Loop Representations

The loop representation plays an important role in canonical quantum gravity because loop variables allow a natural treatment of the constraints. In these lectures we give an elementary introduction to (i) the relevant history of loops in knot theory and gauge theory, (ii) the loop representation of Maxwell theory, and (iii) the loop representation of canonical quantum gravity. (Based on lectures given at the 117. Heraeus Seminar, Bad Honnef, Sept. 1993)Comment: 38 pages, MPI-Ph/93-9

Self-aggression in macaques: Five case studies

Spontaneous self-aggressive behaviors were observed in five adult male rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) housed at a university facility. All were individually caged, were free of intercurrent disease, and were being utilized in ongoing research studies. The self-aggressive behaviors observed included self-biting, self-clasping, self-slapping, self-rubbing and threatening of body parts. In several cases, wounds were inflicted and medical treatment was required due to the severity of the lesions. A review of the animals' clinical histories revealed an increased level of self-aggressive behavior in four of five monkeys during such stressful or stimulating conditions as movement of the animal to a new cage, movement of animals out of the room or escape of other monkeys from their cages. The frequency with which these behaviors occurred was quantitated experimentally. The results revealed an increased level of self-aggressive behavior in two of these animals during the videotaped sessions in response to aggressive contacts with the investigator. In contrast, one monkey exhibited self-aggressive behavior both clinically and experimentally in the absence of environmental stimuli or human contact. Clinical management of self-aggressive monkeys included housing monkeys only with physically smaller primates, decreasing the level of environmental stimuli, and drug therapy. Haloperidol was used with success in one animal that exhibited severe self-aggressive behavior.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41601/1/10329_2006_Article_BF02381460.pd

Metabolic syndrome is associated with change in subclinical arterial stiffness - A community-based Taichung Community Health Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of MetS on arterial stiffness in a longitudinal study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a measurement interpreted as arterial stiffness, was measured in 1518 community-dwelling persons at baseline and re-examined within a mean follow-up period of 3 years. Multivariate linear regression with generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to examine the longitudinal relationship between MetS and its individual components and baPWV, while multivariate logistic regression with GEE was used to examine the longitudinal relationship between MetS and its individual components and the high risk group with arterial stiffness.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Subjects with MetS showed significantly greater baPWV at the end point than those without MetS, after adjusting for age, gender, education, hypertension medication and mean arterial pressure (MAP). MetS was associated with the top quartile of baPWV (the high-risk group of arterial stiffness, adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.52 [1.21-1.90]), and a significant linear trend of risk for the number of components of MetS was found (p for trend < 0.05). In further considering the individual MetS component, elevated blood pressure and fasting glucose significantly predicted a high risk of arterial stiffness (adjusted OR [95% CI] 3.72 [2.81-4.93] and 1.35 [1.08-1.68], respectively).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MetS affects the subject's progression to arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness increased as the number of MetS components increased. Management of MetS is important for preventing the progression to advanced arterial stiffness.</p

Socioeconomic inequalities in cancer survival in Scotland 1986–2000

We analysed trends in 5-year survival of the 18 commonest cancers in Scotland diagnosed between 1986 and 2000 and followed up to 2004 in each of five deprivation groups based on patients postcode of residence at diagnosis. We estimated relative survival up to 5 years after diagnosis, adjusting for the different background mortality in each deprivation group by age, sex and calendar period. We estimated trends in overall survival and in the deprivation gap in survival up to 2004. Five-year survival improved for all malignancies except bladder cancer and was associated with a widening in the deprivation gap in survival. For 25 of 30 cancer–sex combinations examined, 5-year survival was lower among more deprived patients diagnosed during 1996–2000, and the deprivation gap in survival had widened since 1986–1990 for 15 of these 25 cancers, similar to the trends seen in England and Wales

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Panic Disorder: Relationship of Anxiety and Depression Comorbidity with Treatment Outcome

Research evaluating the relationship of comorbidity to treatment outcome for panic disorder has produced mixed results. The current study examined the relationship of comorbid depression and anxiety to treatment outcome in a large-scale, multi-site clinical trial for cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for panic disorder. Comorbidity was associated with more severe panic disorder symptoms, although comorbid diagnoses were not associated with treatment response. Comorbid generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) were not associated with differential improvement on a measure of panic disorder severity, although only rates of comorbid GAD were significantly lower at posttreatment. Treatment responders showed greater reductions on measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms. These data suggest that comorbid anxiety and depression are not an impediment to treatment response, and successful treatment of panic disorder is associated with reductions of comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms. Implications for treatment specificity and conceptual understandings of comorbidity are discussed

Transcriptional Profiling of the Dose Response: A More Powerful Approach for Characterizing Drug Activities

The dose response curve is the gold standard for measuring the effect of a drug treatment, but is rarely used in genomic scale transcriptional profiling due to perceived obstacles of cost and analysis. One barrier to examining transcriptional dose responses is that existing methods for microarray data analysis can identify patterns, but provide no quantitative pharmacological information. We developed analytical methods that identify transcripts responsive to dose, calculate classical pharmacological parameters such as the EC50, and enable an in-depth analysis of coordinated dose-dependent treatment effects. The approach was applied to a transcriptional profiling study that evaluated four kinase inhibitors (imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib and PD0325901) across a six-logarithm dose range, using 12 arrays per compound. The transcript responses proved a powerful means to characterize and compare the compounds: the distribution of EC50 values for the transcriptome was linked to specific targets, dose-dependent effects on cellular processes were identified using automated pathway analysis, and a connection was seen between EC50s in standard cellular assays and transcriptional EC50s. Our approach greatly enriches the information that can be obtained from standard transcriptional profiling technology. Moreover, these methods are automated, robust to non-optimized assays, and could be applied to other sources of quantitative data