Compassionate capitalism: Lessons from medieval Cambridge

Idea of pursuing competitiveness while promoting the common good began as early as the medieval period, write Catherine Casson, Mark Casson, John Lee, and Katie Phillip

Symplectic Floer homology of area-preserving surface diffeomorphisms

The symplectic Floer homology HF_*(f) of a symplectomorphism f:S->S encodes data about the fixed points of f using counts of holomorphic cylinders in R x M_f, where M_f is the mapping torus of f. We give an algorithm to compute HF_*(f) for f a surface symplectomorphism in a pseudo-Anosov or reducible mapping class, completing the computation of Seidel's HF_*(h) for h any orientation-preserving mapping class.Comment: 57 pages, 4 figures. Revision for publication, with various minor corrections. Adds results on the module structure and invariance thereo

Stable Teichmueller quasigeodesics and ending laminations

We characterize which cobounded quasigeodesics in the Teichmueller space T of a closed surface are at bounded distance from a geodesic. More generally, given a cobounded lipschitz path gamma in T, we show that gamma is a quasigeodesic with finite Hausdorff distance from some geodesic if and only if the canonical hyperbolic plane bundle over gamma is a hyperbolic metric space. As an application, for complete hyperbolic 3-manifolds N with finitely generated, freely indecomposable fundamental group and with bounded geometry, we give a new construction of model geometries for the geometrically infinite ends of N, a key step in Minsky's proof of Thurston's ending lamination conjecture for such manifolds.Comment: Published in Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol7/paper2.abs.htm

Sexuality demographics and the college admissions process: Implications of asking applicants to reveal their sexual orientation

Many universities and colleges are considering if potential students should disclose their sexual orientation when filling out an application for admission. This recent trend, however, has generated a debate among administrators who work directly with LGBT students: What, they wonder, are the various positive and negative implications of quantifying sexual orientation? To address this question, this study utilized a descriptive design and looked at a national LGBT organization of educators, a non-generalizable population of approximately 700 members, in order to identify, categorize, exemplify, and describe the complex issues surrounding a sexual-orientation demographic. The methodology included a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures that were delivered through a seventeen-item, on-line questionnaire. Quantitative responses were analyzed with frequency distributions, percent distributions, disaggregation, and cross tabulations. Qualitative responses relied upon coded assessment derived from grounded theory. Descriptive statistics, for instance, showed that 90% of respondents were aware of the trend and that 41% worked at an institution that had considered adding to its application a demographic for sexual orientation. Descriptive statistics also indicated that respondents were divided among their levels of support for this trend at their own institutions and within academe in general. Coded assessment of the qualitative responses revealed numerous beneficial and detrimental concerns associated with a sexual-orientation demographic

M-Theory Phenomenology and See-Saw Mechanisms

A version of M-theory phenomenology is proposed in which the symmetry is based on the group $SO(10) \times SO(10) \times SO(10) \times U(1) \times U(1)$. Each SO(10) group acts on a single generation. The $U(1) \times U(1)$ is regarded as the hidden sector symmetry group. The supersymmetry is broken in the hidden sector by the Fayet-Iliopoulos $D$-term for each group. The $D$-term is needed also to circumvent the powerful non-renormalization theorem since the $SO(10) \times SO(10) \times SO(10)$ is broken down to the usual SO(10) by the pair condensation of certain messenger sector multiplets. The exchange of U(1) gauge bosons gives an attractive force for the pair to be created and condensed. The off-diagonal mass matrix elements among the generations in these messenger sector multiplets are the source of the flavor dynamics including the CP violation. The pair condensation of another multiplet in the messenger sector leads to the doublet-triplet splitting. The SO(10) decuplet Higgs couples only to one of the generations. The other couplings should, therefore, be calculated as higher order corrections. We present our preliminary results on the calculation of the mass matrices and the mixing angles for leptons and quarks in this model.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, Talk given at Neutrino Mass and See-Saw Mechanism, Fujihara Semina

Entrepreneurial opportunities, implicit contracts and market making for complex consumer goods

This article extends the theory of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation, outlining how under certain conditions, opportunity exploitation is dependent on market making innovations. Where adverse selection and moral hazard characterize markets, consumers are likely to withdraw regardless of product quality. In order to overcome consumer resistance, entrepreneurs must signal credible commitments. But because consumers purchase without fully specifying requirements, entrepreneurs' commitments take the partial form of implicit contracts, creating strong mutual commitments to repeated transactions. These commitments enable novel markets to function, but introduce additional costs. This article illustrates the theory with the historic case of Singer in sewing machine

Recent Advances in the Design of Electro-Optic Sensors for Minimally Destructive Microwave Field Probing

In this paper we review recent design methodologies for fully dielectric electro-optic sensors that have applications in non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of devices and materials that radiate, guide, or otherwise may be impacted by microwave fields. In many practical NDE situations, fiber-coupled-sensor configurations are preferred due to their advantages over free-space bulk sensors in terms of optical alignment, spatial resolution, and especially, a low degree of field invasiveness. We propose and review five distinct types of fiber-coupled electro-optic sensor probes. The design guidelines for each probe type and their performances in absolute electric-field measurements are compared and summarized

Molecular control of stomatal development

Plants have evolved developmental plasticity which allows the up- or down-regulation of photosynthetic and water loss capacities as new leaves emerge. This developmental plasticity enables plants to maximise fitness and to survive under differing environments. Stomata play a pivotal role in this adaptive process. These microscopic pores in the epidermis of leaves control gas exchange between the plant and its surrounding environment. Stomatal development involves regulated cell fate decisions that ensure optimal stomatal density and spacing, enabling efficient gas exchange. The cellular patterning process is regulated by a complex signalling pathway involving extracellular ligand-receptor interactions, which, in turn, modulate the activity of three master transcription factors essential for the formation of stomata. Here, we review the current understanding of the biochemical interactions between the epidermal patterning factor ligands and the ERECTA family of leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases. We discuss how this leads to activation of a kinase cascade, regulation of the bHLH transcription factor SPEECHLESS and its relatives, and ultimately alters stomatal production

Outcomes of Abdominal Total Gastrectomy for Type II and III Gastroesophageal Junction Tumors: Single Center's Experience in Korea

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes of abdominal total gastrectomy, without mediastinal lymph node dissection for type II and III gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed surgical outcomes in 67 consecutive patients with type II and III GEJ cancers that were treated by the surgical resection between 2004 and 2008. Results: Thirty (45%) patients had type II and 37 (55%) had type III tumor. Among the 65 (97%) patients with curative surgery, 21 (31%) patients underwent the extended total gastrectomy with trans-hiatal distal esophageal resection, and in 44 (66%) patients, abdominal total gastrectomy alone was done. Palliative gastrectomy was performed in two patients due to the accompanying peritoneal metastasis. The postoperative morbidity and mortality rates were 21.4 % and 1.5%, respectively. After a median follow up of 36 months, the overall 3-years was 68%, without any differences between the Siewert types or the operative approaches (transhiatal approach vs. abdominal approach alone). On the univariate analysis, the T stage, N stage and R0 resection were found to be associated with the survival, and multivariate analysis revealed that the N stage was a poor independent prognostic factor for survival. Conclusions: Type II and III GEJ cancers may successfully be treated with the abdominal total gastrectomy, without mediastinal lymph node dissection in the Korean population

Prevalence and Characteristics of Glaucoma among Korean Adults

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of glaucoma in the population of the rural Korean town, Sangju. METHODS: Residents of Sangju aged greater than 50 years old were included in this study. Participants completed an interview examining their medical and ophthalmic history Information was collected on the participants' uncorrected and best corrected vision scores, slit lamp examination results, angle width measurements using the Van Herick technique, gonioscopy if the angle width was less than 1 / 4 angle, intraocular pressure (IOP) assessed with the Goldmann applanation tonometry, optic disc examination results, and a visual field test results using frequency-doubling perimetry in cases in which glaucoma was suspected. Glaucoma was diagnosed according to the criteria described by the International Society for Geographic and Epidemiological Ophthalmology. RESULTS: 1,118 residents aged greater than 50 years were examined initially from a population of 2,984 people. Of these, 671 subjects (60%) participated in this study. The prevalence of glaucoma was determined to be 3.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-4.8). Open-angle glaucoma with low IOP was determined to be the most common form with a prevalence rate as high as 2.5% (95% CI, 1.8-3.7). Additionally, primary angle closure glaucoma was determined to have a prevalence rate of 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1-0.9). Open-angle glaucoma with low IOP accounted for 94.4% of the open-angle glaucoma cases. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of glaucoma among the population of rural Sangju was 3.4%, and open-angle glaucoma with low IOP was the most common form accounting for 94.4% of the total number of cases.ope