an "up-down-up" pattern in the estimated offset between reported cases and deaths as the pandemic progresses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces new methods to study behaviours among the 52 largest cryptocurrencies between 01-01-2019 and 30-06-2021. First, we explore evolutionary correlation behaviours and apply a recently proposed turning point algorithm to identify regimes in market correlation. Next, we inspect the relationship between collective dynamics and the cryptocurrency market size-revealing an inverse relationship between the size of the market and the strength of collective dynamics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Canonical nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling mediated by homo- and heterodimers of the NF-κB subunits p65 (RELA) and p50 (NFKB1) is associated with age-related pathologies and with disease progression in posttraumatic models of osteoarthritis (OA). Here, we established that NF-κB signaling in articular chondrocytes increased with age, concomitant with the onset of spontaneous OA in wild-type mice. Chondrocyte-specific expression of a constitutively active form of inhibitor of κB kinase β (IKKβ) in young adult mice accelerated the onset of the OA-like phenotype observed in aging wild-type mice, including degenerative changes in the articular cartilage, synovium, and menisci.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper investigates the relationship between the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of community activity, and the financial index performance across 20 countries. First, we analyze which countries behaved similarly in 2020 with respect to one of three multivariate time series: daily COVID-19 cases, Apple mobility data, and national equity index price. Next, we study the trajectories of all three of these attributes in conjunction to determine which exhibited greater similarity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To evaluate if machine learning (ML) of radiomic features extracted from apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and T2-weighted (T2W) MRI can predict prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis in Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2.1 category 3 lesions.

Methods: This multi-institutional review board-approved retrospective case-control study evaluated 158 men with 160 PI-RADS category 3 lesions (79 peripheral zone, 81 transition zone) diagnosed at 3-Tesla MRI with histopathology diagnosis by MRI-TRUS-guided targeted biopsy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces new methods to study the changing dynamics of COVID-19 cases and deaths among the 50 worst-affected countries throughout 2020. First, we analyse the trajectories and turning points of rolling mortality rates to understand at which times the disease was most lethal. We demonstrate five characteristic classes of mortality rate trajectories and determine structural similarity in mortality trends over time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper uses new and recently introduced methodologies to study the similarity in the dynamics and behaviours of cryptocurrencies and equities surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. We study two collections; 45 cryptocurrencies and 72 equities, both independently and in conjunction. First, we examine the evolution of cryptocurrency and equity market dynamics, with a particular focus on their change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces new methods to analyze the changing progression of COVID-19 cases to deaths in different waves of the pandemic. First, an algorithmic approach partitions each country or state's COVID-19 time series into a first wave and subsequent period. Next, offsets between case and death time series are learned for each country via a normalized inner product.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the populations and equity markets of 92 countries. We compare country-by-country equity market dynamics to cumulative COVID-19 case and death counts and new case trajectories. First, we examine the multivariate time series of cumulative cases and deaths, particularly regarding their changing structure over time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces new methods for analysing the extreme and erratic behaviour of time series to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on cryptocurrency market dynamics. Across 51 cryptocurrencies, we examine extreme behaviour through a study of distribution extremities, and erratic behaviour through structural breaks. First, we analyse the structure of the market as a whole and observe a reduction in self-similarity as a result of COVID-19, particularly with respect to structural breaks in variance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This paper introduces a mathematical framework for determining second surge behavior of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Within this framework, a flexible algorithmic approach selects a set of turning points for each state, computes distances between them, and determines whether each state is in (or over) a first or second surge. Then, appropriate distances between normalized time series are used to further analyze the relationships between case trajectories on a month-by-month basis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF