Efficacy and safety of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabivarin on glycemic and lipid parameters in patients with Type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group pilot study

OBJECTIVE Cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) are nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoids affecting lipid and glucose metabolism in animal models. This study set out to examine the effects of these compounds in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 62 subjects with noninsulin-treated type 2 diabetes were randomized to five treatment arms: CBD (100 mg twice daily), THCV (5 mg twice daily), 1:1 ratio of CBD and THCV (5 mg/5 mg, twice daily), 20:1 ratio of CBD and THCV (100 mg/5 mg, twice daily), or matched placebo for 13 weeks. The primary end point was a change in HDL-cholesterol concentrations from baseline. Secondary/tertiary end points included changes in glycemic control, lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, body weight, liver triglyceride content, adipose tissue distribution, appetite, markers of inflammation, markers of vascular function, gut hormones, circulating endocannabinoids, and adipokine concentrations. Safety and tolerability end points were also evaluated. RESULTS Compared with placebo, THCV significantly decreased fasting plasma glucose (estimated treatment difference [ETD] = −1.2 mmol/L; P < 0.05) and improved pancreatic β-cell function (HOMA2 β-cell function [ETD = −44.51 points; P < 0.01]), adiponectin (ETD = −5.9 × 106 pg/mL; P < 0.01), and apolipoprotein A (ETD = −6.02 μmol/L; P < 0.05), although plasma HDL was unaffected. Compared with baseline (but not placebo), CBD decreased resistin (−898 pg/ml; P < 0.05) and increased glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (21.9 pg/ml; P < 0.05). None of the combination treatments had a significant impact on end points. CBD and THCV were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS THCV could represent a new therapeutic agent in glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes

A posteriori inclusion of parton density functions in NLO QCD final-state calculations at hadron colliders: The APPLGRID Project

A method to facilitate the consistent inclusion of cross-section measurements based on complex final-states from HERA, TEVATRON and the LHC in proton parton density function (PDF) fits has been developed. This can be used to increase the sensitivity of LHC data to deviations from Standard Model predictions. The method stores perturbative coefficients of NLO QCD calculations of final-state observables measured in hadron colliders in look-up tables. This allows the posteriori inclusion of parton density functions (PDFs), and of the strong coupling, as well as the a posteriori variation of the renormalisation and factorisation scales in cross-section calculations. The main novelties in comparison to original work on the subject are the use of higher-order interpolation, which substantially improves the trade-off between accuracy and memory use, and a CPU and computer memory optimised way to construct and store the look-up table using modern software tools. It is demonstrated that a sufficient accuracy on the cross-section calculation can be achieved with reasonably small look-up table size by using the examples of jet production and electro-weak boson (Z, W) production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 14 TeV at the LHC. The use of this technique in PDF fitting is demonstrated in a PDF-fit to HERA data and simulated LHC jet cross-sections as well as in a study of the jet cross-section uncertainties at various centre-of-mass energies

Aspects of χ\chi and ψ\psi Production in Polarized Proton-Proton Collisions

Several topics of relevance to low transverse momentum $\psi$ and $\chi_{1,2}(c\overline{c})$ production in polarized proton-proton collisions are discussed. The leading ${\cal O}(\alpha_S^3)$ contributions to the low $p_T$ $\chi_1$ production cross-sections via $gg$, $qg$, and $q\overline{q}$ initial states are calculated as well as the corresponding spin-spin asymmetries. We find that $\chi_1$ production increases relative to direct $\psi$ and $\chi_2$ production, providing up to $25\%$ of the observable $e^+e^-$ pairs arising from $\psi$ decays in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 500\,GeV$. The spin-dependence of $\chi_1$ production, however, is much smaller than for either direct $\psi$ or $\chi_2$ production and so will likely be far less useful than either process in probing the polarized gluon structure function of the proton. A subset of the ${\cal O}(\alpha_S^3)$ radiative corrections to $\chi_2$ production involving initial state quarks are also performed and compared to leading order $gg \rightarrow \chi_2$ predictions.Comment: 21 pages + 5 postscript figures (included), OCIP/C-94-

Movement to opportunity? South Asian relocation in northern cities

Period of award: 01/05/99 to 01/05/02. Includes bibliographical referencesSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:3739. 0605(000238038) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo