All-sky LIGO Search for Periodic Gravitational Waves in the Early S5 Data

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50--1100 Hz and with the frequency's time derivative in the range -5.0E-9 Hz/s to zero. Data from the first eight months of the fifth LIGO science run (S5) have been used in this search, which is based on a semi-coherent method (PowerFlux) of summing strain power. Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report 95% confidence-level upper limits on radiation emitted by any unknown isolated rotating neutron stars within the search range. Strain limits below 1.E-24 are obtained over a 200-Hz band, and the sensitivity improvement over previous searches increases the spatial volume sampled by an average factor of about 100 over the entire search band. For a neutron star with nominal equatorial ellipticity of 1.0E-6, the search is sensitive to distances as great as 500 pc--a range that could encompass many undiscovered neutron stars, albeit only a tiny fraction of which would likely be rotating fast enough to be accessible to LIGO. This ellipticity is at the upper range thought to be sustainable by conventional neutron stars and well below the maximum sustainable by a strange quark star.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Search for gravitational wave ringdowns from perturbed black holes in LIGO S4 data

According to general relativity a perturbed black hole will settle to a stationary configuration by the emission of gravitational radiation. Such a perturbation will occur, for example, in the coalescence of a black hole binary, following their inspiral and subsequent merger. At late times the waveform is a superposition of quasi-normal modes, which we refer to as the ringdown. The dominant mode is expected to be the fundamental mode, l=m=2. Since this is a well-known waveform, matched filtering can be implemented to search for this signal using LIGO data. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns in the fourth LIGO science run S4, during which LIGO was sensitive to the dominant mode of perturbed black holes with masses in the range of 10 Msun to 500 Msun, the regime of intermediate-mass black holes, to distances up to 300 Mpc. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns using data from S4. No gravitational wave candidates were found; we place a 90%-confidence upper limit on the rate of ringdowns from black holes with mass between 85 Msun and 390 Msun in the local universe, assuming a uniform distribution of sources, of 3.2 x 10^{-5} yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} = 1.6 x 10^{-3}yr^{-1} L_{10}^{-1}, where L_{10} is 10^{10} times the solar blue-light luminosity.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Do ABC ao Planalto: a cultura política do petismo

Este trabalho investiga a cultura política do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), do ABC ao Planalto. A chegada de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva à Presidência da República, em 2002, expôs o descompasso petista entre passado e presente. Em meio à crise enfrentada pelo partido – com dirigentes envolvidos em atos de corrupção –, proliferam interpretações que anunciam a morte do petismo, ao lado de defesas apaixonadas atestando sua vivacidade. Em ambos os casos, o ponto de chegada é o mesmo, qual seja, a conclusão de que o petismo atual não condiz com aquele de três décadas atrás, logo, em algum instante, os petistas romperam seus laços originais. Ao contrário, compreende-se aqui o petismo como uma cultura política sem cortes ou traumas. Admitindo que os historiadores pouco contribuíram até momento para clarear a questão, este estudo aplica o conceito de cultura política, valendo-se do marxismo gramsciano para concluir que o petismo não expressa propriamente uma tradição, mas um comportamento político específico, uma mudança políticocultural da sociedade “formada” durante o regime militar no Brasil. Controlada politicamente pelo arbítrio, transfigurada em sua face social tamanho o fluxo migratório aos grandes centros industriais e instigada em seu instinto egoístico pela nova dinâmica do capital, aquela sociedade passou a se organizar à margem do Estado, valendo-se, para tanto, de demandas econômicas e sociais em seus gestos de associação. O binômio crescimento-pobreza transbordou para além das estatísticas. Metalúrgicos de indústrias de ponta do capitalismo brasileiro passaram a expressar de modo visceral um comportamento social difuso e sistematizado de início pelo sindicalismo autêntico. Os movimentos grevistas de 1978-1980 foram assim expressões monográficas de uma nova...Ese trabajo busca investigar la cultura política del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT), del ABC al Planalto. La llegada de Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a la Presidencia de la República el 2002 expresó el desajuste petista entre pasado y presente. En médio a la crisis que impactó el partido – en razón del involucramiento de sus dirigentes en actos de corrupción – incontables interpretaciones fueran produzidas en las cuales se anunciava la muerte del petismo y al revés de la misma manera apacionantes defensas con vistas a certificar su vitalidad. El los dos casos el punto de llegada es el mismo, o sea, se concluye que el petismo actual no confirma aquel que se afirmó hace tres décadas, lo que significa que en su momento los petistas han roto sus vínculos con sus concepciones originales. Aqui, por el contrario, se comprende el petismo como una cultura política sin descontinuidad o traumas. Mismo con el reconocimiento de que los historiadores hasta el momento poco hicieran en el sentido de aclarar la cuestión esa investigación se utiliza del concepto de cultura política, traduzido por el marxismo gramsciano, para llegar a la conclusión que el petismo no expresa verdaderamente una tradición; más bien expresa un comportamiento político específico, un cambio político-cultural que se produjo en la sociedade bajo el influjo del regimen militar brasileño. Atrapada politicamente por el autoritarismo, desfigurada socialmente por el flujo migratório a los grandes centros industriales y fomentada en sus instintos egoísticos en razón de la nueva dinâmica del capital, la sociedad brasileña se volvió a organizarse al borde del Estado utilizando para ese movimiento las demandas econômicas y sociales en su empeño asociativo. El binómio crescimiento-pobreza traspasó las estatísticas. Obreros metalúrgicos de las industrias más avanzadas del capitalismo brasileño volveran a ... (Resumen completo clicar acceso eletronico abajo)This paper investigates the political culture of the Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT), from the ABC region to the governmental headquarters, the Planalto. The arrival of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the presidency in 2002 exposed the irregularities of his party between the past and the present. In the middle of the crisis faced by the party – with leaders being involved in corruption events – some interpretations that claimed the end of PT have risen, along with some passionate defense statements which attested its vivacity. In both cases, the final point is the same, that is, the conclusion that the current party policy doesn’t agree with the one in the past which shows that in some points the petistas (the politician from PT) had broken with its original bonds. However, the petismo (PT’s policies) is understood here as a political culture without cuts or traumas. Admitting that historians gave little contribution to clarify this issue so far, this study applies the gramscian marxism to conclude that petismo doesn’t express a tradition but a specific political behavior, a political and cultural change of the society “created” during the military regime in Brazil. Politically controlled by will, with transfigured social view due to the size of migratory flow towards the big industrial centers and instigated in its selfish instinct by new capital dynamics, that society began to be organized on the edge of the State, taking refuge with the economic and social demands in its acts of association. The binomial growth-poverty went beyond statistics. Metallurgists of Brazilian capitalistic industries began expressing a diffuse social behavior in a visceral way, systematized at first by authentic union acts. Striker movements from 1978 to 1980 were monographic expressions of a new political behavior experimented by Brazilians. PT has amplified the appropriation of ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below

Da abertura à transição: o PCB e a cultura política democrática da esquerda brasileira

Inserida num contexto de revitalização da história política, justamente por entender ser possível e viável a proposição de novos enfoques sobre o mundo das idéias políticas na historiografia contemporânea, esta dissertação de mestrado busca verificar o curso da questão democrática na esquerda brasileira; utilizando, para isso, do conceito de cultura política como chave de leitura para a interpretação desta trajetória. Concentrando-se em aspectos singulares da abertura política e transição democrática, entre meados dos anos setenta e início da década de oitenta do século passado, e entendendo, ao lado de Gramsci, que o moderno príncipe não poderia ser outro senão o partido político, o propósito de verificar o estabelecimento de uma cultura política democrática na esquerda brasileira, tendo como objeto o Partido Comunista Brasileiro, tornou-se uma necessidade. Até mesmo porque, fundado em 1922 e presente na vida política brasileira por mais de setenta anos, o PCB constituiu-se historicamente como o organismo político que, em diversos momentos, foi capaz de conferir certa homogeneidade ao discurso, à organização e à prática política da esquerda brasileira; criando, ao seu modo e a partir de seus antagonismos, uma cultura política específica, vinculada aos precursores do socialismo no país. Constatando, durante o desenvolvimento desta cultura política pecebista, o estabelecimento de duas subculturas políticas, a terceiro-internacionalista e a frentista, objetiva-se dimensionar alguns aspectos do contraditório relacionamento entre socialismo e democracia, supostamente dialético, na leitura oferecida pelos comunistas sobre a realidade brasileira e, conseqüentemente, na prática política exercida pelo partido. Analisando documentos que definiam a linha política a ser executada pelo PCB ao longo de sua trajetória,...Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (>59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30\u201350 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of 6435 or a UHDRS motor score of 645 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P <.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P <.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, 120.58; SE 0.16; P <.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P <.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P <.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (>59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30–50 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of ≤35 or a UHDRS motor score of ≤5 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P <.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P <.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, −0.58; SE 0.16; P <.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P <.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P <.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients

Reduced Cancer Incidence in Huntington's Disease: Analysis in the Registry Study

Background: People with Huntington's disease (HD) have been observed to have lower rates of cancers. Objective: To investigate the relationship between age of onset of HD, CAG repeat length, and cancer diagnosis. Methods: Data were obtained from the European Huntington's disease network REGISTRY study for 6540 subjects. Population cancer incidence was ascertained from the GLOBOCAN database to obtain standardised incidence ratios of cancers in the REGISTRY subjects. Results: 173/6528 HD REGISTRY subjects had had a cancer diagnosis. The age-standardised incidence rate of all cancers in the REGISTRY HD population was 0.26 (CI 0.22-0.30). Individual cancers showed a lower age-standardised incidence rate compared with the control population with prostate and colorectal cancers showing the lowest rates. There was no effect of CAG length on the likelihood of cancer, but a cancer diagnosis within the last year was associated with a greatly increased rate of HD onset (Hazard Ratio 18.94, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer is less common than expected in the HD population, confirming previous reports. However, this does not appear to be related to CAG length in HTT. A recent diagnosis of cancer increases the risk of HD onset at any age, likely due to increased investigation following a cancer diagnosis