Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin Use in a Case of Noncardiogenic Multifocal Perinatal Thromboembolic Stroke

A full-term neonate suffered multifocal cerebral infarctions due to multiple large vessel thrombi. Thrombophilia and cardiovascular assessments were negative, but due to the severity of the lesions and the concern for expansion of the thrombi or future embolic events, treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) was initiated. No complications from treatment were experienced. We present this severe case in order to highlight difficult management decisions for newborns with multifocal perinatal thromboembolic stroke and to stress the need for further practice guidelines and research in this area

Revisiting consistency conditions for quantum states of systems on closed timelike curves: an epistemic perspective

There has been considerable recent interest in the consequences of closed timelike curves (CTCs) for the dynamics of quantum mechanical systems. A vast majority of research into this area makes use of the dynamical equations developed by Deutsch, which were developed from a consistency condition that assumes that mixed quantum states uniquely describe the physical state of a system. We criticise this choice of consistency condition from an epistemic perspective, i.e., a perspective in which the quantum state represents a state of knowledge about a system. We demonstrate that directly applying Deutsch's condition when mixed states are treated as representing an observer's knowledge of a system can conceal time travel paradoxes from the observer, rather than resolving them. To shed further light on the appropriate dynamics for quantum systems traversing CTCs, we make use of a toy epistemic theory with a strictly classical ontology due to Spekkens and show that, in contrast to the results of Deutsch, many of the traditional paradoxical effects of time travel are present.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, comments welcome; v2 added references and clarified some points; v3 published versio

Constraints on Intervening Stellar Populations Toward the Large Magellanic Cloud

The suggestion by Zaritsky & Lin that a vertical extension of the red clump feature in color-magnitude diagrams of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is consistent with a significant population of foreground stars to the LMC that could account for the observed microlensing optical depth has been challenged by various investigators. We respond by (1) examining each of the challenges presented and (2) presenting new photometric and spectroscopic data. We conclude that although the CMD data do not mandate the existence of a foreground population, they are entirely consistent with a foreground population associated with the LMC that contributes significantly (~ 50%) to the observed microlensing optical depth. From our new data, we conclude that <~ 40% of the VRC stars are young, massive red clump stars because (1) synthetic color-magnitude diagrams created using the star formation history derived indepdently from HST data suggest that < 50% of the VRC stars are young, massive red clump stars, (2) the angular distribution of the VRC stars is more uniform than that of the young (age < 1 Gyr) main sequence stars, and (3) the velocity dispersion of the VRC stars in the region of the LMC examined by ZL is inconsistent with the expectation for a young disk population. Each of these arguments is predicated on assumptions and the conclusions are uncertain. Therefore, an exact determination of the contribution to the microlensing optical depth by the various hypothesized foreground populations, and the subsequent conclusions regarding the existence of halo MACHOs, requires a detailed knowledge of many complex astrophysical issues, such as the IMF, star formation history, and post-main sequence stellar evolution. (abridged)Comment: Scheduled for publication in AJ in May 199

The Structure of the Non-SUSY Baryonic Branch of Klebanov-Strassler

We study the two-dimensional space of supergravity solutions corresponding to non-supersymmetric deformations of the baryonic branch of Klebanov-Strassler. By combining analytical methods with a numerical survey of the parameter space, we find that this solution space includes as limits the softly-broken N=1 solutions of Gubser et al. and those of Dymarsky and Kuperstein. We also identify a one-dimensional family of solutions corresponding to a natural non-supersymmetric generalisation of Klebanov-Strassler, and one corresponding to the limit in which supersymmetry is completely absent, even in the far UV. For almost all of the parameter space we find indications that much of the structure of the supersymmetric baryonic branch survives.Comment: 29 pages plus appendices, 11 figure

Super-conservative interpretation of muon g-2 results applied to supersymmetry

The recent developments in theory and experiment related to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon are applied to supersymmetry. We follow a very cautious course, demanding that the supersymmetric contributions fit within five standard deviations of the difference between experiment and the standard model prediction. Arbitrarily small supersymmetric contributions are then allowed, so no upper bounds on superpartner masses result. Nevertheless, non-trivial exclusions are found. We characterize the substantial region of parameter space ruled out by this analysis that has not been probed by any previous experiment. We also discuss some implications of the results for forthcoming collider experiments.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 3 fig

Plk1 Phosphorylation of Orc2 and Hbo1 Contributes to Gemcitabine Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer

Although gemcitabine is the standard chemotherapeutic drug for treatment of pancreatic cancer, almost all patients eventually develop resistance to this agent. Previous studies identified Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) as the mediator of gemcitabine resistance, but the molecular mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we show that Plk1 phosphorylation of Orc2 and Hbo1 mediates the resistance to gemcitabine. We show that the level of Plk1 expression positively correlates with gemcitabine resistance, both in pancreatic cancer cells and xenograft tumors. Overexpression of Plk1 increases gemcitabine resistance, while inhibition of Plk1 sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine treatment. To validate our findings, we show that inhibition of Plk1 sensitizes tumors to gemcitabine treatment in a mouse xenograft study. Mechanistically, we find that Plk1 phosphorylation of Orc2 maintains DNA replication on gemcitabine treatment. Furthermore, Plk1 phosphorylation of Hbo1 transcriptionally increases cFos expression and consequently elevates its target multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1), which was previously reported to confer chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Knockdown of cFos or MDR1 sensitizes gemcitabine-resistant cells to gemcitabine treatment. Finally, pancreatic cancer cells expressing Plk1-unphosphorylatable mutants of Orc2 or Hbo1 are more sensitive to gemcitabine than cells expressing wild-type Orc2 or Hbo1. In short, our study provides a mechanism for Plk1-mediated gemcitabine resistance, suggesting that Plk1 is a promising target for treatment of gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer

Public Managers, Media Influence, and Governance: Three Research Traditions Empirically Explored

Nowadays, media and media logic have become important and inherent elements in everyday practices of public administration and policy making. However, the logic of the media is often very different from, and conflicting with, the logic of political and administrative life. So the question of how public managers experience and deal with media attention is more relevant than ever. An analytical sketch of the literature on the relationship between public managers and media provides three main categories of literature (public relations, agenda, and mediatization tradition). These three categories are used to develop statements (so-called Q-sort statements) to capture the way public managers experience thei

The Non-SUSY Baryonic Branch: Soft Supersymmetry Breaking of N=1 Gauge Theories

We study a non-supersymmetric deformation of the field theory dual to the baryonic branch of Klebanov-Strassler. Using a combination of analytical (series expansions) and numerical methods we construct non-supersymmetric backgrounds that smoothly interpolate between the desired UV and IR behaviors. We calculate various observables of the field theory and propose a picture of soft breaking by gaugino masses that is consistent with the various calculations on the string side.Comment: 32 pages plus many appendixes. One figur