Observations of comet Levy 1990c in the (OI) 6300-A line with an imaging Fabry-Perot

We have observed the comet Levy 1990c during 16-25 August 1990 using the MPAE focal reducer system based Fabry-Perot etalon coupled with the 1 meter telescope of the Observatory of Hoher List. The free spectral range and resolution limit of the interferometer was approximately 2.18 A and approximately 0.171 A respectively. Classical Fabry-Perot fringes were recorded on a CCD in the cometary (OI) 6300 A line. They are well resolved from telluric air glow and cometary NH2 emission. Our observations indicate that the (OI) is distributed asymmetrically with respect to the center of the comet. In this paper we report the spatial distribution of (OI) emission and its line width in the coma of comet Levy

Doppler velocities in the ion tail of comet Levy 1990c

We have obtained time alternating sequences of column density maps and Doppler velocity fields in the plasma tail of comet Levy 1990c. We describe the observing technique and data analysis, and we present first results

Open mirror symmetry for Pfaffian Calabi-Yau 3-folds

We investigate the open mirror symmetry of certain non-complete intersection Calabi- Yau 3-folds, so called pfaffian Calabi-Yau. We perform the prediction of the number of disk invariants of several examples by using the direct integration method proposed recently and the open mirror symmetry. We treat several pfaffian Calabi-Yau 3-folds in $\mathbb{P}^6$ and branes with two discrete vacua. Some models have the two special points in its moduli space, around both of which we can consider different A-model mirror partners. We compute disc invariants for both cases. This study is the first application of the open mirror symmetry to the compact non-complete intersections in toric variety.Comment: 64 pages; v2: typos corrected, minor changes, references added; v3: published version, minor corrections and improvement

G protein-coupled receptor-effector macromolecular membrane assemblies (GEMMAs)

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest group of receptors involved in cellular signaling across the plasma membrane and a major class of drug targets. The canonical model for GPCR signaling involves three components the GPCR, a heterotrimeric G protein and a proximal plasma membrane effector that have been generally thought to be freely mobile molecules able to interact by 'collision coupling'. Here, we synthesize evidence that supports the existence of GPCR-effector macromolecular membrane assemblies (GEMMAs) comprised of specific GPCRs, G proteins, plasma membrane effector molecules and other associated transmembrane proteins that are pre-assembled prior to receptor activation by agonists, which then leads to subsequent rearrangement of the GEMMA components. The GEMMA concept offers an alternative and complementary model to the canonical collision-coupling model, allowing more efficient interactions between specific signaling components, as well as the integration of the concept of GPCR oligomerization as well as GPCR interactions with orphan receptors, truncated GPCRs and other membrane-localized GPCR-associated proteins. Collision-coupling and pre-assembled mechanisms are not exclusive and likely both operate in the cell, providing a spectrum of signaling modalities which explains the differential properties of a multitude of GPCRs in their different cellular environments. Here, we explore the unique pharmacological characteristics of individual GEMMAs, which could provide new opportunities to therapeutically modulate GPCR signaling

The effective action of D6-branes in N=1 type IIA orientifolds

We use a Kaluza-Klein reduction to compute the low-energy effective action for the massless modes of a spacetime-filling D6-brane wrapped on a special Lagrangian 3-cycle of a type IIA Calabi-Yau orientifold. The modifications to the characteristic data of the N=1 bulk orientifold theory in the presence of a D6-brane are analysed by studying the underlying Type IIA supergravity coupled to the brane worldvolume in the democratic formulation and performing a detailed dualisation procedure. The N=1 chiral coordinates are found to be in agreement with expectations from mirror symmetry. We work out the Kahler potential for the chiral superfields as well as the gauge kinetic functions for the bulk and the brane gauge multiplets including the kinetic mixing between the two. The scalar potential resulting from the dualisation procedure can be formally interpreted in terms of a superpotential. Finally, the gauging of the Peccei-Quinn shift symmetries of the complex structure multiplets reproduces the D-term potential enforcing the calibration condition for special Lagrangian 3-cycles.Comment: 48 pages, v2: typos corrected, references adde

Optical monitoring of the z=4.40 quasar Q 2203+292

We report Cousins R-band monitoring of the high-redshift (z=4.40) radio quiet quasar Q 2203+292 from May 1999 to October 2007. The quasar shows maximum peak-to-peak light curve amplitude of ~0.3 mag during the time of our monitoring, and ~0.9 mag when combined with older literature data. The rms of a fit to the light curve with a constant is 0.08 mag and 0.2 mag, respectively. The detected changes are at ~3-sigma level. The quasar was in a stable state during the recent years and it might have undergone a brightening event in the past. The structure function analysis concluded that the object shows variability properties similar to those of the lower redshift quasars. We set a lower limit to the Q 2203+292 broad line region mass of 0.3-0.4 M_odot. Narrow-band imaging search for redshifted Ly_alpha from other emission line objects at the same redshift shows no emission line objects in the quasar vicinity.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Remarks on quiver gauge theories from open topological string theory

We study effective quiver gauge theories arising from a stack of D3-branes on certain Calabi-Yau singularities. Our point of view is a first principle approach via open topological string theory. This means that we construct the natural A-infinity-structure of open string amplitudes in the associated D-brane category. Then we show that it precisely reproduces the results of the method of brane tilings, without having to resort to any effective field theory computations. In particular, we prove a general and simple formula for effective superpotentials

Effective superpotentials for B-branes in Landau-Ginzburg models

We compute the partition function for the topological Landau-Ginzburg B-model on the disk. This is done by treating the worldsheet superpotential perturbatively. We argue that this partition function as a function of bulk and boundary perturbations may be identified with the effective D-brane superpotential in the target spacetime. We point out the relationship of this approach to matrix factorizations. Using these methods, we prove a conjecture for the effective superpotential of Herbst, Lazaroiu and Lerche for the A-type minimal models. We also consider the Landau-Ginzburg theory of the cubic torus where we show that the effective superpotential, given by the partition function, is consistent with the one obtained by summing up disk instantons in the mirror A-model. This is done by explicitly constructing the open-string mirror map.Comment: 57p, 7 figs, harvma

Flat Connections in Open String Mirror Symmetry

We study a flat connection defined on the open-closed deformation space of open string mirror symmetry for type II compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds with D-branes. We use flatness and integrability conditions to define distinguished flat coordinates and the superpotential function at an arbitrary point in the open-closed deformation space. Integrability conditions are given for concrete deformation spaces with several closed and open string deformations. We study explicit examples for expansions around different limit points, including orbifold Gromov-Witten invariants, and brane configurations with several brane moduli. In particular, the latter case covers stacks of parallel branes with non-Abelian symmetry.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure, v2: references adde