6,828 research outputs found
Planar waveguide with "twisted" boundary conditions: discrete spectrum
We consider a planar waveguide with combined Dirichlet and Neumann conditions
imposed in a "twisted" way. We study the discrete spectrum and describe it
dependence on the configuration of the boundary conditions. In particular, we
show that in certain cases the model can have discrete eigenvalues emerging
from the threshold of the essential spectrum. We give a criterium for their
existence and construct them as convergent holomorphic series
Single-stranded genomic architecture constrains optimal codon usage
Viral codon usage is shaped by the conflicting forces of mutational pressure and selection to match host patterns for optimal expression. We examined whether genomic architecture (single- or double-stranded DNA) influences the degree to which bacteriophage codon usage differ from their primary bacterial hosts and each other. While both correlated equally with their hosts' genomic nucleotide content, the coat genes of ssDNA phages were less well adapted than those of dsDNA phages to their hosts' codon usage profiles due to their preference for codons ending in thymine. No specific biases were detected in dsDNA phage genomes. In all nine of ten cases of codon redundancy in which a specific codon was overrepresented, ssDNA phages favored the NNT codon. A cytosine to thymine biased mutational pressure working in conjunction with strong selection against non-synonymous mutations appears be shaping codon usage bias in ssDNA viral genomes
Deformed Quantum Cohomology and (0,2) Mirror Symmetry
We compute instanton corrections to correlators in the genus-zero topological
subsector of a (0,2) supersymmetric gauged linear sigma model with target space
P1xP1, whose left-moving fermions couple to a deformation of the tangent
bundle. We then deduce the theory's chiral ring from these correlators, which
reduces in the limit of zero deformation to the (2,2) ring. Finally, we compare
our results with the computations carried out by Adams et al.[ABS04] and Katz
and Sharpe[KS06]. We find immediate agreement with the latter and an
interesting puzzle in completely matching the chiral ring of the former.Comment: AMSLatex, 30 pages, one eps figure. V4: typos corrected, final
version appearing in JHE
(0,2) Deformations of Linear Sigma Models
We study (0,2) deformations of a (2,2) supersymmetric gauged linear sigma
model for a Calabi-Yau hypersurface in a Fano toric variety. In the non-linear
sigma model these correspond to some of the holomorphic deformations of the
tangent bundle on the hypersurface. Combinatorial formulas are given for the
number of these deformations, and we show that these numbers are exchanged by
mirror symmetry in a subclass of the models.Comment: 35 pages; uses xy-fig; typos fixed, acknowledgments adde
A rigorous analysis of high order electromagnetic invisibility cloaks
There is currently a great deal of interest in the invisibility cloaks
recently proposed by Pendry et al. that are based in the transformation
approach. They obtained their results using first order transformations. In
recent papers Hendi et al. and Cai et al. considered invisibility cloaks with
high order transformations. In this paper we study high order electromagnetic
invisibility cloaks in transformation media obtained by high order
transformations from general anisotropic media. We consider the case where
there is a finite number of spherical cloaks located in different points in
space. We prove that for any incident plane wave, at any frequency, the
scattered wave is identically zero. We also consider the scattering of finite
energy wave packets. We prove that the scattering matrix is the identity, i.e.,
that for any incoming wave packet the outgoing wave packet is the same as the
incoming one. This proves that the invisibility cloaks can not be detected in
any scattering experiment with electromagnetic waves in high order
transformation media, and in particular in the first order transformation media
of Pendry et al. We also prove that the high order invisibility cloaks, as well
as the first order ones, cloak passive and active devices. The cloaked objects
completely decouple from the exterior. Actually, the cloaking outside is
independent of what is inside the cloaked objects. The electromagnetic waves
inside the cloaked objects can not leave the concealed regions and viceversa,
the electromagnetic waves outside the cloaked objects can not go inside the
concealed regions. As we prove our results for media that are obtained by
transformation from general anisotropic materials, we prove that it is possible
to cloak objects inside general crystals.Comment: The final version is now published in Journal of Physics A:
Mathematical and Theoretical, vol 41 (2008) 065207 (21 pp). Included in
IOP-Selec
Using a formative simulated patient exercise for curriculum evaluation
BACKGROUND: It is not clear that teaching specific history taking, physical examination and patient teaching techniques to medical students results in durable behavioural changes. We used a quasi-experimental design that approximated a randomized double blinded trial to examine whether a Participatory Decision-Making (PDM) educational module taught in a clerkship improves performance on a Simulated Patient Exercise (SPE) in another clerkship, and how this is influenced by the time between training and assessment. METHODS: Third year medical students in an internal medicine clerkship were assessed on their use of PDM skills in an SPE conducted in the second week of the clerkship. The rotational structure of the third year clerkships formed a pseudo-randomized design where students had 1) completed the family practice clerkship containing a training module on PDM skills approximately four weeks prior to the SPE, 2) completed the family medicine clerkship and the training module approximately 12 weeks prior to the SPE or 3) had not completed the family medicine clerkship and the PDM training module at the time they were assessed via the SPE. RESULTS: Based on limited pilot data there were statistically significant differences between students who received PDM training approximately four weeks prior to the SPE and students who received training approximately 12 weeks prior to the SPE. Students who received training 12 weeks prior to the SPE performed better than those who received training four weeks prior to the SPE. In a second comparison students who received training four weeks prior to the SPE performed better than those who did not receive training but the differences narrowly missed statistical significance (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of a methodology for conducting rigorous curricular evaluations using natural experiments based on the structure of clinical rotations. In addition, it provided preliminary data suggesting targeted educational interventions can result in marked improvements in the clinical skills spontaneously exhibited by physician trainees in a setting different from which the skills were taught
Global Ethics and Nanotechnology: A Comparison of the Nanoethics Environments of the EU and China
The following article offers a brief overview of current nanotechnology policy, regulation and ethics in Europe and The People’s Republic of China with the intent of noting (dis)similarities in approach, before focusing on the involvement of the public in science and technology policy (i.e. participatory Technology Assessment). The conclusions of this article are, that (a) in terms of nanosafety as expressed through policy and regulation, China PR and the EU have similar approaches towards, and concerns about, nanotoxicity—the official debate on benefits and risks is not markedly different in the two regions; (b) that there is a similar economic drive behind both regions’ approach to nanodevelopment, the difference being the degree of public concern admitted; and (c) participation in decision-making is fundamentally different in the two regions. Thus in China PR, the focus is on the responsibility of the scientist; in the EU, it is about government accountability to the public. The formulation of a Code of Conduct for scientists in both regions (China PR’s predicted for 2012) reveals both similarity and difference in approach to nanotechnology development. This may change, since individual responsibility alone cannot guide S&T development, and as public participation is increasingly seen globally as integral to governmental decision-making
Rigidly Supersymmetric Gauge Theories on Curved Superspace
In this note we construct rigidly supersymmetric gauged sigma models and
gauge theories on certain Einstein four-manifolds, and discuss constraints on
these theories. In work elsewhere, it was recently shown that on some
nontrivial Einstein four-manifolds such as AdS, N=1 rigidly supersymmetric
sigma models are constrained to have target spaces with exact K\"ahler forms.
Similarly, in gauged sigma models and gauge theories, we find that
supersymmetry imposes constraints on Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters, which have
the effect of enforcing that K\"ahler forms on quotient spaces be exact. We
also discuss general aspects of universality classes of gauged sigma models, as
encoded by stacks, and also discuss affine bundle structures implicit in these
constructions.Comment: 23 pages; references added; more discussion added; v4: typos fixe
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