Gaudin models with irregular singularities

We introduce a class of quantum integrable systems generalizing the Gaudin model. The corresponding algebras of quantum Hamiltonians are obtained as quotients of the center of the enveloping algebra of an affine Kac-Moody algebra at the critical level, extending the construction of higher Gaudin Hamiltonians from hep-th/9402022 to the case of non-highest weight representations of affine algebras. We show that these algebras are isomorphic to algebras of functions on the spaces of opers on P^1 with regular as well as irregular singularities at finitely many points. We construct eigenvectors of these Hamiltonians, using Wakimoto modules of critical level, and show that their spectra on finite-dimensional representations are given by opers with trivial monodromy. We also comment on the connection between the generalized Gaudin models and the geometric Langlands correspondence with ramification.Comment: Latex, 72 pages. Final version to appear in Advances in Mathematic

A network approach to studying research programmes : mobilizing and coordinating public responses to HIV/AIDS

Based on the analysis of the Medical and Public Health Research programme (Commission of the European Communities), the paper shows how new scientific communities are created in response to the HIV/AIDS problem. We analyze how actors are mobilized (three mobilization modes : public impetus, scientists'initiative, scientists' initiative with public networking) and how their work is coordinated. We defend the hypothesis that these new scientific communities are flexible cooperation networks. In the case of AIDS research, there are only a limited number of network types (the data collection structure, the forum, the thematic partition with harmonization of research practices, the starred around a central facility). The coordination of these scientific cooperative networks passes through fixed and circulating intermediaries. The management of these intermediaries is a major activity for involved actors. thus, our aim is not to study the wider social context, but to analyze networking in response to policy initiatives. (Résumé d'auteur

Using ontologies to map between research data and policymakers’ presumptions: the experience of the KNOWMAK project

Understanding knowledge co-creation in key emerging areas of European research is critical for policy makers wishing to analyze impact and make strategic decisions. However, purely data-driven methods for characterising policy topics have limitations relating to the broad nature of such topics and the differences in language and topic structure between the political language and scientific and technological outputs. In this paper, we discuss the use of ontologies and semantic technologies as a means to bridge the linguistic and conceptual gap between policy questions and data sources for characterising European knowledge production. Our experience suggests that the integration between advanced techniques for language processing and expert assessment at critical junctures in the process is key for the success of this endeavour

Irregular Wakimoto modules and the Casimir connection

We study some non-highest weight modules over an affine Kac-Moody algebra at non-critical level. Roughly speaking, these modules are non-commutative localizations of some non-highest weight "vacuum" modules. Using free field realization, we embed some rings of differential operators in endomorphism rings of our modules. These rings of differential operators act on a localization of the space of coinvariants of any module over the Kac-Moody algebra with respect to a certain level subalgebra. In a particular case this action is identified with the Casimir connection.Comment: Final version, available at Springerlink.co

Limits of Gaudin algebras, quantization of bending flows, Jucys--Murphy elements and Gelfand--Tsetlin bases

Gaudin algebras form a family of maximal commutative subalgebras in the tensor product of $n$ copies of the universal enveloping algebra U(\g) of a semisimple Lie algebra \g. This family is parameterized by collections of pairwise distinct complex numbers $z_1,...,z_n$. We obtain some new commutative subalgebras in U(\g)^{\otimes n} as limit cases of Gaudin subalgebras. These commutative subalgebras turn to be related to the hamiltonians of bending flows and to the Gelfand--Tsetlin bases. We use this to prove the simplicity of spectrum in the Gaudin model for some new cases.Comment: 11 pages, references adde

Efecto de la suplementación de Ca, P, Cu, y Zn en hembras puras Cebú.

En el municipio de Coyaima, Colombia, a 330 m.s.n.m., se compara la ganancia de peso en novillas Cebú puras, en pastoreo de angleton, para tratamientos entre una mezcla mineral a base de sal común, fosfato bicálcico, sulfato de cobre y sulfato de zinc (sal experimental, frente a una mezcla mineral comercial (sal testigo). La ganancia por animal por día fué de 484 y 470 gr para la sal ICA y testigo respectivamente. El consumo de sal diaria por animal fué de 41 y 34 gr para las sales ICA y testigo. La diferencia de 9.7 kg por animal, al término de la etapa I, fué significativa estadísticamente. La diferencia de consumo de minerales fué de 2,91 kg representando un 41 por ciento más a favor del grupo experimental. Al concluír el ensayo, la diferencia de ganancia de peso fué de 78 kg a favor del grupo experimental, correspondiente a 3.5 kg por animal, diferencia no significativa estadísticamente, pero de real beneficio económico. Al finalizar el ensayo, 70 por ciento del grupo experimental y 65 por ciento del grupo testigo, presentaron funcionalidad ovárica. Los valores minerales del forraje revelaron aumentos importantes en Ca, P, Mg, K, Zn, Fe, Mn y proteína, y ligeros para Cu, favorables para finales de lluvia. En los análisis del suero sanguíneo no se observaron diferencias importantes intragrupos ni intergrupos para Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Zn. Los análisis de biopsia hepática revelaron aumentos en Mg y Zn y ligera baja en Fe, el Mn aumentó en el grupo testigo, el Cu concluyó norma

The personal is political: reframing individual acts of kindness as social solidarity in social work practice

This paper develops the theoretical position proposed by Zygmunt Bauman (2009), that one of the greatest contemporary ‘social evils’ or injustices we face in society, is the total marketization and individualisation of our lived experience. Bauman (2009) along with Harvey (2005) argues that the last forty years of social, political, and economic reform under the zeitgeist of neoliberalism have transferred the burden of care from the state to the individual. This paper will explore the position that the dominant neoliberal culture within social work, in the form of ‘new managerialism’ has reconstituted social work institutionally as one where interventions now focus on minimum statutory interventions emphasising; risk management, resource allocation, audit culture, and the promotion of self-care through a case work methodology. The discussion will analyse these macro social, political and economic discourses using an ethnographic approach based upon Michael Burawoy’s Global Ethnographic (GE) methodology (Burawoy et al, 2010). Despite the current landscape the research highlights the importance of the personal reframed as the political, and the nuanced ways in which acts of defiance and resistance against the prevailing orthodoxies have been adopted by social workers on the front line

Treatment of Truncal Incompetence and Varicose Veins with a Single Administration of a New Polidocanol Endovenous Microfoam Preparation Improves Symptoms and Appearance

ObjectiveThis multicenter, parallel group study was designed to determine if a single administration of ≤15 mL of pharmaceutical-grade polidocanol endovenous microfoam (PEM, now approved in the United States as Varithena [polidocanol injectable foam], BTG International Ltd.) could alleviate symptoms and improve appearance of varicose veins in a typical population of patients with moderate to very severe symptoms of superficial venous incompetence and visible varicosities of the great saphenous vein (GSV) system.MethodsThe primary endpoint was patient-reported venous symptom improvement measured by change from baseline to Week 8 in 7-day average VVSymQ score. Co-secondary endpoints measured improvement in appearance of visible varicose veins from baseline to Week 8, as measured by the Independent Photography Review–Visible Varicose Veins (IPR-V3) and Patient Self-assessment of Visible Varicose Veins (PA-V3) scores. Patients were randomized to five groups: PEM 0.125% (control), 0.5%, 1%, 2%, or placebo. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded at each study visit. Tertiary endpoints measured duplex ultrasound response, changes in venous clinical severity score, and the modified Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study–Quality of Life/Symptoms.ResultsAt Week 8, VVSymQ scores for the pooled PEM group (0.5% + 1% + 2%; p < .0001) and individual dose concentrations (p < .001) were significantly superior to placebo. Mean changes from baseline to Week 8 in IPR-V3 and PA-V3 scores were significantly greater for pooled PEM than for placebo (p < .0001). Most AEs were mild and resolved without sequelae. No pulmonary emboli were reported.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that a single administration of up to 15 mL of PEM is a safe, effective, and convenient treatment for the symptoms of superficial venous incompetence and the appearance of visible varicosities of the GSV system. Doses of 0.5%, 1%, and 2% PEM appear to have an acceptable risk-benefit ratio