Biomarkers of extracellular matrix metabolism (MMP-9 and TIMP-1) and risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and cause-specific mortality : cohort study

Objective: Turnover of the extracellular matrix in all solid organs is governed mainly by a balance between the degrading matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs). An altered extracellular matrix metabolism has been implicated in a variety of diseases. We investigated relations of serum levels of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 to mortality risk from an etiological perspective. Design: The prospective Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM) cohort, followed from 1991–1995 for up to 18.1 years. A random population-based sample of 1,082 71-year-old men, no loss to follow-up. Endpoints were all-cause (n = 628), cardiovascular (n = 230), non-cardiovascular (n = 398) and cancer mortality (n = 178), and fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction (n = 138) or stroke (n = 163). Results: Serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were associated with risk of all-cause mortality (Cox proportional hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.19; and 1.11, 1.02–1.20; respectively). TIMP-1 levels were mainly related to risks of cardiovascular mortality and stroke (HR per standard deviation 1.22, 95% CI 1.09–1.37; and 1.18, 1.04–1.35; respectively). All relations except those of TIMP-1 to stroke risk were attenuated by adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors. Relations in a subsample without cardiovascular disease or cancer were similar to those in the total sample. Conclusion: In this community-based cohort of elderly men, serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were related to mortality risk. An altered extracellular matrix metabolism may be involved in several detrimental pathways, and circulating MMP-9 or TIMP-1 levels may be relevant markers thereof.

Quantified Interference: Information Theory and Information Flow

The paper investigates which of Shannon’s measures (entropy, conditional entropy, mutual information) is the right one for the task of quantifying information flow in a programming language. We examine earlier relevant contributions from Denning, McLean and Gray and we propose and motivate a specific quantitative definition of information flow. We prove results relating equivalence relations, interference of program variables, independence of random variables and the flow of confidential information. Finally, we show how, in our setting, Shannon’s Perfect Secrecy theorem provides a sufficient condition to determine whether a program leaks confidential information.

A theory of weekly specials

Multiproduct retailers facing similar costs and serving the same public commonly announce different weekly specials. These promotional prices also seem to evolve randomly over the weeks. Here, weekly specials are viewed as the strategic outcome of an oligopolistic price competition among multiproduct retail stores facing nonconvex costs. Existence of an equilibrium in mixed strategies is proven. ldentical stores serving the same public will never charge the same price vector with probability one (cross-store price dispersion). Mixed strategies can generate random price dispersion over time in the repeated version of the mode!.

Infrared degrees of freedom of Yang-Mills theory in the Schrodinger representation

We set up a new calculational framework for the Yang-Mills vacuum transition amplitude in the Schrodinger representation. After integrating out hard-mode contributions perturbatively and performing a gauge-invariant gradient expansion of the ensuing soft-mode action, a manageable saddle-point expansion for the vacuum overlap can be formulated. In combination with the squeezed approximation to the vacuum wave functional this allows for an essentially analytical treatment of physical amplitudes. Moreover, it leads to the identification of dominant and gauge-invariant classes of gauge field orbits which play the role of gluonic infrared (IR) degrees of freedom. The latter emerge as a diverse set of saddle-point solutions and are represented by unitary matrix fields. We discuss their scale stability, the associated virial theorem and other general properties including topological quantum numbers and action bounds. We then find important saddle-point solutions (most of them solitons) explicitly and examine their physical impact. While some are related to tunneling solutions of the classical Yang-Mills equation, i.e. to instantons and merons, others appear to play unprecedented roles. A remarkable new class of IR degrees of freedom consists of Faddeev-Niemi type link and knot solutions, potentially related to glueballs.

Analog Model for Quantum Gravity Effects: Phonons in Random Fluids

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Scalar quantum field theory in disordered media

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Non-Hermitian multichannel theory of ultracold collisions modified by intense light fields tuned to the red of the trapping transition

We develop a systematic scheme to treat binary collisions between ultracold atoms in the presence of a strong laser field, tuned to the red of the trapping transition. We assume that the Rabi frequency is much less than the spacing between adjacent bound-state resonances, In this approach we neglect fine and hyperfine structures, but consider fully the three-dimensional aspects of the scattering process, up to the partial d wave. We apply the scheme to calculate the S matrix elements up to the second order in the ratio between the Rabi frequency and the laser detuning, We also obtain, fur this simplified multichannel model, the asymmetric line shapes of photoassociation spectroscopy, and the modification of the scattering length due to the light field at low, but finite, entrance kinetic energy. We emphasize that the present calculations can be generalized to treat more realistic models, and suggest how to carry out a thorough numerical comparison to this semianalytic theory. [S1050-2947(98)04902-6].

ALTERNATIVE SAMPLING STRATEGY FOR A RANDOM OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

Alternative sampling procedures are compared to the pure random search method. It is shown that the efficiency of the algorithm can be improved with respect to the expected number of steps to reach an epsilon-neighborhood of the optimal point.

Influence of pH on the incorporation and growth of Pb2CrO5 crystallites in silica matrix

Pb2CrO5 nanoparticles were embedded in an amorphous SiO2 matrix by the sol-gel process. The pH and heat treatment effects were evaluated in terms of structural, microstructural and optical properties from Pb2CrO5/SiO2 compounds. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and diffuse reflectance techniques were employed. Kubelka-Munk theory was used to calculate diffuse reflectance spectra that were compared to the experimental results. Finally, colorimetric coordinates of the Pb2CrO5/SiO2 compounds were shown and discussed. In general, an acid pH initially dissolves Pb2CrO5 nanoparticles and following heat treatment at 600 A degrees C crystallized into PbCrO4 composition with grain size around 6 nm in SiO2 matrix. No Pb2CrO5 solubilization was observed for basic pH. These nanoparticles were incorporated in silica matrix showing a variety of color ranging from yellow to orange.

Local dimension and finite time prediction in spatiotemporal chaotic systems

Predictability is related to the uncertainty in the outcome of future events during the evolution of the state of a system. The cluster weighted modeling (CWM) is interpreted as a tool to detect such an uncertainty and used it in spatially distributed systems. As such, the simple prediction algorithm in conjunction with the CWM forms a powerful set of methods to relate predictability and dimension.

Correction procedure applied to a single real transformation matrix -Untransposed three-phase transmission line cases

Clarke's matrix has been used as an eigenvector matrix for transposed three-phase transmission lines and it can be applied as a phase-mode transformation matrix for transposed cases. Considering untransposed three-phase transmission lines, Clarke's matrix is not an exact eigenvector matrix. In this case, the errors related to the diagonal elements of the Z and Y matrices can be considered negligible, if these diagonal elements are compared to the exact elements in domain mode. The mentioned comparisons are performed based on the error and frequency scan analyses. From these analyses and considering untransposed asymmetrical three-phase transmission lines, a correction procedure is determined searching for better results from the Clarke's matrix use as a phase-mode transformation matrix. Using the Clarke's matrix, the relative errors of the eigenvalue matrix elements can be considered negligible and the relative values of the off-diagonal elements are significant. Applying the corrected transformation matrices, the relative values of the off-diagonal elements are decreased. The comparisons among the results of these analyses show that the homopolar mode is more sensitive to the frequency influence than the two other modes related to three-phase lines. © 2006 IEEE.

Podolsky's electromagnetic theory on the null-plane gauge

Following the Dirac's technique for constrained systems we performed a detailed analysis of the constraint structure of Podolsky's electromagnetic theory on the null-plane coordinates. The null plane gauge condition was extended to second order theories and appropriate boundary conditions were imposed to guarantee the uniqueness of the inverse of the constraints matrix of the system. Finally, we determined the generalized Dirac brackets of the independent dynamical variables. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Two matrix-based lattice construction techniques

Let m and n be integers greater than 1. Given lattices A and B of dimensions m and n, respectively, a technique for constructing a lattice from them of dimension m+n-1 is introduced. Furthermore, if A and B possess bases satisfying certain conditions, then a second technique yields a lattice of dimension m+n-2. The relevant parameters of the new lattices are given in terms of the respective parameters of A,B, and a lattice C isometric to a sublattice of A and B. Denser sphere packings than previously known ones in dimensions 52, 68, 84, 248, 520, and 4098 are obtained. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Delineamentos ótimos para experimentos farmacocinéticos

Pós-graduação em Biometria - IBB