Blood rheology, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease: The West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study

The West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS) showed that pravastatin reduced the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in 6,595 middle-aged hypercholesterolaemic men aged 45-64 years without prior myocardial infarction followed for an average of 4.9 years. We hypothesised prospectively (a) that baseline levels of haemorheological variables were related to baseline and incident CHD and to mortality; and (b) that reduction in lipoproteins by pravastatin would lower plasma and blood viscosity, a potential contributory mechanism to CHD events. We therefore studied plasma and blood viscosity, fibrinogen, haematocrit, and blood cell counts at baseline and 1 year. At baseline, plasma and blood viscosity were related to risk factors, CHD measures, and claudication. On univariate analysis, baseline levels of all rheological variables (except platelet count) were related to incident CHD; CHD mortality; and total mortality. On multivariate analysis including baseline CHD and risk factors, plasma and blood viscosity, haematocrit and white cell count each remained significantly associated with incident CHD; while fibrinogen remained an independent predictor of mortality (all p<0.03). After one year, lipoprotein reduction by pravastatin was associated with significant reductions (about one quarter of a standard deviation) in plasma viscosity (mean difference 0.02 mPa.s, p<0.001) and in blood viscosity (mean difference 0.06 mPa.s, p<0.001), but was not associated with significant changes in other rheological variables. We therefore suggest that pravastatin therapy, which reduces elevated lipoproteins in hypercholesterolaemic men, may lower risks of CHD and mortality partly by lowering plasma and blood viscosity. Further studies are required to test this hypothesis

Photon-added coherent states as nonlinear coherent states

The states $|\alpha,m>$, defined as ${a^{\dagger}}^{m}|\alpha>$ up to a normalization constant and $m$ is a nonnegative integer, are shown to be the eigenstates of $f(\hat{n},m)\hat{a}$ where $f(\hat{n},m)$ is a nonlinear function of the number operator $\hat{n}$. The explicit form of $f(\hat{n},m)$ is constructed. The eigenstates of this operator for negative values of $m$ are introduced. The properties of these states are discussed and compared with those of the state $|\alpha,m >$.Comment: Rev Tex file with two figures as postscript files attached. Email: [email protected]

Sheltering the Dream and Protecting the Dreamer : The Role of Place and Space in the Online Interactions of Fiction Authors and Readers

Fiction authors and readers have traditionally interacted through the mediation of a 3rd party (e.g. a publisher or agent), at events such as book signings or author readings. Held in physical spaces (e.g. bookshops or libraries), these events enable authors to discuss their book, and readers to ask them questions. In recent years, online social networking sites have introduced a new environment for direct, two-way interactions without this traditional mediation. Our understanding of how this change impacts authors and readers, and the role technology now plays as mediator, is currently limited. This paper describes a qualitative interview study held with six authors and six readers of Genre Fiction. The study revealed that neither party sees great benefit to interacting directly online - a finding partially explainable by the differences in how physical places and online spaces are structured to support their interactions. We drew on space and place research to develop an HCI perspective of the impact of this change. This paper contributes an enriched understanding of fiction author and reader interactions; in particular why they do not often interact directly - or wish to. We also demonstrate the usefulness of space and place theory in understanding the boundaries which divide author and reader

Local Magnetic Susceptibility of the Positive Muon in the Quasi 1D S=1/2 Antiferromagnet KCuF3_3

We report muon spin rotation measurements of the local magnetic susceptibility around a positive muon in the paramagnetic state of the quasi one-dimensional spin 1/2 antiferromagnet KCuF$_3$. Signals from two distinct sites are resolved which have a temperature dependent frequency shift which is different than the magnetic susceptibility. This difference is attributed to a muon induced perturbation of the spin 1/2 chain.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, The 2002 International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation and Resonance, Virginia. US

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and the prediction of primary cardiovascular events: results from 15-year follow-up of WOSCOPS

<b>Aims:</b>To test whether N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was independently associated with, and improved the prediction of, cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a primary prevention cohort. <b>Methods and results:</b> In the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), a cohort of middle-aged men with hypercholesterolaemia at a moderate risk of CVD, we related the baseline NT-proBNP (geometric mean 28 pg/mL) in 4801 men to the risk of CVD over 15 years during which 1690 experienced CVD events. Taking into account the competing risk of non-CVD death, NT-proBNP was associated with an increased risk of all CVD [HR: 1.17 (95% CI: 1.11–1.23) per standard deviation increase in log NT-proBNP] after adjustment for classical and clinical cardiovascular risk factors plus C-reactive protein. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide was more strongly related to the risk of fatal [HR: 1.34 (95% CI: 1.19–1.52)] than non-fatal CVD [HR: 1.17 (95% CI: 1.10–1.24)] (P= 0.022). The addition of NT-proBNP to traditional risk factors improved the C-index (+0.013; P < 0.001). The continuous net reclassification index improved with the addition of NT-proBNP by 19.8% (95% CI: 13.6–25.9%) compared with 9.8% (95% CI: 4.2–15.6%) with the addition of C-reactive protein. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide correctly reclassified 14.7% of events, whereas C-reactive protein correctly reclassified 3.4% of events. Results were similar in the 4128 men without evidence of angina, nitrate prescription, minor ECG abnormalities, or prior cerebrovascular disease. <b>Conclusion:</b> N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide predicts CVD events in men without clinical evidence of CHD, angina, or history of stroke, and appears related more strongly to the risk for fatal events. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide also provides moderate risk discrimination, in excess of that provided by the measurement of C-reactive protein

An infinite family of superintegrable Hamiltonians with reflection in the plane

We introduce a new infinite class of superintegrable quantum systems in the plane. Their Hamiltonians involve reflection operators. The associated Schr\"odinger equations admit separation of variables in polar coordinates and are exactly solvable. The angular part of the wave function is expressed in terms of little -1 Jacobi polynomials. The spectra exhibit "accidental" degeneracies. The superintegrability of the model is proved using the recurrence relation approach. The (higher-order) constants of motion are constructed and the structure equations of the symmetry algebra obtained.Comment: 19 page

Deformed versus undeformed cat states encoding qubit

We study the possibility of exploiting superpositions of coherent states to encode qubit. A comparison between the use of deformed and undeformed bosonic algebra is made in connection with the amplitude damping errors.Comment: 6 pages, 2 eps figures, to appear in J. Opt.