La Maison St-Jacques, un centre d’intervention alternatif en santé mentale

La Maison St-Jacques a été fondée en 1972 pour fournir un gîte d’urgence à des jeunes. En 1975-76, les thérapeutes ont postulé que les problèmes mentaux émergeaient directement des relations sociales et de leurs contradictions. Dès lors, le but était de transformer la situation objective des jeunes adultes (18-30 ans) en intervenant individuellement et en groupe, dans leur réalité quotidienne. Huit de ces jeunes qui utilisent ces services y vivent. Il y a une variété d’activités de groupe : ménage, loisir, travail, réunion, etc. L’équipe de travail est composée de 15 employés dont le but ultime est l’autonomie sociale du jeune adulte.The Maison St-Jacques was founded in 1972 to provide emergency shelter for local youth. In 1975-1976 the therapists postulated that mental problems stem directly from social relations and their contradictions. Henceforth, their aim was to transform the objective situation of young adults (age 18 to 30) by intervening both individually and in groups, in their daily reality. Eight of the young people using the service, live in. There are a variety of group activities : household chores, recreations, work, meetings, etc. The work group is composed of 15 staff members whose ultimate goal is the social autonomy of the young adult

The Ernst Equation on a Riemann Surface

The Ernst equation is formulated on an arbitrary Riemann surface. Analytically, the problem reduces to finding solutions of the ordinary Ernst equation which are periodic along the symmetry axis. The family of (punctured) Riemann surfaces admitting a non-trivial Ernst field constitutes a ``partially discretized'' subspace of the usual moduli space. The method allows us to construct new exact solutions of Einstein's equations in vacuo with non-trivial topology, such that different ``universes'', each of which may have several black holes on its symmetry axis, are connected through necks bounded by cosmic strings. We show how the extra topological degrees of freedom may lead to an extension of the Geroch group and discuss possible applications to string theory.Comment: 22 page

214 Gene-specific effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on QT duration in the Long QT syndrome

BackgroundIn the long QT syndrome (LQTS) the clinical efficacy of beta-blocker treatment differs according to the genotype. We aimed to asses the effect of beta-blocker treatment in LQT1 and LQT2 patients.Patients and methods24-hour Holter ECG were recorded before and after beta-blocking therapy initiation in genotyped LQT1 (n=30, 8 males, mean age 21±17) and LQT2 patients (n=16, 8 males, mean age 19±15). QT duration was measured on consecutive 1-minute averaged QRS-T complexes leading to up to 1440 QT-RR pairs for each recording. Then, we computed subject- and condition-specific log/log QT/RR relationships which were used to calculate QT interval duration at RR=1000ms (QT1000=1000*).ResultsBefore treatment, coefficients were higher in LQT2 than in LQT1 patients (0.53±0.10 vs. 0.40±0.11, p<0.001) and QT1000 was longer in LQT2 than in LQT1 patients (521±38 vs. 481±39ms, p<0.01).Beta-blockers significantly prolonged the mean RR interval (RR = 827 ± 161 ms before treatment and 939±197ms on beta-blocker, p<0.0001). The coefficients were not significantly modified by beta-blockers (0.41±0.9 in LQT1 patients and 0.52±0.12 LQT2 patients). Beta-blocker treatment was associated with a prolongation of the QT1000 interval (from 481±39 to 498±43ms, p<0.01) in LQT1 patients but with a shortening in LQT2 patients (from 521±38 to 503±32ms, p<0.01).ConclusionsOur results confirm the elevated coefficient of the QT/RR relationship in LQTS patients. LQT2 patients showed higher coefficient and longer QT1000 when compared to LQT1 patients. The effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on QT1000 duration was gene-specific. Given the demonstrated efficacy of beta-blockers in LQT1 and 2 patients, our data suggest that QT1000 might be a poor predictor of outcome under anti-adrenergic therapy

An Integrable Model of Quantum Gravity

We present a new quantization scheme for $2D$ gravity coupled to an $SU(2)$ principal chiral field and a dilaton; this model represents a slightly simplified version of stationary axisymmetric quantum gravity. The analysis makes use of the separation of variables found in our previous work [1] and is based on a two-time hamiltonian approach. The quantum constraints are shown to reduce to a pair of compatible first order equations, with the dilaton playing the role of a ``clock field''. Exact solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation are constructed via the integral formula for solutions of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchiokov equations.Comment: 12 page

Two-loop finiteness of D=2 supergravity

We establish two-loop (on shell) finiteness of certain supergravity theories in two dimensions. Possible implications of this result are discussedComment: 11 page

Galerkin Method in the Gravitational Collapse: a Dynamical System Approach

We study the general dynamics of the spherically symmetric gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field. We apply the Galerkin projection method to transform a system of partial differential equations into a set of ordinary differential equations for modal coefficients, after a convenient truncation procedure, largely applied to problems of turbulence. In the present case, we have generated a finite dynamical system that reproduces the essential features of the dynamics of the gravitational collapse, even for a lower order of truncation. Each initial condition in the space of modal coefficients corresponds to a well definite spatial distribution of scalar field. Numerical experiments with the dynamical system show that depending on the strength of the scalar field packet, the formation of black-holes or the dispersion of the scalar field leaving behind flat spacetime are the two main outcomes. We also found numerical evidence that between both asymptotic states, there is a critical solution represented by a limit cycle in the modal space with period $\Delta u \approx 3.55$.Comment: 9 pages, revtex4, 10 ps figures; Phys. Rev. D, in pres

New Linear Systems for 2D Poincare Supergravities

A new linear system is constructed for Poincar\'e supergravities in two dimensions. In contrast to previous results, which were based on the conformal gauge, this linear system involves the topological world sheet degrees of freedom (the Beltrami and super-Beltrami differentials). The associated spectral parameter likewise depends on these and is itself subject to a pair of differential equations, whose integrability condition yields one of the equations of motion. These results suggest the existence of an extension of the Geroch group mixing propagating and topological degrees of freedom on the world sheet. We also develop a chiral tensor formalism for arbitrary Beltrami differentials, in which the factorization of $2d$ diffeomorphisms is always manifest.Comment: 26 pages, report DESY93-12

Classical Symmetries of Some Two-Dimensional Models

It is well-known that principal chiral models and symmetric space models in two-dimensional Minkowski space have an infinite-dimensional algebra of hidden symmetries. Because of the relevance of symmetric space models to duality symmetries in string theory, the hidden symmetries of these models are explored in some detail. The string theory application requires including coupling to gravity, supersymmetrization, and quantum effects. However, as a first step, this paper only considers classical bosonic theories in flat space-time. Even though the algebra of hidden symmetries of principal chiral models is confirmed to include a Kac--Moody algebra (or a current algebra on a circle), it is argued that a better interpretation is provided by a doubled current algebra on a semi-circle (or line segment). Neither the circle nor the semi-circle bears any apparent relationship to the physical space. For symmetric space models the line segment viewpoint is shown to be essential, and special boundary conditions need to be imposed at the ends. The algebra of hidden symmetries also includes Virasoro-like generators. For both principal chiral models and symmetric space models, the hidden symmetry stress tensor is singular at the ends of the line segment.Comment: 51 pages, minor corrections and added reference