An "Accidental" Symmetry Operator for the Dirac Equation in the Coulomb Potential

On the basis of the generalization of the theorem about K-odd operators (K is the Dirac's operator), certain linear combination is constructed, which appears to commute with the Dirac Hamiltonian for Coulomb field. This operator coincides with the Johnson and Lippmann operator and is intimately connected to the familiar Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector. Our approach guarantees not only derivation of Johnson-Lippmann operator, but simultaneously commutativity with the Dirac Hamiltonian follows.Comment: 6 page

A mobile theatre for Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-99).This thesis shows the possibilities of staging operas in unexpected yet accessible places. The location, no longer neutral, as most theaters try to be, becomes an important factor in each performance. It affects the development of the narrative, the relationship of the audience to the performance, and the technical requirements of the stage. Like the stage sets, musicians, and costumes that are renewed seasonally for the staging or an opera, the site and architecture constitute another, dynamic component in the creative process, while giving a new form and meaning to a familiar site. Three places in Tokyo are the site of the project: 1. an urban lot (Shibuya Ward, commercial and residential neighborhood) 2. an open riverbank (Tama River, Western Tokyo) and 3. an interior space (the glass hall lobby, Tokyo International Forum). The staging of one opera, Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande, provides the project's program.Mona V. Tamari.M.Arch

One Year Clinical Outcomes of Renal Artery Stenting: The Results of ODORI Registry

The safety, efficacy and long term clinical benefits of renal artery revascularization by stenting are still a matter of debate. The aim of our study was to define the safety and efficacy of renal artery stenting with the Tsunami peripheral stent (Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The ODORI was a prospective, multicentre registry which enrolled 251 consecutive patients, (276 renal arteries) in 36 centres across Europe. The primary endpoint was acute procedural success defined as <30% residual stenosis after stent placement. Secondary endpoints included major adverse events, blood pressure control, serum creatinine level, and target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 6 and 12 months. Patients were 70 ± 10 years old, 59% were male, 33% had diabetes, and 96% hypertension. The main indications for renal stent implantation were hypertension in 83% and renal salvage in 39%. Direct stent implantation was performed in 76% of the cases. Acute success rate was 100% with residual stenosis of 2.5 ± 5.4%. Systolic/diastolic blood pressure decreased from a mean of 171/89 at baseline to 142/78 mmHg at 6 months (p < 0.0001 vs. baseline), and 141/80 mmHg at 12 months (p < 0.0001 vs. baseline). Mean serum creatinine concentration did not change significantly in the total population. However, there was significant improvement in the highest tercile (from 283 μmol/l at baseline to 205 and 209 μmol/l at 6 and 12 months respectively). At 12-months, rates of restenosis and TLR were 6.6 and 0.8% respectively. The 12 month cumulative rate of all major clinical adverse events was 6.4% while the rate of device or procedure related events was 2.4%. In hypertensive patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis Tsunami peripheral balloon-expandable stent provides a safe revascularization strategy, with a potential beneficial impact on hypertension control and renal function in the highest risk patients

Many non-equivalent realizations of the associahedron

Hohlweg and Lange (2007) and Santos (2004, unpublished) have found two different ways of constructing exponential families of realizations of the n-dimensional associahedron with normal vectors in {0,1,-1}^n, generalizing the constructions of Loday (2004) and Chapoton-Fomin-Zelevinsky (2002). We classify the associahedra obtained by these constructions modulo linear equivalence of their normal fans and show, in particular, that the only realization that can be obtained with both methods is the Chapoton-Fomin-Zelevinsky (2002) associahedron. For the Hohlweg-Lange associahedra our classification is a priori coarser than the classification up to isometry of normal fans, by Bergeron-Hohlweg-Lange-Thomas (2009). However, both yield the same classes. As a consequence, we get that two Hohlweg-Lange associahedra have linearly equivalent normal fans if and only if they are isometric. The Santos construction, which produces an even larger family of associahedra, appears here in print for the first time. Apart of describing it in detail we relate it with the c-cluster complexes and the denominator fans in cluster algebras of type A. A third classical construction of the associahedron, as the secondary polytope of a convex n-gon (Gelfand-Kapranov-Zelevinsky, 1990), is shown to never produce a normal fan linearly equivalent to any of the other two constructions.Comment: 30 pages, 13 figure

Variants of C-C Motif Chemokine 22 (CCL22) Are Associated with Susceptibility to Atopic Dermatitis: Case-Control Studies

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease caused by multiple genetic and environmental factors. AD is characterized by the local infiltration of T helper type 2 (Th2) cells. Recent clinical studies have shown important roles of the Th2 chemokines, CCL22 and CCL17 in the pathogenesis of AD. To investigate whether polymorphisms of the CCL22 gene affect the susceptibility to AD, we conducted association studies and functional studies of the related variants. We first resequenced the CCL22 gene and found a total of 39 SNPs. We selected seven tag SNPs in the CCL22 gene, and conducted association studies using two independent Japanese populations (1st population, 916 cases and 1,032 controls; 2nd population 1,034 cases and 1,004 controls). After the association results were combined by inverse variance method, we observed a significant association at rs4359426 (meta-analysis, combined P = 9.6×10−6; OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.65–0.85). Functional analysis revealed that the risk allele of rs4359426 contributed to higher expression levels of CCL22 mRNA. We further examined the allelic differences in the binding of nuclear proteins by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The signal intensity of the DNA-protein complex derived from the G allele of rs223821, which was in absolute LD with rs4359426, was higher than that from the A allele. Although further functional analyses are needed, it is likely that related variants play a role in susceptibility to AD in a gain-of-function manner. Our findings provide a new insight into the etiology and pathogenesis of AD

Beyond African orality: digital preservation of Mandinka ʿAjamī archives of Casamance

This article focuses on the digital preservation of African sources written in Mandinka ʿAjamī, i.e. the enriched form of the Arabic script used to write the Mandinka language for centuries. ʿAjamī writing has been utilized to document intellectual traditions, histories, belief systems, and cultures of non-Arab Muslims around the world. ʿAjamī texts have played critical roles in the spread of Islam in Africa and continue to be used for both religious and non-religious writings. However, African ʿAjamī texts such as those of the Mandinka people of Casamance in southern Senegal are not well known beyond local communities. ʿAjamī texts in Mandinka and other Mande languages are among the least documented. Only a few Mande ʿAjamī texts are available to scholars. Thanks to the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), Africa’s rich written heritage in ʿAjamī and other scripts previously unavailable to academics is being preserved and made universally accessible.EAP1042 - Endangered Archives Programme, British LibraryAccepted manuscrip

Identification of Nine Novel Loci Associated with White Blood Cell Subtypes in a Japanese Population

White blood cells (WBCs) mediate immune systems and consist of various subtypes with distinct roles. Elucidation of the mechanism that regulates the counts of the WBC subtypes would provide useful insights into both the etiology of the immune system and disease pathogenesis. In this study, we report results of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a replication study for the counts of the 5 main WBC subtypes (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, basophils, and eosinophils) using 14,792 Japanese subjects enrolled in the BioBank Japan Project. We identified 12 significantly associated loci that satisfied the genome-wide significance threshold of P<5.0×10−8, of which 9 loci were novel (the CDK6 locus for the neutrophil count; the ITGA4, MLZE, STXBP6 loci, and the MHC region for the monocyte count; the SLC45A3-NUCKS1, GATA2, NAALAD2, ERG loci for the basophil count). We further evaluated associations in the identified loci using 15,600 subjects from Caucasian populations. These WBC subtype-related loci demonstrated a variety of patterns of pleiotropic associations within the WBC subtypes, or with total WBC count, platelet count, or red blood cell-related traits (n = 30,454), which suggests unique and common functional roles of these loci in the processes of hematopoiesis. This study should contribute to the understanding of the genetic backgrounds of the WBC subtypes and hematological traits