Singularities of variations of mixed Hodge structure

We prove that a variation of graded-polarizable mixed Hodge structure over a punctured disk with unipotent monodromy, has a limiting mixed Hodge structure at the puncture (i.e., it is admissible in the sense of [SZ]) which splits over $\R$, if and only if certain grading of the complexified weight filtration, depending smoothly on the Hodge filtration, extends across the puncture. In particular, the result exactly supplements Schmid's Theorem for pure structures, which holds for the graded variation, and gives a Hodge-theoretic condition for the relative monodromy weight filtration to exist.Comment: AMS-TeX, 29 pages. Additional results on unipotent variation

The Representation of the Repression under Franco’s Regime In Butterflie’s Tongue

La lengua de las mariposas es una película basada en tres cuentos del escritor gallego Manuel Rivas, “La lengua de las mariposas”, “Un saxo en la niebla”, y “Carmiña”. Aunque no hay vínculos directos entre estos cuentos en el volumen en el que fueron publicados, ¿Qué me quieres, amor? (el cual es una traducción al castellano del original gallego titulado ¿Qué me queres, amor?), en el presente estudio ofrezco un análisis de los enlaces establecidos entre las historias para crear una trama fílmica unida. En particular, identifico una trayectoria narrativa que comparten los tres cuentos, según la cual el protagonista de cada uno sufre de un miedo que empieza a superar por medio de una relación con otro individuo. Aunque el protagonista comienza una transformación emocional, este proceso es finalmente obstaculizado, dejando al protagonista en un estado reprimido. Explicaré cómo la fusión de los tres cuentos en la película se lleva a cabo en torno a los paralelos entre ellos, resultando así en la creación de un vehículo visual que comunica el tema socio-político que informa el cuento que da el título y la historia principal a la película. En mi estudio pondré de relieve los elementos de cada cuento que se explotan en la película para amplificar este tema socio-político, esto es, la crítica del sistema educativo de los nacionales y, por extensión, de la represión franquista.La lengua de las mariposas is a film based on three short stories by the Galician writer Manuel Rivas, “Butterfly’s Tongue”, “Saxophone in the Mist”, and “Carmiña”. Although there are no direct ties among these stories in the volume in which they were published, ¿Qué me quieres, amor? (which is a translation into Castilian of the Galician original titled ¿Qué me queres, amor?), in the present study I offer an analysis of the links established among the stories in order to create a unified cinematographic plot. In particular, I identify a narrative trajectory common to the three stories, according to which the protagonist in each one suffers from a fear that he begins to overcome with the help of a relationship with another individual. Although the protagonist begins an emotional transformation, this process is ultimately impeded, which leaves him in a repressed state. I will explain how the fusion of the three stories in the film is achieved by focusing on the parallels among them, with the result being the creation of a vehicle for visually communicating the socio-political theme that informs the story from which the film derives its title and principal narrative. In my study I will underscore the elements in each story that are exploited in the film in order to amplify this sociopolitical theme, that is, a criticism of the Nationalist educational system and, by extension, of repression under Franco’s regime

Solving the Hierarchy Problem with Noncompact Extra Dimensions

We show that gravitational effects of global cosmic 3-branes can be responsible for compactification from six to four space-time dimensions, naturally producing the observed hierarchy between electroweak and gravitational forces. The finite radius of the transverse dimensions follows from Einstein's equation, and is exponentially large compared with the scales associated with the 3-brane. The space-time ends on a mild naked singularity at the boundary of the transverse dimensions; nevertheless unitary boundary conditions render the singularity harmless.Comment: 11 pages. Several references adde

Bioengineered anterior cruciate ligament

The present invention provides a method for producing an anterior cruciate ligament ex vivo. The method comprises seeding pluripotent stem cells in a three dimensional matrix, anchoring the seeded matrix by attachment to two anchors, and culturing the cells within the matrix under conditions appropriate for cell growth and regeneration, while subjecting the matrix to one or more mechanical forces via movement of one or both of the attached anchors. Bone marrow stromal cells are preferably used as the pluripotent cells in the method. Suitable matrix materials are materials to which cells can adhere, such as a gel made from collagen type I. Suitable anchor materials are materials to which the matrix can attach, such as Goinopra coral and also demineralized bone. Optimally, the mechanical forces to which the matrix is subjected mimic mechanical stimuli experienced by an anterior cruciate ligament in vivo. This is accomplished by delivering the appropriate combination of tension, compression, torsion, and shear, to the matrix. The bioengineered ligament which is produced by this method is characterized by a cellular orientation and/or matrix crimp pattern in the direction of the applied mechanical forces, and also by the production of collagen type I, collagen type III, and fibronectin proteins along the axis of mechanical load produced by the mechanical forces. Optimally, the ligament produced has fiber bundles which are arranged into a helical organization. The method for producing an anterior cruciate ligament can be adapted to produce a wide range of tissue types ex vivo by adapting the anchor size and attachment sites to reflect the size of the specific type of tissue to be produced, and also adapting the specific combination of forces applied, to mimic the mechanical stimuli experienced in vivo by the specific type of tissue to be produced. The methods of the present invention can be further modified to incorporate other stimuli experienced in vivo by the particular developing tissue, some examples of the stimuli being chemical stimuli, and electro-magnetic stimuli. Some examples of tissue which can be produced include other ligaments in the body (hand, wrist, elbow, knee), tendon, cartilage, bone, muscle, and blood vessels

El impacto del culto a San Millán en el nacimiento de la lengua española en Valderredible, Cantabria (España)

In this article I identify the presence of linguistic features in Cantabrian toponyms in order to suggest that the apparent diffusion of these features from Valderredible (a region of some 300 km2 situated in the extreme south of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, Spain), and by extension the diffusion of the nascent Spanish language, was the result of the establishment there of an important pilgrimage center. This pilgrimage center began to flourish in the 6th century after one of the rock-cut churches of Valderredible was inhabited by a hermit named Emiliano, better known as San Millán, whose cult of devotion was continued during the following centuries by a community of anchorites. I explain that the prestige associated with the cult to Millán in Valderredible was a key factor in the dissemination of archaisms that contributed to the formation of the archaic character of Spanish.En el presente artículo identifico la presencia de algunos rasgos lingüísticos en la toponimia cántabra con el fin de proponer que la aparente irradiación de estos rasgos desde Valderredible (una región de unos 300 km2 ubicada en el extremo sur de la Comunidad Autónoma de Cantabria, España), y por extensión la irradiación de la naciente lengua española, fue el resultado de haberse establecido allí un importante foco de peregrinaje. Este foco de peregrinaje empezó a prosperar en el siglo VI tras instalarse en una de las iglesias rupestres de Valderredible un ermitaño llamado Emiliano (n. 474 - m. 574), mejor conocido como San Millán, cuyo culto de devoción fue ampliado durante los siguientes siglos por una comunidad de anacoretas. Explico que el prestigio asociado con el culto a Millán en Valderredible habría sido un aspecto fundamental en la diseminación de tendencias lingüísticas arcaizantes que habrían contribuido a la formación del carácter arcaizante del español

Defining the gap between research and practice in public relations programme evaluation - towards a new research agenda

The current situation in public relations programme evaluation is neatly summarized by McCoy who commented that 'probably the most common buzzwords in public relations in the last ten years have been evaluation and accountability' (McCoy 2005, 3). This paper examines the academic and practitioner-based literature and research on programme evaluation and it detects different priorities and approaches that may partly explain why the debate on acceptable and agreed evaluation methods continues. It analyses those differences and proposes a research agenda to bridge the gap and move the debate forward

Using Microarrays to Facilitate Positional Cloning: Identification of Tomosyn as an Inhibitor of Neurosecretion

Forward genetic screens have been used as a powerful strategy to dissect complex biological pathways in many model systems. A significant limitation of this approach has been the time-consuming and costly process of positional cloning and molecular characterization of the mutations isolated in these screens. Here, the authors describe a strategy using microarray hybridizations to facilitate positional cloning. This method relies on the fact that premature stop codons (i.e., nonsense mutations) constitute a frequent class of mutations isolated in screens and that nonsense mutant messenger RNAs are efficiently degraded by the conserved nonsense-mediated decay pathway. They validate this strategy by identifying two previously uncharacterized mutations: (1) tom-1, a mutation found in a forward genetic screen for enhanced acetylcholine secretion in Caenorhabditis elegans, and (2) an apparently spontaneous mutation in the hif-1 transcription factor gene. They further demonstrate the broad applicability of this strategy using other known mutants in C. elegans, Arabidopsis, and mouse. Characterization of tom-1 mutants suggests that TOM-1, the C. elegans ortholog of mammalian tomosyn, functions as an endogenous inhibitor of neurotransmitter secretion. These results also suggest that microarray hybridizations have the potential to significantly reduce the time and effort required for positional cloning

Three generations on a local vortex in extra dimensions

We develop an approach to the origin of three generations of the Standard Model fermions from one generation in a higher-dimensional theory, where four-dimensional fermions appear as zero modes trapped in the core of a topological defect, and the hierarchy of masses and mixings is produced by wave function overlaps in extra dimensions. We present a model with unbroken U(1) symmetry where three zero modes appear on an Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortex due to nontrivial scalar--fermion interactions.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

(Quasi)Localized Gauge Field on a Brane: Dissipating Cosmic Radiation to Extra Dimensions?

We propose a mechanism ensuring (quasi)localization of massless gauge fields on a brane. The mechanism does not rely on BPS properties of the brane and can be realized in any theory where charged particles are confined to the world-volume. The localized matter fluctuations induce a gauge kinetic term on the brane. At short distances the resulting propagator for the gauge field is {\it identical} to the four-dimensional propagator. The gauge theory on the brane is effectively four-dimensional at short distances; it becomes higher-dimensional on very large (cosmic) scales. The brane-bulk system exhibits the phenomenon of ``infrared transparency''. As a result, only very low frequency modes can escape into extra dimensions. In this framework the large wavelength cosmic radiation can dissipate in extra space at a rate that may be observable, in principle. We briefly discuss some astrophysical consequences of this scenario. The same mechanism of localization of gauge fields may work in Kaplan's framework for domain wall chiral fermions on lattices.Comment: 16 pages; minor corrections, 1 reference added; version accepted in Phys. Lett.