The 1999 Heineman Prize Address- Integrable models in statistical mechanics: The hidden field with unsolved problems

In the past 30 years there have been extensive discoveries in the theory of integrable statistical mechanical models including the discovery of non-linear differential equations for Ising model correlation functions, the theory of random impurities, level crossing transitions in the chiral Potts model and the use of Rogers-Ramanujan identities to generalize our concepts of Bose/Fermi statistics. Each of these advances has led to the further discovery of major unsolved problems of great mathematical and physical interest. I will here discuss the mathematical advances, the physical insights and extraordinary lack of visibility of this field of physics.Comment: Text of the 1999 Heineman Prize address given March 24 at the Centenial Meeting of the American Physical Society in Atlanta 20 pages in latex, references added and typos correcte

Should I stay or should I go? Impacts of people on predators living in a human-dominated landscape

In many of the world’s natural areas, humans now play, work, or live alongside wildlife with measurable effects on their physiology, behavior, and ecology. In particular, there is growing evidence of human-induced changes in the energetics, movement, and space use of many wildlife species, including large bodied predators, suggesting that fear of humans is a common phenomenon. For large carnivores, movement can be energetically expensive such that slight variations in the physical landscape can have profound impacts on the energy cost of movement. Large carnivores also face significant mortality risk from the human “super predator”, and resulting fear-based changes in space use may exert energetic costs by affecting how, where, and to what extent carnivores move when in proximity to humans.In this dissertation, I integrate these two factors to understand how competing demands around energy and risk shape the behavior and spatial ecology of free-ranging pumas (Puma concolor). In particular, I quantify the joint effect of the physical and risk landscapes on the fine-scale movement of pumas and evaluate whether short-term costs drive landscape-level patterns of space use. I also examine whether pumas optimize energy economy when traveling on challenging terrain and the degree to which they cope with increased movement costs near humans. Results show that the combination of the physical and risk landscapes drives short-term movement costs for pumas, and that short-term costs, particularly those stemming from human-induced risk, scale up to influence long-term space use at the landscape scale. Further, pumas use energetically efficient movement pathways where possible, however, in areas of increasing risk from humans they adopt energetically sub-optimal paths characterized by high energy but low efficiency movement behavior. This pattern reflects a trade-off between risk avoidance and the energy costs of movement that results in a constriction of overall space use for individuals experiencing consistently high movement costs. These findings demonstrates that, along with physical terrain, predation risk plays a primary role in shaping an animal’s “energy landscape” and suggests that fear of humans may be a major factor affecting wildlife movements worldwide.In addition, I evaluate the concurrent effects of the human footprint (development) and presence (activity) on wildlife behavior as well as model where and when the immediate presence of people, and thus disturbance, is likely to be greatest outside developed areas. Results demonstrate that, for many species, human presence and human footprint are not equivalent in their impacts on wildlife habitat use and behavior, with these two forms of anthropogenic disturbance in many cases having opposing effects on occupancy and/or activity. In particular, several carnivores, including pumas, avoided developed areas but were more likely to occupy sites with high human presence (potentially due to increased access to trails) by increasing nocturnality. By contrast, synanthropic species were more likely to occupy sites with higher building density, consistent with use of anthropogenic resources, but were substantially less detectable in areas with high human presence. Further, I found that human presence beyond developed areas to be extensive and concentrated in protected areas suggesting human impacts on wildlife may be more widespread in the region than anticipated. Given the prevalence of development and human activity in wildlands, complete avoidance of people is likely impossible for many species in the region and thus negative impacts on wildlife from human disturbance is likely high. The research presented in this dissertation provides an important extension of recent attempts to quantify the effects of the landscape on animal movement costs by highlighting that, without accounting for predation risk, “energetic landscapes” may overlook much of the energetic cost of navigating complex environments, especially those dominated by humans. In addition, human activity is increasing in most natural ecosystems, and this work underscores the need to rigorously quantify human activity and clarify its effects on wildlife behavior in landscapes where presence of people is widespread

The location of international practices: what is human rights practice?

This article opens up space to challenge state-centrism about human rights practice. To do so, it presents and critically assesses four methods that can be used to determine who and/or what counts as a part of any international practice: the agreement method, which locates a practice by referring to speech acts that define it; the contextual method, which locates a practice by referring to the actions, meanings, and intentions of practitioners; the value method, which locates a practice by identifying a value or principle that the practice reflects or instantiates; and the purpose method, which locates a practice by constructing an account of the sociopolitical reason(s) for a practice's existence. The purpose method, based on an interpretation of Rawls' constructivism, is developed, in a way that focuses on practitioners' judgement-based reasons to assign responsibility for human rights to any state or non-state actor

Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia

This study was to investigate the role of complementary and alternative medicine in the prevention and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. For this purpose, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed over 12 months on 47 benign prostatic hyperplasia patients with average age of 53.3 years and international prostate symptom score over 8. Subjects received either sweet potato starch (group A, placebo, 320 mg/day), pumpkin seed oil (group B, 320 mg/day), saw palmetto oil (group C, 320 mg/day) or pumpkin seed oil plus saw palmetto oil (group D, each 320 mg/day). International prostate symptom score, quality of life, serum prostate specific antigen, prostate volume and maximal urinary flow rate were measured. In groups B, C and D, the international prostate symptom score were reduced by 3 months. Quality of life score was improved after 6 months in group D, while those of groups B and C were improved after 3 months, compared to the baseline value. Serum prostate specific antigen was reduced only in group D after 3 months, but no difference was observed in prostate volume in all treatment groups. Maximal urinary flow rate were gradually improved in groups B and C, with statistical significance after 6 months in group B and after 12 months in group C. None of the parameters were significantly improved by combined treatment with pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil. From these results, it is suggested that administrations of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil are clinically safe and may be effective as complementary and alternative medicine treatments for benign prostatic hyperplasia

Initial Treatment of Men With Newly Diagnosed Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction in the Veterans Health Administration

OBJECTIVE: To examine initial treatments given to men with newly diagnosed lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) within a large integrated health care system in the United States. METHODS: We used data from 2003 to 2009 from the Veteran's Health Administration to identify newly diagnosed cases of LUTD using established ICD-9CM codes. Our primary outcome was initial LUTD treatment (3 months), categorized as watchful waiting (WW), medical therapy (MT), or surgical therapy (ST); our secondary outcome was pharmacotherapy class received. We used logistic regression models to examine patient, provider, and health system factors associated with receiving MT or ST when compared with WW. RESULTS: There were 393,901 incident cases of LUTD, of which 58.0% initially received WW, 41.8% MT, and 0.2% ST. Of the MT men, 79.8% received an alpha-blocker, 7.7% a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, 3.3% an anticholinergic, and 7.3% combined therapy (alpha-blocker and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor). In our regression models, we found that age (higher), race (white/black), income (low), region (northeast/south), comorbidities (greater), prostate-specific antigen (lower), and provider (nonurologist) were associated with an increased odds of receiving MT. We found that age (higher), race (white), income (low), region (northeast/south), initial provider (urologist), and prostate-specific antigen (higher) increased the odds of receiving ST. CONCLUSION: Most men with newly diagnosed LUTD in the Veteran's Health Administration receive WW, and initial surgical treatment is rare. A large number of men receiving MT were treated with monotherapy, despite evidence that combination therapy is potentially more effective in the long-term, suggesting opportunities for improvement in initial LUTD management within this population

Systematic review and meta-analysis of Transurethral Needle Ablation in symptomatic Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) constitutes a major clinical problem. Minimally invasive therapies for the treatment of symptomatic BPH include Transurethral Needle Ablation (TUNA), but it is unclear what impact this technique has on the disease and its role among other currently available therapeutic options. The objective of this study is to ascertain the efficacy and safety of TUNA in the treatment of BPH. METHODS: Systematic review of the literature until January 2005 and meta-analysis of clinical studies assessing TUNA in symptomatic BPH. Studies were critically appraised. Estimates of effect were calculated according to the random-effects model. RESULTS: 35 studies (9 comparative, 26 non-comparative) were included. Although evidence was limited by methodological issues, the analysis of relevant outcomes indicates that while TUNA significantly improves BPH parameters with respect to baseline, it does not reach the same level of efficacy as TURP in respect to all subjective and objective variables. Further, its efficacy declines in the long-term with a rate of secondary-treatment significantly higher than of TURP [OR: 7.44 (2.47, 22.43)]. Conversely, TUNA seems to be a relatively safe technique and shows a lower rate of complications than TURP [OR:0.14 (0.05, 0.14)] with differences being particularly noteworthy in terms of postoperative bleeding and sexual disorders. Likewise, TUNA has fewer anesthetic requirements and generates a shorter hospital stay than TURP [WMD: -1.9 days (-2.75, -1.05)]. Scarce data and lack of replication of comparisons hinder the assessment of TUNA vs. other local therapies. No comparisons with medical treatment were found. CONCLUSION: The body of evidence on which TUNA has been introduced into clinical practice is of only moderate-low quality. Available evidence suggest that TUNA is a relatively effective and safe technique that may eventually prove to have a role in selected patients with symptomatic BPH. TUNA significantly improves BPH parameters with respect to baseline values, but it does not reach the same level of efficacy and long-lasting success as TURP. On the other hand, TUNA seems to be superior to TURP in terms of associated morbidity, anesthetic requirements and length of hospital stay. With respect to the role of TUNA vis-à-vis other minimally invasive therapies, the results of this review indicate that there are insufficient data to define this with any degree of accuracy. Overall cost-effectiveness and the role of TUNA versus medical treatment need further evaluation

Does true Gleason pattern 3 merit its cancer descriptor?

Nearly five decades following its conception, the Gleason grading system remains a cornerstone in the prognostication and management of patients with prostate cancer. In the past few years, a debate has been growing whether Gleason score 3 + 3 = 6 prostate cancer is a clinically significant disease. Clinical, molecular and genetic research is addressing the question whether well characterized Gleason score 3 + 3 = 6 disease has the ability to affect the morbidity and quality of life of an individual in whom it is diagnosed. The consequences of treatment of Gleason score 3 + 3 = 6 disease are considerable; few men get through their treatments without sustaining some harm. Further modification of the classification of prostate cancer and dropping the label cancer for Gleason score 3 + 3 = 6 disease might be warranted