Pulmonary hemodynamics and wave reflections in adults with atrial septal defects

Using high-fidelity micromanometers and flow velocity sensors at right heart catheterization, we compared pulmonary hemodynamics and wave reflections in age-matched normal adults and those with atrial septal defects, separated into three subgroups based on levels of mean pulmonary artery pressure: low (<17 mmHg), intermediate (17–26 mmHg), high (>26 mmHg). We made baseline measurements in all groups and after intravenous sodium nitroprusside in the subgroups. All of the subgroups had higher than normal baseline pulmonary flows and corresponding power that did not differ among the subgroups. The pulmonary vascular resistance, input resistance, and characteristic impedance in the subgroups did not differ from normal. Aside from the elevated flow and power, the hemodynamics in the low subgroup did not differ from normal. The intermediate subgroup had significantly higher than normal right ventricular and pulmonary artery pressures, wave reflections, and shorter wave reflection time, which all reverted to normal after nitroprusside. The high subgroup had similar changes as the intermediate subgroup. Unlike that subgroup, however, the pressures, wave reflections, and reflection return time did not revert to normal after nitroprusside. Hence, elevated wave reflections, but not resistance or characteristic impedance, are the hallmark of pulmonary hypertension in adults with atrial septal defects. Our results demonstrate that detailed measurements of hemodynamics and assessment of responsiveness to vasodilators provide important information about the pulmonary circulation in atrial septal defect. Coupled with studies after defect closure, those results may be a better foundation than current ones for clinical decisions.

On the Haagerup and Kazhdan properties of R. Thompson’s groups

A machinery developed by the second author produces a rich family of unitary representations of the Thompson groups F, T and V. We use it to give direct proofs of two previously known results. First, we exhibit a unitary representation of V that has an almost invariant vector but no nonzero {[F,F]} -invariant vectors reproving and extending Reznikoff’s result that any intermediate subgroup between the commutator subgroup of F and V does not have Kazhdan’s property (T) (though Reznikoff proved it for subgroups of T). Second, we construct a one parameter family interpolating between the trivial and the left regular representations of V. We exhibit a net of coefficients for those representations which vanish at infinity on T and converge to 1 thus reproving that T has the Haagerup property after Farley who further proved that V has this property.

Color groups arising from index-nsubgroups of symmetry groups

One of the main goals in the study of color symmetry is to classify colorings of symmetrical objects through their color groups. The term color group is taken to mean the subgroup of the symmetry group of the uncolored symmetrical object which induces a permutation of colors in the coloring. This work looks for methods of determining the color group of a colored symmetric object. It begins with an indexnsubgroupHof the symmetry groupGof the uncolored object. It then considersH-invariant colorings of the object, so that the color groupH*will be a subgroup ofGcontainingH. In other words,H≤H*≤G. It proceeds to give necessary and sufficient conditions for the equality ofH*andG. IfH*≠Gandnis prime, thenH*=H. On the other hand, ifH*≠Gandnis not prime, methods are discussed to determine whetherH*isG,Hor some intermediate subgroup betweenHandG.

Social Classification Occurs at the Subgroup Level

Although the categorization of novel social stimuli according to general qualities of gender, age, and race is known to be automatic and primordial, categorizing stimuli into more specific social subgroups (e.g., hippies or businesswomen) is much more informative and cognitively efficient. In this paper, we show that social stimuli are more likely to be grouped into subgroups with an intermediate degree of specificity than into broad, general categories or narrow, highly specific categories. Furthermore, we show that category membership at the intermediate subgroup level predicts social judgments more efficiently than category membership at a more general or more specific level. We discuss the consequences of our results for social cognition and cognitive categorization.

A Dual View of the Clifford Theory of Characters of Finite Groups

Let G be a finite group, K a normal subgroup of G, χ an irreducible complex character of G. In the usual decomposition of χ|κ, using Clifford's theorems, G/K is seen to operate by conjugation on the irreducible characters of K and if σ is an irreducible component of χ|κ, then I(σ) the inertial group of σ, plays an essential role as an appropriate intermediate subgroup for the analysis. In this paper we consider the case where G/K is abelian and study the action of the dual group (G/K)^ (of linear characters of G/K) on the irreducible characters of G effected by multiplication. This action appears to be related in a dual way to the action of G/K on the characters of K. We define a subgroup J(χ) of G which plays a role similar to that of I (σ) and which we call the dual inertial group of χ.