Event Reconstruction with MarlinReco at the ILC

After an overview of the modular analysis and reconstruction framework Marlin an introduction on the functionality of the Marlin-based reconstruction package MarlinReco is given. This package includes a full set of modules for event reconstruction based on the Particle Flow approach. The status of the software is reviewed and recent results using this software package for event reconstruction are presented.Comment: 6 pages, 2 .eps figures, to appear in Proc. LCWS06, Bangalore, March 200

Influence of high-dose aprotinin treatment on blood loss and coagulation patterns in open-heart surgery

Intraoperative administration of the proteinase Inhibitor aprotinin causes reduction in blood loss and homologous blood requirement in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. To ascertain the blood-saving effect of aprotinin and to obtain further information about the mode of action, 40 patients undergoing primary myocardial revascularization were randomly assigned to receive either aprotinin or placebo treatment. Aprotinin was given as a bolus of 2 X 105 kallikrein inactivator units (KIU) before surgery followed by a continuous infusion of 5 X 105 KIU/h during surgery. Additionally, 2 X 105 KIU were added to the pump prime. Strict criteria were used to obtain a homogeneous patient selection. Total blood loss was reduced from 1,431 +/- 760 ml in the control group to 738 +/- 411 ml in the aprotinin group (P < 0.05) and the homologous blood requirement from 838 +/- 963 ml to 163 +/- 308 ml (P < 0.05). In the control group, 2.3 +/- 2.2 U of homologous blood or blood products were given, and in the aprotinin group, 0.63 +/- 0.96 U were given (P < 0.05). Twenty-five percent of patients in the control group and 63% in the aprotinin group did not receive banked blood or homologous blood products. The activated clotting time as an indicator of inhibition of the contact phase of coagulation was significantly Increased before heparinization in the aprotinin group (141 +/- 13 s vs. 122 +/- 25 s) and remained significantly Increased until heparin was neutralized after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The concentration of the thrombin-antithrombin III complex was significantly decreased at the end of CPB in the aprotinin group, indicating less thrombin generation in the aprotinin-treated group. The total concentration of the fibrinogen-fibrin split products (FSP) and the split products of the cross-linked fibrin (D-dimers) were also significantly reduced due to attenuated proteolytic activities of thrombin and plasmin. The results of the fibrin plate assay revealed higher fibrinolytic activity during CPB in the control group. The results demonstrate the beneficial effect of high-dose aprotinin treatment on blood loss and homologous blood requirement. This effect can be attributed to the inhibition of the contact phase of coagulation and the consequently reduced thrombotic and fibrionolytic activity during and after CPB

Mycophenolate mofetil as second line immunosuppressant in myasthenia gravis - a long-term prospective open-label study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The preferred immunosuppressive drug for long term treatment of myasthenia gravis (MG) is azathioprine (AZA). Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was suggested as an effective and safe second line alternative to AZA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective open-label study, 11 patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AchR-ab) positive MG (n = 4 ocular MG, n = 7 generalized MG) were treated with MMF which replaced AZA. Reasons for the change of immunosuppressant therapy were side effects (n = 9) or unresponsiveness under AZA (n = 3).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean duration of MMF treatment was 16.9 months (6-46 months). During MMF treatment AZA side effects resolved in 8/9 patients, concomitant therapy could be discontinued in 4 patients and reduced in 5 patients, and 5 patients remitted and 3 remained in remission. One MMF-refractory patient required add-on IVIG therapy and another with ocular MG showed signs of generalization after 20 months of MG treatment. One patient was diagnosed with bronchial carcinoma after 10 months of MMF treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Due to its favourable spectrum of side effects compared to AZA MMF might serve as a second-line immunosuppressant in those MG patients who have not tolerated AZA.</p

Mediators and Cytokines in Persistent Allergic Rhinitis and Nonallergic Rhinitis with Eosinophilia Syndrome

Background: Patients with nonallergic rhinitis with eosinophilia syndrome (NARES) show typical symptoms of persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR). The aim of the present study was to compare nasal cytokine patterns between NARES and PAR. Methods: Nasal secretions of 31 patients suffering from NARES, 20 patients with PAR to house dust mite and 21 healthy controls were collected using the cotton wool method and analyzed for interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta (MIP-1 beta) by Bio-Plex Cytokine Assay as well as eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and tryptase by UniCAP-FEIA. Results: NARES and PAR presented elevated levels of tryptase, while ECP was markedly increased solely in NARES compared to both the controls and PAR. Elevated levels of IL-1 beta, IL-17, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and MCP-1 were found in NARES compared to the controls as well as PAR. MIP-1 beta was elevated in NARES and PAR, while IL-4, IL-6 and G-CSF showed increased levels in NARES, and IL-5 was elevated in PAR only. Conclusions: In patients with NARES and PAR, eosinophils and mast cells appear to be the pivotal cells of inflammation, reflected by high levels of tryptase and ECP as well as IL-5 and GM-CSF as factors for eosinophil migration and survival. The elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in NARES may indicate the chronic, self-perpetuating process of inflammation in NARES which seems to be more pronounced than in PAR. IL-17 might be a factor for neutrophilic infiltration or be responsible for remodeling processes in NARES. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Stochastic analysis of different rough surfaces

This paper shows in detail the application of a new stochastic approach for the characterization of surface height profiles, which is based on the theory of Markov processes. With this analysis we achieve a characterization of the scale dependent complexity of surface roughness by means of a Fokker-Planck or Langevin equation, providing the complete stochastic information of multiscale joint probabilities. The method is applied to several surfaces with different properties, for the purpose of showing the utility of this method in more details. In particular we show the evidence of Markov properties, and we estimate the parameters of the Fokker-Planck equation by pure, parameter-free data analysis. The resulting Fokker-Planck equations are verified by numerical reconstruction of conditional probability density functions. The results are compared with those from the analysis of multi-affine and extended multi-affine scaling properties which is often used for surface topographies. The different surface structures analysed here show in details advantages and disadvantages of these methods.Comment: Minor text changes to be identical with the published versio

Modus Vivendi Beyond the Social Contract: Peace, Justice, and Survival in Realist Political Theory

This essay examines the promise of the notion of modus vivendi for realist political theory. I interpret recent theories of modus vivendi as affirming the priority of peace over justice, and explore several ways of making sense of this idea. I proceed to identify two key problems for modus vivendi theory, so conceived. Normatively speaking, it remains unclear how this approach can sustain a realist critique of Rawlsian theorizing about justice while avoiding a Hobbesian endorsement of absolutism. And conceptually, the theory remains wedded to a key feature of social contract theory: political order is conceived as based on agreement. This construes the horizontal tensions among individual or group agents in society as prior to the vertical, authoritative relations between authorities and their subjects. Political authority thereby appears from the start as a solution to societal conflict, rather than a problem in itself. I argue that this way of framing the issue abstracts from political experience. Instead I attempt to rethink the notion of modus vivendi from within the lived experience of political conflict, as oriented not primarily toward peace, but political survival. With this shift of perspective, the idea of modus vivendi shows us, pace Bernard Williams, that the “first political question” is not how to achieve order and stability, but rather: what can I live with

Om Udfaldet af Roedyrkningen i 1858, sammenlignet med de foregaaende Aars.

Om Udfaldet af Roedyrkningen i 1858, sammenlignet med de foregaaende Aars

Multifractal detrending moving average cross-correlation analysis

There are a number of situations in which several signals are simultaneously recorded in complex systems, which exhibit long-term power-law cross-correlations. The multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (MF-DCCA) approaches can be used to quantify such cross-correlations, such as the MF-DCCA based on detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-X-DFA) method. We develop in this work a class of MF-DCCA algorithms based on the detrending moving average analysis, called MF-X-DMA. The performances of the MF-X-DMA algorithms are compared with the MF-X-DFA method by extensive numerical experiments on pairs of time series generated from bivariate fractional Brownian motions, two-component autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average processes and binomial measures, which have theoretical expressions of the multifractal nature. In all cases, the scaling exponents $h_{xy}$ extracted from the MF-X-DMA and MF-X-DFA algorithms are very close to the theoretical values. For bivariate fractional Brownian motions, the scaling exponent of the cross-correlation is independent of the cross-correlation coefficient between two time series and the MF-X-DFA and centered MF-X-DMA algorithms have comparative performance, which outperform the forward and backward MF-X-DMA algorithms. We apply these algorithms to the return time series of two stock market indexes and to their volatilities. For the returns, the centered MF-X-DMA algorithm gives the best estimates of $h_{xy}(q)$ since its $h_{xy}(2)$ is closest to 0.5 as expected, and the MF-X-DFA algorithm has the second best performance. For the volatilities, the forward and backward MF-X-DMA algorithms give similar results, while the centered MF-X-DMA and the MF-X-DFA algorithms fails to extract rational multifractal nature.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 2 matlab codes for MF-X-DMA and MF-X-DF