Pregnant women with bronchial asthma benefit from progressive muscle relaxation: A randomized, prospective, controlled trial

Background: Asthma is a serious medical problem in pregnancy and is often associated with stress, anger and poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on change in blood pressure, lung parameters, heart rate, anger and health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Methods: We treated a sample of 64 pregnant women with bronchial asthma from the local population in an 8-week randomized, prospective, controlled trial. Thirty-two were selected for PMR, and 32 received a placebo intervention. The systolic blood pressure, forced expiratory volume in the first second, peak expiratory flow and heart rate were tested, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and Health Survey (SF-36) were employed. Results: According to the intend-to-treat principle, a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and a significant increase in both forced expiratory volume in the first second and peak expiratory flow were observed after PMR. The heart rate showed a significant increase in the coefficient of variation, root mean square of successive differences and high frequency ranges, in addition to a significant reduction in low and middle frequency ranges. A significant reduction on three of five State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory scales, and a significant increase on seven of eight SF-36 scales were observed. Conclusions: PMR appears to be an effective method to improve blood pressure, lung parameters and heart rate, and to decrease anger levels, thus enhancing health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Lyashko-Looijenga morphisms and submaximal factorisations of a Coxeter element

When W is a finite reflection group, the noncrossing partition lattice NCP_W of type W is a rich combinatorial object, extending the notion of noncrossing partitions of an n-gon. A formula (for which the only known proofs are case-by-case) expresses the number of multichains of a given length in NCP_W as a generalised Fuss-Catalan number, depending on the invariant degrees of W. We describe how to understand some specifications of this formula in a case-free way, using an interpretation of the chains of NCP_W as fibers of a Lyashko-Looijenga covering (LL), constructed from the geometry of the discriminant hypersurface of W. We study algebraically the map LL, describing the factorisations of its discriminant and its Jacobian. As byproducts, we generalise a formula stated by K. Saito for real reflection groups, and we deduce new enumeration formulas for certain factorisations of a Coxeter element of W.Comment: 18 pages. Version 2 : corrected typos and improved presentation. Version 3 : corrected typos, added illustrated example. To appear in Journal of Algebraic Combinatoric

Serum insulin level, disease stage, prostate specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score in prostate cancer

In the present study, we assessed the relationship of serum insulin levels and three surrogate markers of recurrence, T stage, PSA, and Gleason score, in men with localized prostate cancer. Participants in our study were found through urology and radiation oncology clinics, and all eligible patients were asked to take part. All patients were asymptomatic and had been initially diagnosed on the basis of rising PSA or abnormal physical examination. Histological confirmation of diagnosis was obtained for all subjects. Serum insulin levels were determined by chemoluminescent assay with a standard, commercially available instrument. Patients were divided into three previously defined risk groups: Low risk: PSA ⩽10, stage ⩽T2a, or Gleason grade ⩽6. Medium risk: 10 <PSA ⩽15, Gleason 7 or stage T2b. High risk: Gleason >7, tumour in seminal vesicle biopsy, PSA >15 or stage T2c or T3. One hundred and sixty-three men with prostate cancer were studied. There was a significant increase in serum insulin with risk group (P=0.003, one way anova). Tukey's multiple range test showed that the insulin levels of high risk patients were significantly higher than the insulin levels of medium and low risk patients (P=0.05) but the insulin levels of medium and low risk patients were not significantly different from one another. Multivariate linear regression, with insulin as the dependent variable, Gleason score, PSA, and T stage (T1, T2, T3) as the independent variables, was significant overall (P<0.001, r2=0.120). Increased T stage was independently correlated with increased serum insulin levels (P<0.001). Gleason score was negatively, insignificantly correlated with serum insulin level (P=0.059). The positive correlation of PSA and insulin level was not significant (P=0.097). To assure normal distribution of insulin and PSA values, the regression was repeated with log (insulin) as the dependent variable, log (PSA), T stage (T1, T2, T3), and Gleason score as independent variables. The regression was significant overall (P=0.002, r2 =0.095). Increased T stage was independently correlated with increased log (insulin level) (P=0.026). Gleason score was negatively, insignificantly correlated with log (insulin) level (P=0.728). The positive correlation of log (PSA) and log (insulin) levels was significant (P=0.010). The relationship between increased insulin level and advanced tumour stage in prostate cancer we describe here is biologically quite plausible, since insulin is a growth factor. Further studies may document whether serum insulin levels might be a useful biomarker of prostate cancer stage

Breakdown of the Mott insulator: Exact solution of an asymmetric Hubbard model

The breakdown of the Mott insulator is studied when the dissipative tunneling into the environment is introduced to the system. By exactly solving the one-dimensional asymmetric Hubbard model, we show how such a breakdown of the Mott insulator occurs. As the effect of the tunneling is increased, the Hubbard gap is monotonically decreased and finally disappears, resulting in the insulator-metal transition. We discuss the origin of this quantum phase transition in comparison with other non-Hermitian systems recently studied.Comment: 7 pages, revte

Chromatic Signals Control Proboscis Movements during Hovering Flight in the Hummingbird Hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum

Most visual systems are more sensitive to luminance than to colour signals. Animals resolve finer spatial detail and temporal changes through achromatic signals than through chromatic ones. Probably, this explains that detection of small, distant, or moving objects is typically mediated through achromatic signals. Macroglossum stellatarum are fast flying nectarivorous hawkmoths that inspect flowers with their long proboscis while hovering. They can visually control this behaviour using floral markings known as nectar guides. Here, we investigate whether this is mediated by chromatic or achromatic cues. We evaluated proboscis placement, foraging efficiency, and inspection learning of naïve moths foraging on flower models with coloured markings that offered either chromatic, achromatic or both contrasts. Hummingbird hawkmoths could use either achromatic or chromatic signals to inspect models while hovering. We identified three, apparently independent, components controlling proboscis placement: After initial contact, 1) moths directed their probing towards the yellow colour irrespectively of luminance signals, suggesting a dominant role of chromatic signals; and 2) moths tended to probe mainly on the brighter areas of models that offered only achromatic signals. 3) During the establishment of the first contact, naïve moths showed a tendency to direct their proboscis towards the small floral marks independent of their colour or luminance. Moths learned to find nectar faster, but their foraging efficiency depended on the flower model they foraged on. Our results imply that M. stellatarum can perceive small patterns through colour vision. We discuss how the different informational contents of chromatic and luminance signals can be significant for the control of flower inspection, and visually guided behaviours in general

Quantum critical phenomena of long-range interacting bosons in a time-dependent random potential

We study the superfluid-insulator transition of a particle-hole symmetric system of long-range interacting bosons in a time-dependent random potential in two dimensions, using the momentum-shell renormalization-group method. We find a new stable fixed point with non-zero values of the parameters representing the short- and long-range interactions and disorder when the interaction is asymptotically logarithmic. This is contrasted to the non-random case with a logarithmic interaction, where the transition is argued to be first-order, and to the $1/r$ Coulomb interaction case, where either a first-order transition or an XY-like transition is possible depending on the parameters. We propose that our model may be relevant in studying the vortex liquid-vortex glass transition of interacting vortex lines in point-disordered type-II superconductors.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Vortex Pinning and the Non-Hermitian Mott Transition

The boson Hubbard model has been extensively studied as a model of the zero temperature superfluid/insulator transition in Helium-4 on periodic substrates. It can also serve as a model for vortex lines in superconductors with a magnetic field parallel to a periodic array of columnar pins, due to a formal analogy between the vortex lines and the statistical mechanics of quantum bosons. When the magnetic field has a component perpendicular to the pins, this analogy yields a non-Hermitian boson Hubbard model. At integer filling, we find that for small transverse fields, the insulating phase is preserved, and the transverse field is exponentially screened away from the boundaries of the superconductor. At larger transverse fields, a ``superfluid'' phase of tilted, entangled vortices appears. The universality class of the transition is found to be that of vortex lines entering the Meissner phase at H_{c1}, with the additional feature that the direction of the tilted vortices at the transition bears a non-trivial relationship to the direction of the applied magnetic field. The properties of the Mott Insulator and flux liquid phases with tilt are also discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures included in text; to appear in Physical Review