Tracking Dark Energy with the ISW effect: short and long-term predictions

We present an analysis of the constraining power of future measurements of the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect on models of the equation of state of dark energy as a function of redshift, w(z). To achieve this, we employ a new parameterization of w, which utilizes the mean value of w(z) () as an explicit parameter. This helps to separate the information contained in the estimation of the distance to the last scattering surface (from the CMB) from the information contained in the ISW effect. We then use Fisher analysis to forecast the expected uncertainties in the measured parameters from future ISW observations for two models of dark energy with very different time evolution properties. For example, we demonstrate that the cross-correlation of Planck CMB data and LSST galaxy catalogs will provide competitive constraints on w(z), compared to a SNAP-like SNe project, for models of dark energy with a rapidly changing equation of state (e.g. 'Kink' models). Our work confirms that, while SNe measurements are more suitable for constraining variations in w(z) at low redshift, the ISW effect can provide important independent constraints on w(z) at high z.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures. Added discussion, references, 2 new figures. Minor errors fixed in the calculation. The predicted ISW constraints on w(z) are slightly tighter. Matches the version accepted to PR

Optimized supernova constraints on dark energy evolution

A model-independent method to study the possible evolution of dark energy is presented. Optimal estimates of the dark energy equation of state w are obtained from current supernovae data from Riess et al. (2004) following a principal components approach. We assess the impact of varying the number of piecewise constant estimates of w using a model selection method, the Bayesian information criterion, and compare the most favored models with some parametrizations commonly used in the literature. Although data seem to prefer a cosmological constant, some models are only moderately disfavored by our selection criterion: a constant w, w linear in the scale factor, w linear in redshift and the two-parameter models introduced here. Among these, the models we find by optimization are slightly preferred. However, current data do not allow us to draw a conclusion on the possible evolution of dark energy. Interestingly, the best fits for all varying-w models exhibit a w<-1 at low redshifts.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; typos removed and reference added to match published versio

ORGAP Project – Evaluation toolbox for the evaluation of action plans for organic food and farming

The ORGAP-Project has developed an evaluation toolbox for the evaluation of the European and/or national action plans based on analysis of national action plans and expert/stakeholder consultation

Coronary collateral perfusion in patients with coronary artery disease: effect of metoprolol

Background The use of ultrathin Doppler angioplasty guidewires has made it possible to measure collateral flow quantitatively. Pharmacologic interventions have been shown to influence collateral flow and, thus, to affect myocardial ischaemia. Methods Twenty-five patients with coronary artery disease undergoing PTCA were included in the present analysis. Coronary flow velocities were measured in the ipsilateral (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} $n=25$ \end{document}) and contralateral (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} $n=6$ \end{document}; two Doppler wires) vessels during PTCA with and without i.v. adenosine (140 μg/kg.min) before and 3 min after 5 mg metoprolol i.v., respectively. The ipsilateral Doppler wire was positioned distal to the stenosis, whereas the distal end of the contralateral wire was in an angiographically normal vessel. The flow signals of the ipsilateral wire were used to calculate the collateral flow index (CFI). CFI was defined as the ratio of flow velocity during balloon inflation divided by resting flow. Results Heart rate and mean aortic pressure decreased slightly (ns) after i.v. metoprolol. The collateral flow index was 0.25±0.12 (one fourth of the resting coronary flow) during the first PTCA and 0.27±0.14 (ns versus first PTCA) during the second PTCA, but decreased with metoprolol to 0.16±0.08 (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} $p{<}0.0001$ \end{document} vs. baseline) during the third PTCA. Conclusions Coronary collateral flow increased slightly but not significantly during maximal vasodilatation with adenosine but decreased in 23 of 25 patients after i.v. metoprolol. Thus, there is a reduction in coronary collateral flow with metoprolol, probably due to an increase in coronary collateral resistance or a reduction in oxygen deman

Depression, auditory-verbal hallucinations, and delusions in patients with schizophrenia: Different patterns of association with prefrontal gray and white matter volume

Structural brain abnormalities, including decreased gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume, have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. These decrements were found to be associated with positive and negative symptoms, but affective symptoms (depression and anxiety) were poorly explored. We hypothesized that abnormalities in GM and WM volume might also be related to affective symptoms. GM and WM volumes were calculated from high-resolution T1 structural images acquired from 24 patients with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls, and the associations of positive, negative, and affective symptoms with the brain volumes that showed significant reduction in patients were investigated. Patients demonstrated GM volume reductions in the bilateral prefrontal cortex, and WM volume reductions in the right frontal and left corpus callosum. Prefrontal cortex volume was significantly and inversely associated with both auditory-verbal hallucinations and depression severity. WM volume alterations, in contrast, were related to alogia, anhedonia, and delusions. The combined impact of auditory-verbal hallucinations and depression on similar sub-regions of the prefrontal cortex suggests that depression is involved in hearing voices. Further, this adverse impact of depression on prefrontal GM volume may underlie the impairment demonstrated by these patients in cognitive tasks that rely on executive processes

Organic Action Plans. Development, implementation and evaluation. A resource manual for the organic food and farming sector

In 2004, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming was launched. Many European countries have also developed national Organic Action Plans to promote and support organic agriculture. As part of the EU funded ORGAP project (“European Action Plan of Organic Food and Farming - Development of criteria and procedures for the evaluation of the EU Action Plan for Organic Agriculture”) a toolbox to evaluate and monitor the implementation of national and European Action Plans has been developed. In order to communicate the results of this project as widely as possible, a practical manual for initiating and evaluating Organic Action Plans has been produced. This manual has been created to inspire the people, organisations and institutions involved, or with an interest, in the organic food and farming sector to engage in the initiation, review, revision and renewal of regional, national and European Organic Action Plans. The objectives of the manual are to provide: • a tool for stakeholder involvement in future Action Plan development and implementation processes at EU, national and regional level • a guide to the use of the Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET) developed through the project The manual summarises the key lessons learnt from more than 10 years experience of development, implementation and evaluation of Organic Action Plans throughout Europe. The Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET), which includes comprehensive information to support the Organic Action Plan development and evaluation process is included with the manual as a CD-ROM, and is also accessible on-line at www.orgap.org/orgapet. The ORGAP website www.orgap.org provides a further information on the project and the European and national organic action plans. Published by: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland; IFOAM EU Group, Brussels Table of contents Foreword 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 About this manual 3 1.2 Organic farming – origins, definition & principles 6 1.3 Development of organic food & farming in Europe 8 1.3.1 Organic food and farming regulation in Europe 10 1.3.2 Policy support for organic food and farming in Europe 11 2 Organic Action Plans – what are they about? 16 2.1 Why Organic Action Plans? 16 2.2 European Organic Action Plan 21 2.3 Overview of national and regional Organic Action Plans 23 3 Planning and implementing Organic Action Plans 28 3.1 Policy development 28 3.2 Defining organic sector development needs and potential 31 3.3 Defining policy goals and objectives 34 3.4 Involving stakeholders 40 3.4.1 The case for stakeholder involvement 40 3.4.2 Identifying relevant stakeholders 42 3.4.3 Participatory approaches for stakeholders involvement 44 3.5 Decision making: selecting, integrating and prioritising relevant measures 46 3.5.1 Deciding on policy instruments and action points 47 3.5.2 Priorities for action – allocating resources 50 3.6 Implementing Organic Action Plans 52 3.7 Including monitoring and evaluation of Organic Action Plans from outset 56 3.8 Managing communication 58 3.9 Development of Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 59 4 Evaluating Organic Action Plans 61 4.1 Principles of evaluation 61 4.2 Conducting an evaluation 64 4.3 Evaluating Action Plan design and implementation 70 4.3.1 Evaluating programme design and implementation processes 70 4.3.2 Evaluating programme coherence 72 4.3.3 Evaluating stakeholder involvement 74 4.4 Evaluating Action Plan effects 78 4.4.1 Developing and using indicators for evaluation 78 4.5 Overall evaluation of Organic Action Plans – judging success 85 4.6 Evaluating Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 89 5 Organic Action Plans – the Golden Rules 91 5.1 Key elements of Organic Action Plan development 91 5.2 The Golden rules for Organic Action Plan 93 References 96 Annex Detailed synopsis of ORGAPET 10

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Fluctuating asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia is related to hallucinations and thought disorganisation

Fluctuating asymmetry represents the degree to which the right and left side of the body are asymmetrical, and is a sign of developmental instability. Higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry have been observed in individuals within the schizophrenia spectrum. We aimed to explore the associations of fluctuating asymmetry with psychotic and affective symptoms in schizophrenia patients, as well as with propensity to these symptoms in non-clinical individuals. A measure of morphological fluctuating asymmetry was calculated for 39 patients with schizophrenia and 60 healthy individuals, and a range of clinical and subclinical psychiatric symptoms was assessed. Regression analyses of the fluctuating asymmetry measure were conducted within each group. In the patient cohort, fluctuating asymmetry was significantly associated with the hallucination and thought disorganisation scores. T-test comparisons revealed that the patients presenting either hallucinations or thought disorganisation were significantly more asymmetrical than were the healthy individuals, while the patients without these key symptoms were equivalent to the healthy individuals. A positive association with the anxiety score emerged in a subsample of 36 healthy participants who were rated on affective symptoms. These findings suggest that fluctuating asymmetry may be an indicator of clinical hallucinations and thought disorganisation rather than an indicator of schizophrenia disease

Cosmological stretching of perturbations on a cosmic string

We investigate the effects of cosmological expansion on the spectrum of small-scale structure on a cosmic string. We simulate the evolution of a string with two modes that differ in wavelength by one order of magnitude. Once the short mode is inside the horizon, we find that its physical amplitude remains unchanged, in spite of the fact that its comoving wavelength decreases as the longer mode enters the horizon. Thus the ratio of amplitude to wavelength for the short mode becomes larger than it would be in the absence of the long mode.Comment: 11 pages, 5 postscript figure