ABSTRACT. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that results in chronic inflammation of different organ systems. Several susceptibility loci for SLE have been suggested in different populations, but the nature of the susceptibility genes has yet to be determined. The programmed cell death 1 gene (PDCD1), the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) gene, and the methyl-CpGbinding protein 2 gene (MECP2) are considered to be the candidate genes associated with SLE. We analyzed the role of PDCD1, CTLA4, and MECP2 gene polymorphisms in Han patients suffering from SLE. Using a casecontrol study, 263 SLE patients and 263 healthy controls were collected from Chinese Northern Han people. Genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral blood leukocytes and the genotyping was performed using a polymerase chain reaction/ligase detection reaction assay. A statistically significant difference was observed in the rs2239464 and rs2075596 polymorphisms of MECP2 between SLE subjects and controls. The GG genotype in rs2239464 and the GG genotype in rs2075596 might protect against SLE. In contrast, no such association was found in the CTLA4 or PDCD1 polymorphisms. The rs2239464 and rs2075596 polymorphisms of MECP2 might play a significant role in the development of SLE in the Northern Han of China.

By using the string background field method, we explicitly calculate the one-loop threshold correction to the coupling between the space-time antisymmetric tensor field and gauge Chern-Simons term. The related correction to the four-dimensional space-time axion coupling is discussed. The effect of gravitational and antisymmetric tensor fields on the gauge coupling constant is also considered.PACS number(s): 11.17. + y, 04.50. + h, 11.30.PbThe string effective theory has an interaction between a space-time antisymmetric tensor field and Chern-Simons term [I], like that in ten-dimensional supergravity theory:where HPVu is the field strength of the antisymmetric tensor field and a labels different factors in the gauge group G = na G, . In the weak-field approximation, this gives an interaction among one antisymmetric tensor field and two gauge-boson fields. One has to deal with this interaction in extracting low-energy physics from string theory. At low energy, the coupling K, has been shown to be scale dependent [2]. The purpose of this Brief Report is to study the one-loop threshold correction to the coupling constant K, in string theory by using the background field method [3,4].The threshold correction to K, involves calculating the coefficient of the term H,,, A"Fpv in the weak-field approximation, where the field strength H,,, is given by B,, being the space-time antisymmetric tensor field. In string theory, the background field method gives the following expression for the one-loop quantum contribution to the Lagrangian density [5,3]:where q =e2ffiT and H and H are the Hamiltonian operators for the left-and right-moving strings, respectively; the "super" trace is taken over the Hilbert space of all quantum fields; the spin structure S = IsI , s 2 j , with s I (s2 )= 1 and 0 standing for Ramond and ~e v e u -~c h w a r i sectors in the 1 ( 7 ) direction of the torus, respectively; V,,, is the vertex operator with background field 4; and F is the fermion number operator.T o get the coefficient K , , we need to calculate the correlation among one antisymmetric tensor vertex and two gauge-boson vertices. The antisymmetric tensor vertex is of the form [6] and the expression for the vertex operator of background 'Electronic address: lih @spot.colorado.edu ?Electronic address: ktm @ verb.colorado.edu I gauge field A, is [3,6] where Ja's are currents in the Kac-Moody algebra, and FrUva A,,,-Av,, in the weak-field approximation; Xp's and +V' s are the space-time and fermionic coordinates, respectively. In the evaluation of the correlation function among one antisymmetric tensor vertex and two gaugeboson vertices, only the second term of Eq. (3) leads to a nonvanishing term having H,,, A"Fpv. Therefore we confine ourselves to the correlation function of the second term of Eq. (3) at gl, which is with the first and second terms of the gauge-boson vertex (4) at 6, and (3, which are, respectively, 1 ~~3~~( g~, g~)~~( g~), Vgauge = Explicit calculation shows 3663

Three patients presenting to the emergency department with inferior shoulder dislocation were reviewed with respect to their clinical and radiological features, initial management and final results. (Hong Kong j.

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