Jet photoproduction and the structure of the photon

Various jet observables in photoproduction are studied and compared to data from HERA. The feasibility of using a dijet sample for constraining the parton distributions in the photon is then studied. For the current data the experimental and theoretical uncertainties are comparable to the variation due to changing the photon parton distribution set.Comment: 20 pages including 11 figures. Latex using revtex and psfig macros. Several references added. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Heart Rate Variability Measured Early in Patients with Evolving Acute Coronary Syndrome and 1-year Outcomes of Rehospitalization and Mortality

Objective: This study sought to examine the prognostic value of heart rate variability (HRV) measurement initiated immediately after emergency department presentation for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Background: Altered HRV has been associated with adverse outcomes in heart disease, but the value of HRV measured during the earliest phases of ACS related to risk of 1-year rehospitalization and death has not been established. Methods: Twenty-four-hour Holter recordings of 279 patients with ACS were initiated within 45 minutes of emergency department arrival; recordings with �18 hours of sinus rhythm were selected for HRV analysis (number [N] �193). Time domain, frequency domain, and nonlinear HRV were examined. Survival analysis was performed. Results: During the 1-year follow-up, 94 patients were event-free, 82 were readmitted, and 17 died. HRV was altered in relation to outcomes. Predictors of rehospitalization included increased normalized high frequency power, decreased normalized low frequency power, and decreased low/high frequency ratio. Normalized high frequency �42 ms2 predicted rehospitalization while controlling for clinical variables (hazard ratio [HR] �2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] �1.4–3.8, P�0.001). Variables significantly associated with death included natural logs of total power and ultra low frequency power. A model with ultra low frequency power �8 ms2 ( HR �3.8; 95% CI �1.5–10.1; P�0.007) and troponin �0.3 ng/mL (HR �4.0; 95% CI �1.3–12.1; P�0.016) revealed that each contributed independently in predicting mortality. Nonlinear HRV variables were significant predictors of both outcomes. Conclusion: HRV measured close to the ACS onset may assist in risk stratification. HRV cut-points may provide additional, incremental prognostic information to established assessment guidelines, and may be worthy of additional study

Tradition and Prudence in Locke's Exceptions to Toleration

Why did Locke exclude Catholics and atheists from toleration? Not, I contend, because he was trapped by his context, but because his prudential approach and practica ljudgments led him to traditiona ltexts. I make this argumentfirst by outlining the connections among prudential exceptionality, practical judgments, and traditional texts. I then describe important continuities betweenc onventional English understandings of the relationship between state and religion and Locke's writings on toleration, discuss Locke's conception of rights, and illustrate his use of prudential exceptions and distinctions. I conclude by arguing that Locke's problems are relevant to assessingc ontemporary liberal discussions of tolerationa nd the separation of state and religion that lean heavily on practical justification

Prevalence and Prognostic Significance of Long QT Interval among Patients with Chest Pain: Selecting an Optimum QT Rate Correction Formula

Background: Little is known about the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients with chest pain during the acute phase of suspected cardiovascular injury. Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic significance of long QT interval among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain using an optimum QT rate correction formula. Methods: We performed secondary analysis on data obtained from the IMMEDIATE AIM trial (N, 145). Data included 24-hour 12-lead Holter electrocardiographic recordings that were stored for offline computer analysis. The QT interval was measured automatically and rate corrected using seven QTc formulas including subject specific correction. The formula with the closer to zero absolute mean QTc/RR correlation was considered the most accurate. Results: Linear and logarithmic subject specific QT rate correction outperformed other QTc formulas and resulted in the closest to zero absolute mean QTc/RR correlations (mean ± SD: 0.003 ± 0.002 and 0.017 ± 0.016, respectively). These two formulas produced adequate correction in 100% of study participants. Other formulas (Bazett’s, Fridericia’s, Framingham\u27s, and study specific) resulted in inadequate correction in 47.6 to 95.2% of study participants. Using the optimum QTc formula, linear subject specific, the prevalence of long QTc interval was 14.5%. The QTc interval did not predict mortality or hospital admission at short and long term follow-up. Only the QT/RR slope predicted mortality at 7 year follow-up (odds ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.02–3.96; p \u3c 0.05). Conclusions: Adequate QT rate correction can only be performed using subject specific correction. Long QT interval is not uncommon among patients presenting to the ED with chest pain

The Dust-to-Gas Ratio in the Small Magellanic Cloud Tail

The Tail region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was imaged using the MIPS instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the SAGE-SMC Spitzer Legacy. Diffuse infrared emission from dust was detected in all the MIPS bands. The Tail gas-to-dust ratio was measured to be 1200 +/- 350 using the MIPS observations combined with existing IRAS and HI observations. This gas-to-dust ratio is higher than the expected 500-800 from the known Tail metallicity indicating possible destruction of dust grains. Two cluster regions in the Tail were resolved into multiple sources in the MIPS observations and local gas-to-dust ratios were measured to be ~440 and ~250 suggests dust formation and/or significant amounts of ionized gas in these regions. These results support the interpretation that the SMC Tail is a tidal tail recently stripped from the SMC that includes gas, dust, and young stars.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters, in press, (version with full resolution figures at http://www.stsci.edu/~kgordon/papers/PS_files/sage-smc_taildust_v1.62.pdf

Heart Rate Variability Measurement and Clinical Depression in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: Narrative Review of Recent Literature

Aim: We aimed to explore links between heart rate variability (HRV) and clinical depression in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), through a review of recent clinical research literature. Background: Patients with ACS are at risk for both cardiac autonomic dysfunction and clinical depression. Both conditions can negatively impact the ability to recover from an acute physiological insult, such as unstable angina or myocardial infarction, increasing the risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. HRV is recognized as a reflection of autonomic function. Methods: A narrative review was undertaken to evaluate state-of-the-art clinical research, using the PubMed database, January 2013. The search terms “heart rate variability” and “depression” were used in conjunction with “acute coronary syndrome”, “unstable angina”, or “myocardial infarction” to find clinical studies published within the past 10 years related to HRV and clinical depression, in patients with an ACS episode. Studies were included if HRV measurement and depression screening were undertaken during an ACS hospitalization or within 2 months of hospital discharge. Results: Nine clinical studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies’ results indicate that there may be a relationship between abnormal HRV and clinical depression when assessed early after an ACS event, offering the possibility that these risk factors play a modest role in patient outcomes. Conclusion: While a definitive conclusion about the relevance of HRV and clinical depression measurement in ACS patients would be premature, the literature suggests that these measures may provide additional information in risk assessment. Potential avenues for further research are proposed

The Effectiveness of fMRI Data when Combined with Polygraph Data

The Integrated Zone Comparison Technique (IZCT) was utilized with computerized polygraph instrumentation and the Academy for Scientific Investigative Training’s Horizontal Scoring System ASIT PolySuite algorithm, as part of a blind study in the detection of deception. This paper represents a synergy analysis of combining fMRI only deception data with each of the three individual physiological parameters that are used in polygraph. They include the electro-dermal response (EDR), pneumo, and cardio measurements. In addition, we compared the detection accuracy analysis using each single parameter by itself. Th e fMRI score and each individual polygraph parameter score on individual subjects were averaged to establish an overall score

On religion and cultural policy: notes on the Roman Catholic Church

This paper argues that religious institutions have largely been neglected within the study of cultural policy. This is attributed to the inherently secular tendency of most modern social sciences. Despite the predominance of the ‘secularisation paradigm’, the paper notes that religion continues to promote powerful attachments and denunciations. Arguments between the ‘new atheists’, in particular, Richard Dawkins, and their opponents are discussed, as is Habermas’s conciliatory encounter with Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI). The paper then moves to a consideration of the Roman Catholic Church as an agent of cultural policy, whose overriding aim is the promotion of ‘Christian consciousness’. Discussion focuses on the contested meanings of this, with reference to (1) the deliberations of Vatican II and (2) the exercise of theological and cultural authority by the Pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). It is argued that these doctrinal disputes intersect with secular notions of social and cultural policy and warrant attention outside the specialist realm of theological discourse