String Fluid from Unstable D-branes

We consider Sen's effective action for unstable D-branes, and study its classical dynamics exactly. In the true vacuum, the Hamiltonian dynamics remains well-defined despite a vanishing action, and is that of massive relativistic string fluid of freely moving electric flux lines. The energy(tension) density equals the flux density in the local co-moving frame. Furthermore, a finite dual Lagrangian exists and is related to the Nielsen-Olesen field theory of ``dual'' strings, supplemented by a crucial constraint. We conclude with discussion on the endpoint of tachyon condensation.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, a reference adde

Massive Tensor Multiplets in N=1 Supersymmetry

We derive the action for a massive tensor multiplet coupled to chiral and vector multiplets as it can appear in orientifold compactifications of type IIB string theory.We compute the potential of the theory and show its consistency with the corresponding Kaluza-Klein reduction of N=1 orientifold compactifications. The potential contains an explicit mass term for the scalar in the tensor multiplet which does not arise from eliminating an auxiliary field. A dual action with an additional massive vector multiplet is derived at the level of superfields.Comment: 14 pages, Late

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists to enhance the learning of health sciences students.

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists at Bournemouth University (BU) has been stimulated and cemented by Pathfinder funding from the Higher Education Academy. This paper will consider four case studies collected as part of the eRes Project that describe the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the School of Health and Social Care at BU. The project aimed to enhance the student learning experience in an increasingly electronic environment. This was achieved by developing and disseminating innovative pedagogical frameworks, bringing together learning activities and academically led quality e-resources within the unit of study. An e-reading strategy which encompasses models for resource discovery and e-literacy was developed, drawing on the experiences and findings of the case studies. Issues considered in this paper will include accessing academic electronic reading materials and using a social bookmarking tool integrated within BU’s virtual learning environment with students studying away from the main campus. Additionally the paper will consider how technology can be used to motivate students, especially in large groups and how it can be used to engage students with a subject perceived as “dry” or “difficult”. The rich possibilities of health science materials can be exploited more fully using new technologies embedded within the curriculum

Auditory Integration Interventions for Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities: An Evidence-Based Practice Project

After extensive review of select auditory integration interventions including Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT), The Listening Program (TLP), and Therapeutic Listening (TL), we can conclude that many of these interventions have not been examined for use with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although some the research we found showed slight improvements in our investigated outcomes, many of them did not analyze the primary long-term outcomes of interest for occupational therapy including performance, participation, and engagement. Specialized training is required for therapists to facilitate AIT, TLP, and TL with their clients. Courses are costly ranging from $365-$2400, which further detracts the practicality of these interventions. All three of our auditory interventions were either not reviewed by the expert review groups or were investigated but not recommended. Additionally, some insurance companies and the United States Federal Drug Administration do not approve of some of the interventions and equipment required due to safety concerns and lack of evidence (UnitedHealthcare, 2016). Our preliminary recommendations are that these interventions are a Level 5. A Level 5 means that the treatment is designated as an untested/experimental treatment and/or is potentially harmful (WI Department of Health Services, 2014). Additionally, the results may not be a direct outcome of AIT, TLP, and TL due to a variety of limitations and gaps in research. Because of these gaps and limitations we can conclude that the existing research is of poor quality. Given the chosen study design in a majority of these articles, we cannot make definite conclusions that these interventions caused the differences in the outcomes. Also, due to case study designs and small sample sizes, the results cannot be generalized to the larger population. Conflicting recommendations exist for further on these auditory integration interventions. Therefore, individuals interested in conducting research should be aware of these cautions

Lunar meteorite regolith breccias: an in situ study of impact melt composition using LA-ICP-MS with implications for the composition of the lunar crust

Dar al Gani (DaG) 400, Meteorite Hills (MET) 01210, Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 02007, and MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 88104/88105 are lunar regolith breccia meteorites that provide sampling of the lunar surface from regions of the Moon that were not visited by the US Apollo or Soviet Luna sample return missions. They contain a heterogeneous clast population from a range of typical lunar lithologies. DaG 400, PCA 02007, and MAC 88104/88105 are primarily feldspathic in nature, and MET 01210 is composed of mare basalt material mixed with a lesser amount of feldspathic material. Here we present a compositional study of the impact melt and impact melt breccia clast population (i.e., clasts that were generated in impact cratering melting processes) within these meteorites using in situ electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS techniques. Results show that all of the meteorites are dominated by impact lithologies that are relatively ferroan (Mg#10), and have low incompatible trace element (ITE) concentrations (i.e., typically 10 ppm Sm), High Magnesium Suite (typically >70 Mg#) or High Alkali Suite (high ITEs, Sc/Sm ratios <2) target rocks. Instead the meteorite mafic melts are more ferroan, KREEP-poor and Sc-rich, and represent mixing between feldspathic lithologies and low-Ti or very low-Ti (VLT) basalts. As PCA 02007 and MAC 88104/05 were likely sourced from the Outer-Feldspathic Highlands Terrane our findings suggest that these predominantly feldspathic regions commonly contain a VLT to low-Ti basalt contribution

We are playing football: Seeing the game on Panapompom, PNG

© Royal Anthropological Institute 2011.This article is about football, played by men from Panapompom in Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay province. Football is problematic not because it is culturally appropriated or modified, but rather because Panapompom desired accurately to reproduce the appearance of the international game. As such it questions conventional frames of reference. An interpretation in terms of culture obscures Panapompom interests in football: its globally recognizable character. It mattered profoundly that Panapompom people played football. Yet framing football as a universal sporting institution is equally inadequate, erasing the specific political project that was embedded in the game. Displacing the interpretative framings, I argue that football itself provides a context in which Panapompom people can judge themselves in relation to others, who are defined in terms of colonial and postcolonial discourses on ‘development’. Taking football as a contextualizing image, Panapompom people appear in distinctive ways in the field of relationships that it defines.ESR

Fundamental Strings in Open String Theory at the Tachyonic Vacuum

We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides strong evidence for the conjecture that at this vacuum the full (25+1) dimensional Poincare invariance is restored. We also use this result to argue that the open string field theory at the tachyonic vacuum must contain closed string excitations.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 pages, references and clarification adde

Geometric Transitions, Flops and Non-Kahler Manifolds: I

We construct a duality cycle which provides a complete supergravity description of geometric transitions in type II theories via a flop in M-theory. This cycle connects the different supergravity descriptions before and after the geometric transitions. Our construction reproduces many of the known phenomena studied earlier in the literature and allows us to describe some new and interesting aspects in a simple and elegant fashion. A precise supergravity description of new torsional manifolds that appear on the type IIA side with branes and fluxes and the corresponding geometric transition are obtained. A local description of new G_2 manifolds that are circle fibrations over non-Kahler manifolds is presented.Comment: Harvmac, 79 pages, 1 .eps figure; v4: Text further expanded with additional results, typos corrected and references adde

Large Conference Re-Imagined : Strategies, Dynamics, and Systems for IDRC's Convening Capacity

This report draws on the experience of IDRC‘s involvement in 15 large conferences as co-convener and/or initiator. It identifies the need for more conscious planning across the Centre in the early stages of engagement to maximize efficiencies, with the aim of making it easier for the Centre to monitor the real costs and associated outcomes of large conferences. The report suggests how the findings might apply to key administrative functions as they relate to IDRC‘s engagement with large conferences

Geometric Transitions on non-Kaehler Manifolds

This article is based on the author's PhD--thesis. We study geometric transitions on the supergravity level using the basic idea of arXiv:hep-th/0403288, where a pair of non-Kaehler backgrounds was constructed, which are related by a geometric transition. Here we embed this idea into an orientifold setup as suggested in arXiv:hep-th/0511099. The non-Kaehler backgrounds we obtain in type IIA are non-trivially fibered due to their construction from IIB via T-duality with Neveu-Schwarz flux. We demonstrate that these non-Kaehler manifolds are not half-flat and show that a symplectic structure exists on them at least locally. We also review the construction of new non-Kaehler backgrounds in type I and heterotic theory as proposed in arXiv:hep-th/0408192. They are found by a series of T- and S-duality and can be argued to be related by geometric transitions as well. A local toy model is provided that fulfills the flux equations of motion in IIB and the torsional relation in heterotic theory, and that is consistent with the U-duality relating both theories. For the heterotic theory we also propose a global solution that fulfills the torsional relation because it is similar to the Maldacena-Nunez background.Comment: 127 pages, based on PhD-thesis, v2 some references added, this version to appear in Fort. Phy